09-08-2010, 03:39 AM
I keep all the perch I can stand in Carey lake. They are a little on the small side, and a keeper there is about 9". Harvesting them will do good. I only keep enough crappie and perch from CJ and Salmon falls to eat for the week, or I might keep extra if someone in church wants some.
Catfish, oh boy. Here comes the other side of me. I used to keep about every cat I caught. I don't do that any more. The simple fact is I can't handle or use that much fish Idaho has NO limit on them. Jacob and I caught 38 cats on our last trip. The average weight was about 5 pounds. MANY were 8 to 10 pounds. We would have needed a 1 ton truck and a chest freezer to handle all the fish.
I only keep 3 to 4 pound fish now. I only keep what I want to eat and I do NOT plan to freeze any unless I have a special dinner coming up. I will never kill another 15 pound or bigger cat unless I am looking at a new state record. Those big cats are OLD. A 21" 4 pound cat here in Idaho is 10 years old. A 15 pound 30" cat would be avery old fish. I won't push my views down peoples throats but I do tell people about the age and let them make up their own minds.
When I was young the hardest thing I did when I was first hunting was to pass up a legal 2 point buck. When Jacob turned lose his first 10 pound fish he was bummed out a little. Now it is easy for him, or I for that matter to turn lose a 10 pound or bigger catfish. But it took time and it took catching a few to change our minds.
We eat a lot of fish in our house. I don't plan on reducing any at all. But I do watch what I keep and keep only what I can use. The worst thing that can happen is a freezer burned fish. I don't like it when that happens. Ron
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Catfish, oh boy. Here comes the other side of me. I used to keep about every cat I caught. I don't do that any more. The simple fact is I can't handle or use that much fish Idaho has NO limit on them. Jacob and I caught 38 cats on our last trip. The average weight was about 5 pounds. MANY were 8 to 10 pounds. We would have needed a 1 ton truck and a chest freezer to handle all the fish.
I only keep 3 to 4 pound fish now. I only keep what I want to eat and I do NOT plan to freeze any unless I have a special dinner coming up. I will never kill another 15 pound or bigger cat unless I am looking at a new state record. Those big cats are OLD. A 21" 4 pound cat here in Idaho is 10 years old. A 15 pound 30" cat would be avery old fish. I won't push my views down peoples throats but I do tell people about the age and let them make up their own minds.
When I was young the hardest thing I did when I was first hunting was to pass up a legal 2 point buck. When Jacob turned lose his first 10 pound fish he was bummed out a little. Now it is easy for him, or I for that matter to turn lose a 10 pound or bigger catfish. But it took time and it took catching a few to change our minds.
We eat a lot of fish in our house. I don't plan on reducing any at all. But I do watch what I keep and keep only what I can use. The worst thing that can happen is a freezer burned fish. I don't like it when that happens. Ron
[signature]