Quote Originally Posted by Steve Herbeck View Post
bass-none
Yep. I had no idea until you mentioned it that Smallies up there only grow ~ 1" per year. So when someone fillets a 14" Smallie, they're killing a 14 year old fish!!!

Sad story. Was at a lake and was told this story recently. There was a 2.5lb or so Smallie that used to hang around a dock. The little kids in camp would catch it and release it every so often. It was THE big fish the kids would get excited to catch when they would see it (cause they'd usually only be catching little panfish all day). This smallie was almost like the "camp pet". A month or so ago, some guy was coming in and saw the fish by he dock. He purposely caught it, filleted it & ate it!!!

Also recently saw something that looked like it was lifted from 50 years ago. Some older fellas came in with a stringer of bass and pike. I swear they had to be over the limits by 2x, and for sure one of the pike was in the slot. I really think it was ignorance, and they just figured they could keep any fish they caught (like the old days).

It's people's right to keep anything within the limits and regulations of the Ontario MNR. But once again, AML is ahead of everyone else by encouraging people to release whenever possible/reasonable. It is this kind of thinking that makes Eagle Lake THE premiere trophy fishing destination in Canada for all species.

-Dan