Congratulations to the guy with the big 50lb blue, on the pic of the day, for killing a trophy fish out of Kerr. Thanks alot man for keeping the the trophy stock. I hope he ate good......

Come on people, what is up with keeping these BIG fish? Take a PIC and let him swim!!

To each his own.If he ate it,than it wasn't a waste.He just took some other greedy fisherman's fish,that's all.Just think of all the bigguns caught at night and just look how many pics are took at night.Not many is there?So where are all those night fish going?Surely not being thrown back.It all boils down to bragging rights.Somebody got left out again.

You dont have to bring a fish home to die just to get a picture of it, to earn your braggin rights. You can brag just as much with a pic from the lake or from your boat, and still the fish swims off!

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!...Buggsman

Some folks just need their ass handed to them and their manners will improve!

i agree 100% that the big ones go free its just plain sense to manage our future fish for out kids and grand kids ------but let us pray that buggsman does not have any off spring for the future.

AMEN.... to that jake!!!

I disagree,if you want to preserve the fish for tomorrow,than throw your cast nets away and quit taking what the fish are feeding on.Heck,if you want to get technical,don't launch your boats until after the fish you are fishing for have finished spawning.Do you really think that the bigguns that are released are going back to their bed to finish their spawn?Not everyone can live in your perfect world.How many record breakers are released alive?Not many is it?

As for my offspring,yes i have a few coming up and i teach them not to keep unless they are going to eat.I teach my kids that it is bad sportmanship to cast a net because it takes away from the fish that are in the water.I teach my kids to pick up trash,theirs and other peoples when they see it.I teach my kids boat safety and honor other fishermen unless they are in the wrong.I teach my kids that it is good to be hated for who you are,rather than to be liked for who they are not.Not bad for a man like me huh?

Let me just add this,i teach my kids that tournaments are wrong also.

I myself would let it go. But there is no law saying you cant. I dont think its anyones place to drill someone for keeping a fish. And you call it "killing" a fish???? If it was a 3 pounder its not killing?

just my opinion/ its great to cpr trophys.
i dont wont to get in a big arguement.

good luck

I don't see why people keep the big fish?If they are out there on a boat they are not starving if they can afford the gas and all.There are no laws on keeping big fish so I guess that leaves us to have the common sense to use and not take the trophys.Buggs what are the catfishermen suppose to use for bait???Lures for catfish!!LOL. What is wrong with catching bait and the tournaments??The more I see your comments on here the less intelligence I think you have.Until they pass the laws or if they ever do thats leaves it up to us.The game commision has proved they don't care about the cats.So I hope enough of us get enough sense about us to let us our kids be able to enjoy it like we are.

yeah they dont care about the blue cats too much
theres plenty of small ones, 5-20 pounders, and quite a few from 20-40, but once you get over 40 pounds, there aint but so many of those, esspecialy over 50, if you get one thats over 50 in kerr youve done great. theres alot of fishing pressure, and catfishing is getting more and more popular.
not trying to get in an arguement or anything,
but thats my opinion,

good luck

you know that we can`t pleases everyone.the bass fishermen don`t like to see you keep bass,the catfishermen don`t like you take big cats,the crappie fishermen don`t like you taking little crappies and the striper fishermen will they just keep there limit.as for the big cats to me they just don`t taste good.but thats just my 2 cents.

yeah, there not good for you eithier, i regret that i ever kept any big ones now, i hope i didnt damage my body or something. it great to keep those saller ones though that helps the trophy fishing

good luck

P. O. d' It is better to be ****** off than ****** on.
And that is what I would like to do to you for giving me so much hell about the 50# cat i caught. You are just mad cause you didnt catch it. You need to know the whole story before you start talking trash about me.

