Would You Choose More Fish or One Big?

[JoeyZac]

1 hour ago, Livefreeordie said:

Is it true that the bigger ones do not taste as good as the 29" fish? I've never knowingly ate one over 37" (gut hooked bait fishing, could not release with a belief it would live)

 

Usually, we do as little to the filets as possible when we cook them, with all fish.  A little oil, salt and pepper, and that's it, most of the time.  Lo and behold, when you take a bite, you can actually taste the fish, instead of a mouthful of lemon, or dill, or breading, or fried oil, or whatever other nonsense is commonly used to drown out the taste of the actual fish.  That being the case, we are very picky and observant when it comes to initial prep (bleeding/icing) and cooking.

 

I'm not going to say that a 28" Striper is the best tasting fish ever, nor is a 45" Bass disgusting, but in our opinion, there is absolutely a noticeable difference in both taste an texture.  The smaller ones we feel are actually a lot better, not just slightly better.

 

For people who bread and fry them, I doubt there would be much of a difference, but honestly, it's kind of tough to make a piece of white, breaded, fried fish that is then dipped in tartar or cocktail sauce taste bad.

 

And on those rare occasions we get our hands on a 24" tag fish, yeah, it's almost like you're not even eating Striper.  It's that much better.

 

I don't know if that's attributed to younger fish eating mostly crab and shrimp, and the big ones eating a lot of bunker, or just the nature of an old fat fish (likely both), but that's another topic.

 

When we do wind up with one that isn't smaller, then she'll usually Blacken it, with a bunch of spice, and it's awesome, but at that point, the meal is more about hot/spice than it is about fish.

[FishermanTim]

Like many others, I'd like a big fish but then seeing lots of smaller fish would give me the feeling that there "could" be many big ones for the future, whether they are for me or for countless others.

 

The problem that arises from that is that many fish doesn't usually equate to many big fish.

Usually it's quite the opposite. Many smaller fish usually means more smaller fish get removed, legally or not, from the population.

 

So, it could be either answer, but for the survival of the species, I'd say many (with the hopes that "many" survive to breeding age).

[FunkyBunker]

More fish for me. And i wouldn't sit at the same spot for 3.5 hours if nothing was happening.

[crazybellringer]

quantity.

[Weasel Smashin]

Bigger fish for sure

[nalu22]

On 9/13/2018 at 11:00 AM, Livefreeordie said:

If you had to choose, and you knew what the results would be... would you choose to catch 5 @ 30" fish or 1 @ 48" fish? For argument's sake, let's say this is over the course of a 3.5 hr outing.

 

Personally, I go to places, specifically because I think I have a shot at large, knowing I might catch nothing instead, about 8x/yr. The rest of the time, I go to places where I just think there's a good chance of catching. Also, I sometimes just try new spots or old spots at different tides, to see if they produce. 

 

IMO, it's more fun to stay local, learn my rivers and shoreline, and catch a few. Sometime's I'll use lighter gear, which makes the small fish a little harder to handle. Very often, I'll try different techniques to see if there's bigger fish mixed in with the smaller: stuff like bigger lures, lower in the water column, eels, or big bait instead of lure. Every now and then, this works, and I'll catch a larger fish than I thought likely.

 

I have no qualms with folks who spend more time driving than fishing, who go to those big fish spots. Good for them, I say. I also take no issue with folks content to pick off back bay schoolies, and never venture onto the rocky jetty with a bag of eels. Whatever wets your waders don't bother me.

 

But, for discussion's sake, would you choose a bunch of medium/small fish, or just one big fish?

When I lived in RI, my favorite spot could have both on the right night; my absolute favorite Striper fishing are ever.

[glennsav]

Being a catch and release person I prefer more fish rather than one big one.