Re: why fishing regulations cannot work and should be removed

[Dan:]

As I said earlier, in the Northern States of the US, and in Ontario Canada, the Regulations are there with good reason!

"Pre-season angling is believed to have a profound negative effect on the nesting behaviour and ultimately the nesting success of these highly sought sport fish species. It has been proven by many studies that if adult male bass are caught and removed from the nest, the eggs or fry (young bass) become easy prey for small predators such as pan fish and perch. In just the few minutes that it takes anglers to catch and release the bass, the nest may be completely wiped out. Even if the nest is not predated upon, the male may abandon their nest after being released"

It all comes down to what individual anglers deem more important....their own selfish enjoyment, or the long term success of the bass population. It's not rocket science....is it?

From what I've learned, this whole belief is a a misconception. The states cite the same "studies" that you did but they neglect to talk about the studies that show lakes maintaining healthy hatch classes despite nest predation and abandonment. There is evidence that suggests fishing during the spawn does NOT harm the fishery.

So it's not really just about selfish enjoyment vs. bass populations.

[Glenn]

Oh boy, here we go yet again.  2 more months of this to go too.  :-/

Do a search for "spawn" and read through the numerous multi-page threads on this topic.  I'm absolutely convinced that everything that's been said about this topic has been said here before. You'll find a gold mine of information if you take the time to use the search feature.

Enjoy!

[Quinte bass]

Dan, you may well be correct however, I tend to err on the side of caution!  So until the powers that be say it's ok to to target spawning bass and the regulations are amended accordingly, then I will willingly comply with the regulations as they stand.  IMHO I believe all species should be left alone when spawning...it can do no harm and may (probably does) a lot of good!

[Dan:]

Dan, you may well be correct however, I tend to err on the side of caution! So until the powers that be say it's ok to to target spawning bass and the regulations are amended accordingly, then I will willingly comply with the regulations as they stand. IMHO I believe all species should be left alone when spawning...it can do no harm and may (probably does) a lot of good!

well it doesn't seem to be hurting any of the places that do allow spawn fishing. I agree that you should follow the regs, I'm just saying that I think recent science contradict their intentions.

[Glenn]

Let's not get into it please.  Science vs. emotions never turns out good here.

Let's move on please before it turns into a fight where we have to lock down the thread.

[RichF]

Why is nobody acknowledging the fact that keeping a bass = no chance at spawning? Everyone is saying that guys like myself and rookie that catch and release bass before the season opens are affecting the fishery in a negative way. Releasing a fish out of season...or keeping a fish during the season... I see one live fish and one dead fish. Which is really hurting the bass population?

[Glenn]

It's a matter of following your state regulations instead of trying to reason your way out of it.

Don't like your state's regs? Send a letter to them, or better yet, attend their meetings. They're open to the public, and even allow public comment. Contact them to find out their processes, then go for it!  You CAN make a difference.

Until then, you need to follow the regs whether or not you agree with them.

[BassThumb]

Perhaps an English class or two would be helpful. :

+1.  These will keep you occupied while you wait for May 29th.

[Hammer 4]

I guess living in So. Cali isn't so bad after all.. ;D

[BassThumb]

BTW, the wait is d**n near KILLING me as well. I live in MN, and after 3 months of snow, cabin fever and boredom, I would do just about anything to get on the water.

Even on this late opener, there are still tons of nests that are active, and when you snag the males from them, you leave them to the bluegills, who never miss the opportunity to gorge themselves. You can easily watch the bluegills invade the nest, which soon turns into a cloud of sediment because the gills are shredding the eggs and kicking up dust.

I try to get my fix by flyfishing for bluegills before the May 15th multi -species opener, and then go after northerns for two weeks before the May 29th bass opener. I get by, so can you. :

[b.Lee]

Perhaps an English class or two would be helpful. :

Thank you for making me spit at my monitor.

[wapiti]

Lots of grammar nazis on this board. . . :

I'm from Michigan and bass season does not open until late May. I follow the law and will not fish until the season opens, but it drives me absolutely crazy when it is 75 degrees outside, and I can't legally go bass fishing.

I follow the law, because I understand the reasoning behind it, but what ticks me off is that my friends/classmates do not do the same. Yesterday, a classmate from high school, posted a picture on facebook of a 23 inch L.M. he caught. He then proceeded to send out invitations for everyone to come fishing at his house over the weekend.

He invited me to go fishing with him, and my reply was "I'd like to go fishing, but the season isn't open"

His reply: "It's a private lake, so the season doesn't matter, and in the summer you don't even need to buy a license to fish."

