Harvesting sub 2lb fish here and there doesn't hurt most fisheries in my opinion. If everyone started harvesting fish we'd probably have a problem though given there are 35 million bass anglers in this country. Fortunately most practice catch and release. My question is why anyone would want to eat a bass? Lots of much better tasting fish out there in my opinion. If I want to eat fish I chase the species that make better table fare.

I catch and release everything that I catch. Wife won't eat fish that I catch because she feels sorry for them but has no problem eating fish from the store or restaurant. Crazy, I know. I have just gotten too lazy to clean any for myself. To me the biggest issue is the limit. If I am going to fish to eat then why would I target a species with a 5 fish limit when crappie and sand bass have such higher fish limits?

I grew up in the 70s-80s and mainly fished with my grandfather. He kept pretty much everything, but by the mid 80s he got to where he would release most bass over 5lbs or so. I used to have polaroids from the 70s with stringers full of 6-8 lb bass that ended up in the skillet.
Sunday before last I kept my 1st bass in probably 5 years. I released a 7 1/2lber, but kept 5 fish that were mostly 2-3lbs. I felt like I had to hide from the bass fishermen while I went to the cleaning table. We cooked some of them on the grill the next day and they were delicious.
I hate that it has gotten to where you feel ashamed to keep a few bass. I read online from guys that have never eaten bass saying they aren’t good to eat. That’s just BS. Bass are a fine eating fish.

I enjoy catching them as much as anyone else, but I can’t bring myself to believe that bass were put on this earth just to be playthings.

If harvesting bass is good for a lake, then Choke ought to be in the best shape ever next year! I have never seen as many bass being kept, as I have this year. And it’s not Cajuns or snow birds this time.