Consider Releasing Your Big Trout

[Slew]

I throw back my big crappie anymore unless I'm saving them for weight in. Have fish coming out my ears though so I'm never hurting for fish. Couldn't tell you if throwing back 2 pounders helps or not but maybe they will be there next time!


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[Cazador]

I used to fish a lot in my younger days, not so much the last 15 years or so. I do plan on fixing that! I'm 54 and have been fishing Galveston Bay since I was 10 or so. Didn't really start seriously trout fishing until my mid to late teens. Probably 20 years or so fishing a little more than the average Joe. I can count on both hands the number of honest over 25" trout I've caught, and of those I remember keeping 3, one being my first over 25" that went 27", I was 17 at the time.

As to limits, I sure would've limited out a lot more with a five fish limit! We ended up with a fair number of individual or two man limits, but rarely if there were three or more on the boat would we have a boat limit. Back when I was fishing a lot it was exclusively with artificial. I was lucky enough to go to my in-law's camp on Christmas Bay and fish under the lights this weekend, it was slow going, after a full night fishing I scratched 5 keeper trout (one knocking on the door of 25" but I didn't put a tape on her) and a rat red. All of them went back.

I guess I fish because I enjoy fishing. I like eating them too but if I've got fish in the freezer (which I knew I did) I don't have to dirty the fillet knife to have a successful trip. Now, if the freezer was empty... that'd be a different story!

[Man]

Anything over 29" will be going home with me for a skin mount. All other will usually go in the cooler and go home with me as well.

[capn]

Lots of interesting info on this thread, both good and bad.

As far as guides, almost none of them are on the water 250 days a year. For that matter, only a handful are on the water 150 days a year. The guide business is tough, particularly with the oil and gas market down and businesses not sending clients on trips during the week like they used to. Plus, all of those guys fishing in the guide's boat are just "average Joes." In fact, they are far more "average" than the Joe that fishes 10 times a year, because most of the guide's clients are going to be folks that are lucky to fish once a year. TPWD already restricted guides from retaining their own limit while on a charter, why should the guide's clients be restricted also?

As for Galveston and Sabine and reducing limits, it's an apples and oranges comparison... and the same applies to Louisiana. 10 times the marsh, 10 times the freshwater inflow, direct deepwater access to the Gulf of Mexico, lots of access to deepwater havens during freezes, and piles of unmarked offshore structure to hold fish away from fishing pressure and predation. Totally different fishery. I personally don't care what the trout limit is as I rarely fish for trout, but the fishery here is able to withstand a lot more pressure than the Laguna Madre or an isolated bay like East Matagorda.

My solution is different than most. If we want to take the pressure off of species like trout and redfish, then we need to stop glamorizing it and turning fishing into a popularity contest that is won by cleaning table photos and full freezers of the most shiny species. If you guys that only fish 10 times a year truly just want to put meat in the freezer, why not fill an igloo with sand trout, croaker, and whiting? Honestly, whiting is far superior tablefare than anything that swims in our bays besides flounder and tripletail and they have no legal limits. Add in black drum, sheepshead, and gafftop to the mix and you can really fill a cooler with good eating fish (and yes gafftop are very good eating fish). Better yet, you need only $.50 worth of tackle and a handful of dead shrimp, or even a cast net, to fill the cooler. Great for kids and adults, and you always have a legitimate chance at a truly big fish like a bull red or a giant black drum. I grew up poor, and let me tell you we sure never released anything edible. We fished specifically for these less glamorous species because they were easy and cheap to target and tasted great. You'll hear excuses like too slimy and too hard to clean, but c'mon. All that says is that you don't like to get your hands dirty and you don't know how to use a filet knife. It sure doesn't say that you're hungry! If you can clean and eat a white bass (poor flavor, small, and no easier to clean that a drum), every fish that swims in the bay is a sure nuff delicacy!

If you really, really want to improve our sport fishing, let's look to make trout/redfish a true sport fish more along the lines of bass, where anglers release the vast majority of their catch. Then, on the way back to the dock, stop off in the ICW and catch a meal's worth of tasty bottom fish to take home for the fryer. The fishery would explode.

