The Importance of Catch and Release

Before I get into this article, I want to touch on a few points. I will be writing this post on the topic of “catch and release and conservation”. This is based on my own opinions and my opinions only. I understand this can be a touchy topic and disagreeing is OK! There are laws, regulations, and set-standards that anglers must abide by, and at the end of the day, if you follow the law, you’re good to go and legally fine. Every person has different life circumstances than the next, and each individual has a right to their own decisions and moral compass.

I’m writing this because I’ve seen how this website and these articles have greatly impacted many anglers to date. I couldn’t be more thankful to have such an effect especially in helping people who are learning how to go surf fishing. I deem the information that I write about to be valuable, and in a way, I am entrusting this knowledge and information to every reader. Given my position of direct influence on the subject, I feel it’s necessary to offer my perspective on catch and release and conservation within the community of surf fishing.

More on why I’m writing about catch and release:

If you’d prefer not to read/hear about my opinions on conservation and catch and release, go ahead and skip to the bottom of this post where you’ll find the weekly surf fishing report and forecast. Again, I’m not targeting anyone, nor am I demanding that everyone take the same perspective as I do. Independent thought is important and constructive conversation is encouraged.

I want to clarify that I do keep fish for dinner every once in a while and I also keep fish for shark bait every once in a while. I will say, however with sharking, I keep primarily yellowfin croaker for my bait. With my extensive year-over-year logs, I can confidently assume that the yellowfin croaker has one of the healthiest populations with a lesser keep-interest among anglers. Additionally, one yellowfin croaker catches on average 2 to 3 sharks for me.

Why Is Catch and Release Important?

In order to answer the question, “why is catch and release/conservation important?”, we must first answer the question, “why do we fish?”. Now, within this question lies a dilemma of uniqueness in circumstance. Every angler fishes for slightly different reasons, but, I’d be willing to make the argument that for most anglers, the reason isn’t solely to catch dinner. To put my thoughts into perspective without explicitly calling any behavior out, I’ve come up with some hypothetical questions to consider. I have written my responses to the hypotheticals after each question. Keep in mind, these are only my opinions.

If I could never keep a fish again, would I keep fishing?

Yes, without question, yes. To me, keeping a fish for food is just an added bonus. Every once in a while, I take advantage of it. Fishing is an activity that’s centered around being grateful. For every fish, I’m grateful. I think one action that expresses true gratefulness, is to safely release what you’ve been gifted back to where it came from. The more I practice catch and release, the more grateful I become. For more on why I fish and what fishing means to me, read my article, “A Fish’s Worth: Inside the Mind of a Fisherman“.

Does bringing my catch home to show off to my family/friends influence my decision to keep more than I need (or any at all if I don’t need it)?

It used to. But, I’ve learned from my experiences and it no longer has an effect. It’s a tricky question because I believe there is a healthy pride to be had in cooking up your catch and providing for your family. For me, it comes down to self-discipline. Whether it’s to feed myself and my girlfriend or to feed my entire family/friends, I make it a special occasion.

On the topic of feeling pressured to bring something home every time: You’d only feel pressured if you had expected to bring something home and set a standard of doing so. I make it a standard to arrive home empty-handed almost all the time, so I am not humiliated.

If I don’t have plans to cook up my catch in the next day or two, will I still keep it?

No. If I don’t have the time to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate my catch, in the next 2 days (maybe 3), I won’t keep it. Usually, I even make plans prior to a session whether I’ll keep a fish or not. And even then, I won’t keep a fish unless it meets my standards (although I’ll make exceptions from time to time).

Would I rather keep catching fish at the rate I can now and never keep a fish again, or catch only half as many as I do now, but still be able to keep fish?

I would much rather catch fish at the rate I catch them at now (meaning they’d be as plentiful as they are now) and never keep a fish again than continue keeping fish while depleting the population.

When I keep a fish, do I ask myself “how many of the same species are taken and kept on a daily basis? Do I understand the growth rates of these fish well enough to make an educated guess of how sustainable the future of this species looks?”

I do think about how often fish are being taken and kept by anglers which is why I keep so few. Do I understand the growth rates of every fish I keep well enough to make an educated guess as to how sustainable the future looks? Probably not. I’ve done some research but with so many factors and so little research on our local species, I don’t have a good enough grasp to make a guess. So, I keep few fish… plain and simple. If you aren’t willing to take the time to understand the fish you’re keeping, you probably shouldn’t be keeping limits.

