# does anyone besides me C&R saugeyes?



## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

The intent is not to start a war here. So DO NOT START DEBATING the merits/downfalls to either C&R or NOT C&R(yes we all know saugeyes are TAAAASSSTTTTIIIE!!!).

I simply want to know if anyone besides me C&R saugeyes, under what conditions, etc.

Now I am not against keeping and eating fish, as I have done so a couple times this year -2 saugeyes in fact. If it wasn't so messy and I was better at cleaning them, its very possible I would have kept more.

And if you obey the regs, you are OK in my book. I ain't gonna think any less of you for keeping fish (they are fish for crying out loud).

I simply am curious to have the ? answered.

Feel free to include if you mostly fish reservoirs or rivers. If you don't want to include this info thats fine too. BE GOOD!!!

I don't want to see any debates going on here, JUST ANSWER THE ?!!!!

If you do C&R I don't want to hear ANY reasons as to why (else the debate starts). And if you want to say you keep your limit that's fine too (and I don't want anyone going after anyone or making any comments that are not related to the ?)

Basically I am just looking to see what kind of "essentially meaningless" data comes of this.

And NO I AM NOT 100% C&R!!!!

thanks


----------



## Brian.Smith (May 18, 2006)

If it's over 17 inch's i'll keep it my wife and kids love fresh fish,their fav is walleye and steelies. The steelies have to be over 23 inch's. Whitebass has to be over 12 inch's. I c&r crappie,gills,large and small mouth bass, with the occasional keeper here and their.


----------



## Mojohook (Apr 13, 2006)

I haven't fished for them in a while (but plan to start again Weds.). I did and will C&R (any size). I respect those who catch & keep though! (As long as it is within legal limits).


----------



## DaleM (Apr 5, 2004)

Craw, cleaning them is a breeze. Seriously, walleye and Saugeye are one of easier to clean. If we ever get the chance I'd be glad to show you a few tricks. Besides I could keep 1/2 for showing you  Also remember Saugeye are a cross bread fish that do not reproduce so if you worried about taking the breeders out of the water DON"T.


----------



## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

i caught several this year piddling around while waiting for carp to bite.. i throw them all back because i don't even own anything to clean them with..


----------



## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

i assume you are not referring to 100% c&r.
if you're not,then yes,i c&r,but also c&c.
for personal reasons,i only keep eyes of 15 inches or more.i don't catch many over 24 inches and might possibly release most if i did.again for personal reasons.anything in between is bound for the table.the exception to that rule is if i only catch one or two.i like to bag/freeze eneough fish(at least 3) for a good meal for two,and less than 3 won't do it.there is however,an exception to that rule.if i have none in the freezer and/or want a fresh meal for one,i may keep one or two,depending on size.
basically,if you're a saugeye larger than 15 inches,and i catch you,you are going to be invited to dinner,unless i've reached my legal limit


----------



## multi species angler (Feb 20, 2006)

I release about 90% of the Saugeye I catch. Especially fish 4 lbs and over, I do keep some for friends and family occasionally. I've released about 20 up to 4lbs with about a 2 1/2 lb to 3 lb average the last couple of trips. Didn't have any friends or family with me on these trips. The biggest one I've released was a 5 lb 12 oz female caught several trips back . Some saugeye do infact reproduce.


----------



## Bubba bass bigfoot (May 8, 2006)

i release all the fish i catch i am C&R all the way


----------



## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

> i throw them all back because i don't even own anything to clean them with.


 
just give me a yell.i have plenty of cleaning utensils


----------



## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I probably take 1-2 dozen Saugeyes a year and release all of them, Mostly from rivers. (C&R a 7 lber this spring)
I havent kept a fish in the past 7-8 years, for me fishing is done for the "sport", not for dinner but I dont have a problem with guys keeping fish to eat and are within the regs.
Salmonid


----------



## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I usually keep saugeye in the 14 inch range and up. We eat a lot of fish at my house and fresh fish is always welcome on the table. Other fish I dont keep usually, and I do both catch and release and catch and keep. I think besides the fact that saugeye taste good, I keep them because they are stocked each year and can not naturally reproduce, so I am not really effecting the population by keeping them. Now bass I am pretty much C&R with the occasional keeper and Muskie are C&R NO MATTER WHAT.


