Apparently killing a fish over 30″ will bring out the conservationist in everyone. Maybe the recent moratorium the NC just put in place for Speckled Trout has something to do with it, who knows? I just glanced over and quickly deleted the 3rd email from someone bashing me for keeping the large trout I caught recently (see Personal Best).
I fish the Elizabeth River ALOT during the winter months. I fish for trophy trout, not meat. I start fishing it in late fall when the limit is still 10 per person without any size restrictions except minimum length. We had plenty of 30-40 fish days where I probably could have kept limits of 22-25″ fish with many over 26″. Not trying to toot my own horn, this information is important to my message. I could probably go on my bank statements and check all my NC/Va WaWa transactions to see just how many times I went up there, but I personally don’t even want to know, HA!
My point is, I have thrown back 99.9% of trout that I have caught in the ER. I would guess that I have probably released 200-300 fish that I could have legally kept. I kept 2 fish this season. One was a 28.5″ that struggled to swim free, so instead of letting him do underwater cartwheels to the bottom of the river, I took him home, battered him up, covered him with every seasoning I had, fried it, and forced it down. I have a respect for these fish that most don’t.
I also remind my charters here at home that these fish don’t freeze well, and they certainly won’t make it on the 7 hour trip back to Jersey. Keep what you need, and let the rest swim free to be caught another day.
So this is your invitation to take back the messages about me killing large breeders, and getting replicas instead of real mounts. This one fish is what I spend my entire winter trying to catch, and I have every intention of releasing all the others. I do appreciate you all speaking up, and showing that you are truly concerned about the future of our fishery. We all need that mind set! Just make sure you know the facts.
Maybe instead you should consider thanking me for my conservation efforts…… ?