[stickman]

The single guide is still responsible for ALL of the fish brought to his boat, he took the people to them, they threw what he said, and he brought them back to cleaning table and cleaned them up real nice. Taken out of the bay system under his direction out of his boat.

Just guessing here...but assuming a guide averages 2 persons per trip and fishes 250 days a year. I know those numbers are low, but just for fun, lets use them...and lets use 5 trout limits....for fun of course.

1 guide x 250 days x 2 guests x 1 limit each (of only 15-17" fish of course, cause they are so upstanding and caring of our fishery) = 2,500 trout

1 average Joe and 1 guest x 10 days in the spring x .75 limits of trout each = 75 trout

The guide is worried about the fishery, because if something happens to it....he can't make any $$$$$.

Until some serious changes come to the way fish are harvested for profit out of public waters....you will have a hard time convincing me that I am the problem...but preach on.

Well, you are right. The average joe that happens upon a big fish occasionally may not be the issue. I believe what the OP is saying is that we need to be conscious of what we(fisherman) do as a whole. Yes, Guides do take plenty of big fish but knowing that as an average fisherman that hits the salt every once in a while we too can make a difference. I'm all for keeping fish to eat, I'm all for taking pics with big fish, and yes I'm ok with keeping a trophy on occasion(fish will die from swallowing hook) but just be mindful that this is not an infinite resource. As a guide myself I merely suggest the release of a big trout but I won't blame any customer that says they want the fish for the wall.

[capn]

Redfish are the opposite, because they don't spawn at all until they reach a large size. That's why catching redfish offshore was banned many years ago, as that is virtually the only source of spawn.

True on the not spawning until they reach a large size, not true on why offshore redfish are banned. Redfish are nearshore spawners, spawning primarily in the surf and major passes. You'll see big congregations of bull reds around any major pass between the bay and surf. They spawn in those passes, not offshore, so that tides will carry the eggs into the marsh where the fry can grow. Nearshore fishing for redfish is not banned and you can keep fish in state waters (up to 9 miles offshore). Where keeping redfish is banned is in federal waters, any waters more than 9 miles out. That has to do with federal regulations, not protecting spawning redfish. Honestly, there aren't many redfish that far offshore anyways, although there are some.

As to your other point, I also remember TPWD stating that the 1 over 25 deal would not have a statistical impact on trout populations as a whole. The biggest reason for it was keeping more over 25s in the population as a whole.

[Clark]

Changes in limits did help but changes in attitude towards releasing trophy fish will allow many more fisherman to enjoy catching and releasing fish(trout)over 30".

I agree with that.
When I fished the Kenai, steelhead weren't even allowed to be taken out of the water for a pic.

Now picture how the average Laguna master-baiter treats an exhausted sow. Netted, de-slimed, measured, weighed and probably has fingers stuck in her gills while starved of oxygen (sometimes minutes) while pics are taken.

I know I've unsuccessfully revived fish, only to push them off knowing their fate.
Guess my point is if you are going to release her, give her every chance you can.
If she's questionable or you've clowned around with her too long, just box her.

[TP3]

No.

I agree, maybe not in so many words.

Keep any legal fish you want. Black bass and speckled trout included.

[Leemo]

East Matty is nothing like it used to be. It's a small bay, and sees a ton of pressure. So much, that I won't fish there anymore unless it's a Tuesday or Wednesday. I was glad it went to five, but the pressure keeps growing with no end in sight and new guides popping up every day.

I find at least one or two big dead trout a week in the summer time

[Mexico]

This i grew up on east and west Matty but you won't see me there on a Thursday through Sunday.

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[Tx_Wader]

I enjoy fishing but I fish to catch fish to eat. So I do judge my trip as a success on the number of fish in the cooler. And I get more meat off the bigger ones so I keep them. Who gives a crud how people judge their successful fishing trip. You fish how you want and us shameful fishermen will fish how we want.

You do what floats your boat there buttercup lol.

[MadHatter]

So we are trying to effectively manage, free range deer, on low fence, public land ?

[snappertapper]

This thread needs pics of big dead trout

[WalkieTalkie]

Unless its going on the wall Its going back in the water

[WalkieTalkie]

I release everything over 23" The best eating fish is 16-"-18" trout. Firm fillets.


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Exactly this