Need to Eat More Bass!!

[raincheck]

YMO If every tournament started keeping the fish how long before there arn't any.Spots are great too eat and there are a ton.Its everyones right too keep legal size fish.Walleye are as good as it gets around here.Its our right and lets keep it that way.

[Tim_T]

Guys, this subject has been debated a great deal here at different times and it seems that guys that take bass home seem to be chastised for that. Now that somebody has written an article it is all of a sudden ok with bass fishermen. that seems a bit hypocritical to me. I have always taken whatever bass I wanted for the dinner table,they are a pretty good fish to eat. Personally I agree with the previous poster ....the KDFW has done a great job with most of our wildlife so why can't we respect other fishermen who follow the legal limits....I do feel you should not take "braggin" bass home if you really don't want to eat them but if somebody chooses to do that it is his business and not our place to attack him.

I don't really see it as being hypocritcal, some new information came out with some quotes from a biologist making some points. Instead of being hypocritical, it seems more like informed.

[Bass_King2007]

this will end up just like the doe days that we have here in ky.... redneck shoot the crap out of does and then they wonder "well y i am i not seeing any deer??.... mhhm lets see shoot more deer and wont have more for the next season.. granted taking a few more deer or fish wont hurt... but taking alot will hurt

[Fishin is life]

Usually tournament fisherman are the ones who say don't take the bass it'll hurt the lake and all of that...I am a tournament fisherman but the regulations are put there for a reason, and if a guy buys his liscense and abides by the regulations its his choice....Sure some lakes could afford to have a few more bass taken out than others but it's the individuals choice....I don't think anyone who has fished nolin would gripe about a guy takin all 12-15" slot fish out of that lake he wanted....It's rare, but I will occasionally take a few KY's home to eat, usually in the 13-14" range...However, if you have crappie, bluegill, walleye, muskie to eat as well the bass aren't nearly as good IMO...Size and creel limits are put on lakes for a reason...if it were going to kill the population to take some home don't you think there would be a catch and release only regulation

[IronWorker]

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/b...andR_200809005

We need to eat more bass!! Which lakes in Ky do you think will benefit the most from this?

I once followed a guy walking through the parking lot with a stringer full of bass on a tournament day.
I never knew so many PETA members were bass fishermen.

[creekrock]

I think it's a myth that bass dont taste good,perpetuated by tournement fishermen.

[Hlleonard]

I doubt many people could tell the bass and bluegill apart after they are cooked if the pieces were cut the same size.....I take bluegill and croppie home for myself but do keep 25 or so bass a year for a small fish fry we have and nobody complains about the fish...I use the bass for the fish fry because there is less chance of missing a bone when you fillet them.....don't want to take a chance on a little one getting choked on a fish bone.

[mhall]

Will be abused beyond belief. Thinning of juvenile fish can be a good thing. I've help do this and manage a couple of backyard ponds and had success at this concept. Doing it on a big lake is a recipe for disaster. Why, because of idiots that only here this, ''Man, they say this lake has millions of bass in it and they want us to keep and eat everything we catch''. Yep that's what ALOT of them would here. Hell the Amish alone would try to clean out that given lake.

[RoadToad]

Like the article said, it doesn't apply to every lake. I'm sure there are some where catch and release is still a good thing. I think the main point to remember from the article is that when you see a slot limit in place, that was implemented based on the assumption that fishermen are going to harvest fish, not release everything they catch. So if you're fishing where there's a slot consider keeping at least some of the legal fish you catch. And I would venture to say that this applies to smallies also, not just largemouth.

[Bobby Headrick]

I agree with you Mark, the Amish have already cleaned out the Spillway below barren, they keep everything they catch, I have yet to see one release a fish of any size. I have also seen catch and keep kill a lake. The lake in Monroe co near T ville was once a great trophy lake and was full of good keepers, and yes I keep a few every now and then,. back then. but I me and a friend went there, like we always did every spring, and ran into this other guy fishing, he was using a jig pole, and we asked him if he had any luck, and he he cought a few but last year he said he caught over 80 3 to 4 lbs bass from that lake and he said severl over 2, when asked if he released them he said "hell no" I am a catch and eat man,and I kept them all. That along with others with that same mind frame, really depleted that lake fast as he caught all these before and during the spawn, I do not mind someone taking a few every once in a while to eat, but on some small bodies of water overharvesting can hurt a population really quick. One thing though is that some people who like to eat bass needs to come to tournet weigh ins so any dead fish can be utilized.

[mhall]

AMEN Bobby, a little is alright but some people don't care plain and simple.

[raincheck]

Thats why they set creel and size limits too control fish.With out it the lakes would be full of small fish if any thing.All the big fish would get ate.While running tournaments i would aways take the dead fish so they did get ate.Last season we in ABAdiv33 only had 2dead from 11days of fishing.I hate waste and for that reason won't fish tournaments with a weigh in.Fact is too many fish get wasted from tournaments and should get ate not left floating at the ramp.YMO Directors should eat more fish and those anglers who brings them in should too.