Friendly fishing ?

I am not sure exactly what that means , but I think it encompasses many things . I for one don't really like fishing much , I am much more into Ketchn :Rofl
But all joking aside some of the things we do out there on the water to be friendly will bring back memories to others and not just the 2 legged variety .
Case in point , TPW has a sign at one lake I visit frequently that promotes friendly fishing and all to often I adhere to it .
So you see here is one example and or description of said term " friendly fishing"
just a quick reminder that keeping a bunch is nice ,but letting a bunch go free has it rewards as well . watching a real nice slab swim off kind of warms ones heart a bit ,
unless of course one don't get to hold it and get at least a photo or 2 :Rofl

I love to fish, catching is a bonus. :)

What ezgoing said.

What sign says /+=not playing Radio so loud I can hear it in my boat....and respect fishermen and not try to wash them under.

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Originally Posted by cva34

What sign says /+=not playing Radio so loud I can hear it in my boat....and respect fishermen and not try to wash them under.

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The people who need that sign are too stupid to understand it or are so ignorant that they think rules don't apply to them. :(

California don’t have size limit for crappie. While I released a 12 or 14” the guys next to me keeping 6-8”. I even jokingly with them about how small the fish and not worth to fillet.
In the mean time I had a guy come in and he said he haven’t seen crappies for years. I immediately gave him my only jig and lure from my rod and told him where to cast.

I often think it would be best to allow smaller crappie to be kept. That might remove enough crappie from the lake so those that remain would grow to a larger size.

I know this sounds odd but in the 50's a lake near Stockton California had a huge population of undersized bass but nothing of any size. They changed the rules where you had to release all bass caught over 12" but had to keep all bass caught under 12". A few years later they were able to go back to the normal size regulations of releasing the smaller bass and keeping the larger bass as the lake had a good population of large bass again.

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Originally Posted by ezgoing

I often think it would be best to allow smaller crappie to be kept. That might remove enough crappie from the lake so those that remain would grow to a larger size.

I know this sounds odd but in the 50's a lake near Stockton California had a huge population of undersized bass but nothing of any size. They changed the rules where you had to release all bass caught over 12" but had to keep all bass caught under 12". A few years later they were able to go back to the normal size regulations of releasing the smaller bass and keeping the larger bass as the lake had a good population of large bass again.

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Where I crappie fish 8-9" is about average size. I'd love to find larger ones, 12-15". But I'm not quiting on my little bugger's either! Darn good eating!

Everybody says the same thing about Joe Pool Lake here in Texas. They call the ones just under 10" Joe Pool Specials since some days that seems to be all you can catch. But it's way too expensive to keep anything under 10" here. Plus you can also lose your fishing privileges for five years, which would really hurt. So no matter how good they may be to eat I will pass on them. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ezgoing

I often think it would be best to allow smaller crappie to be kept. That might remove enough crappie from the lake so those that remain would grow to a larger size.

I know this sounds odd but in the 50's a lake near Stockton California had a huge population of undersized bass but nothing of any size. They changed the rules where you had to release all bass caught over 12" but had to keep all bass caught under 12". A few years later they were able to go back to the normal size regulations of releasing the smaller bass and keeping the larger bass as the lake had a good population of large bass again.

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That what I’ve heard and try to make myself accept that. I’ve heard the same thing about bass but can’t make myself to keep any and would feel sad if I see anyone keep undersized bass. I plan to harvest some crappie too around winter and spring enough to make my wife think I didn’t spend money on my fishing gears for nothing.

Well said Ketchn.