to bonk, or not to bonk ?

[scott craven]

There are lots of different opinions on this subject, let's hear them.
Here's mine, be it right or wrong it's only an opinion.

I go fishing for 2 reasons, to relax and to catch fish.
I would rather bonk 2 Springs and call it a day, than catch and release fish
that could die as a result.
Yes, those 2 fish die in order to feed my family, but i do not load up my freezer and throw away old fish.

As far as killing too many fish, it's been many years since i've logged 20 springs on my licence.
There's a reason DFO give us a 2 fish daily limit and an annual catch limit.
If the parameter's are followed, no one should feel guilty about catching a fish or two to eat.

 

[Pippen]

I will say....I will bonk to get some meat in the freezer as I love both salmon and halibut; it generally accounts for a meal a week in our household.

I agree with rs....I go for 2 reasons as well; relaxing and catching fish. I for one have done similar and generally (unless within the first half hour of fishing) will catch my couple of fish through a morning and call it a day. I love being out on the water, be it a hot sunny day or a cool damp day in the winter. I for one don't want to go through all the effort of getting out there to have my fishing all done in 20 minutes.

I think last year I logged 6 springs on my license; my girlfriend logged 2 and we had fish that lasted us perfectly for the year. We ate the last piece with my Mother in town from Winnipeg 2 days before we left for Kyuquot last week.

 

[Cannon Ballz]

I say bonk it if you need it,Its fun to get to do the whole 9 yards.Boating,Fishing,Time with family and friends,Bonking,Cleaning and proccessing your catch.Don't get me wrong,we should never have any freezer burnt fish in the freezer.But it sure is fun to bonk when the freezer is empty.Just my 2 bitz

 

[TenMile]

I love bonking on the boat. We usually use the cuddy but if the fishing is hot back deck it is....[:I]

 

[scott craven]

That's Bonking, not "BOINKING" Terry !!

 

[gradyboat]

I'm with TenMile............... I love a good bonk fest in my boat.

Sorry craven couldn't help but keep off topic............[]

 

[TheBigGuy]

I love to fish, to be completely truthful I've eaten so damn many trout and Salmon in my life if I don't eat another one it wouldn't bother me in the least. I used to fill my frezer with twenty and thirty pounders every summer, hundreds of pounds, filled to the top. Don't get me wrong, I never let any go to waste. I spent the fall canning and smoking, and cooking Salmon every way immaginable. After a while I came to the conclusion, this is stupid, no one needs this much fish.

Then the glory days of multiple Tyees started to become scarce.Then came the closures, and the places I loved to fish weren't even worth fishing anymore. Slowly, I came to the realization that maybe I was just being too greedy. No family needs all that fish. I fish because I love to fish. How much damage was I doing to the Salmon I love, all for the sake of some meat for the table.

I still keep some Salmon to eat, but now I am far more selective. I try to keep teener springs or Coho, or the odd Chum for the smoker. Pinks are great fresh. I don't realy consider Sockeye much of a sport fish, so I rarely target them. All said, I keep very few of the Salmon I catch these days. I have taught my kids to release most of the fish they catch also. Theres nothing wrong with keeping a Salmon you catch, but if you keep everything, pretty soon there won't be much worth fishing for left. I'm hoping that by the time my kids have children that there will still be Salmon left to show my grandkids how to catch. Releasing them now is just my small way of trying to ensure that the Salmon will be around a while longer.




I wait all year for my holidays so I can fish for the big springs on the island.

 

[Charlie]

Hmmmm... "Ditto", I agree with your thoughts, but you should go to a "hatchery" fish trap and see what happens to those fine fish! It might surprise you? Also, it is a bad thing to be fishing and come across a whole pile of fish left rotting due to someone just taking the eggs! And was perfectly legal!!! Opened my eyes!!

Take what is allowed... but, don't take excess! Don't feel bad about following the regs! After you catch your "once in a lifetime" fish... don't feel bad about turning some back! It acually can make you feel good!

Bonk or No Bonk!

Bonk (but stay within the regulations)

 

[happy hooker]

quote:Originally posted by TenMile

I love bonking on the boat. We usually use the cuddy but if the fishing is hot back deck it is....[:I]

Thats beautiful, LMAO

 

[chris73]

