I don't think lmb are endangered.
I grew up in midwest too n ate one as kid n not too fond of it. Love smb, walleye, perch so lots of other tastier choices. I'd even eat pike over lmb n deal w bones. I wouldn't fault ur choice as long as u eat what u take. Personally I'm not a big fan of cnr for fun (lots of gud reasons for release tho). Why purposefully stress out fish if not going to eat it. I know I'm in minority on that one.