05-24-2011, 10:23 PM
Excellent report and pics. I love seeing those crappie and smallmouth. I am not a biologist either but I have spent considerable time reading about the angler impact on fish.
My personal opinion is that legal fish caught legally can be kept or returned at the discretion of the angler. You'll get no grief from me. However, ripnlip and I probably grew up within spitting distance of each other and were raised eating fish. We fished for fun AND food but never broke the rules. We would keep plenty of white bass, yellow bass, crappie, largemouth bass, and any sunfish you can name (Texas has just about all of them I think!) but never more than a limit or more than we could eat.
The debate on the UT board rages on and I feel bad for anglers who post pictures of legally caught and kept bass who are then crucified for keeping the rules. I had a great Pelican Lake trip through the ice last year and kept half a limit of largemouth one of which was 17 inches long. I didn't post my pics or report because I feared the backlash from the community. One interesting note is that the current Utah Fishing Guidebook for 2011 asks anglers to keep a limit of smaller largemouth/smallmouth so we can thin herd a bit. We have lots of small bass because no one will keep any. There is only so much food to go around!
In my ever so humble opinion, largemouth that are 12-14 inches are absolute candy. Same goes for smallies. If I catch something larger that is deep hooked, it will go in my basket. I say if you stick to the rules and keep what you can consume, you are good.
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My personal opinion is that legal fish caught legally can be kept or returned at the discretion of the angler. You'll get no grief from me. However, ripnlip and I probably grew up within spitting distance of each other and were raised eating fish. We fished for fun AND food but never broke the rules. We would keep plenty of white bass, yellow bass, crappie, largemouth bass, and any sunfish you can name (Texas has just about all of them I think!) but never more than a limit or more than we could eat.
The debate on the UT board rages on and I feel bad for anglers who post pictures of legally caught and kept bass who are then crucified for keeping the rules. I had a great Pelican Lake trip through the ice last year and kept half a limit of largemouth one of which was 17 inches long. I didn't post my pics or report because I feared the backlash from the community. One interesting note is that the current Utah Fishing Guidebook for 2011 asks anglers to keep a limit of smaller largemouth/smallmouth so we can thin herd a bit. We have lots of small bass because no one will keep any. There is only so much food to go around!
In my ever so humble opinion, largemouth that are 12-14 inches are absolute candy. Same goes for smallies. If I catch something larger that is deep hooked, it will go in my basket. I say if you stick to the rules and keep what you can consume, you are good.
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