turtles need to eat and it keeps it honest, otherwise the cheaters would just rip the gills on a short one and keep it.
On Lakes that have a minimum size Limit I think there should be some Le-way where Gut hooked Bleeding fish are concerned. 100 out of 100 will die. why make the person throw it back in the water to feed the Turtles
I am not buying that, Bass for sure. Crappie caught by Cranks is another story- during the summer lots of crappie do not make it. Torn lips, mouths & gills do a lot of harm. I see dead shorts floating all the time during the cranking season- I crank but try my best not to hurt the fish, removing the many hooks in them. I found that using braid line almost guarantees rip out gills. I is sad to see so any floating when a bunch of fisherman are cranking! PS-I went back to mono for the stretch.
I think lakes that receive a lot of pressure and smaller reservoirs should practice C&R by anglers who fish the lake a lot. Not sure why, but most people think it's a unwritten rule that they must keep every legal crappie they catch. Lakes that have a population problem is a different story. Once I have enough fish in the freezer then I tend to throw back more than I keep, especially on the trophy lakes. In MS, Grenada receives so much fishing pressure it is unreal, but it still manages to produce big fish every year though, but for how long? The size has diminished over the years with the amount of crappie anglers now, not to mention the guide services and clients and out of state anglers. I don't think it will be long before we go from a 15 per person creel to a 10 person creel, which I would support if it came down to it. Keep the fish you NEED and throw back a few for seed, conservation is up to each individual in my opinion.
Like I stated Matt, I am a catch and release guy when it comes to Largemouth Bass, I also catch an release on crappie, I turn back crappie that are perfectly legal to keep every year. But one thing I have noticed over the years is the delicate nature of crappie. They die very easily in a live well. Bass tend to be more hardy. As far as mortality goes on a normal day to day basis, I feel like crappie have less chance at survival after being caught. And that depends, in my opinion, a lot on what time of the year they are caught. Winter less likely to survive, summer almost guarantees death. Early fall and spring would be the best times for them for catch and release to be productive. When the seasonal air temp and the water temps are equal or close to the same, catch and release of any fish would be more successful in my opinion.
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I thought I was confused on the "source" article of salmon and trout studies on catch and release created over in the UK somewhere's. I'm really confused now, if you hook a crappie in the mouth and don't tear his jaws to shreds then yes you can release the said fish and it will be alright. If you gill hook one and rip a gill then chances are pretty dim. Crappie don't like live-wells, but they survive in mine just fine in the right conditions. Don't hold them captive and interrogate them before turning them lose, just catch them and toss em' back. As far as large mouth, don't really have an opinion, I won't eat one less it's under 2 pounds or so.. bout it
Here in Mississippi do we even have a spring and fall? One day 85 next day 45?
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