It makes me laugh sometimes when i see these post....I'm with Buggsman all the way...preserve the baitfish and the trophies will follow. It was in another thread about the blue with the striper in it's throat, now that if nothing else is proof of how diverse the blue's appetite really is but here's another thought that almost all fish eat other fish...period BUT the shad,minnow,and sunfish population is the one most eaten. Now here we have the the most soughtafter fish to catch all of a sudden..the blue(for some odd reason). I'm a striper man myself...they fight...all fish fight but i myself like the striper fight. The striper population sucks. Blues on the other hand are taking over in my opinion...why?...prolly many reasons that we don't have to get into(growth rate,will eat ANYTHING,so on and so on) yet we have to "cpr" the big ones in order to be cool or be with the crowd or whatever. You know when i go fishing and catch striper i'm more worried about letting the little ones go to get bigger than i am in catching and keeping a 15lber. Gotta have little ones to make big ones and gotta thin the fish out too. The lake is just like a pond in the respect that if ya don't keep any fish their growth will finally stunt and there will be nothing but the same size fish. everybody has there own thing about the lake and unless you are a plain @sshole that has blinders on to everyone else fishing then you are just like everyone....trying to catch a fish and have a good time. Like i said i don't really like blue cats, i like stripers, but it doesn't mean i don't care that they have a home here in the lake. In short the fish have just as much right to be in the lake as the fishermen do to their own opinion.

Very well put bgsho.

I myself am a Bass man and 10 years ago the James river was an awesome fishery.Now a days the bass'n has really fallen off and thats due to the 50lb catfish hanging out in 5' of water and eating all the bass!!So if they wanna keep an equal balance on the lake and still have the fame of an awesome bass lake they need to get rid of some of the big boys!!

i agree 100% with dbgsho and cross eyed

no sarcasm from me, really...congratulations on a fine catch! Thank you for sharing your success with all of us. You didn't break any laws, didn't destroy ethics, violate codes of conduct, mislead investors, bankrupt companies, or payoff any interns. If catching and eating a 50 lb. catfish is the worst thing you do this year, then God Bless you.

I tired not to reply to this, but I can't help it. I'm assamed to say that I must agree with Buggsman. If you want to keep a big fish it should be your choice. If you catch a big one and post it you shouldn't get killed on here for it. I don't keep any fish at all big or small, but that is my choice. Give this guy a break it was his 1st big fish. All you can do is try to influenece people to release the bigger fish not bash them to death for it.

Don't be ashamed to agree or disagree with me or any others.Just say what you believe in because if you don't,it will come back to haunt you in the future.

What we have here is a small group that wants only the type of fish that they fish for to survive.What about all those big crappie that we see pics of that are bigguns?How many of those crappie didn't get to spawn?This is just the tip of the iceberg.You can't think about saving one species of fish without thinking about other fishermen and the types of fish they fish for.Quit being so narrow minded and look at the whole picture.Just think,one day Buggs will be known for it's catfish and nothing else if you don't quit you way of thinking.Quit being so **** greedy,show some sportmanship to others if you have any.

You said it dod. By the way does anyone have any pointers to catch a 50 pounder??? I will let it go. Last weekend I fished where the Dan feeds into Buggs. Caught several fish but the biggest was a 7# flathead. Should I come back in the lake a little. Maybe near the flats? I think I will be there this weekend again.

AMEN BUGGSMAN You said it i'm with ya partner!

I'm not going to get in the middle of this one,to each his own. It just amazes me all the post where they wouldn't use their real name.

I would like to ask how many people would be fishing tournaments if there was no prize money or prizes worth more than $50.00??? This goes for any kind of fishing, Bass, Catfish, Crappie what ever. I striper fish and when I catch my limit I go home, I like to eat fish. You people talk about catch and release, I call what you do catch and kill because I see the results the next day at the dock where all the fish are released.

Hey 50#(and the rest of ya'll).......WHAT'S WITH THE THICK RUBBER GLOVES,BRO?IF YOU'RE SCARED OF THE BIG KITTY,YOU BETTER GET YOU A DOG!!!!! ......ROOKIE!!!

