Re: Eating a record fish ?
I've done both , with several species .
I grew up on a small creek , that held everything from catfish to rainbow trout .
8 pound holdovers were common .
It is also prime habitat for "rock bass" , and they are there in great abundance and size .
Over the years , I have caught and released dozens in excess of 3 pounds , and , kept and eaten several that were hooked to badly to release(exactly why I no longer fish with live crayfish..) .
A few of these fish approached 5 lbs , easy .
The state record is 2lbs8ozs , world record is 3lbs even .
I personally saw a rainbow caught that would have been a state record , or , very close to it , at the time .
It was released , thankfully , unharmed .
There were also the odd pickeral , chain and grass , which I occasionally caught .
The chain pickeral were decent size , nothing close to record class.
I do recall several grass pickeral that were in excess of 2 lbs , however .
The sunfish family was well represented in this fishery .
Bluegill , pumpkinseeds , longears , green sunfish , warmouths , redears , etc ...
I suspect I have released or eaten several potential records from a few of these species , as well .
Trout are no longer stocked in this fishery , due to the lack of public access .
You can still catch them , however , 7 years+ after the last stocking .
6"+ rainbows are common , up to 2 lbs .
The larger 'holdovers are getting rare , however .
Looks they went native , despite the opinions of our fine fishery biologists .
