Can a Catch and Release Fisherman be a Fish Hog?

On a fishing forum I track, a member posted an angry note about two striper fishermen who said they'd caught 60 and 200 fish in one outing, respectively. These were juveniles, all released. In obscene terms (which were edited by the board's moderator) he called them "fish hogs", and decried the sheer excess of such actions (and made a bunch of impractical suggestions about trying to limit them).

The reaction of other fishermen on the board was overwhelmingly negative.

However, I do think it's fair to ask, "What's the point?" if you're catching 50 or a 100 fish in a single outing. Many small wild trout streams, if you catch them on the right day, can provide such catches.

Having experienced a few days like that (well, maybe 75-100 fish, I can't imagine 200), I believe the desire to keep going comes from two sources. #1 habit ("I'm a fisherman...this is what I do"); and #2, the sense of elation that somehow we've finally "mastered" this sport which is often so humbling ("I must be a damn good fisherman if I can catch this many fish").

As I've gotten older, I've realized that the number of fish I catch on a given day has much more to do with the fish (and their willingness to cooperate) than it has to do with me. The fact that I catch 3 fish on one day, and 30 on the next doesn't mean that I've become a 10x better fisherman.

Frankly, I no longer enjoy catching 100 fish in an outing, especially if it's all the same way (which it usually is). I do care about consistently catching fish, even when conditions are difficult. But I often find myself enjoying the fishing on those tough days much more, as long as hard work gets occasionally rewarded.

If I'm just hammering them, I'll often take off a fair amount of time...if I'm fishing alone, I'll sit down on a rock for a while, and just enjoy being on the water. Looking for bug signs, and trying to spot the fish working. If I'm with a friend, I'll sit down and enjoy watching him fish.

I'll often change up...if I'm catching dozens of fish, but none of any size, I'll try to go after something bigger...look for a difficult cast, maybe switch technques, try a streamer or a deep nymph instead of that dry that they've hammered all afternoon.

In the end, I find it's the tough fish I remember most. About 10 years ago, I was practicing controlling a drift on a little warm-water stream. I was admiring a perfect drift I'd managed to control for about 30 feet, feeding line, not even thinking about catching anything. A 6" pumpkinseed popped out a little holding spot right by the bank and took my fly. It's one of the most memorable fish I've ever caught.

I'll never condemn anyone for running up a count. Fishermen are directly and indirectly responsible for the preservation of the species they catch. It takes all kinds of fishermen to make up the coalition that keeps it that way...so if that's what turns you on, do it.

But for me, I'm happy to slow down.