Yes I get asked all the time by non-fishermam if I keep all my fish.

Wife and I both love fish but I only keep a small percentage of them.

By the way,

Largemouth bass caught out of clean clear lakes are a delicacy so are spotted bass.

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I mean, you eat the ag causing the runoff…..

 

Not even remotely the same.

Perhaps even worse ? We will probably never know the truth with the amount of money involved 

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Perhaps even worse ? We will probably never know the truth with the amount of money involved 

 

You can wash produce.  It's definitely not worse than eating something that literally lives in humanity's effluent and feeds on the bottom almost exclusively. The mercury levels.. I'm not touching that.

15 minutes ago, Pumpkinseed Lizard said:

 

You can wash produce.  It's definitely not worse than eating something that literally lives in humanity's effluent and feeds on the bottom almost exclusively. The mercury levels.. I'm not touching that.

You can’t wash off E. coli and they farm a lot more than just produce 

 

I can count on zero fingers the number of people I’ve heard of getting sick from eating catfish they caught but the list of people that got sick from grocery store and restaurant food is a very long one 

In my area of South Louisiana, we are lucky to have close areas of both freshwater and saltwater to fish.  Many of the areas are also brackish with a mix of both species.  Also, we love seafood down here and I usually keep a few smaller bass for the dinner table.  Since we are a tidal fishery, our bass don't live very long or grow very big due to the competition with multiple saltwater fisheries and an always changing environment.  

 

The bass and freshwater fish population gets hit pretty hard when hurricanes and storm surge come through our area which seems to be every couple years.  The hurricane a few weeks ago caused pretty massive fish kills in several freshwater areas from a combination of the saltwater intrusion from the storm surge and also the mixing/flushing of the water system causing low oxygenated water. 

 

The fishing pressure on bass and the keeping of bass doesn't have much of an impact in my area in my opinion.  Plus they are pretty tasty.  I don't keep bass every trip nor do I try to keep a limit of bass, but I do keep a few for dinner and for family members that enjoy them as well.

 

 

Very interesting discussion, thanks all for contributing.

 

I met these Chinese guys down at the river one evening. They were over here working on a new factory that's being set up.

 

They caught a drum while I was there. Into the bucket it went.

 

They couldn't speak any english, but we were able to communicate through a translate app on the phone. They seemed to really love fishing, so I ended up exchanging numbers with them.

 

Shortly after I left I got a picture of a trophy smallmouth. I'd say it was 3 if not 4 pounds. I asked how much it weighed but they didn't weigh it.

 

A little later on I got to thinking about it, so I asked what they did with it. His reply was "delicious". 

On 9/28/2024 at 7:46 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Never eaten a raccoon….. 

 

I ate coon once. Once........ 😉

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You can’t wash off E. coli and they farm a lot more than just produce 

 

I can count on zero fingers the number of people I’ve heard of getting sick from eating catfish they caught but the list of people that got sick from grocery store and restaurant food is a very long one 

It’s true, unfortunately raw produce is higher risk even though it’s clearly better for you.

 

Just make sure you cook the catfish properly.

 

And as long as we’re on the subject, check your eggs. There’s a massive recall out there making a lot of people sick.

Fish Fry!

 

^Commented on my pictures on social media all the time by my non-fishing friends. I couldn’t tell you the last time I kept a fish for me to eat. I keep a fair amount of fish, but it’s always to try to feed it to a bigger fish so I can catch and release that one too 🤷🏼‍♂️

An old man at church said, all the crappie I catch as bycatch, just bring them to him. He said all I have to do is freeze them in water, and he'll do the rest for a fish fry.

 

It crossed my mind.

@A-Jay what Andy said. I can’t take a knife to a nice bass.

If my freezer is empty I’ll keep a couple bass. But I fish for crappie and hybrids in the winter plus I go offshore saltwater a couple times a year so I’m usually good. 

Smile and nod

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You can’t wash off E. coli and they farm a lot more than just produce 

 

I can count on zero fingers the number of people I’ve heard of getting sick from eating catfish they caught but the list of people that got sick from grocery store and restaurant food is a very long one 

 

Many many more people eat produce. And the stuff that might be in some bottom dwelling fish might take years to add up in your body.

 

Still a hard pass for me.  No way jose. If the Walking Dead ever happens I'm probably starving to death.

I don’t keep anything although I did try few ages ago, just too easy to pick up a pound of salmon at the grocery store.

 

Here’s a local river I used to canoe and fish in the middle of the Berkshires, beautiful area, unfortunately GE and Monsanto did it in.

Try having to explain to someone every time that I love to fish but cant stand eating them when they ask if I kept any. 

1 hour ago, Texas Flood said:

Try having to explain to someone every time that I love to fish but cant stand eating them when they ask if I kept any. 

My buddy Ryan is the same way. He doesn't eat fish, but loves to fish.

I'm a big catch and release guy.

 

It probably shouldn't but it bothers me when I see some guys keep everything no matter how big or small.

 

Not to be racist, but there's a dam I like to fish that's very popular and a minority population keeps EVERYTHING. Last time I was there a guy kept a 7 pound walleye and a 3 pound bass. At the same time he kept an 8 inch walleye. Literally kept everything.

6 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

I'm a big catch and release guy.

 

It probably shouldn't but it bothers me when I see some guys keep everything no matter how big or small.

 

Not to be racist, but there's a dam I like to fish that's very popular and a minority population keeps EVERYTHING. Last time I was there a guy kept a 7 pound walleye and a 3 pound bass. At the same time he kept an 8 inch walleye. Literally kept everything.

Are you in the Des Moines area?

9 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

Literally kept everything.

 

Bucket brigade!

15 hours ago, padlin said:

I don’t keep anything although I did try few ages ago, just too easy to pick up a pound of salmon at the grocery store.

 

Here’s a local river I used to canoe and fish in the middle of the Berkshires, beautiful area, unfortunately GE and Monsanto did it in.

Ahh the Housy.
 

I see quite a few non English speaking inmogrants on the Trout Management Area on the CT side keeping trout (illegally) and smallmouth bass. I just point at the signs  and explain in Spanish that they are eating poison and I just get a blank stare.

 

There might not be a better smallmouth river in America. 

13 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

Literally kept everything.

Ya - bugs me too and I do selective harvest. But I have standards...each species has a length/weight range where I'll keep (bass it's about 1/2 of those), the rest go back.

On 9/28/2024 at 7:44 PM, gimruis said:

 

I'm sure you could also say that about road kill raccoon too. 😂

I bet that it will taste like fish for sure. 

Yeah people who fish at spillways can be crazy. Ive been yelled at for throwing walleyes and carp back. If I catch a fish and you wanna take it from me thats fine, but dont get mad because I mainly do C&R

22 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

Are you in the Des Moines area?

 

I'm around the CR area.

 

Born and raised.

 

Go Hawks!