----------



## BrianSipe17 (Aug 5, 2006)

I don't usually Saugeye fish, but I totally believe in keeping fish if you like to eat them. I always release bass, but if I get into gills, I love em. They are easy to clean and taste great. We are the top of the food chain. However, I would never keep more than I eat. For instance, crappie do not freeze well and when you are into em, you can catch a ton. I only keep enough for a fresh dinner. My kid and wife love a good fish fry.


----------



## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Do both love my saugeyes and crappies. Most of what i catch is distributed to fellow friends ones who cannot get out and fish that often also have a couple large fish fries each year as well. Lot of over 24" eyes i take picture of let go meat get strong. also 15" up on saugeyes ticking guys off last week at indian kept throwing back 15-16" ones but ended up with 6 17-21" but those 15" ones over there are really fat broad fish lot of meat.


----------



## Fishing_Chef (Jul 6, 2006)

I C & R - 100% of the time, although, I have never eatten (ate...) Saugeye, so I might keep 1 or 2 if they are decent size to try it. I would actually have to catch some first though  I have a life time total of 3 hehehhe.


----------



## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

I release all fish, except one meal a year if i'm lucky enough on the charter boat on Erie.


----------



## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Good thread C.D. 

As for me if Im hungry for one (don't like fish that much..So that's not very often), and I manage to catch one thats between 18"-21" I will keep it. Occasionaly I will keep a couple and throw them in the freezer. Two 21" S-eye will last me at least 3 months. Again I don't like to eat fish that much.


----------



## Capital outdoorsman (Mar 27, 2006)

Well, I have caught 3 saugeye. I've released 2. I'm eating one tonight that I caught at Indian on Friday. Crappie and saugeye I'll keep and eat, the rest I'll let go. I did keep one real big smallie this year but that had more to do with really wanting to eat some fish.

I suppose the good news is I'm not that good so the fish population is pretty safe


----------



## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I don't catch much saugeyes but walleyes I'll keep most of the time. If they are too small or it's getting late and I have to get up in a few hours to go to work, sometimes I'm just too tired to mess with cleaning fish.
Also I don't care for the taste of Lake Erie walleyes so they go back unless I have someone who will take them off my hands.


----------



## SwollenGoat (Apr 13, 2005)

Like Misfit, I throw everything back under 15" & let it grow. If it's over 15", it's going on the table. Saugeye are a hybrid fish, and are stocked by the state to provide "meat" for fishing folks. Part of your license fees pay for those fish, you might as well get a few meals out of the deal.

AS LONG AS YOU ARE DOING IT LEGALLY WITHIN LEGAL LIMITS!!!


----------



## EE (Apr 13, 2004)

Fishing Chef,
you have to try it, I know there are lots of tasty fish out there but saugeye to me tastes better than walleye. 
I catch and release many of the fish I catch; it all depends on how much fish I have in the freezer. My family loves fresh fish about twice a month, both grilled and deep fried...I keep only as much as I need for the next 1-2 fish meals (of course that means that I am usually left with an empty freezer)  

I use the lake erie walleye size limit as my guide for saugeye keepers, and prefer to throw back the big ones. I know they're not theoretically reproducing, but it's the fact that they will be bigger next time they are caught!  I caught a 26" fish several years ago and didn't have the heart to keep it........what a feeling it was watching that awesome fish swim away, knowing that fish is possibly pushing 30+" today


----------



## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

> you have to try it, I know there are lots of tasty fish out there but saugeye to me tastes better than walleye.


 i second that.they are definitely better tasting.


