What about your State?

[RedhookRR]

My part of the state fishing is open year around just have to wait for ice out.  The rest of the state the rivers don't open till the 3 rd week of may. Lakes open year around. Oh, and 10 at night and 50 degrees.

[Crestliner2008]

Here in MA, we have a year round, open season. However, the ice has just left most of the ponds and the water temps are still in the lower 40's! When they start to move into the upper 40's, the fishing will start to get hot.

These are the conditions in the "western" end of this state - not the eastern end. The folks out on cape and coastline lakes are starting to "kick some bass" already. Their water temps are in the low 50's.

I suspect that in other, larger states, conditions vary considerably as well, from section to section.

[angler1]

Wow, I finally found 1 good thing about living in New Jersey. You can fish all year long for bass. I thought trout was the only fish that had a season, never knew other states had seasons for bass fishing, that really sucks.

[grimlin]

Wow, I finally found 1 good thing about living in New Jersey. You can fish all year long for bass. I thought trout was the only fish that had a season, never knew other states had seasons for bass fishing, that really sucks.

It drives me nuts to be honest.I think a simple ban on spawning grounds and C&R won't hurt the fish one bit.Only problem is we got people who won't and don't follow the law.

[BassinMichigan]

Michigan's bass season actually does nothing to protect spawning bass.  It's closed from Jan 1st until the last Saturday in April.  Both smallies and largemouth won't start spawning here until it's legal to target them.

[MSPbass]

No , thank God.

Why did your states feel like you all needed a "fishing season."?

The MNR wants to ensure that the bass are off the beds before any anglers can target them.

The MN bass opener is May 29, by the way. (5/15 for Walleye.) And anyone who fishes here knows full well that the bass are not off the beds by that time. Many of the females are gone, probably most, but the males are left for a few weeks. So why do they let folks take the males off the bed leaving an unguarded nest? Isn't that almost as bad for the population as taking a pre-spawn female? It's been my experience that the folks who obey the laws are almost always the ones who treat the fish with the most respect; land them properly, remove bait skillfully and return them to the water as fast as possible. Every year, in the metro, I'm asked, at least twice, by someone on the bank if he can have the fish I just landed. The licensed anglers are not the ones damaging the bass population in MN. The guys that take bass home do it before the opener and then after the opener; they don't care either way. This law drives me nuts! It targets the wrong people.

I'll stop now though; because I know this rant is mostly brought on by the recent warm weather and the fact that I still have 69 days before I can start fishing again.

[Hooligan]

it may be annoying to have to wait. but there is a season for a reason, to protect the fisheries from being raped during spawn.

That's one of the most common misconceptions about "seasons".  It boils down to tourism dollars, not biological reasons.  Daryl Bauer in NE, Dave Neuswanger in WI, Gary Elliot in MN, Darryl Ellison in MN...I can list many others that have been quoted as saying as much.  Biologists nearly unanimously agree it has nothing to do with "raping the population" during the spawn, it's more about generating tourism and local hype for "opening day."

[BassThumb]

That's one of the most common misconceptions about "seasons". It boils down to tourism dollars, not biological reasons. Daryl Bauer in NE, Dave Neuswanger in WI, Gary Elliot in MN, Darryl Ellison in MN...I can list many others that have been quoted as saying as much. Biologists nearly unanimously agree it has nothing to do with "raping the population" during the spawn, it's more about generating tourism and local hype for "opening day."

I've never heard this debate, but I'd like to know more. I have seen the damage that fishing bass beds on or around the MN May 29 opener can do. It can't be good...Hoards of bass fisherman snagging males from nests with Senkos, causing the bass to abandon the nests and leave them to highly visible and easy to catch schools of aggressive sunfish.

[Hooligan]

It's another "great debate" indeed.  There are those with no biological knowledge of nest spacing, and habits that will say that the fish that are nested in the shallows are the fish that produce all the offspring for the lake.  There are those that will say that drastically effecting the recruitment of a lakes year class could be achieved by simply targeting a few of those beds.

In truth, some of the biggest fish will spawn (where available) as deep as 20 feet.  Their nests are spread 35-40 feet at a minimum.  There are so many fry produced from one spawning pair that you'd have to hit a huge number of beds in an area, and have every single one predated to reduce the recruitment numbers dramatically.

Considering that a single female can lay as many as 90,000 eggs, that's a big chunk of fish that you're going to have to deal with.  They've been documented as high as 62% survivorship. 

Of course year class depends on many other factors, predation, natural mortality, fishing pressure, seasonal environment...there are many that contribute. 

But then again, there are biologist friends that will tell people that fishing them while on beds is killing the fishery and is the reason for seasons in areas that have them....so who knows...

[iceintheveins]

It's in the 40s and 50s here in Colorado and most low elevation lakes are ice free, but temps are in the low 40s and bass are still sluggish.

I would KILL to have a state that actually managed gamefish and didn't kill them the way Colorado does. The Colorado Division Of Wildlife either directly kills or won't manage for any nonnative fish besides trout West Of the Continental divide. So not being able to fish for them till May 1st would be a tiny price to pay as far as it concerns me. There is no state fisheries worse than the Colorado Division Of Wildlife, popularly known as the Colorado Disaster Of Wildlife. Their main accomplishments are the killings of tens of thousands of gamefish over the last several years because of a twisted, ecological purity political agenda where anything that might possibly compete with native chubs, suckers and squawfish (considered trashfish by state residents) is placed on the chopping black. > > >

[iceintheveins]

I DO however think catch and release fishing should be legal during closed seasons unless the fish are so concentrated that it would interrupt spawning, such as when salmonids gather by the hundreds in certain areas.

