Lorge

I'm goin huntin for whatever varmint green eyes we see at night this coming weekend. Me and some friends are spending the weekend camping, working, hunting, and fishing at a friends family land. There are 2 tanks on the land which are both overstocked with little bitty bass. We're gonna do some fishin and try to lessen the population of the tank by not throwing the little dudes back. They're too small to clean and eat but I hate to just leave them on the bank. My question is can we throw them out in the wooded area of the land and expect some critters to be attracted to them?

HighDesertWolf

oh yea the smell of decomposing fish will deffinately get the attention of any hungry cat or dog in the area.

Rebel Dog

Racoons too.... Get a can of sardines for smell as well.

Red Hawk

I'd use the fish for bait to get varmint's attention, if its legal out there. I know its a no no in some places

Gundigest

Cut some open so they smell better. They will come.

Ks_Sniper

If the land is privately owned and not stocked with fish by the local goverment, then you can do whatever you want with the fish. If the pond is overstocked and the fish are stunted, the ONLY 2 ways to clear things out is by A) catching as many fish as you can and not returning any, or B) introduce some big predators that will clean things up for you. Something like a pike or a snapping turtle would do well, though with the snapper, I'd suggest getting one of those water-proof, electronic dog collars so you can find and get rid of him when things slim down.

Or, you could throw a stick of dynamite in there.

Lorge

It's a private tank on private land and I'm in Tejas, so I'm not aware of this being against the law. I love my state.

It's funny turtles were mentioned because last time we were at the tank we put out a trot line to catch some catfish. We caught some 3 and 4 pounders and also some catfish heads. I guess we left the line out too long and some turtles got after the fish.

Rebel Dog

I have been turtling with some local commercial fisherman and they actually eat the snappers, I couldn't do it "Nasty Critter" I would get rid of the snappers they do some damage on fish!

Rebel Dog

I have been turtling with some local commercial fisherman and they actually eat the snappers, I couldn't do it "Nasty Critter" I would get rid of the snappers they do some damage on fish!

Ks_Sniper

From what I've heard, snapper meat is excellent when fried and, unlike birds that have 2 kinds of meat (white and dark), turtles have 8 kinds of meat. If anybody's interested in a step-by-step guide to dressing a snapper, follow the link.

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