catch or release

[faulked]

hi guys i was just wondering what you guys believe in CATCH or RELEASE. im a mostly releaser i keep things which are bleeding or the odd nice fish for my butcher he gives me some nice pork other than that 99per cent goes back what dou you think:unsure:

[Ash]

I believe in both. I dont eat fish, so i can honestly say 99% of my fish get released. I only take home something for the wife every now and then. Like a pan size flattie or squire, but thats it.

I dont believe there is anything wrong in taking home a feed, but i do hate it when you see a ship load of fish being brought in by a fisherman, knowing full well that most of is going to be thrown into his/her freezer for upto six months anyway!

[Fisher_90]

I usually catch enough for a feed then start throwing back or if i run out of bait then go home with what i have. With the exception for winter (diver) whiting, i usually take home up to around 100 which is 3-4 meals.

[rayke1938]

I normally take a feed home and when i go away for a week I will vacuum seal and freeze yellowbelly and barra to take home. I find that they both freeze well and taste ok when thawed with the preference being barra.

I do not exceed the bag limit for yellowbelly ( 10 fish on total) and have yet to bag out on barra but one large fish is enough.

I could not be bothered freezing saltwater fish as I reckon it doesnt thaw well and if I cant have fresh fish I dont eat it.

Ray

[Oceandonkey]

Ill keep all legal size squire and keep them alive till we are ready to go. If we only have 1 ill put it back if we have 2 or more it gets eaten that night like the other time we got like 7 legals i made sure we hade enough people at my house to eat all 7 in that one night.

I dont bother with bream anymore as i reckon they taste dirty. I use a legal whiting as strip bait, have had up and down days with it, sometimes it gets smashed othertimes they dont want a piece of it.

Id say the longer the fisherman the less fish they will take home, when i began i would take 1 home and eat it and id be on top of the world....now that I can catch more fish taking 1 or 2 smaller ones home doesnt seem worth the effort.

[ellicat]

I'll take what I can be bothered filleting. I think I'm a bit slow at it, so if it looks like more than an hours work then they're released after that.

Also depends on the fish, I like yellowbelly and muuray cod from the fresh and whiting snapper cod and other reefies from the salt, but flathead and bream can generally get another chance to be caught. Have decided that mackeral will have to be a decent size to give away before I keep them in future - not the best on the chew IMO.

[Dinodadog]

I have been releaseing all the bass i have been catching for the last few weeks as i still have a couple fillets in the freezer. I dont see any problems with keeping your legal limit.

Dino

[Cowfish13]

I don't mind keeping a few (>4 big ones, >10 small ones) of the more desiarable species. Like Snapper, Whiting and other reefies. But taking 20 Bream, or 30 Mackeral (QLD School) is just a waste. Or taking massive fish like Flathead (or tiny ones) and Cod type species is also a waste of a big breeder.

[Brian D]

What do you think McDonalds and digital cameras are for. Chuck em back there's nothing wrong with photos and quarter pounders.

[ellicat]

Brian, I'd rather take a pic of the McDonald's cow and eat the quarter pound fish:P

Also, would like to add that it depends how often you fish. If you bag out and keep them every week it's a bit different to bagging out once or twice a year.

[Gazza]

Depends on the fish I only take bigger than Legal and worth taking fillets off I hate cleaning fish :pinch:

I never exceed the bag limit but always have non fishing friends etc asking if I have any spare My Boss being one lol But when I catch my first marlin I admitt it will have to come home (depends on the size) then any others will be tagged and released

Gaz

[mackmauler]

Like most my views are a contradiction, the easy answer is i do a bit of everything.

gazza, thats a common enough personal choice for marlin fishing. ive seen plenty and i encourage anyone to release healthy fish, unless its a once in a lifetime catch you will get a sick one before to long, on average its around 1 in 15 not in good shape and depending on methods, 1 in 30 mortally wounded. all the emo shit aside i just think it makes better sense.

[STU]

Mainly release I have never kept fresh water fish but on the rare occasion take some bream,flatty,squire home for the relatives.

[rayke1938]

Brian D wrote:

What do you think McDonalds and digital cameras are for. Chuck em back there's nothing wrong with photos and quarter pounders.

I would rather eat grinner sauted with draino than a quater pounder.

Ray

[MichaelJ]

theres no harm in taking fish unless you take over the limit but i normly only take good eating fish and i go deep sea fishing a lot and th fish we catch there still taste real good after being frozen anyway

[pinkey]

I release most of what i catch but i also love a good feed of fish, i usually only keep my fish if they have have swallowd the hook ( legal size ofcorse )but i dont mind taking home a nice medium sized flatty or bream or whitng. I also like tasting new fish once, after that i dont usually keep them

its a great feeling releasing a nice fish to give someone else the joy of catching it when its bigger.

[Brian D]

rayke1938 wrote:

Brian D wrote:

What do you think McDonalds and digital cameras are for. Chuck em back there's nothing wrong with photos and quarter pounders.

I would rather eat grinner sauted with draino than a quater pounder.

Ray

Ha Ray, very funny but you just don't know what you are missing. THe new burger is good too. Yum Yum.