> I caught a 26" fish several years ago and didn't have the heart to keep it........what a feeling it was watching that awesome fish swim away, knowing that fish is possibly pushing 30+" today


 even though they are a put&take "meat" fish,i kinda feel the same.they're not as tastey either.
i also enjoyed releasing a 28 incher a couple summers ago,hoping to see it possibly become a "real trophy".
however,if it had caught this time of year,it would have broken the 10 pound mark,for special reasons,it would have gone on the wall


----------



## jholbrook (Sep 26, 2006)

As everyone else has said, saugeye are good just about however they are prepared. I keep the occasional saugeye, usually in the 15-18" range, but sometimes plan on keeping more. Sometimes, though, it seems like a lot of work to keep them, I rarely have a stringer, and sometimes I forget a bag to take them home in - my girlfriend would throw a fit if I drove home with a couple saugeye on the floor (or seat) of her car.

Other things come up as well. The last trip, I caught keepers on my first and third cast and thought "If the fishing is gonna be this good, I'll wait and keep something bigger." Those fish never came, so I went home empty handed.

I think the spawning success rate for saugeye is 5-10% with sauger and walleye. About 90-95% of saugeye will die without successfully spawning. If we don't utilize them, something else will. I'm sure there are some fat, happy raccoons beneath most central ohio tailwaters. Then again, there are people who luck into a 22" + monster that someone released the year before. In either case, it works out.


----------



## onthewater (May 20, 2005)

I probably release around 75-80% of the keeper size s-eyes that I catch. Don't keep anything over 21" but have given them to a fishing partner who wants them. Have never had a problem with anyone keeping as many eating size eyes as they legally can but would prefer to see the 21" plus fish go back.


----------



## cramerk (Aug 3, 2005)

Personally, I have never kept a saugeye. I did catch quite a few last winter and spring but since the freezer still had walleye, I released them all. My problem is this, Why do some people get mad at you when you do release the fish. When fishing outside of Lake Erie, I am doing it just for the sport. why cant people realize this. Also, most saugeye that I saw being caught were between 10 to 16 inches. Now a 16 in Saugeye is an eatible fish, however, a 12 incher is not worth it. that is just my personal opinion though/...I would also like to head out to IL sometime but have no idea of where to fish, if some one could PM me some basic tips I would greatly appreciate it....thanks


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

I normally keep fish if I plan on eating them within a day or two. This time of year, if I catch a couple fish I put them on ice and when I get a few, cook them for dinner.. without totally freezing them. I even leave them outside. 
I only freeze a few times a year, mostly when up at Erie and we get a good limit of eyes or perch. We normally will freeze them and have a nice cookout with the entire family. 
ying


----------



## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

Regardless of whether they can spawn releasing big fish provides potential sport for another fisherman. There is nothing like watching a big fish swim away - of any species. I love catching trophy saugeyes but the downside of the program is that it reinforces the meathunter attitude. I follow the In-fisherman selective harvest priniciples and that means releasing bigger fish of any species. I do this to promote sport - even if I would fish in a 100% non-reproducing lake I would release bigger fish. I have no problem keeping or others keeping a legal limit of medium sized fish.


----------



## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

Master Angler said:


> Regardless of whether they can spawn releasing big fish provides potential sport for another fisherman. There is nothing like watching a big fish swim away - of any species. I love catching trophy saugeyes but the downside of the program is that it reinforces the meathunter attitude. I follow the In-fisherman selective harvest priniciples and that means releasing bigger fish of any species. I do this to promote sport - even if I would fish in a 100% non-reproducing lake I would release bigger fish. I have no problem keeping or others keeping a legal limit of medium sized fish.


If others want to keep their legal limit of fish irregardless of size, I will respect that. I wish they wouldn't however in the places I fish bc I mostly fish for sport.

To each his or her own. I know I do other things in life which while legal, are probably worse than keeping a 26"+ eye, or for that matter a legal limit of them. I caught and ate a 26.5" 6.37 lb eye earlier this year, and it was awesome-absolutely zero regrets(having eaten it and tasted how good it was, I would have regretted not eating it...had I known what I would have been missing). I was also curious how much it weighed and since I didn't have a portable scale I needed to swing by the local grocery to weigh it. I would have released it, however if I would have had a camera at the time to take a pic. 