I can some way agree with you sneed but I don't see many catfish floating just striper I like small fish to eat but larger ones to brag on... I got to admit I kept 1 large one before. I was fishing 1 day and caught a nice cat in the 20 some lb range and at the same time had a boat pull up on me while fighting this fish and when I released him he left..(pat on the back) after hearing about eating all this mecury in fish sorta makes me not want to eat anything & then you got stripers with gill maggots and then there's Buggsman.

@ nightrain he he

im not gonna try to tell anyone what to do, its just not a cool thing to do. and what you do is totally your bussiness,

i fish for catfish on gaston lake. i just like releasing any trophy fish, catfish,stripers,bass, anything. i have kept trophies before, but i dont anymore.im just trying to preserve the great fishing
we have of all species.

good luck

Night Train you call me a "rookie". What is your biggest catch? You are pickin on the rubber gloves, If you would take your head out of my @ss you might distinguish that they are leather.

uh oh

nightrain has got some huge ones man,really.

I caught 2-50#'ers,a 48#,47#,43#,just last summer alone......so congrats on gettin' your hands "scratched".

there you are nightrain, he he

This rookie has only been out 4 times this year due to work. In those 4 times I have a boat total of 113 fish. Just went Sat. caught 34. The biggest was 36lbs. Yes the fish was released but not because of people like you dogging me for keeping my first big one, but for the people that helped a "rookie" make the right decisions for the future. As for you night train if you are such a "big fish" catcher you should try not to be such an @sshole about the situation. You should try and see how it was when you first started. This "rookie" will be ok without anymore stink from you. Good fishin

Dang,man.....You came across in your initial posts as a know-it-all,killit&grillit kinda guy.Your last comment made me think back to the old days,when I didn't know that there was another option.I killed the first few bigguns that I caught too.This was before the internet fishin' sites and such.So,yeah,you're right.....I DIDN'T have CPR advocates tellin' me what I SHOULD have done.It came to me on my own.So for that I apologize.In the same breath,I also congratulate you on the 36#,that was CPR'D!I caught a 35#, Saturday night,too!Nice night to be on the water.In retrospect,let me conclude by saying that the internet is a great thing,but,w/o talkin' to someone face to face, sometimes alot is lost in the translation of the typed word.Sorry,dude..... .....I'll chill now.

Thanks for understanding the picture. I didnt know any better when I kept the 50#. You are absolutely right about the face to face thing also. Congrats on your 35 Sat night. I fished Sat. during the day. I forgot to mention the 17lb. blue I caught with a 11 inch shad in its mouth. that was a pretty awsome sight. Good fishin

After lookin' at the pic a little closer,you appear to be a rather young man.And after this conversation,you kinda remind me of KMJ,one of the finest young catmen on Gaston or Kerr.....I apologize to you for the harse words and the misunderstanding of yours.I wish you continued success.

Hey 50, congrats on your fish. I'm sorry it died. Do you still have the head? I'd like to get the earbones, the length/age/location & temp caught info off it and then we'll age it and add it to the collective knowledge about Kerr. Even if its buried what I need is two little bones so we can recover them. If you have it, let me know and we'll log the information about your fish making its death valuable when, later, this information is added to others. Email me at the above.

I am sure you've noticed its pretty easy to get banged-on via the internet. My best night ever on Kerr brought me 7 flathead citations and I posted a COTD of 5 of them all wet & unharmed. All five were returned totally healthy from a big livewell but the COTD picture drew a few online arrows for the bad image it suggested. Truly, viewers of that pix could never know the equipment onboard to keep 5 citations snappy all at same time so I learned from that episode that the "bar" varies from person to person. In my seat, I should have not posted that pix, anybody that knows me would have known the truth but the pix didn't show the right message. It was wrong of me to post that.