[timothy_spain]

southeast michigan -- has fishing season too.  been targeting walleyes from the st. clair river -- no such luck.  bummer... gonna check out if crappies are hot this weekend

[Captain Obvious]

Whats a fishing season :-?

Never heard of them ;D

God Bless Texas

Capt.O

[RichF]

I live in Jefferson county (northern NY). My county and the next one over are like the only counties in NY that don't allow catch and release on bass before the season opens in june. How terrible is that! I never keep anything to begin with but we're not even allowed to catch and release!

[dolomieu]

...Considering that a single female can lay as many as 90,000 eggs, that's a big chunk of fish that you're going to have to deal with. They've been documented as high as 62% survivorship...

For how long? A day?

[MSPbass]

it's more about generating tourism and local hype for "opening day."

I don't know what it's like in NE, but in MN, the "Fishing Opener", is the Walleye Opener. That's the tourist catcher. That's the day the Governor goes out and all the news crews follow to see if he lands one. I venture to guess that most of the State has no idea the Bass & Muskie openers are weeks later.

[Hooligan]

I totally agree with that sentiment, however it rings true that because of the elements leading up to it, it's the primary reason for there still being seasons of any sort.  If the walleye guys lost the "season" then everyone else would, too.  If the bass and muskie guys lost it, the walleye guys would go absolutely haywire, and demand change.  The sheer numbers of revenue dollars lost due to not having that would be astounding.

[Hooligan]

...Considering that a single female can lay as many as 90,000 eggs, that's a big chunk of fish that you're going to have to deal with. They've been documented as high as 62% survivorship...

For how long? A day?

16 days, in this instance.  It was a measure of surviorship to dispersal from nests.  After that, predation and mortality #s change pretty dramatically based on the individual body of water.

[MSPbass]

That is a great point.

[basswitch]

Aside from some Mississippi/Lake Michigan and a few other seasonal restrictions, this is a general map of Wisconsin's bass fishing zone. Notice the northern zone barbless hook rule, I'm not sure if there is a huge benefit to the fish or not. :-/

Didn't they repeal the barbless hook/artificial bait thing last year? Still catch and release though.

[firefightn15]

Aside from some Mississippi/Lake Michigan and a few other seasonal restrictions, this is a general map of Wisconsin's bass fishing zone. Notice the northern zone barbless hook rule, I'm not sure if there is a huge benefit to the fish or not. :-/

Didn't they repeal the barbless hook/artificial bait thing last year? Still catch and release though.

Your right, I see in the 2010/2011 regs that they did.  I knew they were talking about it but thought they dropped the idea.  Good catch! 8-)

[diver_sniper]

it's more about generating tourism and local hype for "opening day."

I don't know what it's like in NE, but in MN, the "Fishing Opener", is the Walleye Opener. That's the tourist catcher. That's the day the Governor goes out and all the news crews follow to see if he lands one. I venture to guess that most of the State has no idea the Bass & Muskie openers are weeks later.

I'm not the only bass fisherman in Minnesota?

I'm exaggerating of course, but really, the only lakes that I think would really get "raped" are the few big ones that have a reputation of being bass lakes. I could list about 10 lakes within 10 miles of me right now that I doubt would see more than 1 or 2 bass fisherman between ice out and 5/29. But, like someone said, take away the bass opener and we'd have all the walleye idiots (95% of all Minnesotans[born and raised here, I can trash it all I want ]) flipping out. First because of the shocking news that there is a bass opener, and second because they would want to fish their precious walleyes sooner too.

In all seriousness though, if we're agreeing that having an opening day is only for generating revenue, and it really doesn't have squat to do with protecting the bass on their beds, why is it two weeks after walleye opener? Why not the same weekend, or the weekend after?

It's all kind of confusing because I'm fairly certain that the the only fish lower than bass on the MN DNR's concern list are carp and bullheads. Bass don't make money here, walleyes do. Walleyes make millions and millions of dollars every year for the state and businesses that bring home a profit from fishermen. Maybe my view is a little skewed because I'm from a tourist trap lake town, but I'm surprised a season was ever set up for bass in the first place.

In fact, you want to know how much they love their walleyes here? I've heard of people catching muskies and slitting their bellies and letting them go because they think they're eating all their walleyes. I've also seen walleye fishermen taking smallies and bouncing them off their boat motors(to kill them, they hate them) because they get sick of catching them and having them ruin their wimpy @$$ walleye gear.

I'm sorry. Rant over.

[BassThumb]

Good rant, diver_sniper.  Very true, how bass are an under appreciated species in MN.  I have to admit though, I like seeing the parking lots and lakes full of walleye fisherman who will be ignoring the bass.  Pretty disturbing that people would kill valuable gamefish to protect the walleyes.

[airborne_angler]

Here in AZ you can fish whatever species you want year round. You have to have a trout stamp to keep the trout though.

[diver_sniper]

Good rant, diver_sniper. Very true, how bass are an under appreciated species in MN. I have to admit though, I like seeing the parking lots and lakes full of walleye fisherman who will be ignoring the bass. Pretty disturbing that people would kill valuable gamefish to protect the walleyes.

The musky thing was just something I heard about, I'm not sure if it's true or not. But you get the gist of it.

There is absolutely zero reason for any walleye fisherman to be concerned even a little bit about the walleye populations in this state. The DNR might as well be the DWS. Department of Walleye Stocking. I think that's the only thing to DNR exists for in Minnesota... Right? :-?