Smallies

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by jimmythegreek

Its no big deal guys, altho I am strictly C+R the reason it pisses alot of us off is the bucket brigades have killed many good fisheries in NJ and as soon as we see dead smallies we think the worst. The lake they fished is prob loaded with them and taking a few to be eaten within the legal regs is perfectly fine with me. You guys dont realize that ALOT of the fish posted on here are actually kept they just dont post dead pics or say so.

I don't doubt it.
What is important in an over-crowded, over-fished state like New Jersey is fishing "culture". If we as a collective culture encourage catch-and-release ethics, we can maintain this fishery.

If we become laissez faire about it and say, "whatever the goverment says is okay is fine" then our fisheries will quickly be reduced to tiny fish and carp.

A good example of this is Japan. Catch-and-release of largemouth bass in Japan is illegal. In a rare case of civil disobedience, Japanese anglers are defying their government and releasing their bass. Catch-and-release of largemouth bass has become bigger in Japan than it is in the U.S. despite its prohibition. Now Japan has a world-class bass fishery and the record for the world's biggest largemouth bass was recently tied by a fish caught in Japan.

The Division of Fish & Wildlife is screwing us bad by maintaining an unsustainable creel limit of five fish of twelve inches. The same as catfish! If every skilled angler kept their bass according to the limits set by Fish & Wildlife, there would be no bass fishery in New Jersey worth speaking of.

This is the bass from Japan:




.