(02-18-2013 08:47 PM)Jeremy Ray Green Wrote: [ -> ]What happens when you catch a fish that swallows the hook and dies?
Or when you are trolling and you catcha fish so small it doesnt even fire on the down rigger, and you end up towing it around and killing it.
For the most part the death of a caught fish is the only reason I keep a fish.
I would feel unhappy about that option.
Just my 2 cents....
~Jeremy.
Well, to continue with that argument...
If you catch an Atlantic Salmon in the river (where the season is closed with zero possession), and said salmon is deeply hooked, bleeding and cannot be revived, do you release it or keep it?
The law is always the law and you ALWAYS release it, regardless if it is a shame that a life was taken even if you cannot keep it, and it became "waste". Remember, in nature, there is never any waste. A dead fish that is put back into the system will always contribute back to the natural system. Scavengers will benefit, decomposers will benefit, bacteria will benefit, and the nutrients from the dead fish will be recycled in the natural system. You take it home (illegally!) and you take the nutrients away from the natural system.
Like I always say "Throw the fish back...it'll be turtle food." That statement has some truth in it.
Now, as Jeremy said, what if you already caught your limit and you have a deep hook fish, but you do not want the dilemma of releasing a dead fish because to you it is "wasteful"?
I would suggest that you NEVER keep your limit then. Give yourself some cap space to take those deep hooked fish home if you do come across them later.
Another thing I believe is this...
A released fish, with as remote change to survive as can be, will still have A CHANCE to survive. Maybe nature will deal it a kindness card and allows it to survive against all odds. I've seen salmon with head wounds probably from heron or eagle attacks, or fish with large chunks taken out of their backs, or fish with stubs for tail fins, or fish with half its jaw ripped off and deformed, or fish with grossly large tumours on the head or side of the body or belly...and yet, these fish survived!
I've actually caught many of these fish that I mentioned. I've caught a brown trout with a snout that looks like it ran itself, full speed, into a concrete dam. The snout was so broken and compressed, but healed, that it was terrifying. Yet, this brown trout was caught by three separate anglers (including myself) that evening after being released by all three of us. It was a fantastic showing that 1) catch and release works and 2) fish has an exceptional ability to survive against all odds.
A fish that you decide to keep, most certainly, 100% of the time, will NOT survive regardless of the odds. It will certainly be killed for the table.
So to all who argue that "It's a deep hooked fish...it's bleeding...it's won't survive...it's a shame and I should keep it." Well...you just removed all it's remote 0.0000001% chance to survive when you knock it over the head with the billy bat.
Just my humble opinion.
BTW, you do NOT want to go down this rabbit hole that some east coast rivers has implemented. In some of the famous salmon river, you are limited to a certain number of hooked fish per day. (I could be wrong...but long ago when I looked, it may even be limited to ONE hooked fish per day per rod!) Once you have hooked and landed a certain number of salmon, regulation states that you MUST stop fishing, regardless if you have kept the salmon you caught or released them.
The argument is that catching more fish, even if it was catch and release fishing, unnecessarily harm and harass them.
So you spent hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, to go fish for Atlantic Salmon on the east coast rivers...you catch one...and you're done for the day. Wow...what a waste of your time and money! Don't even get me started on the fact that non-resident anglers MUST hire a guide in order to fish for Atlantic Salmon...it is written into the fishing regulations...ridiculous!
Would you agree to implement such regulation here if you have already caught your limit? Would you agree to implement such regulations backed on the number of total hooked fish, regardless if these fish were kept or released?
What if you were perch fishing and you were limited to hooking only 15 perch regardless if you kept your limit or not, regardless if the perch you caught were 3" or 15"?
Been too technical...and sometimes too ethical...lead us down the path that will only favour the environmentalist...
It's like if I try to argue catch and release fishing...and some environmentalist argues that we are unnecessarily injuring and harassing fish and they do not see the point of 100% catch and release fishing. But if I tell them I do keep a fish here and there when I fish, they tone it down and see that I do fish to provide a meal for my family, but I am also a conservationist in thinking about the future.