I've been saving my bluegill carcasses from fishing with the kids. They don't throw anything back, no matter how small, they're afraid if they throw a fish back it'll tell the other fish not to eat the worms I fillet them, and cut the heads off for catfish bait. Should I grind em up and mix them with something for coons? Shove em into a pocket whole? Throw em away since they're mostly guts and fins?

Firstly, I would probably teach the youngin's about conservation as it is important for them to learn at a young age to manage wildlife so they can fish again tomorrow. Secondly, being you have some fish parts I would leave them whole for coons and mink if just for pocket sets or grind them up with flour, crackers or some kind of coagulate to use in DP's. Good luck.

I asked a dnr officer awhile ago around here. I was told I can use them but as long as there in my possession they count towards my limit even after butchering. Just something to think about and look into.

I've wandered about that. Our possession limit is something like 30 if I remember correctly, and I'm right around there. We don't catch much, but I don't need much bait either.

They'll learn about conservation when they're older. For now it's hard to convince a 4 year old to go fishing if they don't get to eat the fish. An average outing for us is about an hour of fishing, along with Cheetos and gatarade, wading in the water looking for clams and snails, and seeing who can throw the biggest rock into the water. Our average catch is about 3 per kid, and they have a good time.

You might want to look into the size they need to be for possession as well

No size limits on panfish in Nebraska.

Chickens love to clean off fish carcasses too, if that option is available.

Amen brother, that's what it's all about. Also, it's a bluegill, they reproduce like crazy, you couldn't catch them all if you tried.

Yep! Keep on doing exactly what you are doing with your kids. You're a great Dad and will know when it is time to move them into conservation of the resources. Until then, fish and game were placed on this Earth for us to eat and enjoy, and have lots of fun doing it.

Moosetrot

I would have asked the CO, do they count the filets AND the carcasses as part of a possession limit? If so, that means you are double your possession limit. Sounds like a CO that lacks common sense.
If you would grind up the carcasses and keep them for trapping bait, does that count toward your possession limit? It would seem the common sense reality of possession limit would be edible fish count, not the part a normal person would toss. Most COs I've met are good protectors of the law. They're firm, but fair to work with and show a lot of common sense.

I've found sunfish carcasses are excellent turtle trapping bait. I used to save just the heads of sunfish for pocket sets. I found if I tucked an entire carcass in the hole, it often got pulled out. I think that was coon doing that with their long legs.

I used to grind up the carcasses for use in dps. But, if you do that, cut the guts out before you grind them up because I found the ground up carcass starts to decompose faster if you don't and the coon seem to be more attracted to them. I kept the mixture frozen or refrigerated when not in use.

I look at the teaching of conservation kinda like teaching shooting. You start by just having them blast into the side of hill, pretty much however they want as long as it's safe. Safety rules are taught first and must be followed, of course. But at first we just start by pointing a gun in the general direction of the hill and pulling the trigger. Then we work up to shooting pop cans from three feet away, just so they can hit something. We'll work up to issues like trigger control, sight picture, proper grip, etc etc as they get older. If you start em out requiring proper grip, sight picture, trigger control, shooting paper at 25 yards, it's no fun.
In the same way, if you start em out sitting around for a half hour watching a rod tip hoping to catch a catfish, and then throwing back after you catch it, it's no fun. If they can cast out on their own, even if they can only cast 10 feet, watch a bobber for a minute max, and reel in a fish, they love it. We can work on the finer points such as releasing the big ones and the tiny ones, other species, more complicated rigs besides a worm under a bobber, etc etc as they get older.

I would think that if I grind these fish up, it shouldn't count towards a possession limit. Once they're turned into a finished product, there's no telling how many fish are ground up in a tub of fish mush. It might be 1 huge one, it might be 20 tiny ones.

Just wondering if mounted fish and critters would count towards possession limits as well, lol?

Fertilize your tomato plants with them.Fish scraps do wonders for a garden. You do have to bury them completely ,sometimes they get "dug up"

Cut the fillets out, put what's left on in a covered bucket that has a layer of canning salt on the bottom. Cover this layer with fish carcasses, cover with salt, repeat. I use a bamboo skewer to pin them in the back of a pocket set. Works great on coon, otter, mink. Salt keeps them "fresh" until season. Good on you for getting those kiddos out side. Don't change nothing, kids are hard to keep focused as everything they see or hear comes on their radar. Getting them started is the Herculean effort that stumps a lot of young parents. You're doing great!

What he said works for me too

Here are my "rules" when fishing with my young kids.

1. Every fish has a use. Thus it either gets put back healthy enough to live, it gets eaten, or it's bait for another fish. There are certainly other acceptable answers here, but none that my kids are ready to comprehend.

2. When we leave, the area where we fished is as clean or cleaner than when we found it.

3. We're thankful to God that we have a fun way to get food, and also thankful that we don't need to use it every day to survive.