Of course it's not that old, My point was that many folks from the era of the great depression had a different kind of attitude regarding hunting and fishing. Judging by the picture of the guy I'd say he absolutely lived through those years, and it might....and only might, explain his actions. Heck I've known too many of these guys. I used to fish with one when I was a kid. We'd take 2 garbage cans in his boat when fishing sandbass at Texoma back before stripers. were stocked. We'd chase them as they topped the water and fill up both cans (regular full size cans like everybody used back then) Then we'd usually be off the water by noon and spend the next several hours filleting fish. We'd fish the Guadalupe river like it was a factory job. Cane poles and blood-bait during the day, as well as a few carefully executed trips out in 2 boats with the telephone. My buddy and I were in the netting boat.At night we ran trot lines and limb lines. Every fish we kept was meticulously processed for freezing and later consumption. He didn't have to do this, he owned a grocery store and butcher shop in Garland. But he had that old school way of thinking about such things. He was of course dirt poor and skinny as a child growing up in the depression days....like everybody else. Sure there weren't the lakes then, but there was the Brazos and the Guadalupe, and the Trinity....etc. I'd bet the fish in this picture were destined for a fish fry. This sort of thing still goes on across the state. The boys in Fredericksburg still do it every year. They might not have one days catch as big as the one in the pic, but they'll undertake numerous trips to the lakes until they have enough fish for the big fry.

Tom & I were out on Tawokoni in March year before last, and we were going to the ramp in cedar cove, and there was about 100 orange jugs out there, he said they were comercial fisherman's jugs when they were orange, we had just went out and caught a 5 fish stringer that day that was over 250# and after seeing the kind of fish we caught, and all those jugs wasn't that far from where we were, it really disturbed me just thinking about all the fish they would or could catch just on those jugs in one day, and you know those guys ain't going tu turn anything loose!!!

I do think that commercial fishing is a little rediculous in Tx lakes! I cant imagine TXPWD letting that go on for 2 much longer. Especially after seeing them put these slots into affect. WE CAN PRACTICE CONSERVING ALL WE WANT BUT THEY ARE THE ONES THAT SET THE GUIDELINES! IF PEOPLE REALLY WANT TO START REGULATING THE BIG FISH MAYBE SOME LETTERS TO TPWD FOR MORE SLOT LIMITS WOULD BE A START?

.....and heres where i turn left.......... i only consider rod and reel fishing in my thought process on these issues because it is the essence of the "sport" of fishing. i have a whole different view on set lines that i will not get into.

De dude who said Texas didn't have lakes that would produce like that in the 70's obviously didn't know about Lake Livingston...catfish capital of Texas then.

Who said that?

I throw everything back. But, I'm a vegetarian!

For health reasons!

I think CPR is more about creating more trophy catfish than it is creating numbers of catfish. I think this is a good goal that is why I practice CPR for all cats > 10#s. I can say that there is a culture in some areas and some circles that makes wide spread adoption of this practice unlikely.

so people say ... but it really does not create any thing ... it may save existing "trophy" fish but it doesn't create any

did the state furnish fish just for the "elect" to have trophies?

most of the rhetoric used to support CPR is just BS aimed at a persons emotions to win said person over

many on here have been catfishing a relative short time & have been converted from bass fishing or something worse ... most new comers fall right in line with the CPR crowd cuz that is all they have known

it is pure stupidity to think we can literally slaughter all the fish under 10# that we want to & think that will help produce more tropy fish

we could try to really make more big fish & maybe all the do-gooders wouldn't freak out when somebody ate one

5 fish limit to 30 inches ... 5 fish limit from 30-up

I dont keep larger size fish, because they are the adults, producing more young fish for the following year. They take quite a bit of time to get that big, so replacing them takes years. I agree that harvesting tons of smaller fish isn't any better, as we are cutting the numbers of new trophy fish. To each his own. The slot limits in place are the law, so of course I would obey those, and they are in-acted with scientific research behind them, on whats best for the fishery.

Nobody is saying slaughter all fish under 10#. take what you can use and release the rest. I personally have had over a thousand fish in the boat this year but have only taken home maybe a 100#. Take what you can use just don't waste a living creature just cause you could.
I am sure there is a whole lot of freezer burned fish in alot of freezers just like freezer burned venison. The majority of people today do not subsist on wildgame as in the past. JMO

big fish get big fast not all fish are going to become trophies science and studies have proved this time and time again now this doesnt mean that big fish will get to trophy size overnight by no means but generally if a fish is going to be a true trophy it should start to reach trophy size within 12years vs some that never exceed 10-15lbs over a 30 year span so weather or not you keep small ones or large ones you could potentially be taking the next true trophy and never realizing it


but if you dont plan on eating the fish dont keep them

As for the original picture, I remember when that was taken. It was in that summer many years back when all of those young kids were getting eating' by monster catfish.

This guy saved many lives with this one trip.


BigJohn

I think someone's math is a little off.......