Kill The Bass!

[Big Fish Rice]

I lived in Washington state for 20 years. Trout fishing is very popular there, much more so than bass fishing. The state stocks millions of trout every year at considerable expense. Some of the lakes are managed as trout only lakes, it is possible to stock fingerling trout in these lakes and have them reach catchable size the next year, it saves the state quite a bit of money to do that instead of stocking catchable sized fish. But if bass get introduced into a trout only lake, they will eat all the trout fingerlings. So the state ends up having to use rotenone to kill all the fish to get rid of the bass. It's not just a "perspective" thing, springtime trout fishing is hugely popular in Wa during the spring, it creates quite a positive economic impact for local communities that are close to the lakes.

Going through this right now as our local Biologist will be killing off my favorite lake within 3 years. The trout anglers get upset because their fishing conditions are too tough.

It makes me sick just thinking about WA state killing these bass. I've caught numerous 5-6lb fish that could easily be replanted at other area lakes. They're 15 years old - at least give us bass anglers something to look forward to as well.

I'm not against trout ina any way possible, but it's sad that the majorit of trout anglers don't give the bass guys and gals the same respect.

Perspective is right. It all depends on where your interest sits.

[fishermantony]

Going through this right now as our local Biologist will be killing off my favorite lake within 3 years. The trout anglers get upset because their fishing conditions are too tough.

It makes me sick just thinking about WA state killing these bass. I've caught numerous 5-6lb fish that could easily be replanted at other area lakes. They're 15 years old - at least give us bass anglers something to look forward to as well.

I'm not against trout ina any way possible, but it's sad that the majorit of trout anglers don't give the bass guys and gals the same respect.

Perspective is right. It all depends on where your interest sits.

What lake are you speaking of if you dont mind me asking? Hope it isn't one that I fish.

[Big Fish Rice]

What lake are you speaking of if you dont mind me asking? Hope it isn't one that I fish.

Badger Lake, south of Spokane.

[fishermantony]

Badger Lake, south of Spokane.

Awe man, one of my favorites! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help the cause.

[Chaz Hickcox]

You wouldn't know it by the representation on this forum, but in reality I see very few bass fisherman as compared to saltwater in South Florida. Outside of BR I do not know 1 bass fisherman in Florida.

Same here in Virginia Beach. If you are primarily a fresh water guy such as myself you are actually kind of snubbed at local tackle shops. The bass fishing scene here is pretty small and everyone knows each other. Hell, if you want to go to a bass boat dealership around here you have to drive a few hours to get there (other than BPS in Hampton). Even the BPS sucks as far as fresh water goes. It's all about the salt around here.

Speaking of perspective, in the Colorado River System they stocked Stripers a while back. The deep cool water in Lake Powell was so conducive to their habits that they all but annihilated the shad populations, which negatively effected the SMB and LMB populations. Now there is no bag or size limits on stripers. I remember being a kid and fishing cut bait by the dam and we'd bring in 20+ stripers for a cookout at the campground. So in reality it depends on the fishery and ecosystem. Bass can be a detriment to trout populations, therefore, if you are trying to build a trophy trout fishery then yes bass need to be removed. However, throwing them in a bush is wasteful of such a good eating fish. IMO.

[urp]

Oregon is another state not altogether pleased with bass. Many previously pristine trout fisheries have seen the illegal introduction of bass, both large and small, but they've pretty much given up trying to fight it. They have given up a lot of fingerling stocking and instead stock a little larger trout so the bass don't feed on them. They do now have laws regulating bass harvest but the laws are not enforced because bass are not a native fish.

[basscatcher8]

I know this is a bass forum, but i heard that some walleye made it into the white river in arkansas that were making life difficult for the trout guys. This was heresay from a couple fisherman down there on the river was just wondering if anybody else had heard anything about this. I kinda want to go down there and fish the river for walleye myself now lol.

