This is an interesting discussion. I can see that there could be a lot of different opinions, which will be based on our own personal experiences and circumstances.
Much of it is all very subjective as well. > > Besides that, after 10 or so fish you are just keeping score. Why after 10? Why not choose the number 9, or 11? Is this in a one day period? Or.. is this 10 per hour? If it's 10 per day, why not 10 every two days? How about 10 per body of water per day? Have you ever sat in a boat and caught perch to eat? Sometimes, a lake is so full of perch you would catch one every ten minutes or less. Or, does it depend on species? I've noted that sometimes, for whatever reason, anglers seem to hold one species of fish in higher regard than another. It would be ok to catch and release 15 chubb.. when what we're really after is speckled trout. We haven't caught any beautiful specks yet... just those 'nuisance' chubb. No one would be critical of that angler, unless those 15 chubb weren't chubb, but were in fact specks. Here's my situation. I fish a variety of rivers. One river I love tremendously. It's a great 'evening' river, where I like to go and wade after a day of work. It's around the corner from my house. I'll fish it for maybe 3 or 4 hours. During that time, I might catch 4 smallmouth bass and 3 brown trout. Or, I might catch and release 7 bass and 3 trout. Or, I might catch and release 8 brown trout, and 0 bass. It could be any number or combination. Now... there is another river, which is quite a bit further away from my home. I have to travel a couple of hours to get there. If I am going to go there, I want to fish the whole day. But.. this river is an awesome river, full of smallies and carp. I start wading this river, and it's possible I could have caught and released 8 bass in the first hour and a half. Now, I'm downstream of my car. Are you suggesting that in this circumstance (this river has very little fishing pressure by the way), that I should consider calling it a day now? From my perspective, it does seem a little on the strange side that I would be expected to give up fishing for the whole day on this river. Do you see what I mean about being subjective and perhaps our opinions are based on our own circumstances, but not necessarily on everyone's circumstances? Maybe I'm wrong... and I'm more than willing to have you point out where. Imagine spending money to go to some fly in lake with awesome fishing. You've spent 2 Grand, and you've three days of fishing. You get up at 5AM, go fishing, and by 7 AM you've caught and released 10 fish. (This is a very realistic scenario at some times of the year). Would you give up fishing for the rest of the day, and twiddle your thumbs, looking at the clock, wishing there was some way to make 24 hours pass more quickly? Or.. would you go back fishing? Ian Scott http://www.about-flyfishing.com/
