Best catch and release policy?

[kingcole]

I pretty much throw every thing back even if they are injured. i figure if I keep them they will die if I try my best to send them on their way as healthy as possible they have a chance to live or they contribute to the food chain.

If I am with a guide that will clean my catch I will often take enough for one meal or one fish (think Salmon or Striper). I can clean them myself but not worth the hassle as I am not a huge fish lover and my wife is a prissy city girl that would die before eating a fish I caught... But she will dig in at Red Lobster???

I am all about letting a fish live to fight another fight. Even a Trophy fish why take that fish out of the Gene pool.

[Diego916]

If I keep any, I keep the smaller fish. The big fish need to go back! 8-)

[Fat_Freddy]

I don't eat them so I don't keep any. Even if they are injured or dead I put them back anyway. Something will eat them.

[StocktonDon]

JohnBfishin - thanks for your post.

Just curious about how people see the catch and release issue. *I hope enough will vote so we can all get a sense of what the community thinks, and what we can expect from each other on the water.

Also hope there might be a little fun in it!

(Apologies to the horse.)

[johnbfishin]

I admire your guest but, aren't we kinda beating a dead horse? 8-)

[StocktonDon]

What do you think is the best catch and release policy?

Option 1 - Keep them all but stop when you reach the limit. [Never release an edible, legal-sized fish (unless illegal to keep it), and, after catching your limit, stop fishing for that species for the day]

Option 2 - Keep none except those likely to die and stop when you reach the limit. [Release every fish you do not intend to eat except those science tells you are likely to die and, after keeping a limit of fish likely to die, stop fishing for that species for the day]

Option 3 - Keep and cull what you want but stop when you reach the limit. *[Keep whatever fish you want up to the limit, culling as you want regardless of what science tells about which fish are likely to die, and, after keeping limit of fish, stop fishing for that species for the day.]

Option 4 - Keep and cull what you want, and continue fishing after you reach a limit. *[Keep whatever fish you want up to the limit, culling as you want regardless of what science tells about which fish are likely to die, and, after keeping a limit of fish, continue fishing for that species as long as you want for the day so long as you don’t keep more than a limit.]