It is sweet seeing big fish swim away!

but giving an example of looking at the bigger picture I think someone who drives a Hummer around and C&R's every saugeye they catch is worse than someone who drives a hybrid and keeps their limit of eyes.

Everyone is different and difn't things float difn't peoples boats and as long as no rules/regs are broken, I dont let it bother me(fishing out smaller river holes are another story). When I see stringers of smallies taken from one of my honeyholes (which happed about 3 times this year)I wants to Kick some butt! (so I feel difn't for dfn't species of fish) As stated earlier to each his or her own. I guess I just view it "in the bigger picture of things".

etc


----------



## Brian.Smith (May 18, 2006)

Crawdiddy you want to know what float's my boat WATER


----------



## boaterfisherdude (Feb 16, 2005)

interesting thread, me and my dad keep some saugeyes but they have to be over 17in and anything over 21in is thrown back. their are a couple of reasons we do this one is to make oursevles better fishermen (by targeting the bigger fish) and 2- we dont eat a lot a of fish, just a couple of fish fries a year. We have always wanted to catch a 10+ lber so thats why we release the bigger ones. their are exceptions though like just a couple of weeks ago i caught a 28in eye but its tail was badly damaged so we cleaned it. also if its gut hooked we clean them to. this fall we have only cleaned 3 fish i believe because we still have fish in our freezers.


----------



## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

Just wanted to say thanks for a great read. The goal of this poast in the first place was to bring out EXACTLY the types of responses we got. In other words, if you haven't figgered me out yet, don't believe every word and sentence I type is 100% literally true(like a goofy example I recently made though maybe that's how I feel?). Its knot. Once again I really like what everyone here had to say and feel free to add more.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, I guess I just wanted some phun reading material.


----------



## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

Crawdiddy - why do you feel differently about smallies v. saugeyes (a rhetorical question)? Not trying to point fingers but this is how a lot of bassers feel. Kiss a 12" lm bass but willing to kill a 16" crappie or trophy eye just b/c they are "meat" fish. Again, I like to release big fish so someone else can enjoy catching them as well but I realize the majority of others feel differently. Being a stream fisherman you understand how fragile some big fish pops are. I realize that to some a fish is a fish is a fish - that is their opinion but that doesn't mean it is the correct/right view (not that mine is either) 
This state manages for harvest not sustainable harvest and trophy fishing. Trophy fisherman might be a small minority but people should have a just as reasonable shot at catching a big fish as they do a limit of eaters. The fishing regulations should encourage sustainability and stewardship not slaughter and fish hogging.


----------



## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

1. I do not feel as much that way as I probably came off.
2. I am 92.89% the smallie fisherman (and 7.11% the saugeye fisherman)...and selfish, (I want the water ALL TO MESELF!)
3. I had one very bad experience with meathunters pulling out a LOT of pig smallies from a very small hole this summer (don't ask, same people a few difn't times). But I bet there are others here who have ran into the exact same people (think soft craws and cadillac?).
4. smallies have enough problems as it is (spring floods, etc)
5. When am I gonna get my fish ohio smallie? I think I lost 2 or 3 this year, and RIGHT CLOSE TO ME TOO. Aaaarrrggghhh!!! What I believe to be the biggest less than a week ago. (aaarrrghhhh!!!) and another one the week before that (aaaaarrrrggghhhh!!!)
6. I like sallies much more than larries
7. I fish rivers 85% (for smallies)
8. Crappie reproduce like mad and grow quickly (unlike smallies). 
9. Panfish===> eat away. Theres a reason they're called that.
10. did I say I'm selfish. 
11. see 10
12. But yeah it would be cool if the avg size of a crappie was 2" bigger.
13. Wouldn't it be cool if NO ONE fish ANY of the waters in ohio for 5 years? then we could see what it would be like to be a kid in a candstore again.
14. Not really into 13, I LOVE to fish.
15. to each his own (see previous posts)
16. I saw the effects of 3.
17. I have heard people say similar things about eyes in "certain spots" (see 16 and 3)
18. I am me. You are you. I think. You think.
19. etcetc,etc
20. 1 through 19 in no particular order

unfortunately the state seems to be stocking less and less saugeyes into the scioto system - thats my preferred body of water (they "makes it downstream and messes with the sauger repro thing" I think?)

