CTFishTalk.com: For those of you who take fish for the table... - Connecticut General Topics ( CT General Topics ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

RachelFromTheBlackLagoon · Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 25

Mods, if there's a better place for this, please feel free to move it!

I have a question for those of you who take home some of what you catch. The vast majority of the fishing that I do will always be catch and release, but I do plan on eventually taking home the occasional fish for dinner, especially when I start trout fishing. I will do everything in my power to make sure that any animal I take is treated with the utmost respect and dispatched as quickly and humanely as possible. So my question is, other than being of legal size, what are your personal criteria for taking fish?

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

I'd try to take fish from only clean waters. Rivers on the East Coast, including in Connecticut, are problematic. Mercury and PCBs are the most notorious of the common contaminants. I take mostly sea run white perch from Hamburg Cove in the Spring. I'll also take walleye from Batterson Park Pond, even though I'm a little leery of it, because walleye is my favorite fish to eat. Stocked trout are okay, too, but I'm not a huge fan; I probably take four per year, just because I figure I paid for them when I bought my fishing license.
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NWDarkcloud · Joined: 23 Apr 2012 Posts: 474

I cant risk takeing fish to eat because of heavy metals i have built up in my system .So im allways catch and release But if I damage a legal size fish that might not survive ill dress it out and give it to the family down the road from my house they allways enjoy fresh fish for the grill..............
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Mr.Cranky · Joined: 26 May 2012 Posts: 57

If you are fishing where they are stocking trout, I'd take all you care to (observing all the rules and regs, of course!) since they are put there to be caught. My understanding is that most places in CT are not conducive to trout reproduction so taking out what they put in is why they put them in in the first place. Others may disagree but that's my feeling on trout specifically. Whether you take them or the guy down the road takes them, they are taken.

I prefer the panfish for our table, focusing on bluegill, perch and calico's. I fish just a few places and feel that they are from clean water and I have no worries of contamination from those few places. I fillet them all so the belly meat (where most of the contaminates are supposed to accumulate) is left on the fish and tossed. The skin is also removed so I have a clean, boneless fillet when done.

The 3 species mentioned above don't seem to be pursued as vigorously as, say, largemouth bass or trout and few will worry about "fishing them out" or them being a resource in trouble and needing protection from harvest. With the various sunfish in the waters that I fish, I will keep all but the very smallest as it helps keep them from overpopulating and stunting. The 3 mentioned above are quite prolific. And delicious, I might add. They go right in to the cooler with ice when caught and filleted as soon as I get home. I keep a lot of fish and enjoy them often. I don't ice fish so what I catch during the summer goes in the freezer for meals over the winter.

Can't help on the saltwater since I've never fished it all in my 50 years.

I'd advise you to do some research with others or perhaps with the DEP and find out if there are any warnings on any of the waters you plan to fish and harvest from. If no big red flags from the authorities, enjoy your fresh fish!
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Mr.Cranky · Joined: 26 May 2012 Posts: 57

Great link! I forgot that was in there; I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

But reading it makes me angry. It really drives home the damage done to our water supply by others.
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Stevius86 · Joined: 12 Apr 2012 Posts: 165 Location: Ellington

I always catch and release, I'm a vegetarian.

RachelFromTheBlackLagoon · Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 25

Thanks for the responses, everyone, and thanks for that link, PECo. Contaminants are most definitely something of concern, as I try to be very conscientious about everything I consume.

Very interesting, Mr. Cranky. I think I'd like to try some panfish. I caught a few decent sized bluegill the other day, maybe next time I'll be prepared to take them home with me.

What about ethical reasons for deciding not to take a fish? For example, I hear a lot of people saying that they'll take only the smaller fish of their catch so the big guys can live on to spawn and pass along their big ol' fish genes. Before I started fishing, I would have thought most people had the opposite mindset, but that reasoning does make sense and I'm glad there are such considerate and respectful people out there fishing.

Another question I have is what do you do if you mortally injure a fish that is not of legal size to take?

Last (for now) but not least, it seems that a lot of people put their catch on ice rather than dispatching immediately. What is your personal reasoning for this? If you choose to dispatch, how do you personally do it? I'm not really sure which way I'll go on this. For me, dispatching will be a very difficult thing to bring myself to do, but I feel like if I'm going to take this animal's life I should do the most respectful thing, even if it's the most difficult, and take it as swiftly as possible. No offense intended to anyone who chooses not to operate that way, it's just my own personal viewpoint on taking an animal's life in general. The thought of it dying slowly just so that I can consume it really bothers me. My brother tells me I'm thinking about it too much, and that it's just a fish. To me, it's a life that deserves to be respected. I'm very interested to hear from others on this.

