bass guarding fry

[70diesel]

I was reading the article about bass guarding fry https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass-guarding-fry.html and kinda don't agree with trying to catch those fish. For one, how boring is it trying to catch a fish in that situation when you can almost net out of the water? Also, I want those little guys to stay alive and grow up so I can catch them later when it's a challenge. I don't want to risk injuring or killing the bass on guard. Maybe I'm in the minority here but i leave those fish alone to do their job making a better fishing lake. 

[WRB]

Bed fishing is always a hot debate. There isn't much difference between a male guarding eggs or fry, they both become part of the food chain with a number survivors. Anyone bass fishing along the shore line during the spawn cycle catches bed fish targeted or not.

Tom

 

[slonezp]

The greatest thing about having free will is the freedom to choose or choose not to do something. 

[geo g]

2 hours ago, 70diesel said:

I was reading the article about bass guarding fry https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass-guarding-fry.html and kinda don't agree with trying to catch those fish. For one, how boring is it trying to catch a fish in that situation when you can almost net out of the water? Also, I want those little guys to stay alive and grow up so I can catch them later when it's a challenge. I don't want to risk injuring or killing the bass on guard. Maybe I'm in the minority here but i leave those fish alone to do their job making a better fishing lake. 

Your not the only one with those same feelings.  When you catch the guard the bait fish attack the nest.  Tournaments should be banned during the spawn for this very reason.

[slonezp]

3 minutes ago, geo g said:

Your not the only one with those same feelings.  When you catch the guard the bait fish attack the nest.  Tournaments should be banned during the spawn for this very reason.

And after 2 weeks of guarding the male bass will eat it's fry if it is given the chance. 

[geo g]

4 minutes ago, slonezp said:

And after 2 weeks of guarding the male bass will eat it's fry if it is given the chance. 

 

 

Up the odds for survival by protecting the guards, and let mother nature do what's been programmed over a million of years.  This practice only helps the sport we love.  Don't harass the nest!

[WRB]

In SoCal bass clubs have gotten together with local lake management to bouy off a few spawning coves as sanctuary areas. The real threat to a year class is a lake level draw down during the spawn cycle.

Member Paul Roberts made an excellent vedio on the spawn cycle available on this site.

Tom

[slonezp]

43 minutes ago, geo g said:

 

 

Up the odds for survival by protecting the guards, and let mother nature do what's been programmed over a million of years.  This practice only helps the sport we love.  Don't harass the nest!

Mother nature? I'm at the top of her food chain. 

[the reel ess]

Somehow bass continue as a species. If you have any effect at all on the bass, it would be to increase their average size. My $0.02. If others don't want to bed fish I'm happy with that. Actually, around here, fewer people fish the month of April because they're turkey hunting. 

[geo g]

2 hours ago, slonezp said:

The greatest thing about having free will is the freedom to choose or choose not to do something. 

 

Free will is only when it doesn't have a negative  effect on the rest of us.  You have hunting seasons all over this country that limit your free will for a good reason.  You have thousands of laws that control your free will for the good of the rest of us.  You have traffic laws that affect your free will, so we don't have chaos.  If everyone had true free will, this would be one uncivilized cesspool to live in.  Laws are here for a purpose, to make this a sustainable world to live in!  Protecting our natural resources is important if you truly love our wildlife.

[Glenn]

So.... this is a prime example of emotions getting injected into a topic where science doesn't support the emotions.

 

Fact is, catching a guarding male, and then releasing him, does not harm the fishery.  There simply isn't any evidence to support anything otherwise.

 

In fact, heavily pressured lakes such as Toledo Bend, Fork, Guntersville, and many other well known "trophy lakes" have sustained decades of heavy tournament pressure around the spawn, and they still pump out numbers and sizes of fish.

 

Fact is, if you don't like fishing for spawning/guarding bass, then don't.  Just understand that those that do, aren't killing off your favorite lake.

[12poundbass]

3 hours ago, slonezp said:

And after 2 weeks of guarding the male bass will eat it's fry if it is given the chance. 

