Is keeping stocked fish wrong?

Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (Full Version)

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Fishkid290333 -> Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:17:35 PM)
Yes i know this is up for debate, but the fish commission does put in the fish for a purpose. Is it alright to catch a 25 in. fish and keep it for the mount is my main question.

FisHMaNning -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:21:31 PM)
just get a good picture man, most taxidermists now a days do mounts with pictures, just get the exact measurements, you know girth, length, weight, any unique attributes. i put all my fish back, it makes me sick seeing people run around with fish that is just gonna be waisted for the sake of flaunting around full stringers lol. yea you caught fish woooopdy dooo.. you know? just think, that 25 incher u throw back is gonna make someone else as happy as it made you. maybe some little kid will catch it and be hoooked on the sport his whole life.

jonnyfishon -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:21:45 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Fishkid290333 Yes i know this is up for debate, but the fish commission does put in the fish for a purpose. Is it alright to catch a 25 in. fish and keep it for the mount is my main question. You paid for that fish. I dont keep them because i dont eat them. You can mount it or put it in your fish tank or you can let them go.If the fish holdover and can reproduce in good water than i would love for people to let them go to increase our catches. Its all about catching them for me.

mgp629 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:23:55 PM)
It is in my opinion. Also if you catch a 9 inch fish and want to eat it I think that alright too.Just don't fill the freezer with fish for the future and let them go to waste. Eat them or mount them or slide them back in. Just my two cents.

Fishkid290333 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:33:30 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: mgp629 It is in my opinion. Also if you catch a 9 inch fish and want to eat it I think that alright too.Just don't fill the freezer with fish for the future and let them go to waste. Eat them or mount them or slide them back in. Just my two cents. Thats my whole modo.. but if i use live bait (Rarely anymore) and the fish swallows it and it wont survive thats when i keep a fish. It get to someones belly, mine or someone that i give it too.

Fishkid290333 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:35:10 PM)
Trust me that fish isnt paid for, complementry from the PA Fish and Boat commission

DJ2007 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:48:34 PM)
No prob in keeping a fish to eat. But why to mount? The replicas look better and last longer. I made the mistake of keeping a 4.5lb rainbow, my taxidermermist recommended a replica. It looked better than the real thing! The big fish didn't taste great either.

Fishkid290333 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:50:42 PM)
Replicas are a bit more $, yes?

jonnyfishon -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:54:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Fishkid290333 Trust me that fish isnt paid for, complementry from the PA Fish and Boat commission In nj they sold something like 550,000 trout stamps and the stocked less than that. Trust me they are paid for.

youghdude -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:55:09 PM)
Take a camera stap a QUICK picture and release. Besides, you could post it here and brag to all of us!!! There is nothing wrong with keeping a few fish to eat. I may keep three or four a year. Its just the idiots who walk around with a stinger full that gets me. Most of these fish will go to waste. There is nothing better than catching about ten trout while these clowns are watching and releasing them. Even if the trout are in a water that does not hold trout well, let it go so somebody may get the chance to have some fun with the same fish as you did. Even the big ones.

smallhook -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 9:55:52 PM)
There is nothing wrong with keeping fish. I keep maybe 20 fish a year and My Family and I eat everyone. I only keep them when I mortally wound them, or, if I killed one and put it on the stringer I usually like to keep one or two more. When I was younger I kept more but now it seems like alot of work. While fishing to day I noticed alot of the trout I wa catching has been caught a few times before me. Guys play them till they chew up the sides of their mouths with their mono line. More guys should be concerned with getting them in and releasing them quicker if they plan on releasing them.

