Keep a trophy fish vs. releasing?

[YakCapn]

My understanding is that the best eating stripers are the 20 to 25 inchers and once you get any bigger the quality of the meat goes down. Is that true? I'd like to hear opinions on throwing back any keeper size stripers during trophy season vs. keeping and eating them. As far as mounting trophies for posterity, I also hear that fiberglass replicas are the way to go...you can take photos of your fish and provide measurements and the taxidermist will make a replica of your fish without needing the real one. Fiberglass replicas last forever. Skin mounts sound like they have a limited shelf life of a couple of years and then the scales dry out/fall out and oils can seep from the head ruining the fish mount. What are everyone's thoughts on this? Thanks for your sharing opinions.

[YakCapn]

And by the way, I DON'T want to start any political or moral debates here. I totally respect everyone's personal choice, I just want to better understand the pros and cons.

[MD Dore]

I will release the trophies and gladly Eat More Chicken.

[deleonjo]

I've read that the bigger fish contain more toxins like mercury, pcbs etc. So not only do they not taste as good, they're apparently not as good for you when consumed. Not to mention the fact that the bigger fish produce more eggs. So my opinion is that we should release anything over 28". Just my opinion.

[Cowpokey]

I'd like to bring one home during trophy season, preferably in the 28-30" range. Would love to CPR a 40+ though.

[DOGFISH]

Even worse is to see all those eggs spill out onto the cleaning table. I always let them go. Just a personal thing.

[Raptor]

Even worse is to see all those eggs spill out onto the cleaning table. I always let them go. Just a personal thing.

I don't have to kill them to eat. So, unless they are wrecked and not going to live anyway I always let them go . . . irrespective of size. My satisfaction is in winning a worthy fight. Yes - it is "just a personal thing" - I do not begrudge someone legally harvesting some fish to eat.

T.

[Yak Fish]

If you keep a trophy you will get a lot of dirty looks. That's for sure.
A 25-28" fish gives a good fillet and you can cook it nicely. Most folks that care about conservation won't keep a fish over 28" You're not breaking any law, but that's sort of the fisherman's code.

Big fish generally are poor to eat. I caught a 5.5 lb rainbow trout and the thing was pretty bad. The meat loses something when it gets old like that.

[Memory Maker]

....... Let's see ........ We're down to keeping 1 fish a day and killing a cow take a million or so eggs out of the spawn ....... If anything ....... Go for the photo op ........ A big fish is only for bragging rights anyway.

CBBT and the flats gave us more huge fish almost any day in the winter and spring than your arms could handle less than 15 years ago ........ Now you are lucky to catch 1 in every 50 fishermen ........... I'm 64 this year ....... I lived thru 1 moritorium ....... I would not survive another .....

Soooooo ........ What do you think

[Cowpokey]

If you keep a trophy you will get a lot of dirty looks. That's for sure.
A 25-28" fish gives a good fillet and you can cook it nicely. Most folks that care about conservation won't keep a fish over 28" You're not breaking any law, but that's sort of the fisherman's code.

Can't keep a 25-28" fish tomorrow...they have to be over 28" for harvest. I'd be willing to bet there won't be a single fish in the slot released by a charter boat tomorrow. Where's the "fisherman's code" in that?

[Yak Fish]

Can't keep a 25-28" fish tomorrow...they have to be over 28" for harvest. I'd be willing to bet there won't be a single fish in the slot released by a charter boat tomorrow. Where's the "fisherman's code" in that?

The only thing most charter boats care about is getting their clients' money. Not all though.
Right, to keep a fish tomorrow it has to be over 28", in which case, I continue catch and release like I've done since December.

[Cowpokey]

I'm well aware, I have experience in the charter boat industry. Much more ethical in Alaska than it is here...but they never let a big fish go up there either, the clients want them...the charter boats would love to release those big females.

[buzz]

I'll be happy just to get a sleigh ride and a pic.
Good luck all!
Tight lines

[YakCapn]

Alright, heading out later and I'm leaving the cooler at home to keep me from being tempted to keep anything. The weather and wind look great today. I'll wait for regular season for keepers. Unfortunately now, opening day just means that there are going to be a ton of boats to deal with. The main reason I'm heading out today is because it doesn't seem like we get such favorable wind conditions like this on a weekend very often otherwise I'd wait and not go out so as to avoid the crazy boat traffic I'm expecting.

[archeryrob]

I have not done this with stripers, but most females with eggs you can tell as they are fat. Plus most females full of eggs from other fish Walleye, Bass and carp I have seen you can squeeze them and they drop a few eggs and can tell they have not spawn. Males will leak some milk, so if you can get some milk from one, you have a male. I am not sure if they will start this until they are spawning, or if it happens on the way to spawning.

Where is the wildlife biologists on this, Bill (Ictalurus)?