If you were absolutely stuck a nice 3 lb largmouth filled with spawn, executed everything perfectly, flipped it up onto the shore, Lipped it, only to have a complete stranger, an intimidating one at that, come up to you, ask if you are keeping it,you say “heck no!” and he takes the fish out of your hands and walks away?
just wondering……..
I would go kick his a$$ and put the fish back in the water 
Easy…..DNR and La Crosse police are programed into my cell phone. I would have made the call 
Sorry you met up with a butt head tonight Cade 
dude, what the heck happened. did someone do that, did you take the fish back, if that happened to me he would be swimming with the fish.
Was he homeless or what?
To tell you the truth, I would never let anyone invade my “personal space”.
No offense, but I know you aren’t 245lb’s like I am and probably couldn’t defend yourself against another adult, but he would have had to pry that fish from my hands..
Your best bet would have been to call the police and report him IMMEDIATELY.
Cops won’t mess around with somebody messing with kids…
Intimidation was a factor. The guy wasn’t huge but he had a car, no one was around, and who knows what he might have been packin’ drug wise and weapon wise…I don’t want to go there.. but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.I firmly made clear that I fish for sport and I wanted to release the fish. He told me that I couldn’t do that and that “We have bass parties mang…collegekids…white kids and black kids we all drink beer and grill bass wit some onions and potatoes man should eat bass” yada yada a bunch of crap I couldn’t understand and like I said, he literally took it Physically, out of my hand. I would be lying if I told you I didn’t give him the bird when he turned around It was probably the worst feeling ever but who knows what it could have esalated too otherwise. I do have the WI tip line on my cell phone and almost made the call but he wasn’t breaking the law because I didn’t tell him no..I just didn’t want to end up in the river over a fish..It really sucked but what can ya do..
I totally agree.. I do have a hunch that this guy was tripin on something. Although he never did touch me he just grabbed the fish and wouldn’t let go until I did. I suggested he take a small northern which are very abundant and that he shouldn’t eat a fish with spawn in it. All he said was “there are more than enough fish in the river all ready it won’t hurt” What is wrong with people and are these the same mother ******* that want to argue that tournament fishing hurts fisheries? That crackhead likely just killed more fish than either of the last 2 years’ major FlW events have killed combined here in LAX…. I don’t think he was homeless but everything he owned was from walmart save for the car..He wasn’t even big Like I could have owned him in a fist fight but you never know what somebody could be packin’…with only a few cars passing by every 20 minutes or so, I did not want to find out.
People…It was a fish! Cade is a young man who did the right thing. Let the idiot have the fish and move on with life. Yes, police could have been called but again…It was a fish. Not worth gettin’ stabbed over…RR
The fish isn’t even the issue here….
The issue is some Creep scaring kids.
A description of the guy and car could be useful down the road
To me it was both. I did care about the fish. It was my fish. I could have let it go and just said sorry..but then like RR said, not worth getting hurt over. I wasn’t scared because I knew all I had to do was give him the fish but It was really not cool and it was not fun killing a fish, let alone a freakin 3 lb spawner. The only way I had out that I could see that I didn’t even realize until it was too late was when he asked me “are you gonna keep that” I should have just said yes and quietly released it behind his back
it is too late now it already happened, it is just good that you cooperated with the dumba$$ and you didn’t get hurt, glad to see that you are ok, to bad the fish is going to a “bass party” with some onions and potatoes. 
It was a fish.. you did the only thing you really could do in that situation.. which is use common sense and let him have the fish. You are lucky it didnt transpire into an entirly worse situation. There are some crazy people in this world.
Would you really feel any better if it were a spawned out fish? No. Should you be concerned this happened? Yes. You should report it to the police so they keep their eyes open. Next time, it could be a group of guys giving you problems, or a guy with a weapon… or even a guy wearing nothing more than leather chaps if your fishing around St Paul! 
Safety in numbers.. your better of fishing with a friend!
Do yourself a favor and get rid of the “I shoulda done…” Let the guy be a [censored] if he wants. Your body will tell you when something potentially harmful’s gonna happen. I assume you felt that.
Besides, If the guy wants to eat a bass, he MUST be crazy…
As a mom, I am glad you let him take the fish and YOU are ok. 
There are so many things to consider like you said…drugs, weapons, whatever. You were right in how you handled it.
I think rooster rouster hit the nail right on the head, its just a fish. not worth a argument or worse, whatever it takes to get him away from you. Its easy for guys to tell you what they would have done . I think you did the smart thing,you should have called the police if you thought he was going to be any more of a threat to you though. everyone is intimidated by someone somewhere and you may have had good reason to be.besides next time it could be a walleye 
Cade,
You did the right thing……..there is no way to rationalize the actions of a nut job like you ran into, so I’m glad you kept a cool head and are ok.
Cade, you did the right thing – express your thoughts regarding conservation and then let the son-of-a-female-dog have the darn fish. Next time, get a really good description of the a-hole, let the local authorities know, and then post it on this site… Who knows who might run into this guy in the future…
Yep you did the right thing Cade. It is just a fish but it was your fish and intended for you to do with as you pleased until your rights were violated and by him doing so made him a law breaker. Now it was in your hands to take it to the authorities but you chose not to cause perhaps you were just shocked at this guys approach or you were greatful it was over and he was gone. but for future reference remember your rights and when they are violated a law has been broke and you have the right to call the police and let them do there part. But make sure to have as much info as possible for them so they can do there job quickly as possible and put a stop to this kinda BS before it happens again and maybe next time it might not be so good for the other guy. cause as you said one never knows now a days what someone might be on or packing weaponwise..
That bites!!! Cade, you get my vote for doing the right thing as well. It will tick you off, but your brain DID THE RIGHT THING!!!
Mark
Personally I think you should’ve taken a bite out of the fish yourself, and said it didn’t taste to good to you then handed him the fish. 
Quote:
What would you do?!?!
I would have broke his fingers!! Really! Actually after I was done breaking his fingers I probably would have layed the smack down on his head, then I’d be in Jail..blah..blah. Man I need to get out fishing! Feeling violent now…
I’m with slop…no one’s going to invade my space.
BIRDDOG
Cade…
I was up in Canada last year ..and I heard about this recipe for Buffalo Bass….kinda like Buffalo Wings..I guess…
I would have shared the recipe with him because Bass taste like [censored] !!! 
Hey all;
Like previously stated, it is just a fish. It truly means nothing.
The issue at hand is the screwball more/less harrassing a kid. The screwball probably didn’t realize he was actually harrassing the kid, but from what I read, it was obvious he knew he could take it if he wanted.
The guy did ask if Cade was going to keep it.
Point is: Some people just don’t “get it”. Because of that, let him take the fish, make note of what he looks like, try and remember the type of vehicle he was driving.
Cade;
If you felt threatened, you should call the local cops on this. Not because he took your fish. But because he more/less “harrassed” you. Like previously stated, cops don’t like it when adults “mess” with kids.
What Gary said… car description, license plate better. Glad your OK.
big g
Next Time tell them you can tell that the fish has worms, very few will have the stomach to eat it then. Tell them you just pulled one off and was going to throw it back hoping it would live, gheese! it was covered with worms, i hope it lives.
Good response Dan!
I would have come up with a “keep it, I own it. This is my pet bass that I catch every day and……”
Right on Gary. Good job Cade 
Cade,
Good call for a young guy. Pat yourself on the back!!!
Swede
I would bring Kooty with me fishing next time is what I would do 
………
but in all honesty I would have contacted or even still contact local authorities with a vehicle description of some sort and or person description.
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