So he has a fish fry? Sorry I couldn’t resist. 

 

 

Baby bass is one of my go to Senko colors. 

[greentrout]

Fishing The Beds

Pros and Cons

By Ronald F. Dodson, Ph.D.

 

In general Charlie felt that fishing for bedding fish would not negatively impact a lake. There are several reasons for this assumption. For starters even in a clear-water lake there are, in theory, a large number of bass that should spawn and never be subject to fishing pressure by being found by the fisherman. The exception here is if the lake is very small or there is extensive repetitious pressure in a small area. Those conditions can put real stress on the spawning population by having them either selectively removed if people catch and keep the spawning bass or simply put the bass under repetitious physiological shock from multiple harassment or hook sets.

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spawning_bass_bed.html

 

have public access to some lakes smaller than 200 acres ... some smaller than 100 acres ... 50 acres ...

 

good fishing ...

[the reel ess]

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

So.... this is a prime example of emotions getting injected into a topic where science doesn't support the emotions.

 

Fact is, catching a guarding male, and then releasing him, does not harm the fishery.  There simply isn't any evidence to support anything otherwise.

 

In fact, heavily pressured lakes such as Toledo Bend, Fork, Guntersville, and many other well known "trophy lakes" have sustained decades of heavy tournament pressure around the spawn, and they still pump out numbers and sizes of fish.

 

Fact is, if you don't like fishing for spawning/guarding bass, then don't.  Just understand that those that do, aren't killing off your favorite lake.

More big bass for me!

[geo g]

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

So.... this is a prime example of emotions getting injected into a topic where science doesn't support the emotions.

 

Fact is, catching a guarding male, and then releasing him, does not harm the fishery.  There simply isn't any evidence to support anything otherwise.

 

In fact, heavily pressured lakes such as Toledo Bend, Fork, Guntersville, and many other well known "trophy lakes" have sustained decades of heavy tournament pressure around the spawn, and they still pump out numbers and sizes of fish.

 

Fact is, if you don't like fishing for spawning/guarding bass, then don't.  Just understand that those that do, aren't killing off your favorite lake.

Yes I agree, catch and release quickly probably has little effect.  But catch, put in a live well, and haul it miles away probably does.  TX bed fishing can’t help the conservation efforts on a body of water. 

[Glenn]

20 minutes ago, geo g said:

But catch, put in a live well, and haul it miles away probably does.

Again, there's no evidence to suggest it does - which is my point.  Your argument is purely speculative.

[70diesel]

I was fishing with a friend once and we pulled the boat off the river into a small creek coming in and there were probably 30-50 small mouth bass hanging out under a bridge maybe 30’ wide. He kept trying to catch them and I was bored out of my mind. There was zero challenge. This is how I view fishing, I like the challenge of not being able to pick off easy fish just to puff my chest up and say I caught a fish. I view bass guarding fry the same way. What’s the point? If you’re that bad at fishing I guess it’s fun to say you caught a fish....

The Susquehanna (PA) shuts down fishing near Harrisburg during the spawn and that is why the bass there are so plentiful and big so there’s your science. 

[scaleface]

The way I see it , the reason why bass have so many fry is because very few of them percentage wise makes it past one year . The bass lay enough eggs to overcome predators . Fishing during the spawn is not going to have much of an impact .

[WRB]

Smaller lakes without any fishing manage themselves if left alone. Add 100+ skilled bass boat with 2 anglers per boat every weekend on small bass lakes does impact the big bass population, not the smaller males bass population. 

Lakes over 10,000 acres have enough spawning areas that fishing pressure alone has little impact, they are self sustaining fisheries. California only stocks bass 1 initial plant when the lake is dammed. Texas and other states manage thier bass population and plant bass annually to sustain the population and vigor orvthecpopulation.

SoCal lakes are water storage facilities, fishing is secondary recreational use only. Draw downs to work on dams or water supply equipment occur often in the middle of a spawn cycle killing off a majority of that years recruitment class resulting in boom or bust years of bass fishing cycles. With all the mis management our lake continue to produce decent bass fishing year in and year out. 

