no you have to pump yer chest by CPR ... then you can come on a board like this & say
"hey looky what i done did ... i throwed all the bigguns back ... ain't i sumpin"

Yes, to me anyone is something who thinks of conservation, the future of bigger fish, and future fishing generations. A picture is just as good on the water and releasing the big fish. Most people who can fish and catch big fish also catch an even greater number of smaller fish, therefore they keep the easier to clean better tasting smaller ones. The same reason a rancher doesn't go out in the pasture and kill a prize bull or proven mother cow, the eaters are the yearling or young mature adults. It takes a while for a large trophy fish to reach full maturity, and when a filet knife hits one they cease to grow.
Do as you choose, but I will release, and encourage others to do the same with catfish or any other fish over ten pounds.

Well said Tim & Jackie!!!

Once upon a time I knew a boy who liked to catch catfish. Growing up on the Medina river and lake, he'd use throwlines, trotlines, juglines, r&r, you name it. He kept anything that was big enough cause he liked to eat fish, too. He didn't fish that often and wasn't really very good at it, though. More luck involved than anything else. The thought of throwing back a good fish seemed just plain goofey. CPR hadn't been invented yet but even if it had, he'd of had no part in it.

He got older and information became much more available. He read books, watched videos and started fishing more often. Most of his friends hunted, others played softball but he fished. Now, the young man never was accused of being a genius by anyone but he did manage to pick up on a few things along the way that helped catch more fish - more often. At some point, fishing quit being a hit or miss kind of thing and got to be really enjoyable.

Later on, the internet happened and he met a group of other fellows who liked to fish. They were mostly a lot better at it than him but they were all patient and willing to teach and learn from each other and the group just had a lot of fun fishing together in lakes all over Texas. The guy learned a lot from his friends about catching fish and being a good steward of the environment.

At some point along this path, his ability to catch fish went way beyond his ability to eat them all. Slowly, the trotlines were stored away and forgotten. His throwlines were next to be left in the barn and even the jugs that used to be so much fun didn't make any trips. Seems r&r was more than able to put all the fish in his freezer that his family and in-laws could use. Even the church fish frys were supplied with no more effort than another trip to the lake. He didn't invent anything nor come up with any grand ideas. Everything he learned was from the knowledge and experience of someone else.

Well, CPR wasn't the result of any noble ambitions this fellow may have pretended. He just simply couldn't eat that much fish! Now, this guy isn't a sprout eating tree hugger who listens to NPR while driving his Volvo to yoga classes but he does have a strong will to take care of the planet. He read where some fisheries biologists published their research discoveries showing just how many eggs a big bluecat can lay each year. Even more striking is the fact that bigger fish may not be any older than smaller fish, they just have the right genetics to grow faster --- and produce lots of offspring that also grow faster. Luckily, it didn't take a genius see what this meant. If he'd just leave those better fish to serve as breeding stock, he and his kids could catch more fish and tussle with a line stretcher a little more often. Oh, he still likes to eat fish, alright. But he just eats the ones between 5 and 10 pounds. Heck, taking that approach actually meant he didn't have to clean so darn many fish. It just all made sense. Maybe you can make some sense of this, too.
See you on the water...
...rg

its morons like a certin so&so that are making our fisheries decline. hey albert if you knew how to fish you wouldnt need to a big fish.

and its people like tim, jackie and i that are actually helping preserve these waters so our kids and grand kids can also catch those trophy class fish

oh by the way nice fish striper king

Man, I wish I was at Texoma with this water release....great time of year too!

Anyone fishin' live bait?

awe you buncha whinnin' babies ... i'd fight for your right to eat all the lil pups & throw the good'uns back ... why wouldn't you do the same for my rights to eat the ones i wanna eat?

and this hogwash about savin' some big fish for our grandkids, is just that hogwash

and jackieblue ... care to say how many pounds of fish you put the knife to in a years time? ... of course you don't, even though they are all 10# or less ... you don't want to boggle the minds of the common catter on this board ... you kill more big fish just by the shear numbers of how many little fish you kill, than the common joe will kill in a lifetime ... and you know what i have no problem with that ... really

Third grade must have been the longest three years of your life!

Hey Striperking

Nice fish & welcome to the forum

The number of fish I put the knife to in a year depends on the number of trips I run because I can generally limit people out. This is rod&reel fishing not jugs or lines. Blind luck I guess. Has nothing to do with many years of fishing. I probably fish more trip in a year than the average joe will in a lifetime also. The smaller fish I put the knife to are generally a couple of years old, maybe three, and five at the max. Those 20, 30, 40, and 50 pounders didn't get that big in a year or two.
No one is trying to take away anyone right to catch and eat catfish from you or anyone else.
Big fish deserve a chance to develop to there full potential, be they bass, reds, shark, carp, or catfish. More and more anglers are changing over to catch and release. Some of the older more set in there ways ones will never be conservation minded, and thats OK because the ones who do will more than make up for those who don't.
Nor or we saying hogwash or calling you a "whinnin' babies", only presenting some opinions and views of the more conservation minded angler. I guess you lean more to the liberal side so therefore your signature must fit.

albertking is far from being liberal... I am a moderate and he thinks I am an incarnation of liberalism.

I can see the points of all of you who have posted and agree with all of you to some extent. I also feel that the battle between CAR anglers and keep what the law entitles you to is much like the Pro-life/Pro Choice argument.

I know as much about catfish angling as I do about the sectional density of the planet Neptune. However, my question to the CAR folks is if people are taking increased numbers of brood blues, why has TDPW failed to impose a maximum size limit or limit an angler to maybe one "trophy" blue per license?

Also I was told by a TDPW ictyhologist (sp)that blues breed like rabbits, but yet then again I was just listening.

My concern with eating a big cat like that would be all the heavy metals and chemical run-off that a 10-20 year old fish has accumulated over the years. I was always told keep the ones that are 13-14 inches long for eating, nonetheless, I so not like the texture of catfish flesh so I put them all back unless my neighbors want some.

I throw back the big ones, but I've kept 'em before and I like the meat on the big mama's better!

Though we have disagreed before, I have to agree w / Jackie Blue on this one. "Catch & Release the big ones". Tons of 2 pounders that are easy to catch and taste much better!

To each his own but I am so glad that a lot of the top notch catfishermen are practicing catch & release.

I read that they do not begin to spawn until they are about 24 inches long so keeping the big ones could possibly hurt the cat population, however, would keeping limits of smaller fish prevent these fish from reaching sexual maturity? So what would be the right decision? It would be nice to get the .02 from a TDPW biologist on this topic. I think can contact one.

XYZ - I actually spoke with TPWD about this a few years ago when I started catching big cats. I'd offered to tag big cats for them if it would help; they weren't interested.

They did confirm the approx 24 inch maturity size & I asked the same question about size limits. Their answer was simply that people don't seem to catch enough blue cats to impact the population ... of course, the folks I spoke with were also of the opinion that most fishermen aren't interested in catfish.

Would be nice to see some sort of slot size, with one or two over the slot allowed per day ... too me awhile to figure out that it takes my lifetime for some of these monster cats to grow up to those sizes. Also heartily agree that smaller catfish just taste better