He's not angry. He just points out the truth. We bemone the actions of other fishers on their elitist behavior and yet there are quite a few on her that project the exact same attitude. He's been on this forum longer than a good amount of us on here and has contributed greatly. You may not agree with him and that's fine but take the name calling and shove it.

Then don't tell me I have no clue what's fair when a slot limit has been put on Lewisville very sucessfully

how about doing what i do now? i go fishing for fun and they all go back. i go fishing for food and i keep only as many as i need. i've never kept a cat over 10 lbs or more than 3 or 4 at a time. the lake here has a combined daily limit of 50 over 12 inches for blues and channels. for yella's it's a minimum of 18 inches and a limit of 5. i've never even come close to meeting those limits and don't plan on trying to. enough to eat and put the rest back. seems sensible.

I agree with others here. As long as the law remains like it is we all should respect each others rights as long as we follow it to the letter. Bass fisherman have self regulated along with good lobbying. I personally agree with CPR. Maybe it is time for all of us who appreciate big blues to start the ball rolling with additional limiting. That is the way to get it done, education and self governing. Must my .02 worth.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

http://fishcatchingtravel.com/

Could it be that guides are driving this topic???? Follow the law and forget what self-serving antagonists preach. Some of the best fish I have ever eaten where 40+ pounders. What I can't stand are the jerks that keep less than 12 inchers and less that 18 inchers for flatheads. That's a real traversty!

Sorry uncle I admit to have eaten large catfish when I was a kid, and there's a reason they aren't commercialy raised that size (and they could be).

And I'm not a guide, but I have watched slot limits bring a decimated redfish population back to the North Carolina coast, and I have watched the blue catfish world record go from 99lbs to 143lbs over the last 25 years when 100lb blues were not uncommon in the 1800s. I have to believe conservation has everything to do with this, and I would like to see a 200lb in my lifetime.

I like that net4u web site. That would be great for traveling.

This is another post.... I think some people find humor in this. Why can't we use the forum as info and learning. As for this thread its anyones opinion, and when it gets like this its best to keep your opinion to yourself. This does nothing but wire people up. Lets take this thread and delete it.

Please dont remove this post. Everyone here should be civil enough to express their opinion/concerns and ideas without having an arguement over it. Disipline the people who do such things not the forum as a whole. This is a very interesting thread and has probably been over thousands of times of bass forums, this is a wonderfull way to share ideas and possibly change a fishery for the better.
My Opinion: I CPR all fish I catch, except what I use for bait. That being said there is nothing wrong with people keeping fish as long as it complies with the laws. However I have seen many big fish (blue catfish especially) caught dragged back to the dock or home for a photo and then trashed. I do not agree with any kind of waste like that no matter the fish or game species.

Slot limits and regulations work. This is true world wide. Blue catfish were introduced into Va rivers in the 70' and 80's with no regulations on size or limit. In the early 2000's it got popular and serious catfish anglers lobbied the state for regulations to prevent over harvest of trophy size blue catfish. With a limit of only one blue over 32 inches per person per day, this applied to all forms of fishing comercial and recreational. Since then we have seen the state record broken nearly every year untill the latest 143 lb blue.
That being said catfish will over populate the rivers if smaller fish are not harvested. This lowers competition for food and allows the bigger fish to grow larger. I cant speak for Texas waters and the populations there, but here in Virginia the one fish over 32 inches has greatly improved out large catfish population and left large window for those who fish for food to do just that without taking excess large fish from the river. This applies mostly to trotliners and comercial harvest as they have a greater ability to catch large numbers of big catfish. If anyone is interested I also have a link to a biologist study of our rivers here that goes into detail about how the 32 inch rule effects the fishery.
Here is just a small protion of it which applies to what is being discussed.
"Mortality rates for blue catfish to age 8 are very low in these populations, however as fish reach the age (9 – 14) where rapid weight gain occurs, total annual mortality increases dramatically, approaching 60%. Given this high level of mortality, and slowing growth, continued harvest restriction on large-sized fish will continue to benefit the trophy aspect of the fishery. Conversely, dramatic increases in harvest of small fillet-size fish would be beneficial, as overcrowding is a problem – associated with slowing growth.
The full report can be viewed here and is very educational and interesting IMHO.
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/forecasts-and-reports/tidal-river-blue-catfish-report.pdf

Bump

In some cases larger fish my not survive the stress of being caught. A size limit could require you to release this fish same as gill hooking a small crappie knowing it wont survive. I cpr most of my fish and if any limits are to change then change the bag limit from 25 to 20 or something like that.As well as the hook limit's from 200 per person to 100. Wardens have enough to contend with and what some one chooses to keep should not be up to the rest of us.
The LL slot limit was suppose to be temporary as a test and may be removed later.

You push for bag limits then next you may see number of rods you can use from how ever many you want to 2 or 3. As a bank fisherman, is that fair to those that like to use 4 or more rods?

Just some thing else to think about. Kinda like "if it aint broke dont fix it".

And this thread is another example of why the animal rights activists and PETA are slowly taking our rights away. Infighting, always infighting.

Argue all you want. Disagree all you want.

But do one thing........ OBEY THE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEKIN' LAWS!!!

Thank you.

Rules and regulations are put in place to improve a fishery, not to take peoples rights or even have anything to do with PETA. I have seen trotliners load the back of a pickup with catfish, many of them over 30 lbs. While I agree its their right to set those lines and catch fish, I feel that it would be for lack of a better word selfish of said person to come to a public body of water and remove so many trophy size fish. I say this because I fish a small river system and on many occasions caught the same fish more than once. I actually watched the fish here grow up, we used to fish and a 30-40 lb fish was a good catch, just 7 or so years later we are catching 50-60 lb fish with regularity. I dont feel like this would be possible if it were not for the 32 inch rule.
With all that being said I would love to see people keeping more fish under the limit, blue catfish especially, have the ability to over populate a system and removing the smaller fish allows growth rates to stay high and puts less pressure on the food source.