Regrets or a guilty feeling?

[PNG1M]

Has anyone had any fishing encounters where something happens and you do something, then later on regret it?

Sometimes it might be due to ignorance or other times it may be 'group pressure' or 'expectations' that cause it.

(Crikey...this is a bit like 'confession' time!)

1) See avatar (only a few cms short of a metre long bass) - this was not long after I first started fishing for PNG black bass, since I was living there at the time. It was largely make it up as you go along with plenty of advice regarding tackle & tactics. But at the time I had little knowledge about the black bass itself, or their endemic nature and their slow growth rate etc. And at the time, most of the blokes who I joined with on fishing trips were similar in their knowledge & experience.

My mind-set at the time was: Big fish = Gaff !!!
Yep, and I gaffed a few too without caring about the fishes comfort or distress. The locals loved getting the fish in the boat as they had families to feed and a chunky black bass could go a long way.

Since the avatar photo (actually not too long after) I learned there was a lot more to it. The black bass are a sensitive species that need protecting. So I became a strict 'catch n release' practitioner regarding bass and began using fish lippers with 100% bass returned safely to the water no matter how big or small they were (to the mind-bogglement of the guides).

Since then however the locals have had a lot of input (mostly from the Star Mountains Fishing Club) into changing their mind-set about sustainability of fish stocks & environmental preservation. Now they support catch n release!

2) Yeah - not long after the above instance we were fishing a Friday - Monday weekend (at Suki Creek that is). The Fly River had bulged - with dirty water flooding up the Suki. We fished hard for the weekend (all six us) with little or no return. The sun was stinking hot and we had to venture right up to the billabong & fresh waterhole areas. Most blokes packed it in each day by mid-afternoon.

Then on the last afternoon, I was partnered up in a boat with a young fisho and we decided to perservere. We'd caught nothing from 8am to 5pm and the other blokes had all scarpered back to camp.

Then, at a nice little junction just before twilight the fish came on the bite. My Tilsan 'Green Mackerel' Big Barra did the trick. The first two fish were solid barra then I hooked a large bass around the 80cm mark. 'Ole mate beside me couldn't wait to get a Tilsan on his rig.

We didn't know how many fish we'd catch and it was getting dark. Since the other blokes were fishless (and our guides as well) we decided to keep what we caught.

That darned 80cm bass though! He looked me square in the eye as I was taking the lure out. His eyes actually followed me as I put him down on the floor of the boat. I resumed fishing & caught a barra. When I was sorting out the barra, that bass was still watching me. I could see his eyeballs moving. It gave me the heebie geebies and I even mentioned it to my fishing partner.

I felt like I was being watched. I had an urge to return the bass to the water but didn't. That was something I regretted not doing, as eventually we caught a healthy supply of barra and a few more smaller black bass - all destined for the table and/or fridge.

I still wish I'd have just let that particular bass go! I can still see his eyeball rolling...

Any one else out there want to bring some skeletons out of the closet?
Any fishy regrets or guilty feelings to flesh out?

[Apollo]

Don't beat yourself up. Would of, could of, should of - demons of the past! I only have an issue when I or others don't evolve with acquired knowledge. I kept a monster flathead (read near 4') from Wangi Power station outlet as a young fella and a mate kept his bigger one on the same day. If we knew then that we had just taken out two apex breeders, we should have been strung up. Now it is a different story and I think I have the knowledge to make a better decision.

I will say that like yours, mine was atleast eaten and not just wasted - now that really p!sses me off.

Take it easy

[themissus]

Wow that gave me goosebumps PNG1M.
I hate it when a fish ends up with a hook in the eye.
I still can't bring myself to kill a fish, that Rod's job, I can't even watch.
Cheers Kim.

[flairj]

I have felt bad in the recent past. I started doing a lot less saltwater fishing for a while and got into fishing for Aussie Bass in a local impoundment. Usually I would keep a few smaller flathead for a feed but I literally didn't fish salt for 3 months and the girlfriend wanted a feed of fish. By all accounts the Bass that came out of this impoundment were very good as it is a very clean water lake.

So one afternoon I kept 2 just legal Bass for dinner to try as I have never eaten freshwater fish.