I agree with Glenn it's an emotional topic whenever bed fishing is discussed. Small ponds are different from small or large lakes, bass are resilient fish but good sportsmanship is always helpful.

Tom 

[lo n slo]

5 hours ago, slonezp said:

And after 2 weeks of guarding the male bass will eat it's fry if it is given the chance. 

yep, and it’s not only while they’re on the nest. one of my best big fish periods is when the fry move off the nest and into deeper cover. you can catch some goliath sized bass this time of year who have stuffed their bellies with baby bass.....and they’ll puke them up in your boat.

[slonezp]

4 hours ago, geo g said:

 

Free will is only when it doesn't have a negative  effect on the rest of us.  You have hunting seasons all over this country that limit your free will for a good reason.  You have thousands of laws that control your free will for the good of the rest of us.  You have traffic laws that affect your free will, so we don't have chaos.  If everyone had true free will, this would be one uncivilized cesspool to live in.  Laws are here for a purpose, to make this a sustainable world to live in!  Protecting our natural resources is important if you truly love our wildlife.

Game laws are in place, not to coddle the feelings of "the rest of us", but to manage game. A single deer cannot give birth to 20,000 fawn in it's lifetime, let alone during a single mating season. 20% of all deer killed each year are killed by vehicles. Should we ban driving during the rut?

 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of us high and mighty bass fisherman who think a bass is some sort of a magical creature. It's a fish. You don't see crappie, bluegill, or perch fishermen preaching catch and release. Nor walleye fishermen. Nor Great Lakes trout and salmon fishermen. No, just us egotistical bass fishermen who think we're going to save the species. What about carp, catfish, and drum? No, it's just bass that gets put on a pedestal. What about the non tournament fishermen who harvest fish for food. You better believe they don't care about yours or my feelings.

 

Before I get off my high horse, I want to mention one more thing. The more legislation we allow to pass the less freedoms we have. There are instances where fishing has been outlawed. Do you really want to see that happen? Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

[Arcs&sparks]

24 minutes ago, slonezp said:

No, it's just bass that gets put on a pedestal.

I’d think that some of the trout guys, mainly in the fly fishing community are as bad and even worse.  To the point where one might wonder why they even fish at all.

[MountainMan83]

26 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Game laws are in place, not to coddle the feelings of "the rest of us", but to manage game. A single deer cannot give birth to 20,000 fawn in it's lifetime, let alone during a single mating season. 20% of all deer killed each year are killed by vehicles. Should we ban driving during the rut?

 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of us high and mighty bass fisherman who think a bass is some sort of a magical creature. It's a fish. You don't see crappie, bluegill, or perch fishermen preaching catch and release. Nor walleye fishermen. Nor Great Lakes trout and salmon fishermen. No, just us egotistical bass fishermen who think we're going to save the species. What about carp, catfish, and drum? No, it's just bass that gets put on a pedestal. What about the non tournament fishermen who harvest fish for food. You better believe they don't care about yours or my feelings.

 

Before I get off my high horse, I want to mention one more thing. The more legislation we allow to pass the less freedoms we have. There are instances where fishing has been outlawed. Do you really want to see that happen? Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

I agree with most of what you are saying, especially about the bass being put on a pedestal. However, obviously it depends on who is in charge of game laws or management, I don't think it's always negative. I have had the opportunity of harvesting an additional buck some years based on that very legislation, and added meat to my freezer or gave to others who don't want to go through that process.

[slonezp]

Language warning

 

 

 

[gim]

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

Unfortunately, there are a lot of us high and mighty bass fisherman who think a bass is some sort of a magical creature. It's a fish. You don't see crappie, bluegill, or perch fishermen preaching catch and release. Nor walleye fishermen.

Your are correct but for that very reason, panfish populations are stunted around here and it’s virtually impossible to find big ones worth harvesting anymore.  I think the reason bass populations are in better shape is because the majority of us practice catch and release. If people started harvesting bass like they do panfish and walleye, the bass population up north would get decimated in a short period of time. They simply take a lot longer to grow and replenish.