Catch and Release?

[Jellyhead]

OK, before everyone starts flaming me, let me state my position on this matter. I have fished steelhead for about 15 years. I have been practicing catch and release on wild fish, and ocasionally keep a hatchery fish. I recently got into bass fishing and fish quite a few tourneyments out of my shiny new bass boat. Every bass I catch gets turned loose.
Now I know that bass are not a native specie in the northwest, but they are a self sustaining population. The bass In my area recieve alot of pressure due to tournements and are hauled into weigh-ins and re-released. But the population remains stable and is probably growing,even though they recieve no help from hatcheries. No tourneyment anglers I know keep any fish they catch.
What I'm wondering is this, Why do guys keep native-run fish like upriver, Hanford reach, chinook and steelhead where it is still allowed. And why not release hatchery fish also. I mean, does anyone really belive that there are still pure wild strain fish left in rivers that have had hatchery runs in them. If a hatchery fish spawns w/a native fish, you get non-finclipped "native" fish returning w/hatchery blood in it.
I guess I've learned from the bass guys that total catch and release is a good thing (notice I said goood, not the "only" or "best" thing). What do people think, wouldn't it work for salmon and steelhead. Like one old bass guy told a couple of kids ready to put a bass on a stringer "What's more fun, eating dinner or catching fish? The kids thought about it, and said catching fish, so he said, if you turn that one loose you can catch him again and have more fun, but if you eat him, only have fun only once. So the kids turned it loose."
Now I for one would pass on a meal If it meant being able to catch more fish. Everybody let me know how you feel on this issue, please don't call me a "basshole" or "basswipe" on this one. I am as concerned about the future of our fisheries as everyone else.

Aaron

[Phish_on]

Bass are an invasive menace, like blackberries. They are not going to go away.

When a body of water is overpopulated, isn't the average size of the fish reduced? I know that's true w/ trout or kokanee. Isn't it good to take a few ?

I cooked the first bass I caught, it was all bony and tasted gaaakkkkkk, so I have always released them. After a recent thread on bass eating salmon/steelhead smolts ... they will be fertilizer.

I just wish they didn't have to be introduced ILEGALLY to trophy trout waters ... grrrrrrrrrrrr

[Jellyhead]

Phish,
I agree w/you on the part of illeagaly introduced bass. I think the guys playing johnny-bass-seed are giving bass guys a bad rap, especially in the case of the high cascade lakes.
But, your comment also made me think, what about hatchery introduced steelhead and salmon? They too compete w/native stocks (if there is such a thing?), this is a tough call because I enjoy the oportunity to catch hatchery fish, for the catching, not the eating. So I would hate to see them disapear, Man this is getting tough. I guess I'll just release all the hatchery fish I catch so they can spawn and make food for the bass I release?!?!? I think this issue is a little more complicated than that, now I gotta put on my thinking cap :-)

Aaron

[Trout,myster]

Jelly-
I've stayed out of these discussions in the past and will probably regret getting in this one, but what the hey?
I tend to practice catch and release on pretty much everything except ********* (AKA Northern Pike-Minnow). I was brought up learning game & fish from my dad who taught me to never kill anything unless I planned to eat it. That has just stayed with me through years of hunting and fishing. I gave up hunting in deer season of 1979 when some ******* took a shot at me in Klamath Falls area. Since then, I've only retained my love for fishing.
Now...I've been a member of B.A.S.S. since 1978 and love to fish for bass. I've also belonged to NW Steelheaders, NAFC, and a few other well known fishing organizations. I don't particularly care for the taste of bass and, as such, release them all. Do they belong here? Depends on where "here" is. I certainly agree they do not belong in lots of places (yes, the Umpqua is one of those) but they're here. As Phish stated, they are alot like blackberries and we're not going to get rid of them. Some of us don't really want to, though our intention is not to damage nature's balance by any means. I started fishing for walleye about 4 years ago and really enjoy that as well as the fact they're the best eating fish I've had. And I don't really care to eat any fish, just like to catch them. Most all fish eat smaller fish...that's the way it is and bass and walleye are no exceptions. Should we get rid of all the walleye in the Columbia? Good luck is all I can say.
I typically always release and will continue to release. I keep enough steelhead and salmon each year for eggs (although I've also had the "catch" problem this year) and a few barbeques and usually put one sturgeon and some walleye in the freezer. The rest go free unless they are injured or wild. I'm not a degreed fisheries biologist, so I have no idea whether hatchery fish spawn in the wild or not, but I usually give them a shot at it. As Chnookie stated,there's not much downside to it. Overall, I think there are enough folks out there who DO keep limits of fish of all kinds to balance what I release. Besides, watching a fish whether bass, walleye, steelhead, or salmon, swim away to fight another day makes me feel good. It's my day and my fish...I'll release it if I want. The guy/gal next to me has the same right and it doesn't particularly disturb me with what they do if they're going to take it home and eat it.

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Troutmyster

[Ray Wilcken]

Sounds like a bunch of wimps that don't like to eat fish to me! Never met a fish that I did not like to eat! Bass are good to eat if they come from a cold water lake! I have never cared much for fishing for them. More often than not I like to catch and release "legal" fish (trout, salmon) into the frying pan or oven! I don't believe this makes me a radical! I believe there are too many catch and release streams already in Oregon. The state needs to have more fish & wildlife people handing out fines to those that take illegal fish. This will do more than any catch and release policy will ever do in preserving the fish population. Surely all the money they are garnishing on the fishing licences and tags can be put to use somewhere!

