What size limits do you set for yourself when deciding what to keep, on the follow fish: crappie, bluegill, sunfish(shellcracker, pumpkinseed, longear, etc) and yellow perch. Thanks.
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What size limits do you set for yourself when deciding what to keep, on the follow fish: crappie, bluegill, sunfish(shellcracker, pumpkinseed, longear, etc) and yellow perch. Thanks.
I throw ‘em all back.
Yeah, me to... because I hate cleaning fish Lol ,but if someone wants mine to eat, I am happy to give them away.Quote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
I eat as many as I can, but my buddy and I are constantly going back and forth on what size to keep.
BREAM 8-10 , CRAPPIE 12.25, Catfish all under 3 lb. , BASS release all .
Thanks . I release all bass, and don't fish for catfish at all but would imagine those under 3 would eat rhe best. We don't catch many big crappie so usually anything 10 and over might get to the fry pan.
Then I was teenager, we were fishing next to an older lady, and she saw us throwing away all the little tiny bluegills back and was complaining, so I said, you keep those? And she said... "yeah, fry' em hard". I guess that meant she ate the whole thing. LolQuote:
Originally Posted by MCG1
Been years since I’ve kept any fish at all.
Regards
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I throw them back
Panfish in general, over 8. Crackers, some bigger than that. Crappie, 12 or better. Most times I lip em and look down their back. If there isn’t any shoulders, they go back. More often than not they all get a pass. NEVER keep any bass, but the 12” eat better than the bigger ones. I don’t even know what the minimum for bass is. Love me some Warmouth fillets though when they’re runnin big.
Not to change the topic but I have a question for those who say they never harvest a bass. Just curious why? Taste, catch and release mentality, mercury contamination, just don’t harvest fish, etc...? There isn’t a right or wrong answer. Just curious. Thanks.
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Bass where I typically fish have a mercury warning. I’d rather eat bream or crappie and catfish. Typically don’t keep mister whiskers over about 3 lbs or so and if a bream is hooked deep or I think it’s hurt I keep it regardless of size, otherwise about my hand size and chunky feeling will make the skillet. I have eaten bass and enjoyed it but I don’t target them anymore so they get a pass.
Fish true bream ponds/lakes . Bass control numbers of bream . We never take one out and yes it is over ran with small/tiny bass .Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
it basically depends on if I am hungry for fish . I can fillet a 4 inch fish if I want to .
there are times I only keep 2 over 12 inch crappie .
and sometimes I keep 25 6 inch bluegill .
a young 14 to 18 inch bluecat is hard to throw back .
a medium size chunky 2 lb bass is also possible if its about dinner
but most often the fish just get to swim on , we only eat fish once a week at my house .
[QUOTE=skeetbum;4013351]Panfish in general, over 8. Crackers, some bigger than that. Crappie, 12 or better. Most times I lip em and look down their back. If there isn’t any shoulders, they go back. More often than not they all get a pass. NEVER keep any bass, but the 12” eat better than the bigger ones. I don’t even know what the minimum for bass is. Love me some Warmouth fillets though when they’re runnin big.[/QUOTE
My Warmouth catches are accidental when fishing for Bream. How do you target just Warmouth?
+1:hesaidQuote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
Bob
Keep a couple of dozen brim per year and throw most everything else back - at least in years when I get to go fishing more than a couple of times. They've got to be filleting size for me - 8 inches.
Gills - Depends on if I want whole fry or filets..... Thickness plays a big role in determining if they're a keeper or not either way.. .... They sure are tasty......
Crappie - For crappie I prefer 11 to 13" as they turn out the best filets for me...... They're tasty too.....:cheers2
I keep several limits of crappie as I not only supply my home with fish but several in my family that can't get out to fish.....
8" and above for panfish, unless I am real hungry. Crappie 9" and above. Bass 12". Catfish most any size above 2# up to 10#.
Crappie 11", bream have to be big ones, all else go back in. Spawning females go back. I do not like the taste of catfish or trout at all. Small bass 14"-16" taste good, but I always let them go unless gut-hooked, which is rare as I almost never use minnows.
