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

[Senko86]

You are grasping at straws and make conclusions about my opinions without knowing. First I do not like people illegally introducing fish it pisses me off they can mess with a fishery I have not once praised the idiot that did the dumping in the first place. This is not a matter of them being illegally introduced this is a matter of they are there and they need to be handled. I have not once said these fisheries are thriving due to that bass try actually reading my posts. Please tell me a reasonable way to remove the bass. Right now the bass being removed are the large ones leaving the smaller ones behind which in turn selects the smaller fish genetics resulting in fisheries like the John Day and Umpqua river that are overrun with 10" fish the push out the trout. This is what the regulation is trying to prevent by promoting a well managed population that would not do further damage to the fishery more than what has already been done. I don't think you realize that this proposed regulation would actually help protect the trout fishery from further damage. If you really want to get into it the browns kill more rainbows than the bass so I guess if you want a pure lake you need to kill them all off too. The fish are there the question is are you going to let your ideas of bass needing to be killed not only ruin a great bass fishery but also potentially damage the trout fishery your are trying to protect. Lets just ruin everyones fishing cause thats what this mentality results in. We all love to fish lets protect what is left to protect and not dwell on the past that cannot be changed.

 

[brandon4455]

they dont have to poison or drain the lake tr, all they have to do is leave it at no limit on the bass for population control rather then try to create a fishery off these illegal plantings. no money gets wasted,no fish get killed . randy said it better then i did :clap: bass do have their place But wickiup isn't one of them. how would you like it if i took some giant browns and put them in one of your trophy bass fisheries and they started eating all of the bass? wouldnt feel to good would it? by supporting this illegal fishery says a lot about a person,but it mainly shows the fact that they have no regard for native fish. *bows and leaves stage*

 

[colbypearson]

randy said it better then i did :clap: bass do have their place But wickiup isn't one of them. how would you like it if i took some giant browns and put them in one of your trophy bass fisheries and they started eating all of the bass? wouldnt feel to good would it?

That would be frickin rad!

 

[brandon4455]

That would be frickin rad!

okay i guess it wouldn't be too bad, colby would just go after browns with swimbaits LOL.

 

[tomriker]

Go ahead put trout in, and they will live happily ever after with the bass, I still think browns are more detrimental than bass

 

[brandon4455]

I still think browns are more detrimental than bass

thats because you favor the bass ... bass are considered invasive, browns are just non native.

 

[TTFishon]

I think that would be a bad idea. There's state record size browns in Wickiup. I think they should welcome the bass fishery for what it is. Yeah, it sucks that some dumb ass put bass in there but they've been there now for over 20 years, maybe even 30, I don't know for sure. I know I've caught bass in CPR back in the 80's so I'm sure they've been in Wickiup for some time now.

 

[colbypearson]

then make sure nobody EVER PUTS BASS IN IT AGAIN!

:lol:

Im not for the introduction of non-native species and I understand the downfall's associated with the introduction of such species and the adverse effects they can impose. That being said and in Senko's defense a lot of Oregon's lakes are now managed as two tier fisheries, for trout as well as bass and mentioned lakes are doing great for both species. Some are managed well some arent managed up to standard in my opinion at all, and in fact a lot of the lakes that I fish are completely over-run with stunted bass and I personally wish slots would be introduced, something along the lines of 10-15 fish per day under 14'' including up to one per day over. In my area (Southern Oregon) the biggest struggle for trout is an abundance of small bass, competition for food seems to be a big factor in my eyes. The bass over populate in some lakes and it seems like they literally never grow, definition of clones. So at this point im all for the heightened limit's on bass in some lakes, with the proper restrictions I believe it would be a good thing not only for the bass but the trout as well for obvious reasons. Does this mean anything for Wickiup? no idea :lol:. Sorry for a possible thread diversion.

The topic just got me thinking about similar situations in the lakes that I fish, and I figured I would throw in a little of my own perspective on two tier fisheries, their effectiveness & downfalls.

If they've been in there for 20-30 years like TT says I wouldnt attribute the problems to the bass being there in the first place, I dont fish that area so I have little more knowledge over the topic than whats included in this thread. But if eradication is out of the question then a change in bag limitations might not be such a bad idea, I would like to look at some ODFW statistics maybe that included info like average fish size, and population numbers over the last decade then make conclusions.

 

[TTFishon]

thats because you favor the bass ... bass are considered invasive, browns are just non native.

I don't believe bass are invasive to Wickiup at all. If they were, I'd get pissed off at them because I wouldn't be able to keep them off of my hook and that's not the case at all there. The browns are the dominate species there and I think they always will be and they can coexist with the bass. I think ODFW should change the regs to favor the large browns too. Make it illegal to harvest browns over 5 pounds.

 

[Finneus Polebender]

Not cool to put agressive species into waters they do not belong in...." although ODFW seems to have no problem with opening up the bass ponds here to the river"...... However since we have the problem couldnt we go with the old school method introduce another predator to eat the invasive predators as in heck why should ODFW not set up a muskie or pike fishery, perhaps some land lock stripers . If your not gonna fix it "not that its really broken last time I checked folks catch fish there", why not make it something unique?

