I typically don't keep fish simply because i am too lazy to clean them ;D

however my wife has found a new love for fish so i plan to keep 1-2 each time i go out though definatly nothing over 16-17" unless it is gut hooked and bleeding pretty bad.

when fishing with boss and he says to.

I usually catch and release. But I will occasionally stock my pond with the bass I catch from local lakes. Either than that or I will keep them if I feel they won't make it and they will be made into "bass sticks"

My thoughts:

Keep all the bass you kill. It happens...If you don't like eating them, find someone that does and give them away.

Some ponds are overpopulated, but you should not "assume" that is the case unless the owner has told you so or you have fished there over a long period of time.

In healthy lakes, keep smaller fish if you like, but nothing over 3 or 4 lbs. In a healthy environment, especially on big water, there are literally thousands, maybe tens of thousand of bass that size. Regulations (limits) are based on a managed harvest.

8-)

Well, I never keep a Bass, but I did in 1999. I kept a 10lb Bass that my wife caught and a 13+lb Bass that I caught. Since then... 9 yrs... I haven't kept anything. Before that... I hadn't kept a Bass since 1987 when I kept a 9lb and a 11 lb Bass that I caught back to back and they were all mounted and I even ate the meat from the 2 in 1987. If I get a bigger Bass... I might keep her too! I've let  a LOT of 6 - 10 lb Bass go over the years. I don't have a problem with someone keeping a trophy Bass or even eating one as long as they aren't just out there keeping everything all the time. I let go a 10.6 lb and a 12.11 lb Bass just last spring.

one of my fav. places to fish ive learned has been sold for mining and will be drained in september, so.......a fish caught is a fish kept. @ our farm pond we have it shocked every year for the best options to grow big bass. the last report was catch every crappie you can

The only time I ever kept a bass was this past summer. I reeled in a five pounder, as I was unhooking him from my spinnerbait, I felt my pants get wet. I looked down and my pants and the entire john boat were covered in blood. It was bleeding profusely from the gills. I put it out of its misery, took it home and ate it. It was actually really good. I can't think of any other instance where I would keep one, even if it was a state record. However, I have no problem with people who keep the bass the catch, I just prefer not to.

If I gill hooked a bass, and it was bleeding, knowing it was going to die, and after trying to get it to swim away.