DJ2007 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 10:04:32 PM)
Not sure, but if a replica is more its minimal. release it and Let someone else have a shot, hell maybe you'll catch it again in the future, could be bigger?

flyfisherman -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 11:09:16 PM)
Taking a quick picture is always the way to go.... and since we are on the topic of keeping fish, I want to make a quick comment. The last time I went to the yough, I saw about 15 guys and I believe about 13 of them had full stringers of fish. I too am a big fan of the C&R but if you choose to keep fish, then go for it! You pay alot of money for a license. The thing that gets me tho is the fact that these guys are keeping a full stringer of 10 inch fish. Now, I know the guys I saw were not fishing for dinner, and I wonder why they keep so many tiny fish.....if they had enough money to drive there, then putting food on the table is probably not too high on the priority list. I sometimes feel that people keep so many fish just to show off their awsome fishing skills. I just hope that some day they realize that other people dont care....

Loomis -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/27/2008 11:13:06 PM)
Pennsylvania is a put and take fishery. I probably keep 3 trout a year, one of those being steelhead the rest of the time im full catch and release, but you paying for your lisence gives you the right to walk out with a limit anytime you want, so use your discrestion, it is truly your decision. As far as mounting goes I havent caught a trout worth mounting yet, nothing under 20 lbs will even get so much as a blink of consideration, but again, your decision.

Tacklebuster -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 12:43:47 AM)
I feel that if you want to keep the fish to mount or eat that is solely up to you. If it were something like a huge musky or even a fish capable of reproducing i would surely release it. Even though i do release all my trout but for the simple fact that i don't eat them. But in my opinion, I have to agree with Loomis on this one. I personally think that the majority of PA waters not all that are stocked by the PFBC are a put and take fishery. But thats just my opinion.

Swans500 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 7:10:41 AM)
I have posted several times this season on this subject. My situation has me fishing Turtle Creek for the 1st few weeks of trout season. Observation, and other info, has me convinced there is absolute minimal reproduction of the stockies in this creek....and next to no survival of the fish over each summer. It is easy to see the results of most of the C&R....dead fish everywhere, mostly the smallest ones. And before everyone starts on about the water quality there being the culprit....there are still plenty of very lively and seemingly healthy trout getting caught up to June or so. In, say, Twin Lakes....it seems that the trout can survive year round, so C&R is a choice, but in places like T Creek....a different story. Thus....yes, I keep every one I catch, and I eat every one because I like them. Been fishing since 5 years old and always found something nice about eating what I catch...within the law of course. How it can upset some of these "precious" people to see us keeping a stringer full of stocked fish is ridiculous in certain situations such as I have mentioned. They are put there to give anglers of all levels a few weeks of easy fun and a meal source if so chosen. They are not placed there to begin some marvellous breeding cycle. It wont happen. What REALLY upsets me is....well for the past few days there has been a lone Palomino hanging about in a hole in T Creek. No-one can get it to take any sort of bait. Yesterday three teenage kids were trying to tempt it in traditional fashion....ended up getting pissed off with it and started pelting at it with rocks, swearing at it and generally traumatising a fish that was too clever for them. Sickening lack of respect for a living creature. Catch these stockies, but treat them with dignity whether releasing or eating them.

Loomis -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 7:40:02 AM)
Swans, "Thus....yes, I keep every one I catch, and I eat every one because I like them." -nothing wrong with that. Turtle Creek is a damn discrace they should just hand out stringers of fish to people there...I agree with you. As far the the taking of fish and C&R anglers resenting that its easy to see. If you are a C&R angler you are working to keep the trout around so you can fish a bait stream all winter long, as some of us do on here....I'll admit, I dont like to see fish on stringers, but who am I to tell you its wrong? If your family likes to eat trout, then by all means! But as long as you are using them in a reasonable manner and not just keeping them for the hell of it, I think thats whats going on here....us as C&R anglers don't practice keeping fish, but it's easier to see when we know the trout are going to be used for a good thing and not just as "bragging rights". Some places are better to take fish than others. Oh and PS, i caught a brown at Turtle creek with green slime on its back, maybe it adds flavor! lol

Swans500 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 8:15:16 AM)
Yes Loomis....I agree with your words. I always did release them under 11' in TC until I saw the wastage. Now I just get my 5 and go home...if I manage to get 5!

andyg -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 5:05:13 PM)
Went out to Bessemer Lake last year in June, water temps in the 80's, dead 10 to 12 inch trout were everywhere. So unless you catch a stocked trout in an area that it has a realistic chance to survive the summer, which eliminates 75% of stocked waters, you might as well keep it.

