[HighHook94]

To everyone saying it was good he kept the smaller ones, I believe i read somewhere that it's better to keep the big ones to improve the population. The fish in the 12-14 inch range are more reproductive compared to a giant who is probably quite old and not very fertile anymore. Also, i read that the giant bass eat the majority of the bait in a lake and leave little for the smaller fish to grow. Just trying to play devil's advocate here. Not saying i believe in this, but i read it awhile ago and it does make sense. That being said, i am strictly catch and release for freshwater nj bass fishing. I will not keep a smallmouth out of my favorite holes in the north/south branches of the raritan river because then i will catch less in the future. Panfish are fair game to keep anywhere though. However, if i am on a fishing vacation/camping trip in another state at a big lake like lake champlain, ontario, or erie, I sure as hell will keep a few smallmouth because it's a camping trip, and taking a couple fish from huge lakes like that isn't going to kill off the whole population. I just don't take freshwater fish from nj because i fish here 99% of the time and want to catch fish on future trips. Saltwater fishing is a different story for me though. I keep plenty on saltwater trips. But i stay within the regs.