What Do You Do When You Catch Your Limit?
The other day I was freezing my toes off in the river and watched the angler across from me catch two steelhead in rapid succession. Both of those fish ended up on a stringer and the angler waded back out into the river and took another cast. Here’s the thing, he had just caught his limit of two fish. Should he still be fishing?
My opinion is that no, he should not continue fishing. What if he hooks a fish badly and it can’t be released? Then he either releases a fish that he knows won’t survive, and breaks the regulations, or he keeps a third fish and breaks the regulations.
When I saw this particular angler hook into a third fish, I made sure to stop and watch what was going on. With my hand on my phone and getting ready to call the MNR, the angler released the fish and I relaxed. I’m going to give this person the benefit of the doubt and say that he knows the regs and released the fish because he was at his limit, not because he saw me staring at him. I would have asked him if I hadn’t been on the opposite side of a large river with very loud rapids between us.
What made this instance more interesting was that Darrell saw this same angler in the same spot a few weeks back, again with two fish on the the stringer and continuing to fish.
It would seem to me that if you want to ensure you get a full day of fishing, you keep one fish and then, if your limit is two fish, release everything else until you decide it’s time to go. I’m strictly a catch-and-release angler – I only keep a fish if it can’t be released. I have no problems with selective harvest, but I have a problem with someone taking more than their share. I’m interested to know where everyone else stands on this issue. If someone has their limit, should they continue to fish?
argosgirl
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I agree with you. I’m a C&R angler, but for those who want a limit, I say they should either quit altogether when they attain it, or else stop one shy of the limit till they’re ready for a final hook-up. Thanks for your willingness to take action.