The real reason I don't keep fish is that I can't catch anything big enough. There always seams to be a reason for missing the perfect day or loosing the big one.

[polyphonic]

I usally take enough for dinner that night and thats all. I only take flatthead and squire. Have tried beam, tailor and a few others and I just dont like the taste.:sick:

Looking forward to getting my first legal jack this year and I'll give that a try and the monster barra I catch at Awoonga:P

[Malcolm]

Say you catch an undersize squire and it swallows the hook good is bleeding and going to die are you suposed to release it to let it die and float away or should you put it out of its missery then throw it back in the water?

or

use it for bait which I guess would be illegal

[ellicat]

Best to let it go with hook still in. Don't kill it.

I've hooked a fish in a mate's dam that had swallowed the hook and was bleeding from the gills pretty badly. I put it back in with a lot of doubt about it's potential to survive. It was caught again the next week, so it lived. Better to let 'em go with some chance then killing them.

It is illegal to keep an undersize fish, even if it's dead. So you can't use it for bait either. It could be good berley though;)

[roobs]

you have to put it back in the water unharmed- even if it is going to die or is dead. the idea is that even if you kill it the food chain still gets the benefit of its nutrients. makes sense in a round about kind of way. i don't usually keep fish that i catch unless i have a bbq on standby or they're really good eating. fish has to be pretty fresh to tempt me when i have to fillet or gut them.

[roobs]

you have to put it back in the water unharmed- even if it is going to die or is dead. the idea is that even if you kill it the food chain still gets the benefit of its nutrients. makes sense in a round about kind of way. i don't usually keep fish that i catch unless i have a bbq on standby or they're really good eating. fish has to be pretty fresh to tempt me when i have to fillet or gut them.

[mackmauler]

The rule with finfish like snapper is you can have fillets of said fish onboard and the fillets do not have to be any size, im sure fisheries have left this loophole in place for honest people who catch fish killed by barotrauma etc.

its firmly shut with coral fin.

[Malcolm]

Thanks ellicat

Do you know if the hook was still in the fish or had it gone?

[ellicat]

No worries Malcolm. The hook was gone.

[MichaelJ]

howd you know it was the same fish then?

:huh: :huh:

[Cowfish13]

Mackmauler: Are you sure. I thought that any fish fillet that you have on board has to be over 40cm in length or something.

[woody1]

Mackmauler, you catch a lot more fish than me and im not doubting you're knowledge, but here's some stuff i found on a website a while ago about fishing regulations in QLD, slightly diferent to what you said.

Skin must not be removed from any fish (or fillets) while on board a boat. Once brought ashore, the skin may be removed, however if this is done, the fish must not then be taken back on board a boat. Special provisions apply to removing skin from fish taken on extended commercial fishing tours.

All Coral Reef Fin Fish fish must be killed and have a pectoral fin removed before storing.

Rec anglers must not remove skin or scales from a fish until it is brought ashore. Skin must not be removed from any fish (or fillets) while on board a boat. (Unless fillet is larger than 40cm).

Once brought ashore, the skin may be removed, however if this is done, the fish must not then be taken back on board a boat.

An inspector must be able to easily determine the number of fish in possession ie 2 fillets = 1 fish

Woody

[ellicat]

whatnow wrote:

howd you know it was the same fish then?

:huh: :huh:

Because it is a private dam and there are only two of this species in it and one is bigger than the other.

[mackmauler]

Did I say anything about skinning fish, beside the point woody.

[Dan23]

for me 3 factors

1. Where'd I catch it? (still suss on the river)

2. Is it a quality eating fish?

3. Do I have a way to get it home without it going off. (I sometimes just walk banks with a backpack and throw lures around. Wouldn't have anywhere to put any keepers anyway.

[kriso]

i reckon takin a feed home is okay, mind you my personal thing is i dont take anythiing that wont be eatin that night.

[mackmauler]

Dan, i do the same, backpack is big enuf for a lunchbox, couple frozen poppers in there fillet the fish on the spot into a ziplock and rubber band the bag to the popper.

[obone]

mackmauler wrote:

fish killed by barotrauma

What's that Mac?

Joel

[Dan23]

mackmauler wrote:

Dan, i do the same, backpack is big enuf for a lunchbox, couple frozen poppers in there fillet the fish on the spot into a ziplock and rubber band the bag to the popper.

Good idea. Cept I'm really crap at filleting fish. takes me ages.

[ellicat]

obone wrote:

mackmauler wrote:

fish killed by barotrauma

What's that Mac?

Joel

That's when you bring one up from the deep and it's guts is coming out it's mouth because it can't handle the \"sudden\" drop in pressure.

[havarest]

I normally release most things...and legal size limit i go above that a bit to keep anything legal size limit is still pretty small in most cases

[James W]

Brian D wrote:

What do you think McDonalds and digital cameras are for. Chuck em back there's nothing wrong with photos and quarter pounders.

:lol:

[havarest]

mmmmmmm Mcdonalds fillot o fish mmmmmm cant get better then that

[Dan23]

I think Queensland's 23cm bream size is too low. In NSW it's 25. I really don't think you get a decent size fillet off a bream till it's a least 27cm.