David,

Just read your post............WOW..

The sportsman in me tells me your are wrong, the parent in me thinks back to when my kids were small and we ate lots of beans and rice. Fortunately for us, times are better now, if they wernt, I can not sit here in my heated house, typing on this keyboard connected to my fairley new 1.5Ghz dell computer, with a full freezer and condem you. I think I might like to, but I can not. If my fellow fishers wish to condem me also, so be it, I will take my lumps...
As my final parting words, I would like to say that I condem you for one reason and admire you for two reasons:
1. Shame on you for violating societies rules, for taking fish that I migh catch and taking them in an unsportsman like manner. The fish you catch might be my third or forth for the day and you prevented me from having a great as opposed to a good day. Shame on you for potentially damagening our fish runs. As a sportsman, It is difficult to accept what you have done.

1.A. I admire you for being willing to take a non popular stand in public, bearing all, and publiclicly willing to take your lumps on this public forum. ( Let your kids read this... Kids... Your Dad is a stand up guy, and you should be proud of his strength as a man.)

2. Willing to do what is necessary to take care of your family, even if it means taking potential beating (verbal, financial should you get pinched.)

Who among us, if faced with the same situation would do differant? And if so, which one of us would be willing to bear our sole on such a public forum.

David, from my perspective, you are a stand up guy, you are in the wrong, but you are a stand up guy. ... Tell you what.. I will take you fishing sometime to try to up your skill level. Hopefully, some other good people on this board will do the same (.. superfly, keith, james, steve H, shane, osprey, parker, FM , BOE, (any others), you know who you are) and if the next time you absolutely need a fish and it's foul hooked, let thisd one go and call me and I will contribute from my freezer. One dad fisherman/sportsman to another............

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: Fishbait ]