Pickerel Slaughter

[AtcoSteve]

A few weeks ago I was desperate for a fish so I went to a local lake to wet a line. In about an hour I caught four pickerel. As I was leaving a truck pulled up with a local guy inside asking " What ya get", I told him about the pike and he asked me If I put them back in alive.
I answered why wouldn't I. He then went on about thinning out the population so the bass could get bigger. He even threw in a sentence about taking the smaller bass out.
Even tho i understood the concept I was always taught "Catch and Release"
Just wanna know what you guys think.

[Lard Almighty]

The guy has a point. When fish populations-any fish-become too dense, there isn't enough forage to go around, and the fish become stunted. If you find yourself catching a lot of small fish in a pond with few or no large ones, it probably means there are too many fish. Removing some of the smaller fish allows the remaining fish to eat more, and thus get bigger.

Catch-and-release is a great idea, but sometimes keeping a couple of fish is a better management strategy for the overall health of a body of water.

[tautog]

I hate pickerel killers. They have decimated many good spots in Monmouth County in their quest to improve bass fishing. Haven't seen much of a bass improvement in these places, but no pickerel left to fish for in the winter when nothing else will bite.

[buzzbaiter]

You know what eats a lot of bass? Other bass! Too many bass is not a good thing either as you end up with a pond full of stunted 9" bass. There has to be balance. I dont ice fish but have heard horror stories of guys just flinging pickerel on the ice to die. Its anglers like that I'd like to see fall through the ice and be eaten by a hundred pickerel slowly picking them apart :eek: :D

[FASTEDDIE29]

Rule of thumb. Keep the small ones so the big ones get bigger! I'd never keep a walleye over 21 inches. They don't taste as good as the young ones anyway. I do keep trout. I eat half and use half for bait on the D. Don't let that wacko ruin your spot. Having variety is good. Sounds like a good day dude!!!