Well, I filleted these two fish and cooked them as we always do. Both of us could not make it past the first few mouthfuls. I did feel quite bad killing 2 fish which went to waste and won't even try to eat a freshwater again. Just my thing.

The other story that really pissed of big time was when I was going to take my brother in law out Bream fishing. I'm not particularly fond of his wife as she is a bit of a "biatch" and as we were leaving she told us to "bring home some of the fish you catch" in her usually smarmy, smart arse voice thinking we must be going out to drinking or to a strip club.

I fish for Bream a lot and never keep any as I don't think they are that good to eat and like I said usually keep a couple of bycatch Flathead. So, the Bream were really on and every cast we were getting Bream in the 36-40cm range. We kept 6 and could have kept a lot more. So we get back to the holiday unit they were staying in to be greeted with his wife saying, once again in her smarmy way, face screwed up, "Er.... Good one Macca, what did you bring those home for":o :o :o

F@#k me. Steam nearly came out of my ears and the colour in my girls face drained because she knew how mad I was. She gave me the head shake meaning "don't go crazy, stay calm".

Six Bream died and were thrown out with freezer burn 6 months later.

I know 8 fish in the grand scheme of things isn't much and believe me I keep and eat plenty of fish. But killing things and wasting does make me feel pretty crap

Josh

[BarraBandit]

There is 1 way to "prepare" freshwater bass so that they taste good. PM me if you want to know the secret.





Bandit.

[FNQCairns]

Yeah no biggie, nature didn't even know you where there nor care for that matter, then or ever, sometimes we as individuals really are insignificant in scale and this is without doubt one of those times.

cheers fnq

[TimiBoy]

Mate,

I feel your pain. Not a fishing thing, but once I "flicked" a mother Wolfspider in the garden in Adelaide. Baby spiders went everywhere, and I have felt bad about it ever since!

Cheers,

Tim

[Nic]

I have certainly had the guilts before... I once caught an 8kg diamond and then held it vertically with the Bogas... God what was I thinking. Once the adrenalin had ebbed away, little stabs of shame started to prickle me. I can't look at the photo now without feeling like crap.

And there's nothing worse than seeing a released reefie flapping helplessly on the surface. Nowadays we use one of those Strikeback Vent Rite tools and a Release Weight to send them back down. Can't be 100% sure they'll survive, but at least they're not eyeballing me reproachfully from the surface!

[greenie.77]

I regret a few saturday nights on Sunday morning......does that count??

[deepfried]

I think we have all had the guilts at one time or another. For me sadly it is fairly recent. Over the 18 months i have sussed out the local Tailor and have caught some really good ones. Twice now i have kept fish 4kg or over just because i want to show the missus and get a feed. But both times the guilt started when cleaning them and finding them chockers with roe which made me think of all the little ones that wont be swimming around now. Then to make it worse we only have 1 son and a 4kg tailor is way too much for 3 of us to eat in 1 night. So a fair whack of meat went into the bin. That just doubles that horrible feeling. I have learnt my lesson now and they are released to fight another day and i keep the smaller ones which taste better anyway. I also agree with fish watching you after you have landed them. Its like they are saying please dont eat me, a bit off putting but sometimes a feed is a feed.

Sorry to rant on but i just thought of another. It has more to do with my method of fishing than keeping fish. I often fish with yabbies and a small whiting hook. I have found that i catch so many gut hooked fish that are undersize that i am begining to question whether it is a humane way of fishing. I have released too many to just see them bleed out at my feet or float off belly up. Might have to switch to plastics.

Cheers
Scott

[Steve B]

Yeah PNG,

Know what ya mean.

The very same time you were writing, I was catching a phenominal amount of reef fish (within legal bag limits) with 3 mates. The skipper reckons its the best trip hes had in 10 years!...even better we sussed out the marks ourselves, all new country.

