Ethical Question

DanChamberlain

So, I live in a subdivision that thinks it's a town, or a town that thinks it's a subdivision. Anyway, it has several lakes that hold a few nice fish. The bass are "Catch and Release" only. Most of the lakes in the region that allow one to take a bass have an 18" minimum. 

Now, supposing you were enjoying a leisurely evening in the fishing kayak and you managed to entice a really nice - evidently exceedingly hungry 19" bass to take your bait, and when you finally boated said lovely fish, you discovered that it was bleeding profusely from a torn gill and when you placed it back in the water it went belly up! 

I don't believe in letting turtles have nice bass filets, but the sign said...

Old Ron

Take it home & have a nice meal .......just don't tell anyone.  If caught tell them a silly old guy from Iowa said it was ok .

DanChamberlain

I suppose one of the questions I asked should have been, can what spices do you recommend?

Jayhawker

I don't eat bass....BUT...some Drake's Batter Mix with a good beer for the liquid component will render most any fish edible....

Fisheadgib

If the fish is legal in the eyes of the state, let the turtles catch their own dinner.

tennmike

It's dead, so the intent of the law for catch and release is outside the actual situation. Throwing a dead fish back in the water is a waste of a resource. Take it home and use whatever batter you prefer, and your own preferred spices, and fillet that fish and cook and eat it with a clean conscience. Bottom line for me is that it's wrong to waste a resource like that. And bass fillets are right tasty!

Antonio

The idea of the "catch and release" is to keep alive, healthy fish reproducing and available to other recreational fishermen; a deadly injured fish serves neither purpose to anyone at all.
Problem is that in the eventuality of having to face such dispositions' enforcer, one can justify the transgression with a logical, acceptable argument that will avoid you any penalties.

tennmike

Antonio, I wish what you said in that last sentence was so. Getting caught with undersized 'short' fish that died due to being caught will in most cases get you a hefty fine. The fish and game police don't care that you killed it; the possession of the illegal sized fish is money in their department's pocket and they will make sure to get that money.

DanChamberlain

Oh, I won't say the turtles went hungry...  But they didn't eat bass...

CHIRO1989

Watonly wasting game is a crime in MN, not sure how they reconcile the limits regs with that.

tennmike

CHIRO1989 said:

Watonly wasting game is a crime in MN, not sure how they reconcile the limits regs with that.

Sounds like the law is one of those damned if you do, and damned if you don't laws. Catch 22 kind of thing. Good movie, too, BTW.

Jayhawker

Much of the water I fish is "Flys Only, No Kill" water...even using barbless hooks and extreme care when handling fish, sometimes you end up killing a fish...wasting a fish just isn't in my play book...

centermass556

I remember I was 22, I was home for Christmas before going to Bosnia. I killed a Button Buck at was about 330 yrds out. Looked like a Doe. So, I got on the radio, called my uncle and asked him to get on the CB and try to raise the game warden. Game Warden came out, I showed him the deer, told him why I shot, showed him were I shot from...Game Warden looked at my uncle, my uncle told him "well the boy is in the army and was raised shooting..." The Game Warden told me that was my "one" and told us to have a good evening. Even let me keep the deer. 

I am guessing that if it would have happened any other way, like trying to tell that story as we were leaving the woods, it would not have ended well.

NN

You can skin a bass to improve eating quality

orchidman

You caught it..........you released it. You complied with the sign.

It then floated belly up. 

Being a concientious person you 'policed ' the area to remove any rubbish etc and take it away to dispose of it.

You elected to dispose of it by applying heat and condiments.

You could have gone the next step and taken a dump in the lake to re-release it I guess.........

JerryBobCo

I release most of what I catch, including bass and trout. I will make an exception for crappie and channel cat, though. There's also some saltwater species, such as red drum, that I will keep (if they're legal, that is). In my opinion, one of the best tasting fish that swims is a 4-8 lb. red fish.

This past Monday I took my 5 year old grandson down to the local marina. He caught a fresh water drum that weighed about 2 lbs.and I caught one about the same size.  We gave them to some people fishing next to us.

bisley

I'm not a fisherman, by virtue of growing up in the Texas panhandle, before they built a decent lake (that practically went dry a few years ago, but is coming back, till the next drought). But, my two grandsons and their dad are in it big time, having most recently fished in the high school state tournament last weekend. They didn't finish in the money, although one of their friends won first place. I think they caught about 25 bs. in two days.

I've been whining for years about all the fish they throw back, being an avid fish eater. I've even offered them money to bring me catfish and crappie, but they have yet to provide a single 'eater' to my table. It is the only thing they have ever made me feel disappointed about. Maybe if I threatened not to cook them prime rib for Christmas, till they bring me a mess of crappie...

Antonio

tennmike said:

Antonio, I wish what you said in that last sentence was so. Getting caught with undersized 'short' fish that died due to being caught will in most cases get you a hefty fine. The fish and game police don't care that you killed it; the possession of the illegal sized fish is money in their department's pocket and they will make sure to get that money.

With a heartache for loosing such good edible meat, I'd have dumped it back into the water; raised in an almost "no consequences" fish & game environment down here (Wouldn't want to start telling the fishing-related transgressions I've gone through when young, pretty much because I could, but learned the lesson and will show the next generation the "righteous path"), I'm pretty aware in which kind of trouble you can get over there for not obeying the rules.

Here we also have imposed limits, quotas and seasons, but few if any comply with them usually because nobody enforces them and there's almost zero information...maybe a few educated recreational fishermen do but that's it. If unlucky to get in trouble you'd probably be able to talk/bribe/share the catch your way out of it so no actual incentive to play a fair game other than your own ethics.

DanChamberlain

Last freshwater drum I had, was delicious. 

tennmike

Freshwater drum are good eatin', just require the correct preparation. Unlike shad, freshwater drum are fit to eat.

tennmike

cpj said:

No accounting for taste, certainly. 

No accounting for people not knowing how to fillet and prepare a freshwater drum for excellent table fare, either. And with the internet, no excuse for not knowing how to prepare them from the cleaning table to the end at the plate.

http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/stories/post/how-to-prepare-trash-fish-for-the-dinner-table

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/aug/24/recipes-drum-20080824/

How to fillet a drum is the ABSOLUTE KEY to making it fit for the table. Here's a video to show how it's done, SAME AS SALTWATER REDFISH. Bet you wouldn't turn down Redfish properly prepared!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDqiadVBT6I

tennmike

Try the drum with the crab boil; it's delicious!

JerryBobCo

I think I may have eaten fresh water drum when I was a teenager, but I can't say for sure.  I know some call them gaspergoo, and consider them fine table fare.

Mostly, I didn't want to mess with cleaning them, and convinced my grandson to give them away.  The lady he gave them to asked if they were good eating, to which I replied I didn't know.  What impressed me the most is that she gave my grandson a big hug (or maybe he gave her one.  I'm not sure).

Later, I was talking to one of the guys, and introduced myself and shook hands with him.  My grandson decided he should do the same, and walked up to the man, introduced himself, and shook his hand.  I was a proud grandpa.

bellcat

https://youtu.be/UE6GrJr6oVg

bisley

Lots of folks around here eat them, and buffalo (fish), as well. The commercial fishermen on the lakes used to keep them and sell them to the very few fish markets that still exist around here. They may still do it - I don't know.

I've never tried them, but the same folks who like them also like barbecued raccoons, and I've eaten that without a problem, cooked by someone who wasn't a great cook.