I started a thread on this topic in the Crappie section. Let's be nice with our opinions....

Mark

Pretty much says it all.

I pretty much let them all go with the exception of some 2-3lb fish when I have a fish fry.

I agree Sbursik. Especially 30+ breeders. I let a 43lber go a couple weeks ago. Had her out of the water about 60 seconds before I let that beast go.

I let go my last big cat - 47 pound blue...

But I do keep the and clean smaller fish

Keep a few, let the rest go. Let's face it, our lakes are under a lot of fishing pressure these days. That big cat or bass that you released may make the day for some little kid.
Roger

Like I said before. If its legal and you will eat it then keep it. IF you won't eat it turn it loose. You pay for your license and noone can tell you what is exceptable to keep but you and the state if its legal. So catch and eat what you want and if you get frack for it. Tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine RAR!!

I agree with the first part of your statement , but not the second . Yes , by all means , keep a few and let the rest go . Now , for the second part of your statement ;
City slickers regularly have to wait their turn at the boat ramp and share or pass up a good fishing spot , not so for us country folk . It's 1:30 in the am and I just got back from Limestone , I was the only one on the lake . That's not just a night thing , there are plenty of times I pretty much have a "out of the way" lake to myself . Most folks who argue about keeping or releasing will never catch enough to matter noways . If you catch big cats regularly , then you probably release big cats regularly . If you catch one big cat every so often and keep it , you haven't hurt anything but the feelings of someone who has nothing better to do than try and spoil the joy of a person who caught and kept the biggest fish of their lifetime .

Amen Icepick
I will release a blue over 5 lbs these day's but the only reason I do is because once that big they are too dang hard to clean and the texture of the meat changes also. I have caught my big fish in the past and showed off and all the fun that goes with it as well as the braggin rights and I don't kill nothing I don't eat. I have stayed clear of this topic for years but today I'm going to say that if you think your going to hurt or start a decline of the trophy size blue cats because you kept a 30 lb'er that just so happen to be your personal best I disagree. Fish were here before we were?? If the reason people practice CPR on big fish or any fish for that matter is to protect them so the big fish can breed and we will still have trophy size fish (This is the ONLY definition of CPR I have ever heard? Then you took the bait, hook ,line and sinker. We have had giant fish since time began. Now , if you had a buisness with clients paying you to catch a trophy fish and you were the only one that could get to them and they were trapped and couldn't go anywhere at the time then yes, you want to practice this because pretty soon if you let everyone keep everyone they catch then it won't take long for that barrell to go empty. Whether you agree or disagree with CPR really doesn't matter to me and i'm sure the practice has very positive results on things we wont ever see but the line I alway's here is we are protecting the genes so they can produce big fish for the generation to come to enjoy. "PUKE" That's nothing but smoke rings in the dark.

like it was said above. some people really know how to fish, or know of a good hole catch big cats very regularly. in that instance its important to let a lot of them go. because a resource like that depletes quickly. i also feel its ok to keep a couple. like someone said though its important to eat what you catch. nothin makes me madder than to see waste. I dunno what it would take to get it done, but i'd like to see texas do a deal like they did with redfish in the gulf. make a tag for one catfish over 40in per license per year. gotta have a tag to keep a fish. regular restrictions can be upped too. cut the bag limit to 10 or 15 fish instead of 25. 25 catfish per person is a lot. on one of my home lakes choke canyon i see people all the time keepin 80-90 12inchers all the time. thats just a little rediculous. just my thoughts though. i'm all about eatin fish. but you gotta protect a few too.

Erich

Someone call the TPWD immediately. Last week we had a 68lb Blue cat caught out of Lavon and thank God they released him after taking pics. Yesterday, because of a cat fishing tournament that a Web site devoted to Lake Lavon Fishing sponsored there was a 48.612 Blue cat caught and no mention of being released. The so called winner of this fish masacre event weighed in a total of 222.22 lbs of fish. These kind of sponsored events that kill thousands of healthy fish will eventually wipe the blue catfish off the face of the earth. Please release these big fish so that younger generations can grow up and have the thrill of sitting the hook on trophy fish just like you were given the opertunity to do.

I hardly got done typing this before I blew coffeee all over my monitor. Everything said and anyone mentioned in this foolish babbling please note that this is intended to be just as it reads....Funny as &*@@ and so foolishly stupid.

yeah jimmy.. .someone ought to have a talk to the guys at that web site :p

FYI, they were all released ... even the stick adam caught and I netted....

Shawn, they are having to much fun on that web site. There holding get togethers and people show up and talk and discuss fishing and ideas. They have members that are catching or have caught blue cats in the 40+ range. I understand they are practicing this CPR!!! I'm still not completely sold on this theory. Massive numbers of these big fish being pulled from our lakes daily, Yes, You would see a significant decline in the fish in the lakes BUT!!!! I'll stop there. Congratulations on what sounded to be a very successufl tourny. I apologize for not making it out and supporting you and the site.

Shawn, I thought you were getting that thing mounted for Adam? Or is that a secret. I will have the plate engraved soon you asked me about for it....

Football...you got a big super football hero in the family? Well, funny there is only one in that family...cause there is only one trophy blue in a family too...all blues are not going to grow to trophy size, it takes certain genes.
You will not deplete the population of the blues if you keep them, but you will deplete the population of the trophy cats.

You say they have been around for centuries, well the internet as not been around that long. And thanks to the internet, more people know how to catch trophy blues, more people have given up on the three chlorox bottle jugs they used to use and have now gotten 25 foam jugs and know where to place them. More poeple than ever are catching trophy blues, if you keep the one you catch, which I beleive is your perfect right to do, then you just make sure no one else will have a chance to catch that one big fish again.
It is a thrill to know that someone else will experience that thrill you just had, in my opinion.

Think about where you used to see deer on the side of the road, and now those deer are not there because people moved in and built house. Well, when more people move into trophy catfish locations and remove them from the lake, then you will see less of the trophy catfish too, and less chances of lake records.

That is just my 2 cents worth, I beleive in CPR...and, I beleive it is each persons right to practice it or to not practice it. I choose to CPR