# why???



## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

I have no problem seeing people keep trout, cats, and pan fish but for some reason when I see people keeping small and large mouth bass I find myself shaking my head. Bass fever has caught me bad and I wish everyone would throw them back cause they are just too much fun to catch. I don't want to be that snobby catch and release guy but if I can convince one person out there fishing to release a bass than I'll give it a shot, even if I have to lie and tell a kid they have some weird disease  . anyways, I'm loving this bass stuff.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Bass fishing is a riot.

Sometimes bass can overcrowd a body of water and then become stunted. We use to throw the dinks in the weeds for the ***** on our farm pond

I love eating small mouth fillets off of the medium size fish. And I like 9" to 12" largemouth, filletted with the skin on and the scales removed. I throw the bigger stuff back.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

utahgolf said:


> I'm loving this bass stuff.


Glad you are enjoying it. Those 10 inch planter bows are never going to cut it for you again. 



utahgolf said:


> I wish everyone would throw them back cause they are just too much fun to catch. I don't want to be that snobby catch and release guy but if I can convince one person out there fishing to release a bass than I'll give it a shot,


What needs to be promoted is not 100% C&R, but *selective harvest*. Bass, especially smallies, reproduce well enough to allow for some harvest. In fact, the lake can become overrun with little guys that don't grow very much, due to them gobbling up all of the food. This is what has happened at Deer Creek the past few years. We have even seen this to some extent at Jordanelle. The key though is to harvest the abundant small fish and throw back the bigger ones. This allows both the remaining small fish and the bigger fish to grow more due to more abundant food. The warmwater coordinator of the DWR has compared it to a cookie jar. A cookie jar (or lake) can only hold so many cookies (fish biomass). If you want some big cookies, then you have to remove some of the crumbs from the jar. The lake Powell biologist has also advocated this approach and seen growth improvements when followed.

Now, all that said, yes, please,please,please throw back the big ones. If they are removed with no small fish harvest, then there is little growth to replace the bigguns taken. Also, at the recent DWR open house, a Jordanelle biologist stated that the biologists still want to see a lot of big ones remain to keep the bigger chubs in check.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Wiper is some tasty meat!

I also like smallmouth, but only if I can eat one big enough to mess with. Now with the new regs at many lakes, I'll be able to try some, if I'm lucky enough to catch one. Same goes for largemouth.

White flaky meat is pretty good. If I weren't the worst fillet artist on Earth, I might be more inclined to seek out some of the tender goodness. Fun to catch though, that's for sure!

Not to worry though, bass guys. I won't make it a habit. I'm a trout guy at heart (and stomach).


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

Dont be a catch and release snob. Like the guys on the green giving dirty looks and mumbling stuff because I kept a thirteen inch football trout. If there are plenty of fish, like on the green, then whats wrong with taking a couple. On the other hand, it sucks when a lake gets totally ruined due to harvest especially if people waste or take more than their share/limit.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

I also like selective harvest.
I usually release the bass that I catch but I have kept a few once in a while.
I would like to see the Regs on bass go state wide to a 4 fish limit with only 1 over 12".


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

Utah Golf I am your worst nighmere. For me it is all based on the size to the body of water I am fishing. If it is a pond then I will release them, but the lakes are a whole different story for me. Bass taste's great beer battered!


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

there are definitely some places that can handle it and others can't but the big ones on any species should prob be thrown back, the small ones taste better anyways. I guess with bass I just love the fight so much that I like as much opportunity as possible and that's why I like the CPR method. catch,photo,release. I'll keep white bass every now and then, same with jumbo perch. but as long as your legal than have at it. it's weird the phases people go through, I use to like to keep fish when I was younger and I never thought I would be spending lots of money on bass gear.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

It does seem to be an age thing in some ways.
The older I get, the less important it is for me to keep fish. I seldom even even take a camera with me when I fish any more.
It may have something to do with all the years that I have fished compared to someone much younger that doesn't have the miles on them yet.
It's all good though as long as we all keep within the laws.