the thing is, unless people have actually caught a 26"+ 6.5lb eye they don't know how SWEET they are (subway party sub profile thing) so they don't quite "get it". I'm sure most would find them very tasty.

to each his own (also there seem to be plenty of big crappie out there, you just need to know where to go, when to go, and put in just a little bit of time. But my biggest is only 13" so I really don't know what "BIG" is)

peace (the above is my opinion and my opinion only)

I'm glad you bring this up, if we change one persons opinion, I'm happy.


----------



## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

Im 50/50 I released a couple keepers last spring from Alum because me and the guy I was with didnt feel like cleaning fish, both were around 17-18", I also fish with a guy who really likes Saugeye and if we get 3 or 4 keepers enough for him to have dinner for him and his wife we keep them, never do we keep just one or two because its not really enough for him and his wife to eat, and never do we keep cigar size.


----------



## cool water canyon (Jun 3, 2007)

what ever happened to crawdiddy? 

It says he's an OGF Member, but he no longer posts.


----------



## chad4050 (May 24, 2007)

ok here we go im gonna get flamed for this why take fish out of ohio waters to eat besides a pond dont u think these waters are a bit polluted i fish for the sport if i want to eat fish its gonna be lj or sea food or farm raised cat fish i dont think we should have as low of limits on the size and amount we should take but truth be known and this is where u all should realize it is not the the guys that trophy hunt and fish for the sport that are taking the most amount of fish it is the guy that carries that buckett and sits down under worm and bobber with no kid and finds a mess of them and keeps anything he catches no mater what odnr needs to check more L and crack down on these people that do this and we need to educate those hethen kids that ask u a milion questions why u are fishing ur favorite holes those are just my opions and views for wich i have aright to express this is america this is why so many have died thanks for the ear chad


----------



## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

I went after saugeyes with Crawdiddy this past february. He says he was unable to login to OGF at some point.

He told me he was becoming active at fishingohio.net, so you may want to try there.

BTW, Crawdiddy really knew the local rivers. He's a good reference on the subject. 



cool water canyon said:


> what ever happened to crawdiddy?
> 
> It says he's an OGF Member, but he no longer posts.


----------



## leckig (May 11, 2005)

I have seen plenty of dead "released" sougeyes (O'Sha, Alum) they seem not to be very happy when released. Maybe just coincident?


----------



## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

cool water canyon said:


> what ever happened to crawdiddy?
> 
> It says he's an OGF Member, but he no longer posts.


He came back under the name "cool water canyon", and made it to 4 posts before diming himself out inadvertantly. Losing his touch in my opinion, as in the past he's made it to atleast 20 or so


----------



## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

I like some of the others on here keep fish only if they are big enough for my standards. 15 and up on saugeyes. I also catch and keep a lot of fish each year, but have never had to throw any away. I keep more than I can eat but I like to take care of those who would love to eat fish but no longer can get out themselves. The only way I would get upset with someone for keeping any fish is if I thought they were wasting them. People who rob our resources to brag or gloat is definately a sore spot of mine, sadly this happens in deer hunting way too much and hopefully fishing doesn't go this route in the future. I am just happy to see people get outside and enjoy the world around them instead of sitting on the couch watching the tube so to each his own.


----------



## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

LMAO shake.good one


----------



## SConner (Mar 3, 2007)

I c&r from GMR... Get weird looks from other people when I let em go.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

To answer your question....No.


