Great article on Spawning Bass

[Lightninrod]

From Field and Stream

Dan

[32251]

Why don't fishing laws protect bass during the weeks that they are spawning.  That seems to be their most vulnerable time and I see no sport at all in sighting them on the beds and throwing stuff at them to you provoke them into taking a lure.  Why take the fish at a time that they are reproducing the next generation of fish to keep the sport healthy?

For every angler that practices C@R there are plenty that don't.  

[paul.]

excellent article.  i definitely learned something.  thanks for sharing.

[Gatorbassman]

Why don't fishing laws protect bass during the weeks that they are spawning. That seems to be their most vulnerable time and I see no sport at all in sighting them on the beds and throwing stuff at them to you provoke them into taking a lure. Why take the fish at a time that they are reproducing the next generation of fish to keep the sport healthy?

For every angler that practices C@R there are plenty that don't.

If they did that down south the fishing season would be closed from Febuary thru July. The lakes would quickly become over populated with small bass and that would be a problem.

We have gone over this many, many times. The effect that catching spawning bass has on the bass population depends on where in the country you live, clearity of the water, number of bass, and so on. Here in the south it is impossible to have any negative effect on the bass population due to the length of the spawn and the large number of bass. However if you live in the colder states you will find that the spawn is short and the bass aren't on the top of the food chain in your lakes and you can hurt that years hatch by bed fishing.

[MemphisFisherman]

Why don't fishing laws protect bass during the weeks that they are spawning.  That seems to be their most vulnerable time and I see no sport at all in sighting them on the beds and throwing stuff at them to you provoke them into taking a lure.  Why take the fish at a time that they are reproducing the next generation of fish to keep the sport healthy?

For every angler that practices C@R there are plenty that don't.  

If they did that down south the fishing season would be closed from Febuary thru July. The lakes would quickly become over populated with small bass and that would be a problem.

We have gone over this many, many times. The effect that catching spawning bass has on the bass population depends on where in the country you live, clearity of the water, number of bass, and so on. Here in the south it is impossible to have any negative effect on the bass population due to the length of the spawn and the large number of bass. However if you live in the colder states you will find that the spawn is short and the bass aren't on the top of the food chain in your lakes and you can hurt that years hatch by bed fishing.

well said.

[Randall]

Why don't fishing laws protect bass during the weeks that they are spawning. That seems to be their most vulnerable time and I see no sport at all in sighting them on the beds and throwing stuff at them to you provoke them into taking a lure. Why take the fish at a time that they are reproducing the next generation of fish to keep the sport healthy?

For every angler that practices C@R there are plenty that don't.

I would say per acre Lake Varner may be the most heavily bed fished lake in the Southeast. It's nothing to see 10 or more boats in a line going down a bank looking for bedding fish in one area during April. It also produces more big fish per acre than any public Lake in GA. I personally think that all the bed fishing pressure and fishing pressure in general helps the lake produce more big fish by limiting the spawn some. Most that have the ability to catch the bigger fish release the big fish there as well. I have also learned by fishing with hundreds of different people during the spring that there is a very, very small number of people that have the knowledge and ability to catch many if any big fish off the bed. There not as vunerable as most people think they are. Good article with a few good tips that most people don't know.

[Joel W]

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.  The article sure helped to prove the point that fishermen who thought that they avoided fishing bedding fish by fishing deep in water down to 20 ft, were still fishing spawning Bass. They just couldn't see them or the beds.

[Lightninrod]

I was impressed with the article and am glad y'all appreciate it too.

Dan

[mayassa]

thanks good read  

[Hookemdown.]

I think KB posted this a while back, but it still is a very informative read.  

"think like a fish"

[mayassa]

Come to think of it wasn't that scuba joe hooking on fish for LBH ;D ;D ;D

[FD.]

great article, thanks