CTFishTalk.com: Too many keepers? - Connecticut Ice Fishing Reports ( CT Ice Fishing Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

jdpsm3 · Joined: 13 Jan 2010 Posts: 51 Location: new britain

Just wanna see what everyone thinks about this. Was out on the ice today and there was a group of guys keeping every fish they caught. Must of had 15 bass a bunch of perch and pickerel. I catch and release and dont care if prple keep some fish but if they keep coming here and keeping that many fish is it going to screw up the lake. I always go to this lake with lots of flags and alot of big bass in there its a smaller sized lake. I talked to them and sounds like they will be back and they do not release anything they catch. Im kinda disgusted Ive been going here for a long time and was very slow for alot of years it seems really be thriving right now and I would like it to continue to be good. I dont really know how the ecosystem in a lake works so just seeing what people think.

slimecoat · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 1576 Location: Newington, CT.

I've heard about this before on other lakes, harvesting everything and anything they catch, no matter how big or small. The problem is that there are those out there that just don't care, and not enough DEP officers to enforce the regulations. It would be a shame to return to the parking area to find their car with 4 flat tires from missing valve stems! No damage done to the tires themselves, but the same outcome! Cool

_________________
Life's Short - Fish Hard - Take a Kid Fishing

sandflea · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 16

I have no problem with people keeping some fish for the table but I think over harvesting anything is not good.

Bass Sniper · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 255 Location: west haven

i agree, i catch and release everything and dont care if some people take what theyve caught as long as its legal, but remember in these times, some people are trying to feed their families, which is much more important than us having a great time(which is debatable)...If that wasnt the case with those guys, then they should have been thrown in the lake..
_________________
"Taco flavored Doritos
And my orange life vest
caught a hundred pound sturgeon
On twenty-pound test "

toptech · Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 322 Location: Vernon

Its all depends on the lake....some lakes that are over populated with fish, people like that help. Ofcoarse I say this within a certain guidelines. If they are there every day obviously thats not a good thing. If theres to many fish they start getting stunted growth. I dont ever keep fish but on some of the smaller lakes I like to see people take a bunch every once in awhile even though it is painful to watch. I just really hate when people take big fish.
_________________
You can play on your computer and hang out with your girlfriend if you want....Im gonna go fishin.

setterman · Joined: 10 Dec 2009 Posts: 28

I can not see a reason to hold it against somone for keeping fish taking by legal means for the table or a mount. I believe everyone should practice conservation but like someone said earlier tough economic times. Now poachers and trespassers that is a whole different matter. and damage to vehicles hopefully is not advocated.

JohnS · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 41

As long as their within the law there's nothing you can do. if you think they are going over the limit call the DEP and get encon out there to check their catch.

I agree big bass should always be released. That's what I do anyway.
_________________
Bite on my line.

slimecoat · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 1576 Location: Newington, CT.

I was kidding about the damage to vehicles, but John, I believe the original post was refering to way too many non keepers being taken for the freezer. I have no problem with peole playing by the rules and keeping as many legal fish as they want to eat, even and especially bass under 12 inches. That will only allow the larger bass to grow even bigger.

The problem John is that by the time the encon police get to the location the person is gone, that is if you can even get anyone to answer the hotline on a weekend to start. The truith is that there just aren't enough encon police on staff to effectively police our waters.
_________________
Life's Short - Fish Hard - Take a Kid Fishing

fishinschmoe · Joined: 01 Jan 2010 Posts: 300

That is nuts. That irritates me when I see that, both fresh and salt.
don't get me wrong... when a decent sized buck-bass (never the big girls) comes thru the hole, I pray for 2 that day, cuz I truly enjoy some bass filet for supper. Again, I keep the medium sized bass. the bigguns, 3 pounds or bigger, and breeders... and those never get flopped on the ice..
Same is true in the salt. there is NO need to "keep a limit" unless you fish for sustinance, and you have a family of 14 to feed. Same ethic go for hunting. As if anyone needs to shoot 10 deer a year; or 6 ducks a day, or 50 rabbits in a season.

Bass Addict · Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:37 am Post subject:

as long as they are fishing within the legal limits it is pointless and silly to be upset. If you don't like it the rules then complain to the DEP to reduce the amount of fish that can legally be taken but don't judge a person for fishing legally. That is like complaining that someone bought a bunch of steak that was on sale at the grocery store.
_________________
Sorry honey, looks like we will be late again due to motor problems.

Justin

fishinschmoe · Joined: 01 Jan 2010 Posts: 300

Gotta disagree with ya. Steak is from cows that are farmed. Bred for the sole purpose of becoming a steak some day. Bass are wild fish that take a few years to reach maturity, breed, and sustain a population,
the first post said, some dude had about 15 bass, of all sizes. 15 bass exceeds the limit, and Im sure a few were less than 12".
The dude with a pile of fish on the ice was "poaching". as a result, one of those bass is a nice 6 pounder you are not gonna catch there in 2015.

slimecoat · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 1576 Location: Newington, CT.

Bassaddict I agree, as long as they are fishing and keeping within legal length and creel limits, I have no problem with it. Maybe I read into the original post too much, but what I think this person was saying, is that this group of ice fisherman has no idea what the size and # of fish per species is as far as legal limits go. That's what I have a problem with.

If the lake in question is a slot limit lake, and if they are keeping more than 1 bass over 16 inches, or 18 inches in some lakes, then they are breaking the law. If they are keeping any fish between12 inches and 16 or 18 inches, then they are breaking the law. I believe they can keep up to 5 fish between 0 and 12 inches. I don't know what the creel limits are for perch and other species, because I don't fish for them ever at all, and if I happen to catch them while bass fishing they go back into the lake every time.

If I happen to be fun fishing with my 5 year old son and neice and nephew, and I know we are targeting other species than bass, I will look at the CT anglers guide ahead of time to find out what we can have in the boat, for the amount of people I have on board. That's my point!

Yes bassaddict, I don't know the lake they were on, or what they had on the ice for fish, but it just sounded to me like these anglers didn't care what was on the ice and they were all headed to the table. Please correct me if I'm wrong jdpsm3.............

If they did nothing wrong, I stand corrected............. and more power to them.............
_________________
Life's Short - Fish Hard - Take a Kid Fishing

nitewalker · Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Posts: 11

if these guys were fishing by the rules then there is nothing we can do except get aggravated over their fishing flaws. now if they are just keeping everything they catch and some are undersized these clowns need to be stuck in their own livewell and have it freeze over on them...dirtbag fishermen need to be dealt with.....catch and release all fish except the 1-lber i will mount someday

fishinschmoe · Joined: 01 Jan 2010 Posts: 300

Actually, these days, you can release that monster too, and have a repro made. case in point, the fish in my pic, is an unofficial Galveston Bay Record fish. she is still swimmin, yet she is also on my wall in my game room.

slimecoat · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 1576 Location: Newington, CT.

I too live by that, as the newer fiberglass replica's look just as good if not better than the real skin mounts. All my lunkers go back to swim another day, but we are talking about legal harvest and non legal harvest, lets not get off the subject. In most lakes in this state, anglers are allowed to harvest 1 fish over 16 or 18 inches depending on the lake slot limit restrictions. If anglers want to remove a breeder/lunker for their own greed or hunger, they may by law take 1 bass per day over the slot limit. I myself do not practice this, I do however support the removal of all smaller bass under 12 inches, up to what ever the harvest limit is. This will reduce the number of smaller fish in a lake competing for the same food source, and allow the 3lbers (that need to get bigger) to grow to 5 and 6lbers.
_________________
Life's Short - Fish Hard - Take a Kid Fishing