Catch and Release vs Keep?

[fishskibum]

How each of us chooses to conduct ourselves on the water is akin to religion.  I allow everybody else to do whatever makes them happy...but anybody who tries to tell me that I should only do what they do is asking for some serious backlash.

You are 100% keerect on the stunting thing.  A good example is the Provo River below Deer Creek.  I first started fishing it in the 1960s.  Hit it almost every evening through the summer.  Most trips produced 20 or more trout.  Most were browns, with only a few rainbows and a few whitefish.  It was rare to catch many browns under about 14 to 16 inches.  A high percentage were 18 to 20 inchers...with over 20s being caught on most trips.  I do like trout so I often kept a couple in the middle range for broiling.

My fishing buddy and myself fished mostly flies...sometimes on flyrods...sometimes on a bottom bouncing rig with a spinning rod.  We also used spinners and small cranks like Rapalas.  But the river was also open to bait fishing and there were always plenty of guys chucking worms or Velveeta cheese.  And they caught and kept a bunch of fish of all sizes.  There was a good amount of harvest but the stream was healthy and could feed a lot of fish.  In those days there were still abundant stone flies in the river.

I lived in Arizona for about 20 years and returned to Utah in 2004...after the current regulations went into effect.  Couldn't wait to get back to my old fave Provo River.  But a couple of trips then have kept me away since.  First of all, the average size of the fish was much smaller...and the fish a bit skinnier.  Second, when I tried to bottom bounce flies using my 9 foot (converted fly rod) spinning rod the Orvis dorks started frothing at the mouth that I would inflict such sacrilege on their precious stream.  Plus, they lined all of my fave spots so I had to be content with a few less productive spots.  And don't get me started on the flotilla of weirdos bobbing merrily through my fishing spots in their inner tubes and other floaties. 

I love to eat most species of fish and almost always keep something for the table.  But only if it is a sustainable fishery with good natural reproduction and adequate food resources to maintain good numbers and good growth rates.  I have trips when I keep nothing.  And other trips I keep a limit of the available species.  And nothing goes to waste.  That's my religion.  Hallelujah!  

pretty much sums up why i gave up slimer fishin the prov's
and developed a carp addiction
i gots a bro who works fer orvis
he aint a dork though
maybe catch ya at church some day
ebisu be praised