BUT....yesterday I began feeling a bit guilty...all the fish have been given away to family and friends (and us too of course).....But I still feel a bit weird about the sheer numbers of big fish caught, plus the countless number of other species released....I know others would say it was an awesome trip and it was, I will never forget it.....but I still have a bit of a conservationist streak in me that stings a little right now.

confession done sir, feel a bit better!!!

cheers Steve

[Chamelion]

I kept a just legal 35cm snapper last week that I caught off the rock wall at Mooloolaba (my first snap there).. I brought it home and later that night I begun filleting it.. My son came in and started watching, then he started to cry.. He didn't want the fish to die and he begged me to take it back to the water (he is 4 years old)... I nearly cried :(

Ever since I kept a nice flathead that I wasted by using a dull knife to try and fillet it a few months ago I've become strictly catch and release when fishing in rivers. Ocean/inshore is fairgame, but I just can't bring myself to reduce fish stocks in the rivers. The fish are far too few and far between as it is.

Matt.

PS: A guy fishing the maroochy last night kept 30 whiting... I just can't help but to consider how many hundreds of fish could have spawned off those 30!

[Sea-Dog]

I took the kids fishing off a pier and kept a couple of bream for the table.

As I didn't have ice, I kept them alive in seawater in a large bucket.

By the time I got home, one had expired. He went to the table. The other one was still quite healthy.

I didn't feel up to cutting his throat, so I put him into my outboard flushing tank that had a mixture of fresh rainwater and the bucket of salt water that I brought him home in.

After a couple of days he seemed fighting fit. I couldn't kill him, and since he was in water that was 90% fresh, I released him into a local pond that has a large population of gambusia (mosquito fish). There was plenty of cover to protect him from the local birdlife.

He took off into the weeds with great gusto. I wonder if he's still there and substantially bigger.

I did feel good about letting him go. :)

[TimiBoy]

Back in the late 60's, on the way back from the Alice to Adelaide, there was a plague of galahs...

Dad's put the 22 at his hip, and fired into the paddock, and winged a galah. Couldn't miss. I was 6, and I can still see that poor bird screaming in fear and rage as he did it in.

I cried like a baby.

Tim

[rooboy98]

About 5 or 6 years ago I was fishing off a sandy shoreline over in Gove, when I hooked onto a decent Queenie up over the metre mark. At the time I was using my old barra rod which is only 5'6" long matched with an ABU 6500.

The fish put up a terrific fight, several times leaping clear of the water. The great fish literally fought right to the death, refusing to submit and come in over the last bit of shallow water to the shoreline.

I felt pretty ordinary when I couldn't revive it to watch it swim away.

They may only be "crab bait" or "a dime a dozen" to some people but it just seemed like such a waste, especially considering that I was the only one there at the time to witness the event.

I was somewhat happier (more like relieved) when a passing local eagerly accepted the fish soon afterwards. I ended up giving the bloke a lift home so the fish didn't spoil in the scorching hot sun. At least now the fish was going to be eaten.

I would still much rather have seen it swim off for next time though.......

Cheers,
Roo.

[PNG1M]

Thanks guys & gals for some interesting admissions.... consciences cleared so now you's can all sleep well, and those fish can R.I.P.

Here's another skeleton only now released from the closet:

Back in the early 90's when I moved to the NSW Central Coast near Budgewoi a mate got me started with beach fishing & showed me the set-up and all that.
I'd never used ganged hooks before and his first PD session was to show me how to put on a ganged pilly. I can do it with my eyes closed now...

Anyway, his prized tackle box weapon were "stainless steel hooks" that he used for his gangs. They cost more, he admitted but they were nice and hard and streamlined and kept their edge. He reckoned the hookup rate was better!

So I copied him and started using stainless too. I used 3/0 & 4/0 offset stainless hooks for my 4 hook gangs for the next year or so. Then, every so often I'd hear some negatives about using those hooks and it started bugging me.

They don't rust as they are stainless steel, so if you lose a set that is still in a fishes mouth (or throat, or gut) they will have very little survival chance if the hooks can't be dis-lodged.

I felt remorse for my lack of remorse for the fish I'd lost that'd swum away with stainless steel gangs in their food hatch.

And if the hooks are dislodged, they'll still last for a long time and could pose a threat to other species - not to mention the feet of beach goers if the hooks are lost near to shore.

So to cut the long story short - I stopped using stainless steel hooks after about a 12 month stint & I haven't bought any since.

In those days (10-15 years back) there probably wasn't the range or choice of hooks that we have now.

Anyway, something that shows through with these kind of stories is the willingness of people to change their point of view over time, and adjust their behaviour to a more responsible approach, which can make fishing more rewarding & enjoyable.