Dichotomy among njfishing members

[bulletbob]

Personally, I simply don't need that many fish.. All my boys are long since gone, wife and I are alone, and my family are all in NJ 250 miles from here.
I keep a few fish here and there.. Caught 3 nice keeper blacks last Sunday, gave my son and his wife some, and i kept the rest.. It was really too much.. My wife won't eat fish.
I will be eating tog every night for a week.

I suppose if I were the type to give tons of fish to everyone around me, I would be more prone to keeping fish when I caught big numbers/..

I suppose individual circumstances sometimes dictate how many fish you kill.

[Denlon]

Up until the time I went to college, my family was very needy and my Dad and I always kept all the trout we caught to eat. Same for Fluke (never called them Flounder) and Blackfish (Never called them Tog!). As things got financially better, all trout were released. The only freshwater fish I keep now days are the Yellow Perch and Calico Bass (Never called them Crappies) and sometimes big Sunfish that I catch through the ice. I really love the perch caught through the ice.

Now days, I still will keep a reasonable number of Fluke, Blues, Stripers, Weakies, Seabass to eat that day only. All the rest are released. I never freeze fish anymore.

The only fish I ever regret keeping was an 11 pound Fluke that I caught in Barnegat Bay on the first trip out in my first new new boat in about 1980. I guess I just wanted to show my Father what a great fisherman I was or something like that. I still regret it and I have never kept a large Fluke like that since. Anything over about 4 pounds goes back alive.

Denny

[Gerry Zagorski]

Nice to see everyone stating their opinions respectfully and brushing up on their vocabulary words.

[GDubya07]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Nice to see everyone stating their opinions respectfully and brushing up on their vocabulary words.

Until this post -

As long as you stay within the law/ regs your good . . Some peeps are just in different places/ parts of there life. I have a different view now than I did 10 years ago let alone 10 minutes .

Fresh Water I release everything

Salt water is different - I eat what I catch so I love it and try not to waste and yes I do freeze my catch.

I really dont know what I would do with a 10lb + fluke - it is one of my favorite fish to fish/eat and have been looking for my Doormat for years -

10 + Blackfish I would release since it takes so long to get that big

But I do not have to worry about this since I havent even have gotten anything even close

Now lets keep playing nice

Happy Holidays

GDubs-




GDubs-

[jmurr711]

I THROWBACK everything i catch in freshwater except yellow perch, crappies,catfish & big bluegills if i am up the mountains...

Salwater well i keep everything that I am allowed even fluke i just give that trash away. I keep my 2 big bass in may or june & eat em all summer & nothing goes to waste.i am lucky to be able to get out once every couple of months anymore & have a freezer that i keep all my stuff vaccuum sealed in.

[HydraSportsPT]

Here is a dichotomy -
Tourneys - Esp Fluke, my fishing partner had just got back from serving over seas, 1st trip he pulls a 26 inch fluke out of SH. We kiss it, photo it and release thanking the fish gods for rewarding us and hoping carma pays off.

We enter a tourney - he pulls a 9.75 lb r out of the same hole, we debate, kill it and motor to weigh it. I hated bringing that fish in but really wanted to win the prize, brag rights, etc......never felt good about it.

No good answer for catch n release during tourneys, but for sure another type of dichotomy

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by HydraSportsPT

Here is a dichotomy -
Tourneys - Esp Fluke, my fishing partner had just got back from serving over seas, 1st trip he pulls a 26 inch fluke out of SH. We kiss it, photo it and release thanking the fish gods for rewarding us and hoping carma pays off.

We enter a tourney - he pulls a 9.75 lb r out of the same hole, we debate, kill it and motor to weigh it. I hated bringing that fish in but really wanted to win the prize, brag rights, etc......never felt good about it.

No good answer for catch n release during tourneys, but for sure another type of dichotomy

In the words of the great outdoors writer Frank Woolner..
"Fishing should be a contemplative sport, not a competitive one..|
I could not agreed more..
Up here, there are CONSTANT tounaments.. Trout in all the Finger Lakes, Bass in many upstate lakes like Cayuga, Catfish right here in the susquehanna.. We even have a Crappie Derby on Whitney Point Reservoir, that usually draws 2000 people...
Needless to say Crappie fishing is tough there now .. Too many people taking too many fish on a small lake.. No lake can withstand the pressure of modern tourneys.. Actually I'll say the same thing about the ocean.. Too many good fisherman with great gear these days.. It isn't like it was 50 years ago... The pressure is relentless, and at least here in NY, the mortality rate is huge.. Hundreds of dead bass at the weigh in station at the launch at Cayuga Lake State Park..,, Even worse on a major Potomac River tourney..
I realize I am in the minority here, but I personally feel tournaments are shameful, and participants should re examine their need to "compete"... I view game fish as a noble adversaries, worthy of respect... Just seems a shame to kill them for a dopey competition, or abuse them until they die when released. They aren't even eaten.. They just die... really sad..bob
http://www.flwoutdoors.com/community...&threadid=2349

[HydraSportsPT]

I appreciate your view, the tourney was a charity fund raiser for female b cancer cause, good cause not so good results.

[rumster]

Great topic Bullet Bob and it was presentation of the topic that lead to a very good discussion.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by rumster

Great topic Bullet Bob and it was presentation of the topic that lead to a very good discussion.

Thanks..

I used the term "dichotomy" because I am double minded myself.. On one hand, I almost always throw back my best and biggest fish.. Yet not long ago, I kept a giant SMB.. For WHAT???.. I have no answer... I have felt awful ever since.. The big old girl should still be swimming in Keuka lake...

I hate tourneys, yet i always enter the pool on a head boat.. Even split a pool last sunday.. Its a competition right???... Same as a tourny.

I am a conservationist, but yet I have had many full cooler/full bucket days over the decades, and was looking for people to take fish from me.. Not often, but still guilty nonetheless.

I am part of the double mindedness, and not proud of it.. I throw a lot of fish back, most fish actually, but still have the need to drag tails home sometimes..... I guess I am trying to find out if there's something wrong with me, or if its a common theme a lot of us share... bob