[Fish Chris]

Chuckles I'll tell you what I find funny about this, is that by removing all of the bass caught, you will end up with a smaller population of bass > but the bass that are left, will have more food and available habitat, only helping them to get bigger, and to be an even worse threat to those Brook trout

....and I'd be out there throwing a Hud in Brook trout pattern LOL

Fish

[00 mod]

I know this is a bass forum, but i heard that some walleye made it into the white river in arkansas that were making life difficult for the trout guys. This was heresay from a couple fisherman down there on the river was just wondering if anybody else had heard anything about this. I kinda want to go down there and fish the river for walleye myself now lol.

I do know that when they open the flood gates, some walleye as well as other species do come in to the river. All of the guides will remove them if caught. You will not find great amounts of them, or likely even be successful targeting them. I have only ever caught trout(all 4), river suckers, and 1 hybrid bass. Guide said it was the first one caught in his boat in 36 years of guiding on the river, and he promptly smacked it in the head with a mallet, and put it in the livewell.

Jeff

[basscatcher8]

I do know that when they open the flood gates, some walleye as well as other species do come in to the river. All of the guides will remove them if caught. You will not find great amounts of them, or likely even be successful targeting them. I have only ever caught trout(all 4), river suckers, and 1 hybrid bass. Guide said it was the first one caught in his boat in 36 years of guiding on the river, and he promptly smacked it in the head with a mallet, and put it in the livewell.

Jeff

Yeah I have only ever caught trout there myself. Still would be cool if some walleye could survive and thrive in there. I just dont know if they could handle it when the water gets real low and clear.

[weezy109]

I saw a Hank Parker episode where he was on a small private lake and they encouraged taking out crappie to help the bass. How does that work? Crappie is a forage species for bass and would only be detrimental to fry right?

[J Francho]

Crappie are super efficient nest raiders. They physically designed for decimating fry. If rule number one for a good bass pond is to actually have bass in it, then rule number two is no crappie, lol.

[weezy109]

That is interesting, is it just really small lake phenomenon because most of the successful bass fisheries that i know of are also successful crappie lakes. On the same topic is the types of bluegill you can put into that type of pond/lake important?

[Lund Explorer]

That is interesting, is it just really small lake phenomenon because most of the successful bass fisheries that i know of are also successful crappie lakes. On the same topic is the types of bluegill you can put into that type of pond/lake important?

In this area both bass and crappie are natural co-habitants in most lakes. In the few lakes where I know that crappie have been introduced by man, as their population grows, the quality of bass and bluegill have suffered. Crappie are not only successful nest raiders, but also feed on the same forage base that smaller bass and/or larger bluegill feed on. I would think that it is this competition for a forage base that reduces the bass' ability to grow to its potential.

[weezy109]

In this area both bass and crappie are natural co-habitants in most lakes. In the few lakes where I know that crappie have been introduced by man, as their population grows, the quality of bass and bluegill have suffered. Crappie are not only successful nest raiders, but also feed on the same forage base that smaller bass and/or larger bluegill feed on. I would think that it is this competition for a forage base that reduces the bass' ability to grow to its potential.

Are those lakes small lakes? Most of the places i fish are man made so there are no native fish really, most all of them are stocked species, I guess you count what was in the river prior to the dam being built as true natives though.

[Hyrule Bass]

Are those lakes small lakes? Most of the places i fish are man made so there are no native fish really, most all of them are stocked species, I guess you count what was in the river prior to the dam being built as true natives though.

i have to believe its a small lake thing for the most part. ive always heard crappie will take over a small body of water. they compete with the bass for the same food, i think thats more of a problem than them being nest raiders. think about it, if they didnt raid the nests in smaller bodies of water then you would just have that much more undersized bass. in larger bodies of water there is more food and more room for the bass and crappie to spread out, i dont think crappie affect the bass near as much in larger bodies of water...

[J Francho]

That is interesting, is it just really small lake phenomenon because most of the successful bass fisheries that i know of are also successful crappie lakes. On the same topic is the types of bluegill you can put into that type of pond/lake important?

Smaller waters. I'm not sure about blue gill species, but I bet it comes down to geography/climate.