CATMAN610 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 5:07:53 PM)
The very simple answer is,,,,,yes,,,keep whatever you want.

Split Shot -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 6:20:32 PM)
If you have a license, then keep what ever you want up to the limit. Guys don't care how many Crappy you take (and they have to reproduce on their own) but, worry about taking a Steelhead that get replenished every year. ?????? As far as a getting a fish mounted. Everyone has a different opinion of what is a trophy. A real Musky guy wouldn't think of mounting a 40" fish. But, a guy who never caught one before would think of it as a trophy! If you want to mount it. Mount it! Forget the replica. You don't want to look at a plastic thing on the wall that looks like the fish you caught. Just my opinion! good fish'n

Kokanee Killer -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 6:35:37 PM)
selective harvest but to each his own i just enjoy the chance to fish[;)]

Deadbolt401 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/28/2008 7:52:25 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Split Shot If you have a license, then keep what ever you want up to the limit. Guys don't care how many Crappy you take (and they have to reproduce on their own) but, worry about taking a Steelhead that get replenished every year. ?????? As far as a getting a fish mounted. Everyone has a different opinion of what is a trophy. A real Musky guy wouldn't think of mounting a 40" fish. But, a guy who never caught one before would think of it as a trophy! If you want to mount it. Mount it! Forget the replica. You don't want to look at a plastic thing on the wall that looks like the fish you caught. Just my opinion! good fish'n Dude you nailed it. Thank god I didn't have to type that. [:D]

trouthater -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/29/2008 6:34:17 AM)
Its a put and take fishery! The state puts them and the fishermen can take them. (if they choose to)

Bull Lifter -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/29/2008 7:36:33 PM)
Yeah i see nothing wrong with keeping them We(you) paid for a trout stamp, paid for the fish, the die off in the summer...i could care less if you keep them... ha i just read split shot. that was pretty well said...they're just trout..in my book.. lotta guys are saying put it back so someone else can catch it...nice thought i released plenty this year(kept 5? for my dad to smoke..one was over 20)..but really..c'mon if you cant catch a stocked trout something is terribly wrong...terribly...very terrribly wrong with the way you are fishing... put in take out...thats how its been done for many of years....

Livinfishin -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/29/2008 7:39:49 PM)
If you paid for a license then you are entiltled to your limit everytime you fish.

jlh42581 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/30/2008 7:05:16 AM)
I think what some people forget is that a trout isnt going to just lay there and die, if it can help it. Many streams are tributaries to larger streams with cold water. Or, streams that may not be large that still run cold. Trout have been observed traveling 25 miles in one night to feed on a hatch and the returning where they were before morning. SO.... Maybe a stream warms up, those trout find a trib, a larger body of water or maybe a couple cold springs. They move there and survive. Ive taken temps on Spring as high as 72 in the summer. That is fatal for trout. You know what though, theres so many tribs, underground springs, even with water running in the inches the fish survive. Just something to think about.

Cold -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (4/30/2008 11:51:20 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlh42581 Trout have been observed traveling 25 miles in one night to feed on a hatch and the returning where they were before morning. That's pretty impressive. Where'd you learn that, like an article or something? If it's online, I'd enjoy reading something about that.

jlh42581 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (5/1/2008 6:25:39 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Cold quote: ORIGINAL: jlh42581 Trout have been observed traveling 25 miles in one night to feed on a hatch and the returning where they were before morning. That's pretty impressive. Where'd you learn that, like an article or something? If it's online, I'd enjoy reading something about that. I heard it on a podcast I cant remember exactly where anymore but the guy who talked about it spent 1000 hours in scuba gear with trout.

jlh42581 -> RE: Is keeping stocked fish wrong? (5/1/2008 6:34:48 AM)
Oh... I Was wrong, it was only a mile a night. Still, thats one night. Here it is, I found it. Click Here

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