Catch and Release - A Primer for the Uninitiated

Two years ago, two guys went by me in a canoe while I was fishing. "Any luck?" they asked. I responded negative. The guy in the back of the canoe got to do what he was hoping to do from the outset, holding up a pretty two to three pounder that he had apparently decided to keep for himself. I was mad. Not because I was part of some jerk's ploy to show off his fish. My fishing inferiority was no more a secret to me then as it is now. I was mad because killing that particular fish - a large mouth bass on a fresh water lake - was an incredibly stupid thing to do. I couldn't help but wonder - why didn't he think so?

Now that fishing season's finally here, I end up steering conversations toward it at some point during social gatherings. That leads almost invariably to the question, "do you keep the fish?" It's quite clear from the quality of the people asking the question that there's just a knowledge gap at work here. Sort of like buying puppies from a pet shop. Seems perfectly reasonable - until you start to understand the many splendors of industrial dog mass production.

First, a disclaimer. I eat fish. I have eaten fish that I caught. Striped bass. Tuna. Some big cold water that I've reeled in on charters like haddock and cod and all that too. I've eaten dolphin fish, which isn't really a dolphin at all but shares the name of a mammal, making it seem more wrong to eat.* So I'm not coming at this from a holier than thou, fish are people too angle. Instead, I'd like to explain why killing a large mouth is a bad idea.

Large mouth bass are hard to catch. In most cases, they need to be tricked into striking and they rarely strike anything that isn't placed within 16" of their noses. That means large mouth bass fishermen need to understand where they are likely to be based on any number of factors like weather, water temp, season, water turbidity, etc. Once a fisherman is able or lucky enough to zero in on the most likely locations, the fisherman but match the conditions to a lure that is likely to evoke a strike. The types of lures at the fisherman's disposal number into the thousands and each must be matched with a particular presentation in order to culminate in the strike. Land too close, you spook the fish. Too far away, the fish won't leave the comfort of its hiding spot. Too slow, you're ignored. Too fast, you're avoided. Do you bump off a log to wake the fish up? Can you pull it off without getting hooked on that log? You get the picture.

That, really, is the sport and attraction of fishing this particular fish. It's about learning what works through trial, error, and study. And as with anything that requires practice, the payoff is in proving you can do it and in experiencing success after investing the effort.

So why the hell would someone eat the prize? That's like popping a basketball after dunking it. It's downright stupid for a number of reasons. Bass have favorite hiding spots they return to again and again. Last year my father took the same 2+ pounder from the same spot two days straight. On both days, it was the highlight catch and we still joke about how he threw his line on top of mine to hook that same fish on the second day. You decide to eat that fish and you've just decreased the number of fish you could possibly catch by one. If you own the lake and no one else fishes it, and the eco system is such that you're not making a dent - no big deal. But if everyone decides to be like the asshole in the canoe, killing fish so they can show them off to strangers, it quickly leads to over fished lakes.

Plus any given 5 pounder is usually at least 8 years old. After 8 years, there's a good chance that fish has seen some things, including being hooked more than a couple times. Who knows how many other people have great memories of catching that fish. Seems a bit selfish, if not inappropriate, to end that journey because you feel like it.

If it's about eating it, I guess I'd have to ask why not just swing by Shaw's and pick up haddock or some other ocean eating fish? Not only will it taste better, but you'll be eating less mercury. According to the MA Game and Wildlife reports, the fish in almost every MA & NH lake should be avoided (at least by children and the elderly) because we've been burning coal, driving cars, and mining asbestos for too many decades to keep relatively still water mercury free.

So now you know. Please don't be the asshole in the canoe.

*If fish had any say over their own evolution they would be wise to develop the ability to scream. Tugging on the emotional capacity of humans is probably the most effective defense against the world's greatest predators. Just ask dogs, cats, eagles, dolphins, whales, and so many others. Except piglets. They're just too delicious.

Current Bass Fishing Gear - Start of 2010 Season

Here's the current layout. I expect this will change some as I become a pro over the course of this season.

Boats: 'The Worm' - 14' 1969 pale green fiberglass Lucraft with an early 80's 30 h.p. Evinrude. Donated by a friend whose wife wanted it out of the yard after it was left behind by a client that moved from New England back to whatever sunny part of the world he came from. This boat once spent summers fishing off the shores of Virginia and still has the Virginia Dept of Game & Fishing sticker to prove it. Took me a few weekends to replace the steering, lights, electric, and install a couple seats to old posts. The motor wouldn't turn over and I found a salt of the earth small engine mechanic in New Hampshire willing to take it apart and clean it up for $50. Yet another reason I love New Hampshire. I also had to install a couple steel plates in the transom because the fiberglass was broken and rotting around where the engine mounts. She's sporting a an Eagle fishfinder that I have no idea what to do with beyond making sure I'm not about to run around. I also found a used electric Evinrude trolling motor with foot pedal for $150. She has a trailer but it needs lights so it's pretty much used to commute to and from the house driveway to Bow Lake. She's definitely the ugliest boat on the water and I couldn't be prouder.

Boat #2: 'The Game Changer" - a 10' Pelican pontoon-style plastic pond boat with an electric trolling motor. Named the Game Changer because it opened the door to fishing locally on weekends. An excellent two man pond hopper that we carry into and out of local ponds.

Rod / Reel: I don't own a rod / reel combo that cost over $50 because frankly I can't tell the difference. Most are probably $30 set ups. I used miles to buy a fancy Abu Garcia bait caster that probably retailed for $80 and I couldn't cast the damn thing for the life of me. I'd file this in the "because I saw the pros do it" category of foolish fishing expenditures. Not the first, won't be the last. I usually use a light weight 6' rod but I have a smaller super light weight Ugli stick that I keep on board when it looks like making a fight of 6" perch and smallies is the best we'll do.

Line: I use mostly 10lb test. I stopped using the cheap stuff because I actually did notice it spooled up my bale more frequently and it got brittle quicker. I like the light green Berkley line or whatever that one is with the fancy black widow spider graphic.

Bait: I've got swim baits, crank baits, rubber everything. It all fills up space in my tackle box since the only thing I can seem to get working is 3", 5", 6" yamamoto senkos (yamasenkos). Green seems to do the trick. Pumpkin seed or watermelon. At the end of last season I stumbled into the 5" Yamamoto prosenkos with the tapered tail that seemed to produce well. The prosenks are tough to find in stores. I found a few packs at Dicks but it was hit or miss. The only two stores I'd shop at for Yamamotos are Walmarts and Dicks. They're between $5 and $7 a pack. For some reason I've seen 8 packs of senkos in some stores and 5 packs in others. Not sure why. If I find cheaper online options I'll post them.

Planned Upgrades for 2010:
This year I intend to replace the Worm's cheap Walmart-bought $40 vinyl / aluminum bracket fishing seats with seats with the hard plastic seats (they're padded with some kind of vinyl but they are plastic frames). The aluminum bends turning the seat into a kind of sloppy lounge chair. I'm also planning to pick up a Humminbird wrist watch fish finder. We do a lot of pond fishing in the Game Changer and I'm thinking this will be a nice addition. You actually cast it out and look at your watch as you reel in over holes. Seems like a cool thing to own anyway but I'll let you know if I get ripped off.