Is bed fishing ethical?

[fishinfiend]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Texas has desert lakes, coastal lakes, prairie lakes, hill country lakes in huge forest, lakes in plains, lakes at elevations of 3,000+ ft msl & everything in between.

 

 

I want to move to Texas so bad :/

[Josh Smith]

I target pre- and post-spawn fish. I would target bedded males if I needed food.

Though I like to sight fish, I don't get any thrill from watching a fish clean house of my lure. I mean, it's literally taking out the trash!

Not an ethics problem for me. Just an enjoyment issue.

Josh

[fissure_man]

On 18/03/2016 at 7:47 AM, Catt said:

The point I'm making is TPWD did not start with Fork or Toledo Bend

What TPWD started with was a research laboratory that is 269,581 square miles of drastically different environments!

Texas has desert lakes, coastal lakes, prairie lakes, hill country lakes in huge forest, lakes in plains, lakes at elevations of 3,000+ ft msl & everything in between.

I'm from southern Ontario, Canada.  Fishing for bass in my area is illegal for half the year because governing agencies aren't sure that allowing year-round bass fishing would be harmless to populations.  I don't think there's strong science behind the idea that it would have significant impact, but the problem is that there isn't strong (applicable) science proving that it won't.  And it seems that the folks in charge aren't keen to take the chance.

If you can provide TPWD (or any) studies that conclusively show, in a controlled, applicable, and scientifically sound way, that extending our fishing season to include the spawn would have no impact, I'd be EXTREMELY grateful.  I'd love to target bass year-round, and I have no issue with bed fishing where it is demonstrably sustainable.  A year-round bass fishery could improve license sales, and would almost certainly have economic spin-off benefits.  It would be hard to find a downside, and with reliable and applicable studies/data in hand, a strong case could be made.  

The problem with the current studies I've seen is that there are so many caveats that they are quickly dismissed as inconclusive or irrelevant.  But again, I'd love to find some studies that aren't.  The few local, active researchers in this field will disappointed to learn that TPWD already has the answers they're burning through their funding to find, but that's easily worth it if it means more fishing opportunities.

[.ghoti.]

Looking at all the reports and statistics quoted in this discussion reminds of something my all time favorite author said.

"There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."-Mark Twain