Smallies

[Shameless14]

This won't make me very popular here, but i see nothing wrong with this. I've never kept a bass in my life, but as long as a person keeps within the size, limits, and regulations they are completely entitled to keep the fish that they catch themselves. There are regs for a reason, so people can enjoy the fruits of their labor if they want to. That being said, i would have preferred a CPR, and i get why people would get worked up, but they should keep that to themselves because at the end of day your the one who caught a 4lb smallie

[AndyS]

You caught some fish and ate 'em, good for you !! SALTWATER guys do this on a daily basis and no one says a word. Nice fish !!!!

Recreational guys who retains fish within the regulations will NEVER kill a fishery. In certain cases they actually help maintain a trophy status by controlling or culling the population. Don't tar and feather someone who is within their right to keep their catch in spite of your personal convictions. Their rights and choices are just as valid as yours. That being said, conservation is something we all should be mindful of and the fact that they released the larger fish suggests they are just that. Gives the guys a break, there's ways of sharing your opinion without taking someone's head off.

The many people we all see who blatantly disregard a resource and take every fish regardless of size......completely different story but that's not what happened here.

[Bergen Angler]

Originally Posted by jc484

wow bill thanks for your lovely input. those were cough upstate NY for the record we put the big ones back kept 4 for dinner, sorry that I like to catch my own dinner.

I can't say I never kept LM or SM for consumption as I kept them as well as yellow perch and crappies during the last week of October and the first week of November 2012. I shared them with my neighbour as we didn't have gas, electricity, food, etc.

That being said, I practice CPR, though I think people should keep LM or SM smaller than 2 lbs to allow the lunker bass to grow even bigger.

Yes, I keep salt water harvest for consumption.

I am glad to hear that you released the 4.2 lb SM - prefer catching 4lb SM than 6lb LM.

Next time, you are hungry and feel the need to keep the lunker SM and/or LM, please write to me. I will send you a check so you can buy some food.

Also, please don't forget to spare some pennies for your English lessons.

Hey, they didn't break the law. Give them a break.

P.S. So how does it feel being Walter Palmer?

[FASTEDDIE29]

Dudes! Nice Smallies for sure. Way to put a bend in the rod. They sure do fight like crazy when hooked. Nice catch!

[UglyStick]

As you all know from my posts, I am very much the conservationist. Even though I would have liked to see these fish released and I personally don't agree with the specifics of many of the limits, I concede that there is nothing legally wrong with keeping your lawful limit for consumption.

Why are so many anglers enraged on this post??? THE PICTURES

My suggestion for freshwater reports where the angler keeps fish is to not post pictures of dead fish as it tends to inflame people. Instead, post a pic of the fish right when it was caught and unhooked or of the ones that were released or just don't post any pics at all.

In a similar manner, you see this all the time on the salt board where instead of posting pics of people holding 1 or 2 fish (albeit dead), they post pics of a huge bloody pile of fish or an entire dock full. These "hero" pics just unnecessarily fire people up.

[jc484]

Thank you all for the good and bad reply's
like I said in another post we kept 4 fish to feed 6 people for a fish dinner.
we safely release well over 15 fish over 3 lbs.
moving forward to keep the hippies happy I will not post any more fish out of the water on the fresh water section

[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. This season night fishing I saw more dead walleyes than I ever saw in my life, and they are mainly stocked w little reproduction. Smallies hold up well and reproduce well in many bodies of water, as said many times you actually help the trophy population by taking the smaller ones leaving more food for the rest of them

[iamtheavalanche]

Just do me a big favor... do not keep any smallies out of the South Branch of the Raritan or the North Branch haha

[Heronimo42]

Nice catches. Don't like people keeping fish legally, change the laws.