Catch and release Largemouth??

Is there anyone on MAFF that keeps the fish they catch.. Had a talk with my nephew on the subject.. He keeps and mounts larger fish he catches... he's the only one i know that does.. I'm against it whether your mounting it or eating it.. LMB should never be taken from the water you catch them in.. Just my 2 cents.. anyone else have an opinion on this..

I don't keep LMB either. I don't like the idea of people keeping them to mount but its their right providing they catch it legally. I've read that some places will benefit from taking out some of the smaller fish. Less competition for forage. There have been a few conversations on the subject. A good point that was recently made was that a really big fish like the 9 pounder caught at the Quabbin is really old and may not have much longer to live anyway. I'd probably release that fish. I love just looking at my pics of me with pigs. That's enough for me

Is there anyone on MAFF that keeps the fish they catch.. Had a talk with my nephew on the subject.. He keeps and mounts larger fish he catches... he's the only one i know that does.. I'm against it whether your mounting it or eating it.. LMB should never be taken from the water you catch them in.. Just my 2 cents.. anyone else have an opinion on this..

i agree with you although go ahead and keep the 12" dinks and pickerel. in fact, it should be encouraged to keep as many pickerel as possible.

C@R Always! If people are gonna eat largemouth go get a bunch of 12ins like others are saying. Theres SO MANY ponds that would benefit extraordinary if people would just take out a large chunk of small bass. The big ones i heard taste like COMPLETE S*** anyways??? I have no clue why anyone else besides people fishing for food for the family would take home a 4lb+ bass When it comes to mounts i could care less. I sorta frown apon it. This day and age people can just get replicas that look sweet! Picture with a big grin with a slob in your hands is priceless!!!! No money can replicate that!!!

Agreed all around bass and keeping dinks is how bass ponds are managed a lot of private ponds down south do there management that way but they have people who know how many to take out and what not but I see people with buckets full of bass and if there are more then five I will and do call the epa

I'd keep a bass if it was truly a trophy fish. Remember, they're an invasive species as well.

A bass over ten pounds has to be in the last two or three years of life anyway but I still think I'll go replica

Is there anyone on MAFF that keeps the fish they catch.. Had a talk with my nephew on the subject.. He keeps and mounts larger fish he catches... he's the only one i know that does.. I'm against it whether your mounting it or eating it.. LMB should never be taken from the water you catch them in.. Just my 2 cents.. anyone else have an opinion on this..

i agree with you although go ahead and keep the 12" dinks and pickerel. in fact, it should be encouraged to keep as many pickerel as possible.

i second that keep any pickerel you catch. i feed em to the gulls when im ice fishing

Is there anyone on MAFF that keeps the fish they catch.. Had a talk with my nephew on the subject.. He keeps and mounts larger fish he catches... he's the only one i know that does.. I'm against it whether your mounting it or eating it.. LMB should never be taken from the water you catch them in.. Just my 2 cents.. anyone else have an opinion on this..

i agree with you although go ahead and keep the 12" dinks and pickerel. in fact, it should be encouraged to keep as many pickerel as possible.

i second that keep any pickerel you catch. i feed em to the gulls when im ice fishing

And the pickerel are NOT invasive species....

never keep bass. im big on CPR catch photo release.

if i caught a 9 pounder i would probably mount it. it has already passed on it's genes many times over and that is a fish of a lifetime. i also don't think the replicas look as good.
i have heard the same thing about keeping some smaller bass. that its good for the fishery.

what do people think about killing the pics. i throw them back but i feel like all of them should die just because they are so much more aggressive than lmb and it seems they would win most times in competition for food.

what do people think about killing the pics. i throw them back but i feel like all of them should die just because they are so much more aggressive than lmb and it seems they would win most times in competition for food.

We wouldn't have to worry about the competition if the LMB (invasive species) weren't introduced around here.

Leave the darts alone, they belong here.

One reason I don't keep non-stocked fish for consumption is the high level of mercury in most Massachusetts freshwater fish, particularly bass.

http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/environmental-health/exposure-topics/fish-wildlife/fish/

i'm guessing the slime dart comment's a joke? i think pickerel are invasive and take over a lot of ponds and eat up a lot of the food. i don't kill them though.

Not positive but I thought pumpkinseed, pickeral, yellow perch and brook trout were about the only native larger freshwater fish around here. Bass could be considered invasive.