If every angler kept as many fish as I kept, would the population of these fish remain sustainable?

This question jumped out at me when a moderator of a popular Facebook group (West Coast Surf Fishing) brought it to the attention of many. He said, “There are over 12,000 members on this page. If each of us kept a limit once a week, there would be 120,000 fewer fish in the ocean, per week.” He went on to touch on a few more relevant aspects of the topic, but it’s a daunting stat that hopefully puts things into perspective for many.

If every angler kept as many fish as I kept, I’d be happy with that and the population would sustain (at least anglers wouldn’t be a detriment to the population). Obviously, this is a loaded question. Some anglers will naturally keep less because they don’t “catch” all that often. The point here is that if every angler shared your perspective here, would the fish population sustain?

Do I respect these fish that I’m catching? Do I appreciate them? For what reason do I appreciate them most? The food they provide? The outdoor experience they’ve given me? Both? Something different?

Yes. I respect the fish that I’m catching and I’m grateful not only for the fish I do catch, but for the ones that got away and the ones that I’ll never catch. I think I appreciate these fish most for the experience they provide me with. There’s a deeper place that most fishermen find when they’re in their element and that’s the part that I’m most grateful for. When I do keep, I’m grateful for the experience as well as the meat that the fish provided.

Do I keep limits? Consistently? Why?

No, never. I simply don’t think it’s rational or necessary to keep limits. Certain categories of fish may be more justifiable than others, but for the surf, I can’t say it’s rational to keep limits of any species. Like certain categories being different than others, certain people may have different circumstances. The argument could be made that it’s necessary for some to keep their catch because they can’t afford not to. My view on that… maybe go to work instead of going fishing.

Is it more worthwhile to keep one big fish or to keep ten little fish?

It’s much more worthwhile to keep 1 big fish (to me) than to keep 10 small fish. In taking the 10, I’d disrupting the ecosystem much more for no good reason. This is why I like to keep guitarfish: They’re plentiful, they’re tasty, and not many anglers keep them.

My Standards

• If I’m not eating it before I have to freeze it, I’m not keeping it.
• Only take home about 10 dinner-fish a year.
• If the fish is pregnant, back she goes.
• Corbina: 18-inches (or above) with good shoulders on it.
• Spotfin croaker: 17-18-inches with some good shoulders on it.
• Yellowfin croaker: Almost never keep to cook.
• Perch: Never again… not enough meat and whenever I catch the big ones, they’re pregnant with still little meat.
• Guitarfish: 3-4-feet. Actually a really clean whitefish and very plentiful as no one really eats them. Video | Recipes.
• Halibut: 23-inches and “thick enough”. Have to release a legal every once in a while.
• Leopard shark: NEVER

Surf Fishing Report and Forecast (4/25)

I’m going to keep the report short since I uploaded the main part to YouTube anyways. I hit Torrey Pines State Beach for another video of the San Diego Beaches series and the link is here, as well as embedded in the photo below. I fished once more after that and I’d say the bite is definitely picking up. Yellowfin and spotfin croaker are becoming a more common catch as corbina have lagged slightly. Barred surfperch are still biting, but it seems the big ones have slowed a little while the dinks are still quite active. Halibut have been hot all around So Cal and I managed to get a small one just the other day as well.

My Gear and Tackle:

• Rod: Okuma Celilo (8’6″ MA) or the Okuma SST (8’6″ MA)
• Reel: Penn Battle II or III 4000 series
• Mainline: 15-pound monofilament
• For Bait: Carolina Rig:
  • Leader Line: 15-pound fluorocarbon
  • Swivels: 15-19mm barrel swivels
  • Hooks: size #2 or #4 owner mosquito hooks
  • Weights: 1-oz egg weight
  • Beads: 8mm fishing beads
• For Lures: Lucky Craft FM 110 and Shimano WM 115 SP
• Other best surf fishing rods and best surf fishing reels

Forecast:

In the week ahead, the overall surf should remain medium relative to most beach’s patterns. We’re getting a decent south swell so expect any beach with a slight south-facing shore to experience slightly elevated surf heights. Expect some warmer weather from mid-week through Saturday.

We have an upcoming grunion run starting on Tuesday (4/27) and ending Friday (4/30). It will still be observation only, but fishing during the runs is always an option.