[hawgcatcher]

I have practiced catch and release on almost all of my fish except I do keep some salmon to eat. I have done this since the late 60's. I have fished for many years for bass and I have found that they are better in colder running waters. They used to be better in the Willamette but even back then, we found fish with wierd bodies. I have seen chemicals dumped into the Willamette at the paper mills in Oregon City, so strong that the water boiled and you couldn't breathe. I feel this is what has killed our anadromus fish, not the Bass or Walleye. They take some but the pollution, Indian Fisheries, long line netting and poor management care has done much more. Funny thing is that I even remember that in the fifties and early sixties, Steelhead were considered a trash fish by the old timers.
They weren't caught and released, just killed and thrown back. What will it be in the year 2050 and on?

[David Johnson]

As it was asked what is wrong with releasing hatchery fish? Let them spawn?

Sure they may be successful at spawning in the wild or they may not. There may be some straying But you can count on most of them going back to the hatchery and there they will just get bonked and sold to the highest bidder. It's a joke if you think you are doing the fish a favor of "giving them a shot" at spawning. They are just going to be smoked up by some fish processor or worse, made into fish or pet food.

Catch and release is great for "natives" of wild fish but hatchery fish are there for the taking.

And about the hanford reach chinook, that is the most healthy population of wild chinook in the lower 48, they are very self sustaining. We could fish and keep all those we want and not hurt that run. By the way, the reason those fish are healthy is they have a 20+ mile section of free flowing river and they don't have to go through so many dams as the Snake River chinook.

[Salmonator]

Smallmouth from clean cold water are very good eating. My family's best camp meal was a few years back at Philipi Park, John Day arm. Fresh caught channel cat and smallmouth filleted, floured, egged, italian bread crumbed and fryed at riverside. Cannot think of a better meal i've ever had, camp or not... Joe

[Hoosier Daddy]

Exactly Phish. In the case of resident fish species (not native, RESIDENT) it is usually better to harvest some. Kokanee is a great example, as are smallmouth bass. I think it is MORE important to do catch and release where possible on anadromous fish. There is very little downside to it (they don't compete for food, just spawning) and lots of upside. Do it when you can. Me, I don't worry about it, cause I can't get the "catch" part down.

[Jellyhead]

Thanks for the relpys so far guys. Don't get me wrong, I don't object to keeping fish. I'm with Trout on the fact that my released fish my help offset some of the fish kept in a population. As far as giving hatchery andranamous fish a chance, you never know some other lucky guy might get a chance to catch that fish before he makes it to the hatchery and is turned into cat food.
Good Responses, I enjoy reading others opinions on this subject.

Aaron

[THE REEL HEY_YALL]

I do believe I gave the educated, non-partisan answer as to why there are bass showing up in more of the watersheds out here. The birds, not this gang of Johnny-bass-seeds or whatever you called them. The birds collect the eggs on their legs and then fly to another lake, etc. and deposit the eggs. Now I am sure some people have transplanted, but they can't compete with the birds. Personally I would rather catch a bass over a trout any day of the week, and yes, I do flyfish from time to time. Now Phish I don't know why you just slammed bass when in a previous thread you talked about how fun catching bass is. And in reply to another question, YES if a lake becomes over-populated, then the average size of the fish is smaller because of competition for food. On alot of my lakes back on my farm, I will toss the bass on shore to use as fertilizer or feed the dogs with it, but only if it's a really small critter and that's primarily all I am catching. I really started doing this when my average fish that I was catching fell well below 2.5 pounds. Now that's a sweeeeet average per fish. We have had umpteen 13+ pound bass come out of my favorite lake on our place. The biggest I have ever hooked was 16 pounds, but try that on 8lb test line with a largemouth bass...=snap goes the line. I am a bass man, and I am an anadromous fishing guy, and yes I love the salmonids more, but to bash bass is lame.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I also like fishing for bass. Haven't done it in awhile, but in High School, I thought I wanted to be a Pro bass guy (for a few weeks). We got in this whole discussion a couple weeks ago. I think my first post was a little misunderstood, maybe I said the wrong thing even. I'm not a huge fan of just letting hatchery fish spawn, it depends on the situation. When I said there was little down side to letting fish go, I mostly meant naturally-produced (note I didn't say WILD, how PC of me) fish. There are, at times, some serious down sides to letting hatchery fish spawn near/with naturally-produced fish. There are also times when its probably fine, or when its even preferable.

As far as the birds transplanting fish, I have to say, yeah, that happens, but like I said before, birds didn't bring warmwater fish over the Rockies to Oregon. We did. And there are a lot more johnny-bass/crappie/bluegill/?-seeds around than any of us probably think there are.

Ray - you mentioned Fish and Wildlife should hand out more tickets. Just to clarify, in Oregon, the ODFW doesn't handle law enforcement, hasn't since the 70's (I think, but not sure how long its been). The State Police has their own division for this. I'm sure some or most of their funding comes from licensing, etc., but.... If you want more enforcement, you should contact your legislator's and tell them so. It's one of the things that comes up last on the list every time budgets are handed out, and doesn't get hardly any public support.

[Phish_on]

Jelly, you can bring those hatchery salmon and steelhead over to my place!

Hey_yall - yeah they're fun to catch, I never said otherwise ! I'll still go after them once in a while ... the "bird" thing is interesting, but I'm pretty sure there's a Redneck Bonehead factor also.

Hatchery fish must be eaten - we're paying for 'em.