Proposed fishing regs for Wickiup bass fishing, you can help!

[Senko86]

Bass Anglers this is your chance to help protect an amazing bass fishery in the state of Oregon.

At one point Wickiup had the highest average weight per bass caught during tournaments held there per ODFW Records. In recent years that average has dropped 26% which indicates over harvest - the head Biologist was asked if there was any other confirmed study indicating other reasons for the decline and he admitted that there were none.

Chuck Lang and the Central Oregon Bass Club submitted a proposal to ODFW to adopt the state bag limit - 5 bass no more than 3 over 15 inches - for Wickiup as there is no current limit and each fall at low pool buckets of LM leave the lake by bank fisherman. There will be several meetings held by ODFW throughout the state one of which has already happened in Bend. At this meeting there were many people strongly opposing this regulation change of which were many trout fisherman and fly fishing guides that showed a blind hatred towards bass and many of there points had no scientific information to back them. The main comments were focused on the fact that the bass were introduced and should not be there so people should just get rid of them to help the trout fishery. There is one huge problem with this thought, bass are there they cannot be removed unless Crane Prairie and Wickiup Res are completely drained and killed. This solution would destroy both the bass and the trout fishery and would cost a crazy sum of money and truely is not a feasible solution. If the bass in Wickiup are subject to continued unregulated over harvest the larger fish will be removed by the bucket brigade slowy stunting the population and resulting in an over abundance of smaller bass that are not harvested. This would destroy a trophy bass fishery and still not accomplish the protection of the trout fishery.

How can you help? Attend your local meeting and voice your support for the proposal and help prevent unsound logic from destroying an amazing bass fishery. It is only a few hours of your time and can help save Wickiup from a fading future. If you cannot attend you can also write ODFW voicing your support!

I will post the meeting schedules and the contact information where you can write to soon.

Thanks for YOUR Support!

Sincerely,

A Concerned Bass Angler

 

[brandon4455]

bass are cool, i fish for them sometimes too, and i agree they have their place in oregon with that being said my post means no hate on bass or bass fisherman.

the bucket biologist should not be rewarded by getting to create a fishery off of illegal plantings that could be damaging to native species. the reason everyone wants them removed is because they are in a trout lake,not a bass lake. somewhere they DON'T belong. no limit on those bass is good for wikciup not because a decrease in numbers but "stunted" bass make a perfect meal for large rainbow and brown trout. you may not be able to get rid of them but you can most certainly control the population . this most likely wont go through because the ethical fisherman,conservationist and people who care about native fish will show up to those meetings NOT in support of this regulation change




Brandon

 

[Sinkline]

.

 

[tomriker]

Brandon is suuuuch a hater, obviously one of those fly fisher types

 

[bigsteel]

Too late, the meeting was last Tuesday for the Central proposals.

The bass guys that were there were met with much opposition and the group left at a break and didn't stay for the whole meeting.


Randy

nice,i would love to see the bass gone for good.

 

[brandon4455]

Brandon is suuuuch a hater, obviously one of those fly fisher types

i have no hate at all. i just dont get the point of supporting an illegally introduced invasive species in waters that contain native fish.

 

[the_intimidator03]

the battle of natives vs non natives, or invasives or bucket fish or what ever you so choose to call them, seems to me like a Ferris wheel. keeps going around and around and does not get anywhere. I don't like introductions, let alone illegal intro's, but it happens and its up to ODFW to determine how to manage that with the funding they have. Never are all sides pleased, never will they be pleased.

Brandon I noticed you mentioned in your first response about stunted bass being good food for large rainbows and browns.. Which isn't native?

I think what it boils down to is money, the biggest pocket is the one usually ruling the roost. There seems to be a lot of support in the trout side of things around wickiup.

 

[tomriker]

Oh yeah, aren't the browns an invasive species introduced from Europe? Why are you not for the eraticatuon of those?

 

[TTFishon]

Um, brown trout and brook trout are not a native species in Oregon either. Should we rid Wickiup of them too? lol

 

[Sinkline]

.

 

[Senko86]

So far I have seen the same comments that lack any scientific data it is all personal opinion. Stunted fish compete directly with juvenille trout for their food base and are still causing a problem thus reducing the number of trout and their growth rate. All the unregulation related to bass is hurting is the guys that actually enjoy the bass fishery that the lake has become. Yes they were illegally introduced to Crane and made it to Wickiup but guess what they are there and not going anywhere. You don't see me saying lets kill all the Brown trout and Brooks. If you do not like bass you need to post on another forum section this is not the place for anger towards bass this is a place for reason and respect for other anglers. I posted this because we are looking for support from people that actually support bass and understand how a fishery works. Bass are not destroying the fishery if anything overfishing is the number one culprit in most cases and it is easy for people to just blame the bass. Before you go off on bass be sure you know what you are talking about and can prove your point.

