Catch and release?

[jambop]

Was watching a youtube vid of someone doing a catch and cook video. The guy caught a nice bass well over the legal size limit and took it home and cooked it on the grill. Now there were loads of comments that all bass regardless of size should be returned , what are the thoughts on that ? I have to say if I caught a nice bass about 45- 50 cm I would take it home and have it for dinner as I have always had that hunter type instinct.

 

[Had1]

yeah nothing wrong with taking a bass home mate ... people never say must catch and release about cod even though they need more protection than bass in my opinion !!

 

[j willson]

if you want to eat what you catch good do it

 

[John Mitchell]

Bass are a great eating fish , but don’t forget the uk rules a bass must be over 42cm for a start then we can only keep 2 certain times of the year , not sure at this moment what the dates are for this year

 

[Radio Rental]

A question that has been asked many times over,if the fish is above the size limit i don`t see why not,bass are staging a bit of a fight back which is great to see, but surely half the thrill of fishing is seeing a plump female being released to carry on the good work.The ones i could cheerfully give a right hander to are the ones who take the undersized fish as a trophy now that really makes me mad...Alan

 

[flappy]

Catching to eat is the only reason why I fish...if I wanted to release fish I would go coarse fishing.

 

[Cfish]

Catch and release sports angling is dangerous,yes do it!!! But don't shout about it!!!! Can't let your lurcher catch a hare but you can drag a fish around by its gob! I know a few extreme anti killing things peeps that don't mind me killing animals to eat. They are vegans but still respect me hunting or fishing for wild food.

 

[Dutchman]

The origins of fishing would have been for the table.
I go bass fishing in the hope of catching for the table.
And will take bass in size.

In the interest of all those who go on about the state of the bass stock and conservation, NEVER would i go fishing for bass fishing unless it was the table.
No way would i go for catch and release of bass.

 

[jambop]

Yes

Catch and release sports angling is dangerous,yes do it!!! But don't shout about it!!!! Can't let your lurcher catch a hare but you can drag a fish around by its gob! I know a few extreme anti killing things peeps that don't mind me killing animals to eat. They are vegans but still respect me hunting or fishing for wild food.

I think that like most forms of hunting do it if you are comfortable about killing and cleaning. I laugh at those, who are still meat eaters, who get all shirty about hunting for the table... but will happily go into the butchers and get a lump of meat or a chicken for dinner!
I have always been very strict in as much as I only kill what I am going to eat I never was one for killing for the pleasure of it. If I went out shooting rabbits and shot two within five minutes then that was the days shooting over, clean them and it was back home to have them for dinner.

 

[Ianpick]

Compare your catch to most commercially caught fish you see in shops, and the process it goes through to get there.

Catch it, kill it, cook it, eat it.
Size limits, number limits etc should be adhered to obviously but it's absolutely acceptable.

That said, bass are pretty bland.

 

[Beach]

My views are: If you can't eat it why try to catch it.

 

[jambop]

Compare your catch to most commercially caught fish you see in shops, and the process it goes through to get there.

Catch it, kill it, cook it, eat it.
Size limits, number limits etc should be adhered to obviously but it's absolutely acceptable.

That said, bass are pretty bland.

Interesting that you should say that, although I like them, I was reading a comment made by a guy who had caught two very different fish on the same day and cooked them on the grill later that day. One fish was a bass the other a mullet and he said he preferred the mullet for taste . I have never eaten mullet so I don't know. I do know that when I cook bass I normally bake them with a bit of spring onion, garlic and ginger in the body cavity wrapped in alu foil I find them delicious cooked like that BUT I am adding in flavours so maybe they are bland? Give me a nice bit of Haddy or a decent sized Hake stake and that will do me nothing to beat them.

 

[Ianpick]

I find that the longer they are out of the sea the more tasteless they become. 3or 4 hours if kept cool and they are ok but not IMHO special.
A nice hake steak, yes please.

 

[Landlocked Northants]

I was under the impression that there were limits to both the dates on when a Bass must be returned alive ?
January to end of July????
August to the end of December provided it was over 42cms???

Or has this EU rule finished with Brexit?
As I'm only visiting the coast for a few times each year ( not since August 2019). I usually do catch and release policy, as I get as much pleasure in catching a fish ?? or four.
To be by the sea, the waves, salty air, the views and if it's the summer, the other views as well.
On rare occasions, I have been lucky enough to catch a nice few mackies, a few nice Bass, or a plaice or three, then I will bring them back to my accommodation, as my landlord,is a mate who enjoys eating fresh ??.
Obviously, if you are local to the coast, then to stock up your freezers in good times is paramount, as there must be several times ? when you actually blankety blank, but don't like to admit it???

 

[Dutchman]

No Bass rule i am sure was carried over.

But some busy bodies are probably trying to change it.

 

[jambop]

I was under the impression that there were limits to both the dates on when a Bass must be returned alive ?
January to end of July????
August to the end of December provided it was over 42cms???

Or has this EU rule finished with Brexit?
As I'm only visiting the coast for a few times each year ( not since August 2019). I usually do catch and release policy, as I get as much pleasure in catching a fish ?? or four.
To be by the sea, the waves, salty air, the views and if it's the summer, the other views as well.
On rare occasions, I have been lucky enough to catch a nice few mackies, a few nice Bass, or a plaice or three, then I will bring them back to my accommodation, as my landlord,is a mate who enjoys eating fresh ??.
Obviously, if you are local to the coast, then to stock up your freezers in good times is paramount, as there must be several times ? when you actually blankety blank, but don't like to admit it???

Depends where you fish in the Med for example the size limit is 30cm

 

[Beach]

Depends where you fish in the Med for example the size limit is 30cm

Or if you are from the Eastern Block, size doesn't matter they take anything that swims.

 

[JLD]

Personally, I don't think I'd go fishing at all if I couldn't keep something for the table and yet people do fish c&r, they are out there somewhere. Just nobody on this forum apparently.

 

[stan m]

I`ve always been of the opinion that C & R plays straight into the hands of the antis. Catch it for food fair enough, stick metal in it, play around with it for self gratification (their argument not mine) and you cannot justify it other than cruelty.

A few European countries were caught out with it, now anything caught has to be killed even carp and perch, (we could send warby over, the perch would be safe )

 

[Ianpick]

Catch limits, size or quantity, are laughable if you're shore fishing for one or two fish and the Margaris is 10 miles away.

Many a bass has been slipped into a bucket and subsequently into the pan during the bass ban.

I find it difficult to criticise anyone who does this when the super trawler is an entity.