For What Reason Do You Not Release

[Hlleonard]

I don't know about the taste of bass that is bigger than three pounds or so but those are tough enough to fillet....I can imagine how tough it is to clean a 5 pound bass....I did clean a bass years ago that was 21 or 22 inches long
that my neighbor had caught and kept to brag about then threw it in the trash..and if I remember right I struggled with that thing for half an hour....
I gave it to my mom and she said it was good.

[jamesdenson]

i dont think tournaments or fish eaters are hurting the bass population on ky or green. i seen more bass weighed in on green this year than ever before. but i think that the lake itself has more to do with it than the fisherman.

[jamesdenson]

id have a really hard time believing 80% of bass would swim 90 miles back to the same spot in 24 hrs

all bass were not taken 90 miles and released and i just found another study that said only 34 percent returned to were they was caught so i would say it depends on if they were spawning or not if not there not as worried about going back to where they were caught.

[Embrey]

if they were spawning, id say you could kiss those goodbye basically

[kygorski]

If you caught it legaly, its yours! What you do with it is up to you alone. I throw away fresh water drum, but go down to the coast, and they are consideered table fish.I have ate bass, and they taste almost as good as most fish, if cooked right.I eat catfish, but have never kept one, too messy tro clean.Nortern pike, too bony, but if you know how to get those y bones out, easily, they are quite good. White bass are the same, hard to clean, but edible.If ever you get achance to fish the mississipi river up north,youi'..see some guys keep carp, they are good smoked. Ever fish erie? Weere catching as many drum, as eyes, and throwing them in, Our guide asked us to keep a few, he knew how to fix them. Go figure.

[Hlleonard]

I also believe the habitat and the spawn,which is much influenced by the weather from spring to spring,has more to do with the bass numbers than the fish that are removed from the water....The dept of wildlife guys also do a pretty good job of keeping up with these things....the lower creel limits put in place a few years ago and the minimum size that was changed from 10 to 12 has helped a great deal.

[jamesdenson]

hmm didnt know the min size was ever 10 its been 12 since i been fishing and thats about 24 years now but i think it should be raised again.im tired of catching 11 3/4 fish maybe if they raise it to 15 statewide i could catch 14 3/4 fish.

[RICHYD4U]

Bass are like most fish, the big ones are nasty and the small ones are sweet. Keep the small ones and let the bigger ones grow bigger.

Exactly...the same goes with trout. The big ones aren't nearly as good as the the smaller ones. Those muscles toughen with time and usage, making for poor table fair.

I always said, do what you want as long as it is legal...as for me and my house, we shall C & R.

-Rich

[Hlleonard]

Changes the fish and wildlife folks have made over the years have kept the sport of hunting and fishing pretty good in the state.....even to the point that deer hunters now can take more than one....a few years back they could kill only one buck,no does. Use to be you could catch a good number of spotted bass in caverun lake but they would mostly be 9 or 10 inches...I believe it helped the average size of the bass population when they took the size limit off of them....fish numbers need to be matched with the food supply.

[jamesdenson]

yes i think your correct and i remember when you could not kill a doe.

[bassin_bug]

I have been looking at the pics of fish caught at Cedar lately and it seems a lot of the big bass caught goes home. Everyone has the right to take their fish home to do whatever they want to with them if they are legal under state regulations. If a picture of a bass is taken only for show and not eaten, this grabs me in the gut. Bluegills, crappie and channels are fine eating, but I hate to see these big bass taken out just for show. I would like to see someone take a state record out of Cedar someday. It does my heart good to see a big bass released for someone else to catch another day. I just had to get this off my chest.

What do you consider a "big" bass? The warmer the water, the larger the bass. Example: Florida, Texas, Mexico and Alabama have bass that grow larger than those in some states that have cold water rivers and lakes. A 5# bass can be baked, broiled, or fried and taste great. The filets are sliced twice to make them as thin as 2-3# bass filets. We have no problem keeping one if we want to eat it but we are not the type to mount something and hang it on the wall.

I absolutely refuse to eat bream and crappie and leave them for people who enjoy them. A man gave us six large crappie and I fried one and froze the rest. I'm a great cook but I'll be doggone if I could stand the taste or fool with all those bones. I don't like the taste of rainbow trout either; it feels like I have a mouth full of cotton while I'm chewing it.

[Hlleonard]

What do you consider a "big" bass? The warmer the water, the larger the bass. Example: Florida, Texas, Mexico and Alabama have bass that grow larger than those in some states that have cold water rivers and lakes. A 5# bass can be baked, broiled, or fried and taste great. The filets are sliced twice to make them as thin as 2-3# bass filets. We have no problem keeping one if we want to eat it but we are not the type to mount something and hang it on the wall.

I absolutely refuse to eat bream and crappie and leave them for people who enjoy them. A man gave us six large crappie and I fried one and froze the rest. I'm a great cook but I'll be doggone if I could stand the taste or fool with all those bones. I don't like the taste of rainbow trout either; it feels like I have a mouth full of cotton while I'm chewing it.

I don't eat trout,,,would if I was a trout fisherman I guess....but I eat croppie,bluegill and bass and the truth is I cant tell a lot of difference in the fish...I fillet all the fish I eat...the pieces are just a lot smaller than bass fillets....but they cook the same way,just a little quicker.