Percentage Get Eaten

[MKern]

What percentage of fish caught on opening day actually get cooked and eaten?

 

[tomgamber]

Are we guessing or is this just the fish we personally catch?

 

[MKern]

I forgot to add this is your oppinion!!!

Pertaining to what is caught in general around the state, not just personal catch (I'm hoping you guys eat yours, or at least most of them).

 

[tomgamber]

you were :02 late with that answer...HA!

 

[MKern]

I voted for less than 25%.

Based on what I've seen and talked to people from my area about, most fish get gutted, rinsed, wrapped in foil, then get tossed the next year the day before opening day, obiously to make room for the new 5.

 

[jayL]

Agreed. People will make one fresh, then freeze the rest for all eternity.

 

[rscheckler]

It's a hard call. At first I thought you were asking how many do you think are kept on opening day. That is why I voted for up to 75%. As for the number eaten....I would probably have to agree that a lot usually get thrown in the freezer and aren't discovered again until next year when its that time to clean it out.

 

[troutbert]

The survey needs to be more specific. Are you asking what percentage of stocked trout are harvested opening day?

Or are you asking what percentage of trout that are harvested by anglers get eaten? (as opposed to eventually getting thrown in the trash.)

These are two entirely different questions.

I think the percentage of stocked trout that are harvested on opening day is probably around 40 percent. In some places studies have shown that it is 50 percent or even higher. But those are places where the fishing pressure is really intense. In other places it's probably less. So 40% is probably in the neighborhood.

Of the fish that are harvested, what percentage get eaten? Hard to say. I'll guess 40% percent again. 40% has a nice ring to it.

There are some people here in rural PA who like telling their fishing buddies "I have 300 trout in my freezer."

Then they chuck out the freezer-burned trout to make room in the freezer before deer hunting season. The next year they do the same thing all over again. I'm not making this up.

 

[MKern]

troutbert,

I was thinking of stocked trout caught on opening day that don't quite make it to the dinner table by the general public.

So your second responses are what I was originally thinking.

 

[shipnfish2006]

I think most people underestimate how many trout they think they will eat and thats what ultimately ends in waste. I know I've personally done it do to a smaller degree, but with so many other food options and trout being somewhat time consuming to thaw, prep, and prepare its not hard to forget about them until theyre no good anymore. I've stopped keeping trout unless I plan to eat them that night. Plus seeing as I keep a lot of crappie, perch, and walleye throughout the year, I would just rather have one of them than a trout anyday.