----------



## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

i keep saugeye on occasion, but i never keep more than maybe two, theres no point to filling your freezer, i think its a mental thing that makes guys keep a limit and fill their freezer, they cant eat that many fish in a year, just showing off the catch. burgers taste better, and fish dont show the level of your skill


----------



## spidey (Mar 19, 2007)

I rarely keep any reservoir fish other than crappie and catfish. Crappie 10+ (sometimes 9+ depending on where I'm fishing) and no catfish over 5 pounds. I never keep fish from any river. I fish rivers and tailwaters mainly in the spring. Almost exclusive reservoir fishing in the summer months.


----------



## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

I love to play amateur biologist.

I reduce to creel ALL saugeye caught in our rivers. Decimation of native sauger populations and unwarranted competition for forage base with native smallmouth populations are my selfish reasons.

I also take river spotted bass found outside their historic ranges and I wish I had nerve enough to shoot cormorants. (Yeah, I know that part's illegal.)

I harvest all red ears where I value the pure bluegill population.

Wipers are D.O.A.

Been workin' on the pure stripers the Division of Wildlife has seen fit to ruin a local lake with.

My surely warped view of things keeps us in all the fillets we need. Makes it real easy to release 8 in. gills and 12 in. crappie.

That said...you releasing your saugeye don't bug me one bit. I'm on full alert to help skew the balance.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Wiper Swiper said:


> I love to play amateur biologist.
> 
> I reduce to creel ALL saugeye caught in our rivers. Decimation of native sauger populations and unwarranted competition for forage base with native smallmouth populations are my selfish reasons.
> 
> ...



You are a very logical man! Spot on! The only thing I disagree with is the spotted bass culling. Just because they were not known to live in the areas you now catch them in, it is now their habbitat, native at that seeing they have been in the watershed for hundreds of years.


----------



## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

How do those spotted bass taste?

Never gotten to try one.

How do you cook them?



Wiper Swiper said:


> I love to play amateur biologist.
> 
> I reduce to creel ALL saugeye caught in our rivers. Decimation of native sauger populations and unwarranted competition for forage base with native smallmouth populations are my selfish reasons.
> 
> ...


----------



## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

The spotted bass question is a good one. I must admit to having been on the other side of the fence until I opened my eyes and ears and thought it through. Some very knowing anglers from my region, and a few from other states, convinced me of the potential problem. Plain fact of the matter is that spots expanding into their non-historic ranges will out-compete with resident smallies. I'm not talking about Ohio River spots...I'm talking about those prolific "runts" that are infesting the upper Stillwater and moving farther and farther up the GMR. Granted, degraded water quality, hydromodification, and inadvertent relocation (river tournaments) bring the spots and should be the focus of anyone wanting to make a difference...but legally keeping the ones I catch is the least I can do. This is not just an Ohio thing...I've heard first hand accounts from Indiana and Missouri of spots ruining smallie streams. I've decided I can't release a spot from my home rivers in good conscience. Again...it doesn't bother me if you do.

Fix 'em like all my fish...egg wash, flour dredge, and hot canola oil. Can't tell them from the rock bass.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Wiper Swiper said:


> The spotted bass question is a good one. I must admit to having been on the other side of the fence until I opened my eyes and ears and thought it through. Some very knowing anglers from my region, and a few from other states, convinced me of the potential problem. Plain fact of the matter is that spots expanding into their non-historic ranges will out-compete with resident smallies. I'm not talking about Ohio River spots...I'm talking about those prolific "runts" that are infesting the upper Stillwater and moving farther and farther up the GMR. Granted, degraded water quality, hydromodification, and inadvertent relocation (river tournaments) bring the spots and should be the focus of anyone wanting to make a difference...but legally keeping the ones I catch is the least I can do. This is not just an Ohio thing...I've heard first hand accounts from Indiana and Missouri of spots ruining smallie streams. I've decided I can't release a spot from my home rivers in good conscience. Again...it doesn't bother me if you do.
> 
> Fix 'em like all my fish...egg wash, flour dredge, and hot canola oil. Can't tell them from the rock bass.