Guys, keeping your legal limits isn't really going to bring salmon any closer to extinction. If that would really matter it would be way too late to save them at this point. If it makes you feel better then go ahead and practice a careful C&R - that's fine too and a noble gesture on top. If you really want to make a difference for the survival of salmon then get involved or donate to Enhancement Programs, Stream Restoration Programs etc. You spend thousands of dollars on your fishing gear - how much have you contributed to some of those programs in the last few years? Some do a lot and not only donate a lot of hard earned money but also contribute often much needed manpower and private time to those programs. It seems silly that a lot of us spend more and more to power-up to trick the last few fish that are left instead of helping to fix the source which is the low abundance of fish. I bet hundred years ago you didn't need a black box, electric downriggers and gps plotters to have a good day fishing...
I encourage you all to step up to the plate and get involved in those programs. Basically in each region and major watershed there are enhancement societies and associations active that would be pleased to get your help. Any efforts there will go a way longer than trying to persuade your fishing buddy to throw back one or two fish...
As an example, the Sooke River chinook salmon stocks collapsed in the early 80's when they had ONE chinook coming back in '81 or '82 where there used to be 500 - 800. That was the time when the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society was founded by concerned anglers and locals. They built a hatchery with donations and were able to restore a chinook run of several hundred returning fish per year again. Funding cuts by governmental agencies have left them rely mostly on donated money today. If it wasn't for those volunteers that sacrifice private time and money there wouldn't have been any chinooks, very few cohos and no steelheads in the Sooke River for more than 20 years.

 

[TheBigGuy]

You're completely correct in what you say about habitat restoration. However, this isn't strictly a numbers thing. I'm sure you've heard the term "selective breeding". By keeping all the trophy fish we are selectively breeding our average size lower, and lower. That is where catch and release can have it's greatest benefit, to help maintain a diverse gene pool. Haven't you noticed that 50's, 60's are almost never seen at the docks around the island anymore. Forties are a rare sight these days, next will be the Tyees.

 

[Luna]

Shut it down to 1 a day possesion limit of 2, its not brain surgery, but it seems our govt is retarded.

 

[squaretailer]

Penalizing the sportfishing body,yet again,by changing daily and possession limits will absolutely not have any positive impact on the resource.If we're going to effect positive changes for the good of the resource,let's start and stay with the commercial fleet,please.There is no need to beat the habitat scenario anymore.As long as we continue to urbanize,inhabit,reshape and constrict rivers and valley bottoms,the price to pay is extinction of the resource,period.One of the only systems left in BC,that can actually sustain wild populations of anadromous fish is the Skeena system and it is now under review for that ability.There are other systems that still show such an ability,but by and large,most systems cannot and need hatchery intervention.The commercial fleet,being very efficient(seiners)can and has decimated entire gene pools an a single 12 hour opening.As a sport fisher,I feel that I've already taken it on the chin,too many times.

ST

 

[Luna]

Oh ya shut down all commercial and native fishing too. Multiply all the lodges and guest on the coast and cut the carnage in half,you don't think it would help?, atleast we will still be able to fish and help the fishery as well. I saw a lot of dead fish (everyday) at the ONE lodge I worked at up north, I thought holly F!@# when I thought of this at all the lodges on the coast. Look at Wash. State right now, is not shut down?. Its not about penalizing sporty its about saving what we barely have left!! Every step counts, short term pain, long term gain. If the fishery was stable think of the revenue it could create for everyone. Do you not see study decline of numbers over the last 10 years, it aint getting better.

 

[Luna]

Oh ya shut down all commercial and native fishing too. Multiply all the lodges and guest on the coast and cut the carnage in half,you don't think it would help?, atleast we will still be able to fish and help the fishery as well. I saw a lot of dead fish (everyday) at the ONE lodge I worked at up north, I thought holly F!@# when I thought of this at all the lodges on the coast. Look at Wash. State right now, is not shut down?. Its not about penalizing sporty its about saving what we barely have left!! Every step counts, short term pain, long term gain. If the fishery was stable think of the revenue it could create for everyone. Do you not see study decline of numbers over the last 10 years, it aint getting better.

 

[coriba]

Fishing with the intention to catch and release is too close to trophy hunting for me. We're privileged to live where we do, to have the ocean's abundance at our door step. I inherited a lot of my grandpa's salmon gear, and still use some of it, though I'm no stranger to the tackle store! If we've got enough fish, we stop fishing. If we can't keep the grilse off the line, or coho if there's a closure, we stop fishing, no matter what we've "got in the box". I just don't understand people who brag about the number of fish they've caught and released. We can argue about the mortality rate ... but it's not zero. I have a grown daughter now, grandkids maybe someday. I'll teach them what my grandparents taught me: you don't take more than you need, but you eat what you take.

 

[coriba]

Fishing with the intention to catch and release is too close to trophy hunting for me. We're privileged to live where we do, to have the ocean's abundance at our door step. I inherited a lot of my grandpa's salmon gear, and still use some of it, though I'm no stranger to the tackle store! If we've got enough fish, we stop fishing. If we can't keep the grilse off the line, or coho if there's a closure, we stop fishing, no matter what we've "got in the box". I just don't understand people who brag about the number of fish they've caught and released. We can argue about the mortality rate ... but it's not zero. I have a grown daughter now, grandkids maybe someday. I'll teach them what my grandparents taught me: you don't take more than you need, but you eat what you take.

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

quote:Originally posted by Luna

Oh ya shut down all commercial and native fishing too.

I agree, shut down all native fishery!

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

quote:Originally posted by Luna

Oh ya shut down all commercial and native fishing too.

I agree, shut down all native fishery!

 

[Charlie]

I agree!