How many do you keep?

[Baby Tran Cat]

Got a question I thought would be good board fodder. I read an article the other day a guide wrote on conservation. He says that he always thought he was a conservationist but recently began to refer to himself as a hypocrite because he always kept the full limit of fish allowed by law. He now says that he only keeps what he will eat then and release the rest. That is his interpretation of a conservationist I guess as far as kept catch goes. I am not saying right or wrong here...I'm simply curious about what the WEA folks generally do.

Since most of the time it is just my wife and I in Galveston, I will keep what I will eat that weekend. I also rarely get the chance to keep a full limit of trout because I tend to target reds. I will keep three of these boogers every time but I also will eat them all over the course of the weekend. I also will tend to pick up a couple flounder as well as they tend to be in the same waters as the reds I catch and I will keep them as well. I used to keep more and freeze the extras but the taste just isn't as good in my book so I rarely freeze extras anymore. Often, I am with a friend and his wife so we will keep a few more. When I have the kids, I obviously keep a few more.

Anyway, wanted to see what yall do on a regular basis...

[dbarham]

I only keep what I am going to eat be it 10 fish or just one depending on what I have in the freezer and how many folks I plan on feeding. sometimes I simply throw em all back...

[boom]

I keep the legal trout over 19", slot reds, and flounder starting at 17" or so and I eat all of them. Trout 25" and over go back in the water.

[Swells]

I think you should keep as many as you want as want as allowed by the regulations and to heck with what anybody says, Mr. Hypocrite included.

There again, I'm within walking distance of the surf and it is nice to go catch a nice fat speck for dinner, just walk it back home, fillet her up, and drop her in the corn meal and cracker crumbs and all. Doesn't even touch the ice! How nice is that?

To me, I think freezing isn't good for fish quality unless you have a seal-a-meal thang, which I don't because I burnt them all up, so I don't stuff the freezer like some of you folks do.

Plus, whenever I fill that sucker up, a hurricane or bad power comes along and ruins it all. Went through 5 boxes of Arm & Hammer last time that happened when I was out of town for a week, the smell was so bad.

[dbarham]

BTW all flounder I catch 16 and up are dinner...

[dbarham]

I think you should keep as many as you want as want as allowed by the regulations and to heck with what anybody says, Mr. Hypocrite included.

There again, I'm within walking distance of the surf and it is nice to go catch a nice fat speck for dinner, just walk it back home, fillet her up, and drop her in the corn meal and cracker crumbs and all. Doesn't even touch the ice! How nice is that?

To me, I think freezing isn't good for fish quality unless you have a seal-a-meal thang, which I don't because I burnt them all up, so I don't stuff the freezer like some of you folks do.

Plus, whenever I fill that sucker up, a hurricane or bad power comes along and ruins it all. Went through 5 boxes of Arm & Hammer last time that happened when I was out of town for a week, the smell was so bad.

Still waiting on the surf fishing invite!! yua thats nice Sammy

[lurefisher]

I only keep what I am going to eat be it 10 fish or just one depending on what I have in the freezer and how many folks I plan on feeding. sometimes I simply throw em all back...

I have never seen Barham throw a fish back,yeh right...

[GHSmacker]

Depends how hungry i am and how many fish i have on the ice/in the freezer at home at the time.

[shallowist]

Zero most days. Ocasionally keep 1-4 to feed me and the family. I have been known to kill a flounder. The guide that you are referring to is probably one of the most knowlegable guides in Texas. I'm sure that it's observations regarding the populations of fish in his area that brought on that article.

We, in Texas, could all do well with being more realistic about what we can actually eat, in a reasonable time frame. C&R is a good thing, and it's pretty impressive what GOOD fisheries managment can do.

[Swells]

Still waiting on the surf fishing invite!! yua thats nice Sammy

When we get the birds workin' the beach and massive droves of bait yeah, I'll post-em-up. You gotta 4x4?

[dbarham]

When we get the birds workin' the beach and massive droves of bait yeah, I'll post-em-up. You gotta 4x4?

duz a bear chit in da woods? yeah I gotta 4x4... im a surf fisherman

[corndog]

If and when I ever catch I fish I will cross that bridge then!!! No really, I just keep enough to eat and like to have a quart bag or two in the freezer which is not very often. But My family doesn't eat fish to often. I have a question on the topic. What size male does it take to breed with a 8-10 lbs female? I have heard it needs to be half the size. I have heard keeping that 4-5 lb male does not help. I have heard you are better off keeping the just above the limit 16-18". I dont know just thought I would throw it out ther.

[imhammer]

I usually keep 1 or 2 reds to eat and occasionally keep a few trout for the in-laws to stay in their good graces.
I don't really like to eat fish unless it is redfish on the half shell.

[2112]

BTW all flounder I catch 16 and up are dinner...

YUP!

[Charlie's Custom Rods]

Zero most days. Ocasionally keep 1-4 to feed me and the family. I have been known to kill a flounder. The guide that you are referring to is probably one of the most knowlegable guides in Texas. I'm sure that it's observations regarding the populations of fish in his area that brought on that article.

We, in Texas, could all do well with being more realistic about what we can actually eat, in a reasonable time frame. C&R is a good thing, and it's pretty impressive what GOOD fisheries managment can do.

I fished with that guide a few weeks ago. The trout bite has been a lot tougher in his areas the past 2 years, either for drought, over fishing, hurricanes...

The point he made to us, those that fish regularly, is that as our sport increases in popularity, so do the effects we have on our fisheries. And that we ( as a group) have to be proactive and show certain levels of restraint as we grow as fishermen.

When many of us were younger, we measured our success by the numbers and as we mature in our sport, it's just not as important as it used to be.

Just my $.02