Pretty much the general thought process in this area, is that if it's warm outside, it's okay to go fishing.

My buddy recently moved to a small lake (all in all there are like 20 houses on the lake) and he invited me to go fishing last week saying "It's a private lake, so you can fish whenever."

Even if it is a private lake it's still illegal to intentionally fish for bass out of season. . . right?

Fishing is my passion. . . basically, I buy a license every year, I do not fish out of season, and I strictly catch and release. But, through mostly ignorance, all my classmates get to enjoy fishing out of season with zero consequences.

[tyrius.]

It's a matter of following your state regulations instead of trying to reason your way out of it.

Don't like your state's regs? Send a letter to them, or better yet, attend their meetings. They're open to the public, and even allow public comment. Contact them to find out their processes, then go for it! You CAN make a difference.

Until then, you need to follow the regs whether or not you agree with them.

Agreed 1000%.  If I had to deal with season's you can bet that I'd be attaending all meetings and getting people behind changing it. 

There is no scientific basis for having a season so what's the point?  They are actually hurting their own state's economies by not allowing people to use up their tackle which they would have to repurchase, or spend money on gas, food, etc. 

dumb.

[grimlin]

here in maryland we can target bass all year long, just can't keep any from March 1 to June 15.

That's what Michigan needs.Something closer to that will actually protect them during spawning. Yet C & R still continues during that time period as well.

Wapiti,get out your UL rod and go crappie or Bluegill fishing(there's no season on them).When it hits 75 you won't see me staying indoors... ;D. Just don't intentionally target bass,The DNR guys told me don't worry about it,just let them go as fast as you can.

[Grey Wolf]

Lots of grammar Nazi's on this board. . . :

I'm from Michigan and bass season does not open until late May. I follow the law and will not fish until the season opens, but it drives me absolutely crazy when it is 75 degrees outside, and I can't legally go bass fishing.

I follow the law, because I understand the reasoning behind it, but what ticks me off is that my friends/classmates do not do the same. Yesterday, a classmate from high school, posted a picture on facebook of a 23 inch L.M. he caught. He then proceeded to send out invitations for everyone to come fishing at his house over the weekend.

He invited me to go fishing with him, and my reply was "I'd like to go fishing, but the season isn't open"

His reply: "It's a private lake, so the season doesn't matter, and in the summer you don't even need to buy a license to fish."

Pretty much the general thought process in this area, is that if it's warm outside, it's okay to go fishing.

My buddy recently moved to a small lake (all in all there are like 20 houses on the lake) and he invited me to go fishing last week saying "It's a private lake, so you can fish whenever."

Even if it is a private lake it's still illegal to intentionally fish for bass out of season. . . right?

Fishing is my passion. . . basically, I buy a license every year, I do not fish out of season, and I strictly catch and release. But, through mostly ignorance, all my classmates get to enjoy fishing out of season with zero consequences.

You seem like a very intelligent young man but do you understand what Nazism is ?

[HuntFishAK]

Lots of grammar nazis on this board. . . :

I'm from Michigan and bass season does not open until late May. I follow the law and will not fish until the season opens, but it drives me absolutely crazy when it is 75 degrees outside, and I can't legally go bass fishing.

I follow the law, because I understand the reasoning behind it, but what ticks me off is that my friends/classmates do not do the same. Yesterday, a classmate from high school, posted a picture on facebook of a 23 inch L.M. he caught. He then proceeded to send out invitations for everyone to come fishing at his house over the weekend.

He invited me to go fishing with him, and my reply was "I'd like to go fishing, but the season isn't open"

His reply: "It's a private lake, so the season doesn't matter, and in the summer you don't even need to buy a license to fish."

Pretty much the general thought process in this area, is that if it's warm outside, it's okay to go fishing.

My buddy recently moved to a small lake (all in all there are like 20 houses on the lake) and he invited me to go fishing last week saying "It's a private lake, so you can fish whenever."

Even if it is a private lake it's still illegal to intentionally fish for bass out of season. . . right?

Fishing is my passion. . . basically, I buy a license every year, I do not fish out of season, and I strictly catch and release. But, through mostly ignorance, all my classmates get to enjoy fishing out of season with zero consequences.

I would say you are correct, it should still be illegal to fish out of season for bass even if it's a private lake. It wouldn't be any different than hunting out of season on private land. It's called poaching. I would call your local wildlife officer and ask them.

