Be kind to spawning bass!!

[tomriker]

Hey everyone it's that time of year again, the spawn is upon us. As much fun as it is to sight fish the big girls off their beds people treat them gently and release them as soon as you can. It's a pretty stressfull time of year for them and we need em to lay their eggs without a hitch! Not trying to talk down to anyone, just a friendly reminder to be kind to those ditch pickles for the next few weeks!

 

[Hendo30]

I agree, a great reminder Tomriker, we need the big ladies to produce those future lunkers. Heck I would go as far as to say with all our beloved Bass we catch "treat them gently and release them as soon as you can".

 

[Texas Basser]

Hey everyone it's that time of year again, the spawn is upon us. As much fun as it is to sight fish the big girls off their beds people treat them gently and release them as soon as you can. It's a pretty stressfull time of year for them and we need em to lay their eggs without a hitch! Not trying to talk down to anyone, just a friendly reminder to be kind to those ditch pickles for the next few weeks!

Well said!

 

[Darthbeans]

Right on TR! I always get nervous this time of year.....so many chuckleheads luck out on big ones and eat em public water makes me cringe......CP damn near gets into fights too ive come close myself. but its every year.......

 

[tomriker]

Haha yeah he's told me before, he is definetly not a fan of people bass fishing beds, especially of they don't know what they're doing!

 

[Senko86]

This is why I think bass over 15" should not be kept as a state wide regulation esp when they are spawning those big fish are the source of future big fish. Many people that are fishing this time of year can catch some truly awesome fish, some while not even be bass fishing so please be considerate out there and let these fish do their thing!

 

[shotgun]

I was in the North West Bass Club in Florence from the early 70's to mid 80's .... we as a club along with Tenmile Bass club tried to get the ODF&W to put a state wide catch and release only during the spawn .... they turned a cold shoulder to us as all bass were bad and on the costal lakes ... and all bass should be killed .... because of the salmon , steelhead and sea run cutthroat trout that used the lakes to get to spawning creeks ... heaven forbid that the bass might eat a few of their young .... but all the cormorants that came in huge numbers ... so many that the big firs they roosted in died from all their boop droppings on them .... True fact .... BUT ... the worst thing .... and this may make some mad .... but when we went to the Willamette Valley Bass Clubs for support ... the Portland area clubs who had the most pull ..... said OH NO .... we couldn't have tournaments during the spawn then ... so no support ... Now I ask you ... wouldn't you think that ripping those bass off their beds and putting them in a livewell to be later released at a boat ramp miles away is good ? .... Our own Oregon Clubs were killing more baby bass then anyone else ..... Maybe things are differrant now .... but they are still having tournaments during the spawn ... If all our clubs would just quit holding tournaments during the spawn ... we would have a lot more bass ...

OK ... off my high horse .... YES , fish are up starting to spawn or at least thinking about it ... I was out on my pond tonight ... saw no beds , but boy were they on the banks .... in a 45 minute fishing trip ... I caught over 40 fish from 10 inches to 4 pounds .... Now that was fun ....

Doug

 

[Finneus Polebender]

Could not agree more guys with almost all said , definitely think a slot limit could keep both sides content. I will even leave them alone if I know they are on eggs then just wait a week or so till I see the schools of babies then its on again . I think that a quick release right back onto the bed will do little to no harm if the eggs are not left unprotected , the problem is you almost never know if they have layed eggs until you get the first fish its a tough call.

 

[Bassdad54]

bedding bass are hard to catch..during the spawn the bass will lock into a " Im gonna swim around so the bass fisherman can see me but I wont bite anything" mode ...most these bass are eventually passed up to try for another further down the bank

Score:

1 bass taken off bed during spawn vs 8-12 bass in the "Im gonna swim around so the bass fisherman can see me but I wont bite anything" mode

 

[colbypearson]

bedding bass are hard to catch..during the spawn the bass will lock into a " Im gonna swim around so the bass fisherman can see me but I wont bite anything" mode ...most these bass are eventually passed up to try for another further down the bank

Score:

1 bass taken off bed during spawn vs 8-12 bass in the "Im gonna swim around so the bass fisherman can see me but I wont bite anything" mode

During spawn bass can also initiate in a "Highly defensive and protective vulnerable mode"
Bedding bass are relatively easy to catch...
The uneducated and non sportsman anglers may, and do get frustrated and snag them....
I would rather have one giant reproducing female in the population than 8-12 small fish....

Not saying bed fishing is wrong, but I also encourage that people avoid bed fishing to have a good time and if they do partake in bed fishing then be careful to the fish and release them unharmed. I dont normally bed fish more than a few times a year normally when im obligated to. I did catch a 10lbr off a bed a while back, all im saying is there's a sustainable and responsible way of going about it and then there's a reckless way that I will hope most of us avoid...

 

[hawgcaller]

The slot limit is nice but not too effective. I was fishing at Tenmile lake in the channel quite a few years back and had been catching a whole lot of bass between 3 and 5 pounds. I naturally released all fish. One day however, I was fishing off of the north lake marina dock and some elderly lady was pulling in the docks in her boat. I watched her pull up a stringer full of all those lovely bass that I had been catching. She had 5 bass in the 4-5 lb range. I told her that there was a slot limit and that she could not keep any fish over 15 inches. She told me to mind my own business and walked up the ramp. I told her I was going to call the state police and followed her to her car. I got her license plate number and called the staters. They did't seem to interested in my complaint and I never heard back from them. People who aren't avid bass fisherman are not going to be able to resist keeping a large specimen. It is probably the biggest fish they have ever caught and think it is going to taste great in the pan. I too have almost been in physical altercations with granny's grandpa's and many other bass killers. lol makes me sick!

 

[shotgun]

These people know what they are doing when they keep bass of that size .... they just want to eat them and don't care about 8 to 10 years or more it takes to grow one to 5 pounds in Oregon ... In the late 70's there was a large group from California that camped at Tahkenitch Lake for 2 to 3 weeks durning the spawn .... they threw live night crawler on the beds .... and kept everything they caught .... lots of 3,4,5 pound bass came in on there stringers .... we took pictures and tried to get ODF&W to get it stopped .... all we got from them was a ... we will check it out ... SURE they would .... They did this for 5 or 6 years ... finally quit coming ... Proably because the bass population got so bad ... it wasn't worth the trip anymore .... Kill and Eat till there ain't no more ... then move on to the next lake ... and the ODF&W just lets it happen ... By the way .... if you haven't noticed ... I don't have much good to say about our ODF&W ... if anything ...

Doug

 

[hawgcaller]

These people know what they are doing when they keep bass of that size .... they just want to eat them and don't care about 8 to 10 years or more it takes to grow one to 5 pounds in Oregon ... In the late 70's there was a large group from California that camped at Tahkenitch Lake for 2 to 3 weeks durning the spawn .... they threw live night crawler on the beds .... and kept everything they caught .... lots of 3,4,5 pound bass came in on there stringers .... we took pictures and tried to get ODF&W to get it stopped .... all we got from them was a ... we will check it out ... SURE they would .... They did this for 5 or 6 years ... finally quit coming ... Proably because the bass population got so bad ... it wasn't worth the trip anymore .... Kill and Eat till there ain't no more ... then move on to the next lake ... and the ODF&W just lets it happen ... By the way .... if you haven't noticed ... I don't have much good to say about our ODF&W ... if anything ...

Doug

I second your not too much good to say and would like to add OSP in that category!