some smallmouth from this week (updated 4-9-10 more pics)

[BIGINNER]

good thing your in estern because us traditional western boys practice catch and release on bass

why would yopu release such good tasteing meat?       lol,  jk
i realease me fish if my wife is working,  and keep them if she is free to fry them up when i come home,  i hate fish meat that has been frozen.

bass meat is really good tasting though

[duckmen1]

i do agree i have eaten it before but around my area there are good numbers of bass but it can't support that many bass being kept
there are so many people fishing for them over here in every little area its crazy
for example i used to catch about 30 to 35 largemouths a day at one lake and now i'm lucky if i get five little ones
people are keeping them off there beds when thats the worst time to keep them
im not against people keeping fish but when this many people keep tons of fish in one body of water theres gona be a price
don't know how things are in your area and things could be different and there may not be a problem with keeping fish
anywayz good fishin

[BIGINNER]

ya,  i know what you're talking about,  there's several spots that i like going to catch largmouth, awesome fishing holes, and some brainless weirdos just show up and just start nailing those bass,  and just filling up their buckets, then leave. i have nothing against keeping fish, but,COME ON.. IN A SMALL FISHING HOLE ?!!?  well sadly some of those holes have litteraly no bass left... 

[teal101]

It's obvious there must be a good population and that the state doesn't care about them in the Yakima if there is no limit on them.  I keep a few every once in awhile for some good eats out of Moses.  Shoot me

[BIGINNER]

this one is from today.  kinda small 

[alanger]

Nice quality smallmouth  

[lewy]

Takes a smallie a long time to get to that size.....let em go 

[Hunterman]

Don't you mean Fillet & Release 

Hunterman(Tony)

[JC22]

Wait a minute your saying that, putting bass back means that there will be less bass in the future??? WOW
guess you can't argue with that logic......lol

[BLKBEARKLR]

good thing your in estern because us traditional western boys practice catch and release on bass

Its all the traditional catch and release that stunts out and overpoulates our lakes. more bass need to be taken to maintain healthy population. you guys dont get it. 

For the bodies of water that are present in Washington state, have to disagree with that statement. If the body of water can maintain the amount of bass that are present in it then release them. You only get stunted fish when the body of water can not support the amount of fish in there. And if that is the case,  kind of important that you put the spawning females back. And keep the smaller ones, and weed them out.

With all the lakes that I have fished here in Washington state I have not come across any lake that needs to have bass removed to maintain a healthy population.

[wastickslinger]

Besides fish were put here to eat not to make money off of in a tournament. 

I think we need to practice strict catch and release hunting in this state as well. Maybe if we all go to tranquilizer guns we can shoot bucks and take pretty pictures and then let them all grow to be big and pretty. Maybe start a tournament hunting club. I see the future. 

In all seriousness. I am only speaking for the lakes and rivers that I fish over here. Lots of fish. Plenty to keep a limit and maintain a healthy population.  The guys who disagree probably have experienced over fishing of a small pond in the middle of the city. In that case you may be right. Catch and release mostly. But no matter how small the pond you will still have to keep some small ones to let the big ones get bigger. 

[BLKBEARKLR]

good thing your in estern because us traditional western boys practice catch and release on bass

Its all the traditional catch and release that stunts out and overpoulates our lakes. more bass need to be taken to maintain healthy population. you guys dont get it. 

For the bodies of water that are present in Washington state, have to disagree with that statement. If the body of water can maintain the amount of bass that are present in it then release them. You only get stunted fish when the body of water can not support the amount of fish in there. And if that is the case,  kind of important that you put the spawning females back. And keep the smaller ones, and weed them out.

With all the lakes that I have fished here in Washington state I have not come across any lake that needs to have bass removed to maintain a healthy population.

Then tell why with 25 fish limits in Twin, Goose, and others over here they still have too many little fish and the numbers of big fish have declined? What happens when you go put too many small fish in a tank? They stay small. What about when you cut the numbr in half? They will get bigger. Lots of studies done on this. Do some research. I do NOT agree with overfishing by any means, dont get me wrong. But implying that stricty catch and release on bass in all bodies of water is just stupid. If we did not keep reasonable limits there would be lake full of stunted out fish. I dont know about you but I would rather catch 5 big fish in a day rather than 25 small ones. 

Besides I love deep fried bass. 

Calm down there killer, key words were LAKES that I FISHED not some no name twin, goose lake, read the entire statement first.

[BLKBEARKLR]

In all seriousness. I am only speaking for the lakes and rivers that I fish over here. Lots of fish. Plenty to keep a limit and maintain a healthy population.  The guys who disagree probably have experienced over fishing of a small pond in the middle of the city. In that case you may be right. Catch and release mostly. But no matter how small the pond you will still have to keep some small ones to let the big ones get bigger. 

I agree with what you said in part. I don't think I said anything about not keeping them, I think the larger bodies of water that I fish there is no reason to keep 25 fish, the body of water can support the amount of fish that is there and then some.  Washington, Sammamish, Banks, Potholes, Moses, Roosevelt, Columbia river, Whatcom, and I think my main part is to release the bigger ones and keep 25 of the small ones. I have done my research and I know that those bass do not get replenished by a hatchery and they do not return every 2-4 years from the ocean to be caught. A 4 pound smallie is a mature breeding fish. You keep to many of those and all you will have is dinks for your 25 limit fish.

Joe

[Shootmoore]

Nice Fish there. 

On the argument of catch and release for bass.  I keep small ones to eat and catch and release the breeders.  Keeps the water from getting overpopulated and the shorts are better eating that the big boys and girls.
Here is a Columbia river tossback.

[wastickslinger]

good thing your in estern because us traditional western boys practice catch and release on bass

Its all the traditional catch and release that stunts out and overpoulates our lakes. more bass need to be taken to maintain healthy population. you guys dont get it. 

For the bodies of water that are present in Washington state, have to disagree with that statement. If the body of water can maintain the amount of bass that are present in it then release them. You only get stunted fish when the body of water can not support the amount of fish in there. And if that is the case,  kind of important that you put the spawning females back. And keep the smaller ones, and weed them out.

With all the lakes that I have fished here in Washington state I have not come across any lake that needs to have bass removed to maintain a healthy population.

Then tell why with 25 fish limits in Twin, Goose, and others over here they still have too many little fish and the numbers of big fish have declined? What happens when you go put too many small fish in a tank? They stay small. What about when you cut the numbr in half? They will get bigger. Lots of studies done on this. Do some research. I do NOT agree with overfishing by any means, dont get me wrong. But implying that stricty catch and release on bass in all bodies of water is just stupid. If we did not keep reasonable limits there would be lake full of stunted out fish. I dont know about you but I would rather catch 5 big fish in a day rather than 25 small ones. 

Besides I love deep fried bass. 

Calm down there killer, key words were LAKES that I FISHED not some no name twin, goose lake, read the entire statement first.

No name goose and twin.  Lets keep it that way too. You guys dont know what fishing is.  There are so many lake over here that are just full of bass. There are a few lakes that we fish that its nothing to catch 10-15 5+lb smallies. And I know lots are kept out of those lakes.

I have never seen a bass lake ovre here get fished out. Maybe a small pond or two but no main body of water.

And my comments were mostly directed at the "holier than thou" catch and release guys ONLY. Not trying to start a war. It just irritates me that a guy posts a few pictures of bass he kept and he gets flamed for it. If the lakes you fish need a catch and release then so be it. The majority on the eastside do not need it. Just an enforced limit.