 

[ryan808]

It was just a matter of time since one of these threads would come around again, :lol:, the bass thread is getting interesting again.

 

[TTFishon]

I think they should kill off all of the white man too. They're invasive as hell. hahaha!!!

 

[colbypearson]

I think they should kill off all of the white man too. They're invasive as hell. hahaha!!!

:lol:

 

[Mad dog]

So....you bass bozo's are attempting to claim that the introduction of bass into wickiup will not affect the trout fishery at Wickiup? All panfish are know to overpopulate, stunt their growth and ruin a fishery, just look at Crane or Davis for example! Or the sea-run Cutt's on the Umpqua....they number in the 100's now....but what the heck! We still have 5,000 runted little smallies per mile to fish for! Howards praire reservoir is another example in a trout fishery in decline with an exploding number of dinky bass, The ODFW had to begin fall stocking of their fingerling trout to attempt to offset the preditation by the bass.

The bass in Wickiup are relatively recent in the whole scheme of things....give it some time....I'm sure they will ruin the reservoir! It's pretty much what they do to a trout fishery!

 

[Mad dog]

I think they should kill off all of the white man too. They're invasive as hell. hahaha!!!

Kill the white man?

You are a moron aren't you! Doesn't surprise that you fish for bass at all! Ya....I remember that catch and release pic you took of a Wickiup brown from the tailgate of your truck! What kind of person does that! I have my guess's!

 

[Mad dog]

You are grasping at straws and make conclusions about my opinions without knowing. First I do not like people illegally introducing fish it pisses me off they can mess with a fishery I have not once praised the idiot that did the dumping in the first place. This is not a matter of them being illegally introduced this is a matter of they are there and they need to be handled. I have not once said these fisheries are thriving due to that bass try actually reading my posts. Please tell me a reasonable way to remove the bass. Right now the bass being removed are the large ones leaving the smaller ones behind which in turn selects the smaller fish genetics resulting in fisheries like the John Day and Umpqua river that are overrun with 10" fish the push out the trout. This is what the regulation is trying to prevent by promoting a well managed population that would not do further damage to the fishery more than what has already been done. I don't think you realize that this proposed regulation would actually help protect the trout fishery from further damage. If you really want to get into it the browns kill more rainbows than the bass so I guess if you want a pure lake you need to kill them all off too. The fish are there the question is are you going to let your ideas of bass needing to be killed not only ruin a great bass fishery but also potentially damage the trout fishery your are trying to protect. Lets just ruin everyones fishing cause thats what this mentality results in. We all love to fish lets protect what is left to protect and not dwell on the past that cannot be changed.

Personally, I think you are grasping at straws!

Explain to me again how more bass create more trout? You must be using some sort of new math!

 

[Mad dog]

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

It would be interesting to correlate the current decline in bass weight with the current poputations of stickleback. I don't put much stock in the ODFW's studies, those guys may be book smart but in the field they can be soooo dumb!

Bass tournaments??? OMG!!! That is way worse than the bass!!! Nothing worse than a 100 bass boats blasting around the lake while you are stealthily attempting to persue trophy browns in shallow water! In my opinion they should not allow bass tournaments in the state of Oregon!

 

[Bassman233]

I am an avid bass fisherman from springfield, I have done some great bass fishing in Crane Prairie, but not wickiup. I am in total support of what you guys are doing, I dont think a free for all on bass is either ethical or needed. If I am not wrong, I believe they had this same issue (trout vs bass) in crane prairie about 6 years ago, and it worked its way out. I would like to know how I can help in this...please let me know.

 

[TTFishon]

Kill the white man?

You are a moron aren't you! Doesn't surprise that you fish for bass at all! Ya....I remember that catch and release pic you took of a Wickiup brown from the tailgate of your truck! What kind of person does that! I have my guess's!

No, not a moron, but I can be a smartass from time to time. lol I think you're the moron for not recognizing it. I'm the kind of person that usually keeps his browns but decided to release that 8lber and it did survive. I don't think the bass belong in Wickiup, Crane, or Davis but they're there to stay now. I suppose ODFW could try what Halfthrive suggested but the bass bucket biologists would restock it again. I also don't think they should change the regs to favor the bass either.

 

[Mad dog]

No, not a moron, but I can be a smartass from time to time. lol I think you're the moron for not recognizing it. I'm the kind of person that usually keeps his browns but decided to release that 8lber and it did survive. I don't think the bass belong in Wickiup, Crane, or Davis but they're there to stay now. I suppose ODFW could try what Halfthrive suggested but the bass bucket biologists would restock it again. I also don't think they should change the regs to favor the bass either.

Whatever dude! I found that remark offensive and racist!

This proposal is just another B.S. special interest group(The Bend area turd sucker tournamnet club or whatever it is) trying to petition the ODFW. I think the vast majority of anglers at Wickiup would prefer to fish for Kokanee and trout.