[flathunter]

I fished with H20 Mellon tonight, we got skunked
I think that makes 5 times we have fished together in the last two years for nothing We hit paint creek tonight to no avil...This has really got to end sometime? I hope? Sorry agin Bryan!

 

[flathunter]

Forgot to mention, we saw people leaving the spillway with baskets full of 8inch channel cats..Always amazes me!

 

[JUSTCRAZY]

I have no problem with people keeping some fish, but never understood why they would want to keep something so small. I have seen this a ton in the central Ohio area. People keep stuff that I would use for bait and say they are going to eat it. How do you fillet an 8" cat or 4 inch crappie, etc?
I once heard it said about a certain lake that its whole contents were going to leave in a 5 gallon bucket, but I think it applies to more than just that lake.

Better luck next time out, hope they haven't taken all you fish out of the river!

 

[cowboy]

Im seeing the ame thing down at Meldahl dam, this same guy I see him all the time, every time he catches 10 sauger, all dinks, and keeps every single one of them, I always want to say something to him, but I dont. This is why Fish are disappearing in some places!!!!

 

[flathunter]

Do you think it would help if the dnr put up signs at such places, and those signs would educate people about selective harvest?

 

[Slabslayer]

Wouldn't make a bit of difference to post signs. These peolpe could care less about the health and future of the fishery. Common sense should tell you that if you keep every fish you catch, every time out, that the fishery will suffer, but people like these seem to lack common sense, or they just don't care. The only way to stop this practice, or at least limit it, is to impose size or slot limits on all species, or at least the most sought after species in particular waters. This will probably never happen, so the meat hunter will continue to fill their buckets. Don't get me wrong, I like to keep some crappie and cats for the skillet, but you gotta be selective about the size and numbers you keep.

 

[mcmd8700]

Interesting topic. I saw this in a show and in In-Fisherman. They make an agrument whereas you keep small to medium sized fish in favor of the larger fish to maintain good fisheries. While I do not condone the harvesting of anything under the size limits, sometimes weeding out over abundent fish may not be a bad thing. I think slot limits where you cannot keep anything under a certain amount or over a certain amount seem to work as well. The story was trying to make the point that when you have too many small fish, they tend to slow down growth rates.

I am not trying to stick up for people keeping a bunch of small fish. I actually release 95% of my fish. Just thought I would throw this in. Here is a lick for an online article on the issue:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/articles/if2902_AnglesHarvest/index.html

 

[JUSTCRAZY]

I understand the selective harvest and I agree with taking the smaller to medium size fish, BUT and 8" channel cat, 3-4 crappie. You would be just as well to eat your bait too.
I'm not meaning anything harsh against you bringing up the article and I understand your stance of catch and release is there. It is just nuts what some people will keep.

 

[mcmd8700]

Yes, I agree. Not even worth cleaning those small fish, although, I once saw a guy keeping 4 inch and even smaller fish, and he informed me that he puts them in a grinder, bones and all, and makes patties out of them. He told me that the bones are so soft when they are that small that you would never know they were in there. Needless to say I did not give him any of my fish.

 

[H2O Mellon]

It was sickening, These Channels cats would have been great........ to keep in an aquaruim, but not to take & clean. Jack may ahve been stretching it too, 8 inches may have been a little gererous in size!

The best was when a lady said they just caught a cat & asked if we wanted it, heck no I didnt want it, throw it back so someone else can catch it later.