If I can fillet it, I'll keep it. If it's too small to fillet (or use for bait), it goes back. I don't often keep fish. A good day of fishing should end with the ride home, not cleaning a bunch of fish :). I'm old, hot, and tired!
Bream, for the most part, I'll release (unless I need fish in the freezer).
Fish you didn't ask about....
catfish, probably 2-5 pounds.
bass, at least 12 inches.
sand bass (white bass), anything worth filleting. Same for stripers and hybrids (as long as they're legal length, of course).
crappie, I never measured, but again, something worth filleting.
People who won't keep bass, but will keep large bluegills, I'm lost. If bass are the holy grail, shad and bluegill are a major part of their diet. Large bluegills make smaller bluegills (that bass can eat). Large bluegill don't have a lot of natural predators (can't fit in the mouth of a bass, despite the bass trying). Humans are the big bluegills' main predator. I hate seeing pictures of the same cooler full of bluegills day after day (meaning the same people pulling out a ton of bluegills over and over again). Fortunately, they're prolific breeders, but I believe they can be over-harvested. But the people who do that also keep EVERYTHING they catch, limits be damned. In other words, I'm not complaining about y'all, just them :).
In short, I prefer to do as little work as possible during the cleaning stage. I'd rather fillet 5 bigger fish than clean 20+ bluegill.
Thanks for all the replies. To me, bass just isn't as tasty as panfish, I try to catch 10 panfish to keep and eat. Not a huge cleaning mess, and enough for my wife and I to have a meal. My buddy likes to keep small fish so he can out number me, but if we set a size limit....:biggrin
I throw ‘’them all back.
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I'm lucky enough to fish lakes with good quality , cold water. I'm sure that helps immensely in how great they taste up here.
For the most C&R or CPR.
I always release the biggest panfish in the lake and take a lesser size for a meal.
(IMHO) I believe this help keep the big fish DNA alive in the lake.
They kinda like a moped fun to own till a friend catches you with one.Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
BG/SC I look for thickness and not length.
Crappie 9.5- 14ish. Any bigger and they cook uneven.
Catfish very rarely target and keep. When I do its game on.
Good thread
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I used to keep ones 8 inches and over. But now that I'm retired and get to
fish more I just keep the ones that swallow the hook and would not live
if I threw them back.
Bluegill bigger than 6". If the pond is over populated, I'll cull some. I can't fillet under 6". I'm going to start judging how thick they are. If I am dealing with a shallowed hook, I'll keep it.
Crappie--I have never kept one. I am hoping to fish for Crappie with flyrod this summer.
Channel Cat: 12" to maybe 18" Any other cat, I don't keep. But if I caught a blue...
I don't fish for or keep bass. Never liked the taste.
Now, trout, almost all of them. Most are in 10" range.
I never targeted catfish.
I seldom hooked monster brim (larger than 8"), so I barely keep them. I will start targeting them to see if I can find some nice ones.
I only fish for crappie in winter time and keep over 12" crappies.
I keep bass only when my wife was willing to smoke them. I agree 2-3lb bass are the best for eating.
I like bluegill over 8” but where I live over 8” is kinda hard to come by.
Rarely do I get into batches of fish where I catch them over 8” consistently. That is in enough volume to keep a batch.
Most fish in my lakes seem to be 7.5” and shorter.
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Smoltz, these northern fish take too long to get big, eh/
You sure are right about that. It’s very frustrating. I go fishing for bluegill. It’s basically constantly dinks. Every once in a while you get some thing decent. But rarely above 8” mark.Quote:
Originally Posted by MCG1
A few years ago I researched and research. And found a spot that was 2hrs away that had a small lake that was out in the sticks so to say. And the biologists reported they got a few in trap nets around around 9” mark.
I make a weekend overnight trip and caught my first 9” Gill. I caught a few around that mark. Not many but they were bigger in general. I found out real quick why. The small lake is absolutely chocked with weeds. It’s was really difficult to fish at all. That weed cover kept many from fishing it. They was able to grow to a bigger length.
We just don’t have the grown rate of size class fish here like these other places do.
I have actually started to target more green sunfish in lakes around rocky areas and redbreast in river. Because they are a heavier, most times harder fighting fish. Got thicker shoulders. And those green sunfish are mean buggers. I’m enjoying it.
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