What is your take on this?
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/catch_and_release_bass.html

There is some truth to it but I don't really like the taste of bass. I have eaten them a few times and meh. There are way better tasting fish.

This will never be a problem in Louisiana . Everything goes into the cooler to make some grease pop later on . I'm just glad some of us practice catch and release because the large majority here do not .

Too long to read , got tired head

I've been a bass fisherman since I was 4 days old. I'm a catch and release guy. I try not to kill any bass, and would NEVER hurt ANY bass purposely. I know a lot of bass fishermen are like me. I do believe there are a whole bunch of meat fishermen, who keep everything they catch, regardless of any legal limits. frankly a lot of them need those fish to eat. I'll let them do the culling. My answer to a new fisherman who doesn't catch anything ? You need to become a better fisherman. Theres lots of ways to learn, including this forum, fishing with friends, talking to people , and so on. A lot of worthwhile things in life don't come easy, and must be learned. Nothing in life is guaranteed , once you put in your time, and do learn, you will have accomplished something.

I dont like to eat fish so thats why I am catch & release. I really dont know anybody that eats them either. If I did I would keep my limit and give it to them. Now as far as the big girls I will put them back regardless. I think the slots on these lakes are to far apart. If you want to thin the heard say at Fork(for example) maybe make the slot 20-24. Maybe increase the limit to 6 per day. But then you still have to get people to keep them. I am not saying this is a solution or that it would even work. I really dont know but if small fish are ruining the fishing. What are the current guidelines for picking a slot and catch limit for a lake? I just plugged numbers in for examples and they dont represent what I believe they should be. Like I said I dont know.

I only read the beginning and stopped because it was all I needed to read. The reality is a lot (not all) of our lakes are becoming overpopulated with bass due to catch and release. A slot lake specifically is designed for us to keep our daily bag limits of fish under that slot. If you read any books on managing a body of water for trophy fish, you will see this exact theory. A few lakes don't have enough fish but most do and many are overpopulated and need more "managing". And for those that don't like the taste of bass, I did a little experiment on the pond at our deer ranch (5 acre pond). It was loaded with crappie and small stunted bass. So we decided to keep a bunch one weekend to try to thin the herd. A couple of my buddies said they didn't like bass and only liked crappie. So, I took fresh caught small bass and crappie and cooked them the exact same way and had them do a taste test. All 4 guys said they couldn't really tell them too much apart and 2 picked the crappie as better and 2 picked the bass as better.

I agree with the article, and I've been saying this for a few years now. Probably would do the lakes a lot of good to bring back healthy harvest rates.

Currently, most black bass regulations are put in place just for the sake of having a regulation. If nobody is harvesting, there's no point in a regulation. However, if harvest was greatly increased each lake might then have a more finely-tuned regulation to get the most out of that lake's productivity. A 14 inch minimum length with 5 fish per day is not the magic regulation that works everywhere, it's just there to be there in most cases right now.

The regulations are meant to be based off of population models showing that the fishery can support every angler taking home X number of fish at X size without causing significant damage to the fishery. Those models can also show predicted outcomes based on different length limits and different harvest rates. The biologist is then supposed to use those models to choose a regulation that maximizes the potential of the fishery and satisfies the anglers.

And on the taste, bass are delicious.

I dont now if any of you have really noticed but how long has it been since a truly largue Share a Lunker has been caught in Fork? I have fished Fork since it was impounded and I see a huge difference in the size of the average fish that is caught on a regular basis. The "Unders" ar� way more scarce than they used to be and the 4 to 6 pound slot is is everywhere in huge numbers. I feel they need to raise the slot bottom to 18" at least and let some of the larger fish be harvested. I beleive the forage base has gotten to a Point now where there is a huge amount of canniballism in the lake. Plus raising the limit would make Fork much more fun for Tournament fishing.

I keep a few bass every summer for the skillet. Usually when I am taking the kids fishing. We will catch a few bass in the morning. hit a few crappie holes, then head home for a fish fry. I actually like bass better than crappie. Meat is a little firmer and tastes about the same with the spicy breading I use.