 

[Mad dog]

nice,i would love to see the bass gone for good.

I would keep any legal bass regardless of size just to see them gone!!!

Crane, Wickiup, Davis....Why do morons keep sticking bass in our waters?

 

[TTFishon]

If fish co-habitat well I am all for diverse opportunity. But, where one species devastates another's existance, and the habitat is more conducive to the threatened, then I am not in favor of the fish(s) causing the problem. Such is the case with warm water fish in Crane, Davis, and Wickiup.

This is the NW..., historic trout & salmon water for the most part. I am all in favor of bass being in water that is not suitable for trout.

I don't hate bass or warm water species at all, just in places that were at one time world class trout fisheries. Heck, if I ever get another boat one of the first places I will go is down her on the Willy near my home and fish for the large Smallies that inhabit this lower area of the river!

That's as diplomatic as I can be on this subject and still be respectful of our friends here on the forum that are bass fisherman.


Randy

Yeah, I pretty much agree with you Randy. I think they should leave it the way it is at Wickiup. I've yet to catch a bass at Wickiup but I did catch a 13 inch brown bullhead last year.

 

[bigsteel]

So far I have seen the same comments that lack any scientific data it is all personal opinion. Stunted fish compete directly with juvenille trout for their food base and are still causing a problem thus reducing the number of trout and their growth rate. All the unregulation related to bass is hurting is the guys that actually enjoy the bass fishery that the lake has become. Yes they were illegally introduced to Crane and made it to Wickiup but guess what they are there and not going anywhere. You don't see me saying lets kill all the Brown trout and Brooks. If you do not like bass you need to post on another forum section this is not the place for anger towards bass this is a place for reason and respect for other anglers. I posted this because we are looking for support from people that actually support bass and understand how a fishery works. Bass are not destroying the fishery if anything overfishing is the number one culprit in most cases and it is easy for people to just blame the bass. Before you go off on bass be sure you know what you are talking about and can prove your point.

you posted this on a public forum,what did you expect,we all have a right to voice our opinions...as far as the bass,they were illegally dumped in there,whats to stop that from happening in every lake that a bass fishermen chooses to want to illegally dump them in?

if you understood anything about a fishery YOU would know that illegally dumping bass in a lake is unethical and illegal.

 

[bigsteel]

I would keep any legal bass regardless of size just to see them gone!!!

Crane, Wickiup, Davis....Why do morons keep sticking bass in our waters?

I dont get it either terry,these guys seem to think its OK to dump an invasive species into what use to be a trophy trout fishery.

 

[Senko86]

I am just curious why are you guys even on this forum if you do not like the bass. Apparently the points I have made are being completely ignored taking the bass does not help the trout all this regulation does is help balance the population to prevent overpopulation of stunted bass that could further damage the trout fishing oh and by the way most of these stunted fish would not be the correct size for trout to eat and the larger fish that would be able to eat these fish utilize different parts of the lakes and would have minimal contact. Please have some logic in your comments and not simply opinions. It does not matter that they were introduced they are there get over it you cannot change that. The best thing now is to properly manage the fishery to prevent further damage to your precious trout and illegally introduced browns and brooks.

 

[bigsteel]

I am just curious why are you guys even on this forum if you do not like the bass. Apparently the points I have made are being completely ignored taking the bass does not help the trout all this regulation does is help balance the population to prevent overpopulation of stunted bass that could further damage the trout fishing oh and by the way most of these stunted fish would not be the correct size for trout to eat and the larger fish that would be able to eat these fish utilize different parts of the lakes and would have minimal contact. Please have some logic in your comments and not simply opinions. It does not matter that they were introduced they are there get over it you cannot change that. The best thing now is to properly manage the fishery to prevent further damage to your precious trout and illegally introduced browns and brooks.

this is where your credibility is lacking,use some logic as was stated by you...you seem to care less that an illegally introduced fish has turned these lakes into mediocre trout fishing when they were once trophy trout fisheries and yet you defend the illegal fish,,,,NOBODY here hates bass,they just dont belong there.you talk like these trout fisheries are thriving due to having bass in there,,thats just plain ridiculous.

 

[tomriker]

It may have been an incredible trophy trout pond at one time, but like David it should turn into an amazing trophy bass pond!

 

[bigsteel]

It may have been an incredible trophy trout pond at one time, but like David it should turn into an amazing trophy bass pond!

so you are all for dumping bass in whatever body of water you feel like???by the way its davis lake

 

[tomriker]

Auto correct on my phone >.> I don't think any species of fish should be dumped but they are there... It's a waste of odfw money to poison the ponds or shock/trap the fish... It's done now let's hug and talk trash about carp??