43 replies to this topic

[Bassn Blvd]

Show me a study that shows me that catch and release fishing damages the fishery.

I think the link to the study is in the original post.

[J Francho]

Do you release your bass into a cage kept at 20 FOW for 72 hours? You don't think that's a little unnatural? The study is bunk.

[Catt]

Yes I'm better because I practice selevtive harvesting, belonhg to every lake association I fish, attend Wildlife & Fisheries meetings associated with the lakes I fish, and actively teach my childern & students to participate.

[Lund Explorer]

It's interesting to read all of the responses here. I expected to see some members respond such as K_Mac did. Open minded as always, understanding that there are many ways different fishermen partake and enjoy the sport.

I also expected that some members would disagree with the point I was trying to make and/or the results of the study. It didn't surprise me at all that nobody offered links to show that this study was wrong. Perhaps it is because there are a number of other studies that show the same basic results of the one I offered.

I chose to provide the study I did because it was written in a little more "user friendly" format. It covered a wide variety of fishing methods from live bait to artificials, as well as looking into mortality based on where the fish was hooked. I was somewhat surprised that plastic worms were the number one reason (above live bait) for throat hooked fish.

I think the study shows that the truth of the matter is that catch and release fishing does lead to a certain amount of delayed mortality. These are fish that have been removed from the resource just the same as if they were released into hot grease. The percentage of fish that die due to being caught may change from location to location, or season by season, but the bottom line is the same. So my other questions remain relevant.

If you are practicing C&R, how many fish can you release before you have killed your legal limit of fish? If you exceed that number, are you in some way worse (for the resource) than the angler who kills the first five fish before quitting?

On a side note, I'm happy to see that no one has suggested throwing the C&R angler into the lake instead of the fish!

[tugsandpulls]

when i use the term bucket fishermen i mean the ones that take every fish they catch big small and lots of them way over the legal limit so yes im way bettter then them and half of them dont even have a fishing license so they are illegal and a pain in my side to be nice no never mind being nice i simply hate them

[BassfisherMass]

i keep one fish a year to fry up other than that they all go back for another day

[NBR]

As long as the "Bucket Fisherman" obeys the rules he is at least as good as I am, maybe better. I started selective harvest (thanks In-Fisherman for the terminology) long before Ray Scott started B.A.S.S. and also before CR was popularized. If I hook a fish deep and I think it is likely to die I might bring it home for a meal but I am sure it will die if I fillet it.

No doubt some released fish will die but then so will some fish that were never hooked. That is why we have state and provencial fisheries managment to protect the resource from over kill. If I see a bucket or any fisherman violate the rules my cell phone is going to be used.

[grimlin]

It's interesting to read all of the responses here. I expected to see some members respond such as K_Mac did. Open minded as always, understanding that there are many ways different fishermen partake and enjoy the sport.

I also expected that some members would disagree with the point I was trying to make and/or the results of the study. It didn't surprise me at all that nobody offered links to show that this study was wrong. Perhaps it is because there are a number of other studies that show the same basic results of the one I offered.

I chose to provide the study I did because it was written in a little more "user friendly" format. It covered a wide variety of fishing methods from live bait to artificials, as well as looking into mortality based on where the fish was hooked. I was somewhat surprised that plastic worms were the number one reason (above live bait) for throat hooked fish.

I think the study shows that the truth of the matter is that catch and release fishing does lead to a certain amount of delayed mortality. These are fish that have been removed from the resource just the same as if they were released into hot grease. The percentage of fish that die due to being caught may change from location to location, or season by season, but the bottom line is the same. So my other questions remain relevant.

If you are practicing C&R, how many fish can you release before you have killed your legal limit of fish? If you exceed that number, are you in some way worse (for the resource) than the angler who kills the first five fish before quitting?

On a side note, I'm happy to see that no one has suggested throwing the C&R angler into the lake instead of the fish!

I can see the article's point. But like J Francho said it's a little bit of unethical study. A caged up wild animal is prone to stress which could have something to do with a higher mortally rate that they documented. No doubt we could be killing a fish here and there specially if deep hooked. Any angler worth his salt usually knows if a fish will survive.I only deep hooked 2 fish last year I kept.It is a blood sport I'm well aware of it. They also know how to safely release the fish with minimal harm for higher chances of success of survival.

I look at it this way,even if they do die it's balancing out the weak fish which becomes some other animal's meal down the line. It's harvesting in it's own sense.


Look how many times Dottie was caught and released only to be caught again. Yes it did die....but look how long it lived also.

[Crestliner2008]

If you are practicing C&R, how many fish can you release before you have killed your legal limit of fish? If you exceed that number, are you in some way worse (for the resource) than the angler who kills the first five fish before quitting?

On a side note, I'm happy to see that no one has suggested throwing the C&R angler into the lake instead of the fish!

[Crestliner2008]

You're kidding, right? Again - if you keep everything, you kill everything. If you C&R everything you kill ONLY some of what you release. My goodness, is that hard to understand?

[Basspastor]

Under normal circumstances I would guess I end up unintentionally killing about 3-10% of that I catch. When I am have had a 50 to 100 fish day, I would guess that it's closer to 3% and could be as low as 0%. Those days tend to come early in the season. I would say most of the time I'm not dealing with water temps you would find in August down in Texas.

[grimlin]

You're kidding, right? Again - if you keep everything, you kill everything. If you C&R everything you kill ONLY some of what you release. My goodness, is that hard to understand?

What the article is saying how do you know your catch will survive? Do you follow your fish in the water after it's been released? Catching 50-100 bass and then releasing them what is the survival rate? How would one know? Personally I don't think anybody could really know that...but for all we could know is 10-15 fish are dieing for every 100 fish we caught.Again there's really no solid proof.

Where a Meat eater/bucketman would catch and keep it's 5 and call it a day.


It's just something to think about.

Under normal circumstances I would guess I end up unintentionally killing about 3-10% of that I catch. When I am have had a 50 to 100 fish day, I would guess that it's closer to 3% and could be as low as 0%. Those days tend to come early in the season. I would say most of the time I'm not dealing with water temps you would find in August down in Texas.

Again it's a guess....nobody follows it's catch after we release it. They may not die right away either,it could be 24 hours late they would die and we'd never know it.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

There is really no other studies published that is a newer study that I can find, I do believe that everyone one does have their OP whenit comes to this topic, it's a great topic and does need to be addressed to most of the states wildlife biologist. You have to take into play also studies that you won't see publically unless there is a major problem is that when most researchers and biologist do there study they use a hydroelectric shock, sending most of the fish in the area into a paralized state, the researchers then conduct there test, including diseases and the age of the bass. Some researchers also tag the bass with chips to conduct their patterns and how long they survive.

[Crestliner2008]

Grimlin - you are operating on the assumption that all C&R fish are dead, no matter what. That's unbelievable on any scale. Come on now. Get real.

[Bassn Blvd]

Do you release your bass into a cage kept at 20 FOW for 72 hours? You don't think that's a little unnatural? The study is bunk.

Haha, I didn't say it was a GOOD study. I thought the same thing though, about the cage. I wonder why they didn't tag the fish and just return them to their natural habitat. They could have tracked the fish with GPS? Perhaps it would have been too costly.