If I Practice Catch And Release Fishing - Why Do I Need A Fishing License?

This is a question that has always perplexed me. I'm a catch and release fisherman. I don't keep any of the fish that I catch. I catch them, admire them, make sure they're okay, and release them back into the water that they came from. No harm, no foul. So why in the hell do I have to purchase a fishing license? Have you ever thought about the folly of this situation? I obviously have.

I could understand having to buy a fishing license if I kept the fish. You need to pay for the conservationists that help keep the ecosystems healthy and such, and pay for the hatcheries that raise the fish that then get released into area waters to be caught. I understand all of this, but in addition to the other points that I mentioned, The River I spend 90% of my time fishing in doesn't get stocked with fish. The trout are native.

I've never liked the idea of stocked fish in any case. Have you ever caught any of these "darts", as we call them? We call them darts because the fish's fins have been robbed off from being raised in tanks. The entire idea of catching stocked fish has always seemed a bit hypocritical to me. We basically have farms that raise fish and let them go in area waters to then be caught and killed. Why don't we just raise cows and do the same thing. Raise the cows, then let them go in the woods, then people can go out and shoot them for food? The cow idea sounds stupid, but it's really no different than what we do with fish.

Actually come to think of it, we basically have "ranches" that do this with animals all over the country. Some of them actually bring exotic animals in to then be killed and some of these "ranches" simply feed wild animals human enriched food so that their antlers get big. How do we as a population consider this to be okay? I mean I'm all for hunting, but feeding the animals certain types of food just to make them grow faster? To me this is all just glorified farming being masked by different names.

I got off on a bit of a tangent there with hunting, but the bottom line is that these things are all interconnected. Fish hatcheries are just fish farms. And seeing as how I don't fish a River that has farmed fish in it, and I don't keep the native fish that I catch, why is it that I have to buy a fishing license? It simply doesn't seem like I should have to that's all, and I've never heard anyone question it.

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country…..Montana!