Keeper size rockies?

Just wondering what everyone sees as a keeper size rockfish.  Halibut,lings, cabbies,etc have size limits per DFG, but what do you guys use as your guide to what is a `keeper Blue' or Vermillion, etc?   

Just want to know what you guys think and what is best for the fish stocks. 

PS  I only keep what I plan to eat; I am not a `freezer stuffer'

Thanks,

Jody

Personally I feel that more smaller fish is better for the fishery than more big fish.

MolBasser

It has to measure at least 1 fish sandwich

allen

If it is not going to survive (barotrauma, bleeding gills) I usually keep it regardless of size. Otherwise I generally only keep one or 2 fish for dinner and they have to be pretty decent size.

Personally I feel that more smaller fish is better for the fishery than more big fish.

I agree with Chris on this--thinning out the brush so the tree can grow so to speak. I believe a slot-limit is good for the fishery to ensure the genes of the hardy survivors have more weight in the 'pool'.

There are some lakes in the Sierra I have fished where the introduced and prolific Brook Trout are so numerous, their growth is stunted do to the limited forage and effectively crowded out less prolific natives like the Cutthroat and Golden. It is a disservice *not* to keep them and eat them to thin it out. And I still have yet to catch a Bull, Tiger, or Redband Trout and that is a goal one day.

Jody, I plan to eat anything I keep.  I go by Allen's rule - if I can make a good meal out of it, I will keep it.  Which means usually 12" or more (though I often put back 12"-ers of some species).  Or less, per Bill's situation of a floater big enough to filet.

I figure if I go out and fish once per week and bring home, let's say, 6 RF, then I am not taking a siginificant toll from the fishery.  It's not like I am dragging the bottom and killing everything in sight, which is all too common of a daily commercial practice.

Maybe I am a freezer stuffer, though - I have probably 30 meals in individual freezer bags, which I fully plan to eat and share over the next 3 months (although maybe 20 of them are halibut, hehe).

I do not get tired of eating RF every 2 or 3 days.

I generally agree with the other opinions here - I keep what I'll eat and I keep what I've wounded.  I think it's important to get away from the "limit mentality" - too many guys (yes, guys!) get their thrills from killing as much as they can - it's the same with abalone, salmon, deer, ducks...  I don't agree with PETA, because we could never have become the dominant species without harvesting animals.  It's a fine line to walk, but I feel it's important to be fulfilled in fishing and hunting without taking more than you "need".