Whatever happened to “Catch and Release”?

[parker23]

I keep a few fish/month. Most are in the 28"-32" range. 1 fish of that size feeds 2 people, 3 very large meals. I freeze the leftovers for cakes and chowder. Larger fish are just too big for a small family. Giving away fish to neighbors IMO 1/2 the fish are wasted because a lot of people do not cook fish at home. If I do keep a larger because of hooking issues, I will give fish to family and good friends that I know will cook and eat within 24 hours.

I caught a few small tuna in late July. I ate it every night. I gave 2 nice steaks to a good customer/friend and the steaks are still in his F%*&^%%$$ freezer. Frozen Tuna steaks, I wanted to kill him, but he gives me lots of $$$ every year.

This year I kept 2 fish in one morning due to deep hook sets and excessive bleeding. Both fish were in the 40" range. I called 10 friends and made a feast on the grill that same day.

1 fish a week is fine for my family. Some weeks I will release all because I need a break from bass.

Someday, I will keep my lifetime fish as long as it exceeds my father’s catch of a 64# bass in 1966. My mother just made him remove the mount from the living room after 39 years and made him relocate it to his office. I personally thought she was committing a mortal sin, however, dad has to live w/her.

90% of the large fish I catch will not be lifted out of the water. They are quickly unhooked, revived and splash water in my face when they are ready to go. If I have a fishing partner to operate the camera great, if not I have the memory store in my fishing side of the brain.

[rhodyflyguy]

i probably kept 20 or 30 bass this season. all of them went to a foodbank and people who love fish. the same can be said for fluke, blackfish and tuna. overall i personally kept 2 or 3 bass, 1 small BFT, 7 or 8 fluke, and 3 or 4 blackfish.

[JoeyM]

Originally Posted by parker23

I caught a few small tuna in late July. I ate it every night. I gave 2 nice steaks to a good customer/friend and the steaks are still in his F%*&^%%$$ freezer. Frozen Tuna steaks, I wanted to kill him, but he gives me lots of $$$ every year.

nothing wrong with frozen tuna....think about this, all the fish in the tokyo fish market is sold in the frozen state, and we know how fanatical they are in regards to tuna quality. pretty much all the commercial tuna are flash frozen, which means all the tuna in japanese restaurants across the usa was once frozen.

sashimi from frozen tuna is delicious. no reason to be mad at him...your friend can enjoy it over months, while yours is all gone.

[Steve K]

Originally Posted by JoeyM

nothing wrong with frozen tuna....think about this, all the fish in the tokyo fish market is sold in the frozen state, and we know how fanatical they are in regards to tuna quality. pretty much all the commercial tuna are flash frozen, which means all the tuna in japanese restaurants across the usa was once frozen.

sashimi from frozen tuna is delicious. no reason to be mad at him...your friend can enjoy it over months, while yours is all gone.

Very true but flash freezing does a lot less damage to the flesh of a fish than the freezer that you have at home because it freezes so much faster. Almost all the fish that you get at a sushi bar was once frozen.

[Diggin Jiggin]

Just curious, but are the 2 fish caught per person and kept on charters that Raider Ron mentioned considered comm or Rec ?

[Flaptail]

I don't begrudge anyone for taking what is legally allowable but myself I did not keep one fish this year other than some school bluefin tuna to eat. Last year I kept one big fish that was sure to die but let my biggest fish of the year go, a 47 inch fish on Race Point one night.
Back in November the day after Veterans day, myself and Art Crago let many, many fish between 20 and 30 pounds go while plugging the Elizabeths in one day.

I like bass to eat, unfortunately the ones I enjoy are like 16 to 18 inches long and haven't eaten one like that in a long long time. The big ones are heavy of palate to me. Not my cup of tea so to speak.

Now if I was to land a 60 pounder I would defenitely mount that fish and could probably get a good nights rest once and for all in bass season. Would definetly be a head clearer.

My best fishing was not in the late 70's and early eighties but was when the limit on bass went to 36 inches here in MA. I could float the east and west bars of Barnstable Harbor and think nothing of taking 5 or 6 fish in a day over 20 pounds on my fly rods, never mind the dozens of others that were 30 inches or better. That was my most "fun" fishing in decades.

I am now of the persuasion that there should be some kind of slot limit.

Good thread Dennis!