Thread: Opening a bag of worms

I am a believer in the biologists for the Ky fish and wildlife and believe that if taking females during the spawn was a problem there would be some regs on it. They study the populations and have the data.


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I am a catch and release guy. Mostly because I do not eat what I catch, which would be a thing for me. I was raised if you need to eat then eat what you catch. I hunt for food at the grocery market. I do not hunt for fun. I do fish for fun, so releasing is the way for me. Secondly, I am too lazy to to do the work of cleaning and preparing the fish. been there done that. Someday if it takes that to eat then I will do it again. We all do what is the best for us. If you feel better for releasing, then do it. If a guy needs food, then he should keep. No harm, no foul.

Originally Posted by bobgill

I have fished farm ponds for almost 70 yrs., Toledo Bend since day one. My opinion, the very worst thing you can do for a healthy fish population is to not fish it. And I mean fish it hard. Doesn't matter if it's a 3 acre pond or 181,000 acre lake.

I also believe this.


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Originally Posted by fishervet

I rarely catch fish so when I do……I keep all of them….


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You're right not all angler's on here catch a lot of fish and when they do get a mess it's great that they have something to enjoy at the end of the day or whenever they decide to cook them. Great opinions guys, each worth the time it took to answer the thread. Personal preference and common sense is what makes this sport of Crappie fishing what it is. We all aren't going to agree with each other every time. It's was awesome to get other anglers in other states opinions. We're all blessed with an abundance of fishing opportunities. I believe it was Bill Dance that said "Keep what you can use and release the rest" even though I think he's talking about bass, the same can be used here. Great guys

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Great advice for everything that is caught or harvested

I will add to it that I don’t believe in being wasteful or greedy either. The best sportsman is a conservationist and the best conservationist is a sportsman imo.


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Originally Posted by CentKyPaddler

I will add to it that I don’t believe in being wasteful or greedy either. The best sportsman is a conservationist and the best conservationist is a sportsman imo.


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Very well said

Originally Posted by bobgill

I have fished farm ponds for almost 70 yrs., Toledo Bend since day one. My opinion, the very worst thing you can do for a healthy fish population is to not fish it. And I mean fish it hard. Doesn't matter if it's a 3 acre pond or 181,000 acre lake.

Completely agree with this! I know of a lake that suffers from an underfishing problem and also b/c of the underfishing, there are not many fish taken out. Now that lake produces almost nothing but 4" to 6" crappie. I have caught and released and I have caught and put back. As long as you follow the restrictions set by wildlife & fisheries, I don't have a problem with keeping their catch, I also don't have a problem with putting some back. It's kind of like an outboard motor, the worse thing you can do to it, is to NOT use it! Just like the worse thing you can do to a pond/lake is NOT fish it! Just my 2 cents.