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I'm with you kirbydoggie-
Just because it is technically legal does not make anything "okay". The fact of the matter is that good bass fishing (in public water) is so difficult to find in Colorado that it needs to be protected. Certainly most, if not all, of the smaller metro area lakes need to be catch & release for bass in my opinion. n It takes too long to0 grow those fisah and they're much more valuable as a sport fish than as a "food" fish.
There are places with an abundance of small bass from clean water where you can keep fish without damaging the fishery (Lake Powell and Flaming Gorge come to mind). They're just not in Colorado!
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Aaron-
I think most good bass fishermen who fish Quincy seriously release all their bass, so I'm not sure it's the best example.
I know a lot of 15" smallmouth get harvested at Chatfield by bait fishermen and I suspect the same thing is true of Pueblo. If everyone let all the 15" fish go back, think of all the 18" bass we might have in a couple more years.
I used to have access to a small (3 acres?) pond in Lakewood that was strictly C&R for bass and the population of big bass in that lake was amazing! None ever got harvested and there was plenty of forage and any little bass that survived the jaws of their ancestors grew up fat and happy and ready for a date with my Devil's Horse! The average bass from that npond was 2.25 - 2.75 lbs with lots of bigger ones.
My $.02.
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If it is legal there is nothing anyone can do. It IS okay. If it is illegal there may be something that can be done. Beyond that it strickly my ethic and my moral thoughts against everyone elses ethics and morals. (I doubt there are few of us that have the exact same ethics and morals.) Do I have a right to force my eithics and my moral thoughts on you? No. If I verbally abuse or threaten you are you going to change your ethics and morals. NO. Actually you will harden your views in the opposite direction. Can I explain why I have the view I do? Sure. But there may be a consequence of verbal or physical abuse if I go to far. Can I lead by example? Sure.
No sense getting upset over the small stuff..... Oh yeah, the book says it all is small stuff.
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From my point of view I think it's ok that person is the one who caught the fish and if the size of the fish is the regulation size than I do not see any problem, what if he likes to eat the fish, I love to eat fish so yes I will keep some fish that I catch so I can cook them up. I will not keep small fish but if the size is regulation size I will keep a few.
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