Speckled Trout

Its not from the northwest but, nearly 3 limits caught last summer in Galveston. The day started off slow and were about to call it quits by 10 o'clock until we decided to wade one last spot. Luckily we did because every cast ended up in a catch. They were hittin top water, soft plastics and jigs. It was a once in a life time experience. Largest was 25 inches and smallest was right at minimum limit.

Nice fish but....do you really have to keep every one you catch? I understand keeping a couple for a meal but keeping every one you catch is irresponsible in my opinion.

If all the fish is utilized for food, fresh or preserved for future meals, I see no harm.  When I fish I go for many reasons, one of the reasons I wet a line is to put wholesome food on my families table.  I proudly and routinely bring home limits of fish, in fact I rarely bring home less than a limit when fishing rockfish (I freeze and eat them all year long).   If someone wants to catch and release, great, more power to them, or if they want to bring home a limit for the table that's great too.  Within the bounds of the law we each individually choose our harvest levels and should be allowed to do so free of judgement from others.   Irresponsible? hardly...

This argument comes up down here (Jacksonville FL) on a fairly regular basis.
 The limit here is 4 fish >15" with one over 20". The limit in Louisiana is 25 fish. Texas is 10, I think. Why the big difference?

I dunno, but LA science says that's sustainable and seeing as LSU is a Sea Grant school, I suspect they probably have some idea what they are doing. As I understand it, trout are pretty prolific where they are prolific.

That said, I can't begrudge dacronhill his limit as Specks are VERY good eats. Nobody is throwing fish on the side of the road or on the railroad tracks. Something I have seen in L.A. 

That said, I rarely keep more than two fish as they don't freeze very well. (but they make a REALLY good chowder if you do freeze them)

I have never seen anything wrong with keeping a limit of fish as long as they are within legal limits. We didn't keep every fish that was caught. We released quite a few. The only fish that are still within legal limits that I usually catch and release are freshwater species, pregnant females or bull reds. In Texas its not uncommon for somebody to limit out on specks or reds.

I'll have to try out the chowder next time I go home. I have heard alot about it but, have never made it before.

tupperware, I think the reason there is a difference between our limits is because of the natural environment your fish live in which may cause them to grow a little slower and not reproduce as much. The water along the Texas coast is warm, shallow and has many flats. I know TPWD also stock the Texas Bay with Specks and Reds which keeps the population very stable.

@PP..I respect your opinion, I'm not mad atcha.

I fish for food (and sport too, of course) but don't like catch and release----why ruin a fish's day, and there is a certain amount of mortality to the fish, especially to bigger fish that are
stressed by a long fight with light gear.  You can C&R if you like, but I disagree with the opinion that it doesn't harm the fish, or the fishery--see below

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReportComment.aspx?id=57669&lid=477&t=1

I fish for food (and sport too, of course) but don't like catch and release----why ruin a fish's day, and there is a certain amount of mortality to the fish, especially to bigger fish that are
stressed by a long fight with light gear.  You can C&R if you like, but I disagree with the opinion that it doesn't harm the fish, or the fishery--see below

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReportComment.aspx?id=57669&lid=477&t=1

Kallitype, I respect your opinion. From a prior post, I recall that you said you don't even fish in C&R only waters.  There is indeed a mortality associated with C&R, and that goes up pretty high for trout played to exhaustion in warm water. I quit C&R fishing for trout in lakes when the temps get over 65 F.
I had to feed a cutthroat trout (I wasn't allowed to keep) to the otters a couple of weeks ago. It was bleeding very heavily from the gills, after taking my trolled fly very deeply. No hope for it surviving. It was 13.5" long, and had to be 14" to be legal in that stream. Later that same day, I was fishing in another stream where its OK to keep one over 8".
I got a 14"er there! I'll let you guess what happened to that fish!

I do enjoy eating my catch.  I C&R when required, or if I think the fish population needs some help, or whenever I feel like it, or if the fish are really on the bite and I only want to keep a few or just one.
The "clueless angler" in the link you posted obviously didn't know how to properly handle a fish that is to be released. "Out of the water for only 45 seconds" I doubt that! He was holding it up with his hand in the gills! You never stick your fingers or hands in a fish's gills if you plan to release it. And you don't go fishing here in WA without first educating yourself on the regulations for that particular body of water (if only to save yourself from having to pay a ridiculously hefty fine).

That angler should have known before he wet a line that he could not keep a Sockeye where he was fishing, and being without a net, should probably have broken the fish off, or at least tried to unhook it without even removing it from the water. Any angler should learn how to properly release a fish with the least amount of additional harm to it, so that they can do so with the ones they don't want to keep, as well as any that the law says they must release.  We must have respect for the other sucker on the other end!

You never stick your fingers or hands in a fish's gills if you plan to release it.

Now that's something that REALLY sticks in my craw. Especially when its the grinning idjuts on the television who are preaching C&R and "conservation" while hanging a fish up by its gills and waving it around in the air taking pictures!?!?!?!?!?!

I've always thought using ultralight gear was very irresponsible.  I generally horse them in and I've never had one go tits up.  They always swim away with vigor unless the gills or eyes are damaged.  This isn't an indication that I like to C&R though, sometimes you have to release, and I also don't like to keep fish that are too small to fillet. 

Right on---my fishing buddy Rob had to release a 30# king in 2008 due to its having an adipose fin.  They ain't all too small to keep!!!

That said, I rarely keep more than two fish as they don't freeze very well. (but they make a REALLY good chowder if you do freeze them)

When is the last time you caught your limit again?

LOL

Nice fish but....do you really have to keep every one you catch? I understand keeping a couple for a meal but keeping every one you catch is irresponsible in my opinion.

You should see some pics from the tuna boats on other fishing sites

Nice fish but....do you really have to keep every one you catch? I understand keeping a couple for a meal but keeping every one you catch is irresponsible in my opinion.

You should see some pics from the tuna boats on other fishing sites

yeh was thinking that too...