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## Swaner (Sep 10, 2007)

You wouldn't be happy if you saw the fish my neighbor kid brought home yesterday then. I was out working in the yard when he came over and asked if I would fillet his fish he caught out at Clinton Pond yesterday. I told him sure but wasn't too confident about filleting out a little planter bow. Well he brings over a cutting board with a 20" largemouth that had to be pushing 5 lbs. My first though was holy $#!t that's a huge fish but then I remembered all of the signs around the ponds about releasing the bass. After hearing the kids story though and how it made his day, and probably his year, I wasn't about to ruin his day by saying he should have released it. I congratulated him and told him it was a helluva fish he caught. 

I don't think I've ever kept a bass regardless of how big it is. I'm more of a trout guy but love the fight that bass put up. I think some harvest is good like most things in life, all things in moderation.


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

I don't understand why people like to eat these white fleshed fish. Bass taste gross. Trout is a million times tastier. Just my 2 cents, but I throw them back.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Golf, don't be like that man. You have to understand that everybody fishes and hunts for different reasons. To me catch and release is not satisfying at all. I'm not knocking those who love it but if a body of water is catch and release only, I'm not even going to consider fishing it. I fish for food, I love the fun of catching them, but if I can't take my catch home to the dinner table I wouldn't even go out. Same way with hunting for me.

I think it is up to each induvidual to make those choices but don't judge others for doing things different. I could shake my head at you for catching and stressing all those fish and cause some of them to die. I mean if you go catch 30 fish and 6 of them die from stress of injury and I catch 6 fish and keep them for dinner what is the difference? I say lets all just stay withen the law and lets all just have a great time on the water and in the woods no need to cast your line of judgment on others methods.

Funny story, when I was a kid me and my brother would load up on BIG largemouths back in a little park pond in Louisiana. We'd have a stinger full of 2-6 pound bass all the time and the worste part about it was we would do this while they were spawning. We'd pretty much keep the bank cleared of fish during the spawn. The other older fishermen would fuss at us all the time and we didn't care. Well, years later the old park went down hill. Talked to one of the park rengers and he said the bass got over populated and now all that is in there is little bitty bluegill and little 8 inch bass. Looks like we weren't hurting things afterall!!


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

torowy said:


> I don't understand why people like to eat these white fleshed fish. Bass taste gross. Trout is a million times tastier. Just my 2 cents, but I throw them back.


It is all about how you cook them brother. Egg and hot sauce, bread crumbs, beer, back in the crumbs and into the oil!! You won't even care about those [email protected]!


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## MKP (Mar 7, 2010)

I don't understand how anyone could eat any fish (especially trout -)O(- ). They're all gross if you ask me.


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## rdoggsilva (Apr 6, 2011)

Trout taste ok, bass and bluegill are good but nothing taste as great as catfish.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

rdoggsilva said:


> Trout taste ok, bass and bluegill are good but nothing taste as great as catfish.


Hmmmm I'm thinking about releasing my secret recipe list you guys obviously don''t know how to cook!! o-||


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

What needs to be promoted is not 100% C&R, but selective harvest

as it should be.


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

I get a kick out of people who post stuff like.... i'm not trying to be "one of those snobs" but after that it's usually a snobbish comment lol. No offense I get your point and I agree to a point. I usually go w/ my sweet tooth instinct. I'm not afraid to take bass home, I love the taste of bass, perch, and walleye all about the same so to me, meat is meat but I feel like I have respect and some knowledge of how the regs work and why limits are set and if I feel like it's going to hurt the fishery with me taking a few out I generally won't do it.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

AFD,
I agree with you. The DWR sets bag limits to protect the fish.
If we follow the regs, the fish will be just fine.
Selective harvest is a great thing!
I am C&R 90% of the time but some fish for dinner once in a while is a fine treat.


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