Sad sight to see

I understand that weigh ins are quite the excitement… but in this age of digital photos and instant communications and computers and big screens… it would seem we could have a real time update, with photos of each catch as it happens and instant updates as to who is leading now…. make it more like a race its the action thats interesting… the final result shouldnt be the whole shooting match… were missing a LOT of excitement I think….. and think of the increase in public relations with fish being more or less instantly released….. and everything preserved in video and photo….. perhaps this will be the way of the future….. Im not trying to rock anyones boat…. just trying to imagine a new way….. and NOT being a tourney fisherman I lack the experience to make much educated comments……

I have to agree as to the loss of fish after hauling them around in a boat all day. Not only with walleye but bass as well. Have been in boats where only in a couple of hours or less the fish are going belly up no matter how well you take care of them. Better off taking them home and cleaning them than to have the waste.

Another thing that upsets me is to see commercial fishermen throwing back game fish by mishandling them out of the nets. Don’t know what can be done about that either. I use to commercial fish years back and just made me sick to see those fish dying.

You know we can say all we want about size or limits etc but the bottom line is that some fishermen just cannot let fish go If your hungry for fish save a couple eaters but do not fill the freezer as a reference on howgood a fishermen you arethats what they make camera’s for

Good arguements across the topic here. I agree with some and not with others. C+R is important. I will advise though that everytime someone makes the arguement that those “big ones don’t taste any good anyway”, their arguement is discredited and worthless. Those big ones do taste good. Maybe not if the only way you know how to cook fish is fried in oil. The people that keep those big ones know this also. Tell them that they don’t taste good and they will laugh in your face.

sad but true wooly … some people even think sheepies taste good….!!….. if your any good as a cook you can probably make anything taste good… are the smaller ones better? you bet…. still the issue should NOT be about food…. but I been all over that topic!…. with great knowledge comes great responsibility….. we who are frequently out on the river need to limit our catch and not take our limits…..

there is absolutley no reason to keep those fish they don’t taste good at all when they are that big so leave those 23-28 inchers alone that’s how you can reduce pop.if you take to many .We should work towards a slot limit like 21-28 inches with only one fish over 28in.

there are a lot of people that say that big fish don’t taste as good as little fish. then they say they throw all the big fish back. well how do you know what the bigger fish taste like if you throw them back and if never eat them??

i agree with woolybugger. i think it’s a false assumption that big fish don’t taste good. it’s all in the eyes of the eater. prepared right, pretty much anything can be good.

Food wise I would take the big walleye. Ecology wise and the, to set an example wise, I let the big one go unless as others have said, it was badly hooked. I release these fish because I became educated in the need to do so. It was organizations such as FTR, 20 years ago that did the educating. Tough acting guys with cameras and threats had nothing to do with it. I honestly meant no disrespect to anyone who posted here before me. It is just that that is the way such action and attitude is taken.
Keep smiling
polite encouragement
a little help from the DNR
We will have good fishing for years to come

Coming from a largely “catch and eat” family history, I can tell you that in a side by side taste test that bigger fish DO NOT taste “AS” good. There’s truly not a big enough difference that if that was all that was on the table you’d be inclined to turn it down and opt for a hot dog instead.

Now, there’s nother factor in this food argument. Some us learned that if you didn’t eat what was put in your face, you went hungry. Takes a lot of the “finnicky” right out of you! So, while it may not be “AS” good, it’s not so bad that you can’t enjoy it. As said earlier……………if it’s really an issue, learn to cook. Then you can eat the sheepies and put all the walleyes back!

PS – I’ll never pickle shad!

As long as we are now on alternative foods, has anyone got a good recipe for Leatherbacks? I’ve got a good hole, can catch lots of them (once in season). Are they any good to eat?

Are you referring to Shovelnose?

medium sized long necked turtles.

Does that saying go for turtles too? The bigger ones don’t taste…..

I’ve fixed both the snapper and the leather backs. Put them both on the same platter. Can’t tell the difference. Some of my family was rather picky about such stuff as turtle. So I decided one day when fixing some I’d par boil it till near tender then put it in batter and deep fry like chicken. They all loved it and couldn’t fix it any other way after that.
Use 2 T. baking soda to 4 qts of water to par boil.
This will also help to take any strong flavor out of it.