You will never convince me that catch and release is the only way to manage a fishery. I fully understand that pressure on any given lake varies. After having fished private lakes and slot lakes, such as Fork in TX Caney In La, etc.. for 45 years it does not prove to be a management practice that provides the most utilization of a resource and grow large bass too. Studies show this can have a negative effect of the population of a single species.
I cant speak for anyone else about what they like or dislike to eat. Bass in my opinion is the second best freshwater fish to eat, second only to walleye. I have lots of friends that prefer White Perch, Bream, or catfish. both bream and crappie are very soft textured flesh, even though sweet too. Catfish can be great or not so great, depending on where, when caught and how they were handled. Bass,if filleted and pan fried, deep fried are of firm flesh and sweet. No one has ever told me they did not enjoy them when I served them. I am for keeping fish 3 pounds and under (age class) and releasing all the big females. JB

I've been struggling with this over the last few years. Ours is a private lake (albeit good-sized). The fishing club hired a game biologist to do an assessment and recommendation of the bass population. His recommendation was similar to the one given: harvest the smaller fish. As such, the lake has set up a limit of 7 fish with only one being over 17". They recommend you keep bass up to the limit and even offer to take the fish you don't want to clean.

We like to eat fish and my wife (being a Coon-[censored]) believes that whatever comes out of the water should be eaten. Now, both she and the fishing club are pressuring me to keep the bass. My problem is that I've been taught for a lot of years to let the fish go (especially the big ones) and it's hard to change that. Yesterday, I caught 6 fish and kept 3 for supper. I got a 3 and a 5 and didn't even think about cleaning them. What about the ones I caught today? Or the ones I'll catch tomorrow or the rest of the week?

I know you go with the best "science", but I've seen an awful lot of theories that proved to be dead wrong in the long run. "A spike will always be a spike"..."We have too much grass"...."Just shoot the bucks and the population will grow"..."introducing grass carp is beneficial to the fishing"...

I really don't have any problem with someone keeping their legal limit of fish. Hell, I came up in a time when EVERYONE kept their fish.

lest we forget the beginning of what was bass fishing tournaments on lakes like santee cooper, sam rayburn, Lake Mead (which used to produce insane sacks) where legends like Bobby Murray, Roland Martin and others had huge stringers! oh and yup litteraly stringers!!! 100% catch and release can be detrimental to certain bodies of water but a few families and bank fisherman keeping fish in no big deal at all!

Im not sure if the "catch and release" thing is hurting or helping (I personally practice catch & release myself) but I have a good friend that lives in N Louisiana, and he fishes a lot of smaller lakes in that area and now is constantly complaining that there are just simply not near as many fish (bass) as there used to be. He always tells me of the glory days when you could "load the boat with 5 pounders". Now here is the funny part, this guy is hard core catch and eat, and he claims the La limit is 10 largemouth bass. Hmmm I say you think all you La guys "loading your boats with 5 ponders" may have led to the not many bass you have now?? His answer is always,,, NO,, these lakes are tournament fished to death!! lololol,, I tell him that's not what led you to where your at now, almost all of the tourney guys release all fish. Anyways funny story but true..

Good Article, I know that there are very few people catching crappie and releasing them and there are a lot doing it. I have seen boats with up to 5 people catch and keep their limit. Yet the crappie thrive on most every lake I can think of. As far as I know they only have a 10" limit and each person can keep 10 or so I'm not sure on the number as I don't crappie fish very often. The crappie population is alive and well. On the other hand I know of a private lake about 100 acres that was an awesome place to fish and then a biologist told the property owners that they needed to keep everything they caught for a year or so. Nobody kept up with who caught and kept what or what size there was no limit. Still today after 10 years there are very few fish in that private lake. In contrast I know of another private lake where the property owners work together and make it a 3 fish limit of anything under 18" and that lake is an insane fishery. I would love to see Fork go to a 20" to 24" slot. I think it would increase tournaments and bring more money to surrounding businesses as well as help the fishery. However, this is all a guess much like the current slot and limits.

Jody