What's your take: Big or many?

[John F]

I enjoy all facets of fishing (shore, estuarine, bottom, gamefish) but lately I've been obsessed with billfishing... which means off course less fish goes to the pot...  This has had a few serious implications at home... LESS FISH in the fridge for DOUBLE the petrol...

I try to balance it as much as possible but sometimes it gets a bit difficult... so how do you guys manage it: Few BIG or MANY small ?

[shagnrelease]

Generally the By-catch of Dorado,tuna and whoos are enough for us, But we may do a morning of gamefishing and then marlin and then a late afternoon session for gamefish if things have been slow.

[benniejordaan]

The way I see it is if you cannot afford to go fishing, you shouldn't! Not to say it's really like that but my point is I go fishing for the enjoyment and there is a cost involved - petrol! I don't weigh it up, so from my side, no need to balance it! Fish for the pot is just a bonus!

My choice (if I had a choice these days) is a few big.

[fedu]

John,

I think your "real" problem is very similar to mine and it's common with guys like us that are lucky enough to live by the sea.

When I go fishing my time is counted, my family expects me to come home at decent hours and not late in the evening
That means allthough I go out regularly my time on the water is counted, I try to extend it by going out early in the morning but no point going out before sunrise

That means if I want to do billfishing, I do mornings trolling and then if no billfish around noon a bit gamefishing to try get some action on the given day and still arrive home early.

I only do that on peak billfish season and if we have all the team aboard, otherwize I don't even try billfishing.

Most of the guys that fish with me on a regular basis do competition fishing, so they do not have that problem, on competition weekend they do billfishing and on non competition weekends they go out with me.

That put's me on a serious problem on competition weekends, I do not like billfishing offseason peak and also I do not wan't to extend my usual "team" members and reveal all the "tricks of the trade" to a large number of people, as an example this saturday is competition weekend and I am going out only with my brother in law in the 35ft boat...


I personaly don't usually fish for the pot, the fish that we do not release is for my team members or I give the workers at the club, with the odd exception that I take home.

If I wanted fish for the pot I would do bottom fishing mainly .

[Capt. Hook]

This is a good topic.

If I have friends, family or clients on the boat it is only about getting fish.

When I fish for myself it is about getting a trophy and catching my target species and I do not care about the pot.

To me it is all about sport and if I get a fish for the pot I see it as a benefit and blessing (perk) of what I do, I also like to eat my fish fresh so do not really stock up at home.

As it is many of the fish I catch are released.

[jaenswart]

Few BIG or MANY small ?

MANY BIG .....lol

seriously I never try to take breeding stock. But I always want fresh fish in my freezer. I never pack it to the brim, cause I like my fish fresh.

So I take what I can get when the pickings are slim, and I try to be sensible when the pickings are rich.

I never take billfish if I can help it

[L Hooker]

I release 99% of my fish, however i always keep at least one fish for the pot. I generally only take enough fish out that would be consumed within a week. To me fish that has been frozen for too long looses it's appeal... I fish mainly in Ponta these last few years, and my ghillie usually takes home more fish than i do! He used to ask me why do i release everything and i explained to him that next year when it's bigger we can have more fun catching it again... I believe this attitude he has adopted and has understood the importance of only taking what you are going to eat....


Each day is different for me somedays i enjoy catching loads of small fish on light tackle and other days i would preffer to tackle only trophy fish... but does not make much difference for me as long as i'm on the water i'm happy..


By the way Shag did you manage to get hold of Chris for your Ponta trip this Dec??

[Big Van]

I like them big and many. When marlin fishing is there as Shaggy says always luckily a bycatch. Normally is it not small as it will have to go fast to get to the bait.
 We do target game fish and we do release some of them. I normally need to bring some fish home for my fishing friends that can not be at the sea at the time and they are empty. Dorado or a tuna is always a welcome prezzie for a fisherman. If I fish from the jetski will I come home if I have one fish for breakfast and maybe tuna for shashimi later. Fresh cuta or wahoo is always nice to share.
We had bad weather at Richardsbay and decided to fish the lake earlier the year. We had a ball of a time on the boat with kids catching shad and small sharks and snapper salmon. So size is not always the main thing but numbers can be fun too.
As FA say as long as we catch!!!!

[shagnrelease]

By the way Shag did you manage to get hold of Chris for your Ponta trip this Dec??

I actually have not even tried mate to be honest I forgot about him, can you email me his details again please?

snrtackle@gmail.com

[L Hooker]

I actually have not even tried mate to be honest I forgot about him, can you email me his details again please?

snrtackle@gmail.com

Will do!

[Prego]

Big or small does not matter to me as long as the reels are screaming  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I am happy!!
I do this for fun and I love my fresh fish when I get a chance to get out there but  for most part it's catch & release for me.

[John F]

To some extent I guess we're all in the same page... most of us LOVE fresh fish hence only keep what we can consume within a short period...

I think the cultural heritage here is that when you go out there, you must come back with as much as possible... otherwise you failed... I enjoy every moment spent at sea and if I get just one fish I'm happy... problem is looking at everybody's faces when I tell them with a smile: "well I lost a sail and only got a dorado and a tuna"!

Thanks for your replies!

  

[fedu]

To some extent I guess we're all in the same page... most of us LOVE fresh fish hence only keep what we can consume within a short period...

I think the cultural heritage here is that when you go out there, you must come back with as much as possible... otherwise you failed... I enjoy every moment spent at sea and if I get just one fish I'm happy... problem is looking at everybody's faces when I tell them with a smile: "well I lost a sail and only got a dorado and a tuna"!

Thanks for your replies!

 

I know the feeling

Stoping at the boat club after a day fishing is almost like a competition, I've learned to live with that I have my pictures to show, do not need to bring a lot of fish home