C.p.r.

[crappiekeith]

To release or not..Now that's a question?

This editorial in not the opinion of the Voyageur Press, but mine alone and
from what I gather many others out there in the Minnesota Northland.
So I thought to dedicate a column for this taboo topic.

I will be the 1st one to admit that for decades dating back to the late 60's
catching fish and keeping everything we caught within the limit, which
included the "BIG" fish.
I can remember going from house to house along the lake showing off our big
fish.
It seemed at the time the thing to do. Everyone along our lake did it.
Sometimes we would keep the big fish in the live well for extended periods
so that phone calls could be made.."hey you have to come see this fish"!

There is also the mindset that we have to eat and I'm eating everything I
catch, which would include those big fish.

So what if I'm legal ? It's all good right? Well there is a difference
between legal and ethical.
As the decades pass we fishermen and women get better at what we are doing
out there because our gear i.e..rods, reels, gps, fish locators help us to
become more dialed in.
The bass tournaments' saw back in the late 60's that they were hurting the
lakes by taking all of those bass so the decided to go to all lengths to
keep those fish alive and release them. There by maintaining that quality
bass fishery for subsequent tournaments.

Now I am not big on big government and to suggest that we mandate a "slot"
goes against my grain, however not all fishers are releasing those bigger
breeders especially when the bite is hot.
The damage is not always seen immediately, but let me assure you the damage
is being done.
There are lakes like MilleLacs, Leech, Lake of the Woods and Upper Red that
have all prospered with a tight slot. Maybe all lakes should have slots
depending on what our DNR biologists recommend.
For the next 25 years we will have extra tax dollars that go specifically to
the lakes so maybe this extra money could fund those biologists to do what
needs to be done.

I've been told.....don't name this lake or that lake and some will not even
share their stories with me afraid I'll expose these lakes. Many are smaller
and could not handle the pressure.
Well if we would stop being so greedy and start to release more fish it
would never be an issue, but I know that will never be unless we start to
change our ways.
Sure some would say.....let's try to educate the fisher.
That's just like what we say about locks.....they only keep the honest people
out.

I will admit that I have in my younger years been apart of the raping of
some of these lakes. It was only a few years ago that I had learned about
the damage I've been apart of.
Just the other day a guys comes out to tell me and my partner that we had to
stop fishing. We had caught over our 20 fish. He also went on to say that
what I was keeping.10 to 11 inch crappies were the small ones and that he
kept the bigger ones.
I have to say I admire his desire to protect that fishery, but to come out
and harass.He should have contacted the DRN to let them sort it out and if
there was some education that needed to done well then they were there.
Secondly....if he kept the bigger ones, well those were the breeders. And
lastly my boat had caught many slabs that day and tossed them back trying to
find those medium sized eaters. All this lakeshore owner saw was us rearing
on all of these fish and assumed we were keeping everything.
I did have the local CO out there the next day to see if this gentleman
would continue but the bite was not there and this misguided neighbor did
not make his appearance.
The point is let the DRN handle enforcement and education when it comes to
laws being broken.

Getting back to Catch, Photo, Releasing (CPR)
Everybody wants to catch big fish and the only way they get big is if they
are living.
There are not these pristine never been touched by man lakes around anymore,
so we have to change the way we fish. We have to let some big ones go. Let
them go, let them grow!
Keep the smaller fish, they taste better anyway. The meat is firmer and they
cook up a bit faster.
I know some folks are already to start throwing stones, but if we do not
take care of the lakes we use the DNR will almost be forced to do what we
could not do.
Slots have been proven to work. Education seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
So when cornered I will support a slot..too bad we have to mandate ethics.

See ya on the water
God Bless
CK

[Bob # 1]

Very good post Keith

[limbhook]

I agree it is nice to catch a fish of a life time, one that has the potential to be a record and all that goes with that. But if you want fish with taste go with the smaller ones, besides there are more of them than there are wall hangers.

[LBM]

I tend to agree with the CPR and do a lot of catch and release myself.

I think the attitude of some fishery biologists is that since crappie don't live that many years anyway and if you catch a large one they will say that that fish is pretty near the end as it is and your releasing it will probably just be helping the turtles get a easy meal.

No actual references here just bits and pieces I think I have picked up in the past and it all could just be hallucinations on my part.

[Hillbilly910]

I prefer the small to medium sized fish for eating, unlike most i dont mind cleaning the smaller fish.
That being said, i found a 12lb walleye floating this year, sure would have much rather seen her on the end of a stringer than floating belly up.
Crappies are likewise purty stress sensitive, least thats what ive found, and those big girls that go over 15 inches round here dont have a great survival rate. I like to think most aware anglers make educated decisons before releasing a fish, when ya boat one thats deep hooked, or struggling when ya put it back.

HB

[jaxsprat]

Very good post........

[Arkie John]

Slot limits on Arkansas lakes do a lot of good. I like that. I abide by the regulations. I don't fish for money. Personally, I think it's unethical to fish for money. That's just me.

In the smaller lakes I fished as a kid, I'd catch a big six, seven or eight pound lm, weigh it, girth it, get it's length and photo it on the digital scale and let it go back.

But most of the experts believe that crappie and other panfish are strong, prolific breeders. I see your point, but I don't know that it matters with crappie. I like to keep anything over 11 inches, and I do....up to my limit. Frankly, I have not kept a limit all year. I believe that we have a possession limit of 40 here anyway. (That's a total of 40 crappie in the freezer at any given time. But don't label me as unethical when I am following the rules. It's just a difference of philosophy.

Actually most of the people I see wanting to strictly catch and release are somehow tied to the tournaments or they are fishing guides making their living off of fishing. Again, I see their point--and their interest. On a high pressure lake like Fork, I can see releasing the bass, but crappie. I dunno about that. I think if I lived there I would think the same way I do now, here in Arkansas. Crappie are plentiful and need to be taken.

But, if it makes anyone reading here feel better to release the slabs. Go for it. It's a free country. Just don't call me unethical when I operate within the rules of the game. It's a misuse of the word, friend. <><

aj

[chaunc]

Have to agree with you AJ. Here in PA., we have a 50 fish limit per day. Why would the dnr leave it that high if it was hurting the panfish population. Crappies, next to bluegills, are probably the most prolific spawners in the lake. They grow fast, taste good, and will over-populate an area quickly. Taking some big crappies wont hurt the fishery here. Might be diffrent elsewhere but not here. When i take friends out with me and they want to keep fish, i have no problem with any fish they want to keep as long as they're going to eat it. Big fish or little fish. Their choice. As long as they stay with in the limit, who am i, or anyone else, to call them unethical fisherman. If the rules need changed, i'll leave that decision up to the authorities to make.

[Fatman]

I've seen it work both ways, where the releasing hurt the fishery and the limit didn't help it. And several others it helped.

With just my wife at I at home right now it doesn't make sense to keep so many fish anymore so I don't.

Good Post

Fatman

[crappiepastor]

I too have seen what carelessness or greed can do to a fishery. During the 60's and 70's many northern lakes were all but fished out. The days of feeding the whole neighborhood at a fish fry need to be over. That being said, keeping enough legal sized crappie to eat is fine. Even if we do that every time we go out.

I personally release 98% of all I catch, (but I'm not very good at it so I don't catch all that much). But I won't criticize anybody else who is keeping their legal limit. However, I think most of us know of people who keep far more than the legal limit. So, I try to make up for those guys who don't care about anybody else. Its the same way with trash and waste fishing line. I want to leave the fishery better than when I found it.