[bryand82487]

Even if it is a private lake it's still illegal to intentionally fish for bass out of season. . . right?

Where I live their are no fishing laws on a season and I'm not to familiar with your laws but here's my thoughts on this. When it comes to hunting on private land, hunting seasons and regulations apply to everyone even if it is your land and it's private. Some states you don't have to purchase a license if your the landowner but that's about it. I've never really thought about fishing since I'm not familiar with these laws but my best guess would be that you can legally fish a private lake out of season. The reason being is because homeowners or the landowners paid to have the lake built and paid to stock the lake with the fish. How could the DNR have the authority to tell them not to fish it?

[wapiti]

Even if it is a private lake it's still illegal to intentionally fish for bass out of season. . . right?

I'm not familiar with these laws but my best guess would be that you can legally fish a private lake out of season. The reason being is because homeowners or the landowners paid to have the lake built and paid to stock the lake with the fish. How could the DNR have the authority to tell them not to fish it?

This makes sense. . . does anyone know the official ruling on this?

[D4u2s0t]

As I said earlier, in the Northern States of the US, and in Ontario Canada, the Regulations are there with good reason!

"Pre-season angling is believed to have a profound negative effect on the nesting behaviour and ultimately the nesting success of these highly sought sport fish species. It has been proven by many studies that if adult male bass are caught and removed from the nest, the eggs or fry (young bass) become easy prey for small predators such as pan fish and perch. In just the few minutes that it takes anglers to catch and release the bass, the nest may be completely wiped out. Even if the nest is not predated upon, the male may abandon their nest after being released"

It all comes down to what individual anglers deem more important....their own selfish enjoyment, or the long term success of the bass population. It's not rocket science....is it?

No it's not rocket science. Right now the bass are NOT spawning, so what is the harm in catching and releasing. Like I said before, I'm pretty sure keeping bass (whether they are in season or not) is obviously much worse than catching and releasing a bedding bass. A bass doesn't stand a chance at spawning if it's in your frying pan.

The problem is, it's not like bass say to themselves, "Ok guys, it's april 15th, time to spawn!"  There's alot of variables involved, so that's why they have the restrictions when they do.  Bass don't spawn at the same time every year.

To answer your question earlier about what's worse, catch and release, or keeping a limit?  Depends on the body of water.  There's plenty of water out there where you're hurting the fishery by putting every fish back.  In many lakes, it's actually better to keep fish within a certain size.

[HuntFishAK]

Even if it is a private lake it's still illegal to intentionally fish for bass out of season. . . right?

I'm not familiar with these laws but my best guess would be that you can legally fish a private lake out of season. The reason being is because homeowners or the landowners paid to have the lake built and paid to stock the lake with the fish. How could the DNR have the authority to tell them not to fish it?

This makes sense. . . does anyone know the official ruling on this?

Call the game warden, serioulsy.  It's their job to answer questions like this.  And they will be the ones to write the ticket. 

[bigfruits]

ok, i think i have a solution for you. same one DNR told you. target other fish with the same lures and at the same places bass hang out. if youre thinking about walleye, you are targeting them. when you hook a bass, let it go quickly like DNR said.

sounds they gave you the "loophole" probably to get off the phone

sounds like this is hard to enforce and probably impossible to prove in court unless you have a bass in the cooler.

[tyrius.]

I've never really thought about fishing since I'm not familiar with these laws but my best guess would be that you can legally fish a private lake out of season. The reason being is because homeowners or the landowners paid to have the lake built and paid to stock the lake with the fish. How could the DNR have the authority to tell them not to fish it?

We don't have season in IL (thank god!) but you do not need a fishing license to fish on YOUR OWN pond.  It has to be your's alone (can not be a neighborhood pond) and you have to own it.

Now the chances of DNR showing up at a private pond are probably less than your chance to win the lottery, but that's the rule.

[steezy]

Perhaps an English class or two would be helpful. :

X2

[Bass_Akwards]

Perhaps an English class or two would be helpful. :

Bwahahahahahaahahahaha!  Timeless.

[kikstand454]

as far as i know... here in florida you dont have to have a liscence... and therefore are not subject really to fines or jail... if the body of water you are on/in has no public access. i.e. gated neighborhoods private land etc.

if you can get to it publicly though... then its regulations as usual.

trust this though.... the regulations that are put on your lake.. are probably there for a good reason. it is a hard decision for politicians that probably dont know squat about fishing to tell people not to fish and therefore not to spend money on the surrounding area.

you know how those people are about money.