MANIMAL · Joined: 08 Jun 2012 Posts: 242 Location: Manchester

I too plan to try panfish sooner or later....when i can catch enough fat ones in a day!

I usually dispatch of the trout as soon as I catch em and decide they are going home with me - knife thru th espine is what I do - I generally do not leave the heads on if I am pan frying but if I am woods cooking the fish stays whole and goes on a stick over a fire.

personally i dont like the ice method - slowly freezing while suffocating isnt humane for my ways - so the head comes right off and its gutted there at the waters edge

RachelFromTheBlackLagoon · Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 25

Manimal, I suspect I'll end up handling it similarly. Speaking of gutting...what is appropriate? Do you leave the guts? Bag and dispose of them? For me, heads will be fed to my dogs, who are on a raw diet and very much enjoy fresh fish. Most of the fish they eat is mackerel that I purchase, but they'll eat anything. I have a friend who fishes stripers and is kind enough to save the carcasses of whatever he and his fishing buddies keep. Makes the pups very happy!

MANIMAL · Joined: 08 Jun 2012 Posts: 242 Location: Manchester

Ill be honest - once gutted the entrails get tossed back into the water for nature to do with them as she wishes.

Mr.Cranky · Joined: 26 May 2012 Posts: 57

If I hook a fish deeply that I was not planning to keep, I cut the line as close to the hook as I can and let him go and hope for the best. I won't try too hard to get it out first; I trust my instincts of the first inspection that yes I can or no I can't get that out without injuring the fish.

Keeping big or small: depends on the body of water. On one of the private ponds I fish, I put the big fish back to help keep the smaller more prolific in check. IE, the big bass go back to keep the bluegill and perch from overpopulating. I will keep the smaller bass to keep the bass themselves from over-populating. The bluegill I keep all the way down to about 5"; anything smaller than that is still forage for the bigger bass. Perch I take most anything over 6".

On a different body of water, bigger with a wider fish population, I usually won't keep any bass over the size limit, no matter how big, unless deeply, mortally hooked . I keep nearly any size of the panfish to try to keep the year classes even, although I have no way of knowing what year class a particular size of fish might be for sure. I don't believe the panfish class are a long lived species of fish, they are very prolific and are low on the food chain for the bigger predators such as bass, pickerel, pike, perhaps even walleye.

I admire and respect folks who are trophy fishers, same as folks that are trophy hunters. Its the best or nothing. Robert Ruark said it very well: (paraphrasing now) You don't kill your trophy to kill something. You are taking it to make it immortal forever in your own life, so you can relive it every day.
Hunters can't catch and release like a fisherman (fisherwoman) can, though.

Though I can't defend it, I agree with your brother about overthinking the dispatching of fish when harvested. Before I clean any that are still showing any sign of life, I bop them on the head with a heavy steel rod. I could take said steel rod with me to bonk them before they go in the cooler but don't. You could certainly do something similar to any you harvest.

I admire you for thinking this aspect through and only you can reach a conclusion that you are comfortable with. Too many folks forget that the meat, chicken and fish on the supermarket shelves didn't grow under that cellophane or magically appear there. It was alive and now its not and somebody had to transform it. When you are the one doing the transforming, its a dilemma only you can solve, no one can solve it for you.

Ken
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SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

Hi,

To answer some of your questions:

I dispatch my fish by sticking my knife into its brain and scrambling it -> fast and humane!

When an animal (fish, pig, cow, chicken, etc.) is killed -> you want to bleed it first.
Blood is the first body element that will go bad fast, and if left behind will taint the flesh.
Ice your catch after bleeding to keep fresh.

Guting your fish is best done at home.
Heads and guts go into my garden as it is the best fertilizer ever.
My tomatoes and roses love it and always come up gangbusters!

Heavy metals and other toxins get accumulated in the fishes liver (same as any other animal as it is the body's main filter).
The dark meat you see thru the middle of a fish fillet is where toxins will have accumulated.
Best to not eat that !

If you plan to freeze your catch -> freeze it submerged in water -> Will stay fresher longer and No freezer burn.

Last Shocked

LOL

SeaDog1

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

MANIMAL · Joined: 08 Jun 2012 Posts: 242 Location: Manchester

yes PECo thanks for pointing that out to others - i should have been more clear - I only do that at my club pond