SML 4/18

[greg]

Got to go out today and wet a line, I put in at the State Park a few minutes after 7am.. I just headed across the cove and started fishing down the bank, water was 59 degrees, and good color with visibility of about 3-4 feet. Right away I started seeing fish cruising the bank, not on beds but just swimming along. Fished till 3pm and stayed close all day, water got up to 63, might have burned 2 gallons of fuel. Caught 14 fish, one on a shakey head with a 4" finesse worm and the rest on a fluke. Saw lots of fish, none I would say was on a bed, but getting ready.

[stratos294]

Nice report and nice catch. I have found several on beds in different areas of the lake. I think it will be more and more on beds over the next week or two. Should be several different patterns going on.

[mwardncsu]

Question about fishing beds.... and I'm not trying got stir trouble with this, but honestly curious..... would seem to me that catching fish off beds while they are protecting their eggs and taking them off to another part of the lake for a weigh-in, or even returning them 100' or more from the bed,3 would result in reduced reproduction and hurt the fishery long term. Then add major tourneys like the Oakley, right at the peak of this - doesn't that do damage to the population long-term? Or, is the feeling that the # being caught is a small fraction of the overall # of spawning fish?

[striperjohn]

Oh boy Mike,I will be shocked if this does not blow up. Canada doesn't open their bass season until after the spawn. Was a big lawsuit against Bass Pro tour years ago on this as well.

[mwardncsu]

Really not trying to stir anything up - but interested in the impact of such fishing.... I know there are efforts underway for some private stocking of a different strain of largemouth that in theory will grow to a larger size - blessed by DGIF - to address concerns on SML's largemouth population & size... so wondering the impact of fishing beds.....

[striperjohn]

Briery Creek here by me has the Florida strain ol LM that grow 3-5 times faster than normal LM dependent upon forage. But we have 5 or 6 LM of 10lbs plus caught here every year.

[greg]

Anglers who fish for largemouth bass
during the spawning season do not think that
it hurts bass reproduction or harms fishing
quality, nor do they believe it is unethical.
Anglers who do not fish for bass during
spring think it ought to be illegal. They say
taking bass off the beds hurts bass
reproduction, harms fishing quality, and is
unethical. Fisheries biologists, faced with
the challenge of balancing resource
protection with maximizing fishing
opportunities, are caught in the middle of the
controversy. As scientists, their role is to
gather technical information to address the
issue and provide recommendations to
advisory boards, policy-makers, and
ultimately regulatory agencies.

[stratos294]

Personally I hate a bed fishing tournament. But I also believe that the fish we actually see on beds are only a very small percentage of the fish that are actually spawning. I think most of them bed deeper than what most fisherman can see to sight fish for them effectively. It is most definitely a touchy subject. I'm sure that a large tournament like the Oakley series during the peak of the spawn will have an impact on the fishery. But to what extent I don't know. Very interesting thread.

[formula180]

I grew up on the river and I have seen bass bedding only in shallow water.  At times the water was so clear that you could see bottom in 5-6 feet of water.

My father would put gravel and sand along the bank next to the pier for bass beds.  He had one pet bass that must have been 4 or 5 years old.

I would think that the survival rate of the hatching would be low as noted in other research reports that have been done in the past.  Just doesn't make sense to fish during the spawning season.

[greg]

I wonder how many people that are against fishing during the spawn are out hunting during the rut?

[mwardncsu]

Again - I definitely did not mean to this to stir any pot - really more for purposes of education for myself & others.... we have our own debates on the striper side - C&R in warm water, etc..... honestly curious if this is something that has been studied - and on SML specifically, with respect to the level of angler impact - and if it is meaningful, or in the big scheme of things, not so given the amount of shoreline, depth of beds, etc, etc. At the least, I figure it is always good to discuss & learn about the various aspects that come into play with our fisheries.

[mwardncsu]

Again - I definitely did not mean to this to stir any pot - really more for purposes of education for myself & others.... we have our own debates on the striper side - C&R in warm water, etc..... honestly curious if this is something that has been studied - and on SML specifically, with respect to the level of angler impact - and if it is meaningful, or in the big scheme of things, not so given the amount of shoreline, depth of beds, etc, etc. At the least, I figure it is always good to discuss & learn about the various aspects that come into play with our fisheries.

[Brian]

Apr 20, 2015 8:12:31 GMT -5 greg said:

I wonder how many people that are against fishing during the spawn are out hunting during the rut?

I dont deer hunt, but that's not even remotely analogous. The buck has no role in reproduction after conception. It's not like the does suffer from a lack of attention during the rut.

A better analogy would be killing a doe right after she gives birth.

[greg]

Apr 20, 2015 8:28:13 GMT -5 Brian said:

Apr 20, 2015 8:12:31 GMT -5 greg said:

I wonder how many people that are against fishing during the spawn are out hunting during the rut?

I dont deer hunt, but that's not even remotely analogous. The buck has no role in reproduction after conception. It's not like the does suffer from a lack of attention during the rut.

A better analogy would be killing a doe right after she gives birth.

During the rut a buck is much easier to kill than at any other time. Even though it has no role after conception, once it is dead it can no longer reproduce. Most fishermen that I know practice catch and release. So even though the fish we catch off of the beds are easier at this time of year, they are put back to live another day. 

[Gator]

Managing game populations are completely different. Harvesting bucks has very little impact on deer populations in regard to overall numbers. Most does are going to be bred regardless.