Guys, read what 50's saying here. Let this fish go and focus on the next. We're all sorry that fish died. When "we" collectively channel our energy and work to get the cats into a game-fish classification THEN the rules will support our good but informal CPR habits. CPR Awareness is growing daily but the energy would be so much better spent toward a game-fish classification than hammering a guy that had a "legal" fantastik day on the water only to have it soured here. I challenge everybody that posted this thread to write DIF and request a game-fish classification for the Blue & Flathead. Hey 50, congrats on your fish! I'm sorry it died. Be proud of it because I am here to tell you that I've fished "hundreds" of nights in Kerr and I've never caught a 50+ blue out of there...yet.

Now, back to the dead fish. Everybody: Starting now, if you are willing, when a KERR LAKE WATER SYSTEM trophy fish dies for whatever reason...please save the head for me. The bones I need are located at the very rear of the skull, on the top so if you cut thru the fish from just behind the skull (sort of straight up from front fins) that'll get the part for me. Its OK to start the cut behind the skull but to angle it forward to get the meat from the fin area on the bottom. Write down the location, date and time caught. Write the water temp when caught. Write the depth caught from. Whether the head is "dried on a post" or frozen does not matter to me. This ear-bone will allow me to determine the precise age of the fish. Over time the data we collectively assemble on our bigguns will take us to the next level of understanding about our great fishery.

Now you-all go and catch a biggun...I'm on a plane in a very foreign place where they think carp is great. They even have "carp-monthly" magazines with tactics, recepies etc. Pix of folks holding up a big old nasty carp and smiling....Really, stay safe and catch a biggun....jfo

You da man joe!

what is considered a trophy?

I left it open on purpose. If you catch a 10 pounder and its really special to you...then that datapoint will add value to the collective database. Clearly I don't do this for a living so I'd be foccussed on the big ones (say 25+) but I'd like to leave it open in case somebody's kid shows off a 10 pounder, it dies, and the parent wants to let the kid learn about how to age a fish with the ear-bones...jfo

Keep what you like 50lb.If you don't keep it than some other fisherman on here is going to.Be proud of your catch.One thing you have to realize is that you can't please everyone,so as long as yourself is pleased,thats good enough.Heck man,i'd like to see you go out and catch 5 or 10 more 50 plus pounders and stick'em in the freezer.If you do that,just think of all the other fish you would save.Not many other species of fish will eat a kittykat.One thing is for sure dude,you sure made the greedy son of guns on here squirm.

The last post by Buggsman stating "if you dont keep it some other fisherman here will" has got to be the worst argument for keeping any kind of trophy fish I have ever heard in my life.

WORMER

Man, miss reading the board a few days.. Alot goes on I see.. Im not voicing my opinion on this subject, except C.P.R.

Travis

congrats on your fish 50 lb, i kept my first few big ones, as long as you eat it its not a waste or anything. i just like releasing any trophy fish now
ive got plenty of 5-10 pounders meat in the freezer, so i dont even need any trophy meat.
keep catchin em man, your doing great.

good luck

if everyone keeps everything they catch, in a few years don,t be fussing, if you fish all day for 1 or 2 fish. keep a few and release the most of what you catch.

i just think you should release any kind of trophy fish no matter what kind it is.

Awright,men,everybody 'bout had enough of this one?Mea Culpa,Mea Culpa......"ideaology" is interesting to discuss, but,fishing is waaaaay more interesting!!!!Let's let this one die,pleeeeze!
To 50#......Here's wishin' ya lots of TOW(TIME ON THE WATER),bro!

yeah its time to let it go now,

ohh what the hell my turn to talk

congrads to the 50 lber , what bothered me is
going to kerr dam and a local saying behind the dam
last year 8 tractor trailer loads of blues was estimated taken in 3 months as he had 5 coolers full and 4 over 20 lbs laying thier who can eat that much fish? and hes fishes thier 4 days a week !
this type of fishing will hurt the fishiery... Not
keeping your first biggin
its good to inform people but don't get nasty cause someone don't do what you think is right.
My self I wouldn't want to eat a blue over 18 lbs.
If it was a state record I would keep it only otherwise only what i would cook up that day.
happy fishing everyone Ron