Posts: 384
Location: Eagle River, Alaska | Everyone has their right to an opinion on this subject....but what is legal also comes into play. I do not know fish and game laws well in the midwest and east but I know most of them in the western states and one of the foremost is that gamefish cannot be wasted. That being said there really is no choice if you have a legal gamefish which dies you would have to keep it regardless of how the final disposition ended up.
But I understand what Steve is saying to.....that even without regulations about wasting gamefish....ethically if you are going to be fishing, especially for such a revered species as musky....you have the obligation to use a fish which has died and is legal. out of respect for the fish. There were some comments about letting it return to the "ecosystem"....well by fishing we have removed it from it's ecosystem, and if it dies we have prematurely terminated its existence within that ecosystem.....therefore letting it sink to the bottom, etc....is NOT part of the normal pattern of the ecosystem.
If we go fishing, even C&R, we know up front the possibility is there of killing what we catch despite our best efforts otherwise. I don't think anyone would go hunting not expecting to use what they shoot (shoot & release just doesn't work that well) and since fishing entails possible (and likely at some point) mortality to the fish it seems kind of cavalier to just "let it rot". I would think especially such a noble fish as musky would deserve more respect.
In Alaska you take a king salmon out of the water it is in possesion and yours. On most waters you cannot then fish for ANY fish, whether it be salmon or trout....you are done for the day, period.
Just my opinion,
Brian |
Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | the way i read the law quoted in mroberts post ... if you catch and unintentionally kill a sub-legal fish, you are illegal to keep it and also illegal for disposing of it through dead release ...
i talked to some other friends about this because it is such a grey area and although you don't want it to happen, as steve is correct, you have to be prepared.
- bring it to the animal rescue ... they'll feed it to the recovering eagles and osprey or other animals that would have it on their natural menu ...
- bringing it to a skin-mouting taxidermist for practice ... depends on your thoughts toward that i suppose.
the fork is in me ... i'm done
Edited by jonnysled 2/1/2008 6:09 PM
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