Personally, I allow the wood shampoo on anything in the 30's down.

40's or better gets a free pass.

An honest 44" fish will typically weigh 38-40 pounds... that's a LOT of meat!

So from an inches point of view, I feel anything over 44" should hit the gravel. That takes about 60% of the physically largest ER5-o hens out of the harvestable pool of kings.

What's left in the harvestable pool under 44 inches? Let's see what the database shows.

87% of the ER hens.
61% of the ER bucks.

60% of the LR hens.
50% of the LR bucks.

I'd say that still leaves a whole lot of bonkable fish!

Hope that info helps you to arrive at your own personal standard as you seek a happy medium between a C&R conservation ethic and responsible harvest.



_________________________
"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!