I am a hypocrite! I know that in most cases you should keep some small bass. Most of the guys here release everything and some of the lakes have way to many small bass. The right thing to do is to keep a bunch of 1-2lbers but I just cant do it. Even though I know I should, I just feel bad killing them. Believe me I aint no peta dork either. I just like putting them back. Maybe this year I will force myself to keep some little ones.

I have killed 2 fish in 9 years, both terribly gut hooked and both went to fisherman who were meat fishing

The first 10 pound or over Bass I catch is getting killed, stuffed and mounted and going on my wall AND I DO NOT CARE WHO DOESNT APPROVE I PAID FOR MY LICIENCE and its my chice. 8-)

I practice C&R always execpt the one on my wall. that's the only bass that I've killed  

Nothing wrong in my book with keeping a few bass here and there where it's legal, but it sounds like some of boys in you neck of the woods were getting a little greedy.

If you do catch a wallhanger you don't have to kill her either, those are good genes for breeding more big uns. Just take a good picture and some measurements then release. You can get an exact replica size and color that will look great and last forever, skin mounts look bad after a couple years. Plus you get the satisfaction of a release to insure the future of our great sport. JMHO.

I have a freind who is a great taxidermist and he mounted my friend Genes 42 inch salmon , 17 years ago and it is a skin mount and it looks like it just came out of the water! A good , traditional skin mount is my dream. I also dont see how one skin mount in over 15 years of fishing is hurting this "GREAT AND NOBEL SPORT" 25 fish a day in the fryer yes, one fish culled on purpose over a life time of fishing is not what I consider greedy.

There is not one report that has ever come back that doesn't say you need to remove X amount weight per every acre.

My 'home' lake is C&R only on bass.  It is a 65 acre municipal water supply.  My club has done some stocking there to get the population up.

There are some hawgs in there, but the average size is around 12-13".  Now I like being able to go there and catch a ton of fish, but I would also like to see better quality.  It isn't a very fertile body of water either.

That is why I plan on keeping a few of those smaller fish this summer.  

Be it by mama nature or man, some fish just have to be taken out of the system.  Otherwise you would just end up tourney bags full of 12" fish.  It is a lot like deer (or any other animal).  Once you exeed the carrying capacity of a piece of land (or water), you're going to have large populations of stunted fish.

I agree with you all on the fact that some small ponds do become stunted with small bass. We had one here that was loaded, however, in 2 years it has corrected itself. I don't know if people started keeping fish or if nature did the deed. Now some 5lbers and even some larger are caught on a consistant basis. I did read recently that the control predator on small bass in most areas is large bass. An estimate was stated that 70 to 80 percent of fry from each nest will be consumed by bigger bass. I guess that is why you see many bass colored baits. It does make you think. I still prefer catch and release, it just makes me feel good to let them back, but to each is own.

After a long day of fishing, the last thing I want to do is mess with a bunch of dead stink'n fish. That goes for saltwater and freshwater fishing.

I have killed 2 fish in 9 years, both terribly gut hooked and both went to fisherman who were meat fishing

The first 10 pound or over Bass I catch is getting killed, stuffed and mounted and going on my wall AND I DO NOT CARE WHO DOESNT APPROVE I PAID FOR MY LICIENCE and its my chice. 8-)

What he said...  

I practice C&R but ANY 10+ fish is going to die if it lands on my rod.   I will not stop at just the first.

I catch and release almost all black bass.  However, maybe that's not the best thing to do in every lake.  Has anyone read the article about Catch and Release on the Bassresource.com home page?  You might re-evaluate this practice after reading it.  

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/catch_and_release_bass.html

I catch, keep, and eat most legal bass from 14-18".  That is the best table size - very fine table fare.   I also keep all legal crappie for consumption.  all this from public waters.

I have a 5 acre pond and keep ANYTHING  under 16".

fish can over  populate just like game animals

just my thoughts

I catch and release almost all black bass. However, maybe that's not the best thing to do in every lake. Has anyone read the article about Catch and Release on the Bassresource.com home page? You might re-evaluate this practice after reading it.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/catch_and_release_bass.html

Totaly agree!!!

We grew up in Europe, and fish is a normal food like beef, chicken, pork or other meat. And as long as it's cought "within the law", it's fair game. However , I almost never keep a full limit. I keep only what we need for a dinner. And never the big fish. Smaller fish, just barely over the limit tastes much better, and have less contaminants in their meat.

I don't fish only for bass; trout, crappie, catfish, walleye, pike and other species are on my list (including carp).

My "home lake " is about 500 acres, and I keep 8 to 12 bass a year. I don't feel guilty at all !