Your concern is understandable, but resembles the argument that some fisherman take on destroying native gar due to suposid damages they do to juvenile fish. It is not scientificly proven, and just a speculation. You are also interfering with a natural response to the local conditions. Spotted bass moving farther north is directly correlated with climate if you want to know the truth. They are also a relatively 'newer' species and are still expanding their natural range, even today. If they out compete smallmouth, you should not try to interfere...that would just be another interference with a natural process that man is so apt to doing. 


The bottom line is....If you are sour about them being in your smallie holes, I can understand your anger...It cannot be scientificly justified though.


----------



## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I generally keep em. If I only catch 1 or 2, I'll turn em loose. If I get 3 or more in a trip then theyre going home with me. I'm not picky when it comes to saugeyes as the DOW considers them a "put & take" fish. That's why they dump 250,000 fingerlings in Hoover, Alum and the like year in and year out. So, I keep up my end of the deal and "take!"

CG


----------



## bassinLou (May 11, 2007)

Hey, if keeping fish is what you do then do make it do what it do baby. 9.5 times out of ten I will not keep fish unless I catch what my mother eats which is pnly white bass and catfish. I do not like to catch catfish and white bass you can't catch everyday. I will keep an occassional eye or two if they are at least 15" if someone I know is having a fry. I don't clean fish and normally don't eat them either. I pretty much do it for the sport. Here shortly it is going to be strickly for the sport.


----------



## Titanium Reel (May 31, 2007)

I for the most part (somewhere around 90%-95% C&R), but I do keep a fish here and there. It also depends on what body of water I caught the fish. I have lived my whole life in Columbus (I am 32), so I know all to well what the Scioto has been through through the years. I will not keep any fish I catch out of the Scioto unless I am way above Franklin County. My favorite Creek/river to fish is Big Walnut. Thats water is plenty clean enough for me. I have even caught a Log Perch from there (which is a good sign of clean water). The last time I kept a fish was when I was last up at Atrim Lake last year. Before that, it was a few years. I made a buddy I took fishing mad a few years back. I was fishing Big Walnut just south of Refugee Rd. and caught a nice Saugeye (around 24" I would guess) and let it go. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

FYI the logperch indicates a similar water quality as does when a stream has smallmouth bass and longear sunfish.


----------



## Girl With A Pole (May 18, 2007)

100% c&r.

im a big PETA person

minus the fact i hook fish in the face


----------



## seethe303 (Dec 12, 2006)

PETA, really?

I'm all for 'ethical treatment of animals' but IMO they are nuts!

Girl With a Pole, are you a vegetarian? 


I am 95% C & R. I'll keep a few 16-19" saugeye to eat every now and then. anything bigger or smaller goes back.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Girl With A Pole said:


> im a big PETA person
> 
> minus the fact i hook fish in the face




hahahahaha! Good show, good show.


----------



## Girl With A Pole (May 18, 2007)

seethe303 said:


> PETA, really?
> 
> I'm all for 'ethical treatment of animals' but IMO they are nuts!
> 
> ...


yeah- been a vegetarian since 3rd grade... thanks to Missouri being sucha farm town back then, they thought it was a GOOD IDEA to have 7 yr olds disecting cow and pig fetus's and explaining what is really in peperoni and sausage....
needless to say, it took my parents a few weeks to convince me they wernt just raising my dog to turn him into dinner later on, and- i havent eaten meat since.


----------



## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Girl With A Pole said:


> 100% c&r.
> 
> im a big PETA person
> 
> minus the fact i hook fish in the face


Different strokes for different folks. I belong to the group that read it as:

People Eating Tasty Animals

Also, I have never understood how a person could say, "it's ok to kill plants, just don't kill any animals." I think I might start a club and call it People For The Ethical Treatment of Corn.

 

CG


----------



## Girl With A Pole (May 18, 2007)

killing for food is one thing. dont get me wrong, im not ignorant and think cows are priceless. nor do i think chickens or pigs should be worshiped. humane killing is one thing. but... things like clubbing seals and that pointless stuff so some fat ass rich lady can wear a jacked of 100's of soft pelts.. kinda usless in my mind !

just IMO


----------

