Fish care during the spawn

[Champ188]

Seems to be a popular practice to temporarily put fish in the livewell and take group photos of them at the end of the trip. That's not the best thing to be doing this time of year ... if ever.

For every fish we see on nests, there are at least that many more bedded a bit deeper that we never know were caught from a bed. To put them in the livewell and cart them around the lake for a few hours disrupts the spawning process. If it happens to be a male that was guarding, that nest and anything it might have produced is history.

Not criticizing or calling anyone out ... just saying that OA members are on the lake as much as anyone and there is nothing better we can do to give ourselves a good name than to set the bar high in terms of fish care.

[chi0082]

I never understood why anyone did that. So they can show off to other boats at the ramp? Show off to their buddies in other boats? To people on shore?  I mean what gives! Take a pic and release as quickly and carefully as possible. No need to stress out the fish anymore than you have to. 

[m&m]

Champ, I was wondering the same thing.  You are correct about the fragile nature of the spawning process. If you ever see me post a picture of more than one fish at a time, you have my permission to call me out.

Mike

[176champion]

With all the tournaments going on and the weekend warriors, this has to impact the fish on Table Rock pretty hard, especially in the reproduction of fish. I have often thought why they didnt have a season on fish like they do other wild life. Like close Bass fishing during spawning season ti give them a fighting chance to reproduce...i understand that this would make if rough on the guy's that fish for a living like Bill and Phill, but could make fishing better in the long run......just a thought all...not trying to stir anything up.

[Longball22]

That is an interesting suggestion, but would definitely be a hard one to implement, and even harder to police.  Unfortunately, if you're catfishing, panfishing, etc, you're more than likely going to inadvertently catch a bass, or several.  We can have a paddlefish "season" because we don't catch many paddlefish while bass fishing (though it does happen).

Putting an overall moratorium on fishing during the some of the best fishing month(s) of the year would more than likely anger the people you're trying to protect, as well as drop revenue for the area during this timeframe.  The other question becomes when does it start, and when does it end?  If you make all of April and May off limits, I'm selling my bass boat and buying the biggest wake boat I can find!  (insert sarcasm here)

The only "reasonable solution" along the lines you are thinking, in my opinion, would be to make the possession limit zero during the "spawn timeframe".  This would make it legal to catch, but not to keep.  This would make a ramp picture illegal during that time frame.  This also takes tournaments off the table, because they couldn't carry fish to a weigh in.  I'm not advocating, just saying this is probably the path of least resistance.

I'd say it would be an uphill battle at the very least. 

 

[mjk86]

1 hour ago, 176champion said:

With all the tournaments going on and the weekend warriors, this has to impact the fish on Table Rock pretty hard, especially in the reproduction of fish. I have often thought why they didnt have a season on fish like they do other wild life. Like close Bass fishing during spawning season ti give them a fighting chance to reproduce...i understand that this would make if rough on the guy's that fish for a living like Bill and Phill, but could make fishing better in the long run......just a thought all...not trying to stir anything up.

Cant close fishing for 1 species and not the rest.  You can regulate how many and what species fish are kept, but there is no way to say "you cant fish for bass during the spawn, but you can still fish for other species".  Folks can always claim that their bass are a "by catch" and they were targeting another species.  The only way would be to close fishing entirely on table rock lake.

It is very reasonable to ask those, who are planning to release fish,  to not drag them all around the lake when they are in spawning mode, as it can negate the fishes ability to guard eggs.  I dont know of any actual data regarding how all these tournaments in april effect bass proliferation, but in theory catching several off of beds would have a negative impact on the population.  That being said, it is obvious that the bass population in table rock is chugging along quite nicely, and i cant imagine there is anymore pressure on the lake now than there has been in the last five years.  So, empirical evidence indicates that the population is doing just fine despite heavy fishing pressure during the spawn.

[abkeenan]

3 hours ago, mjk86 said:

Cant close fishing for 1 species and not the rest.  You can regulate how many and what species fish are kept, but there is no way to say "you cant fish for bass during the spawn, but you can still fish for other species".  Folks can always claim that their bass are a "by catch" and they were targeting another species.  The only way would be to close fishing entirely on table rock lake.

It is very reasonable to ask those, who are planning to release fish,  to not drag them all around the lake when they are in spawning mode, as it can negate the fishes ability to guard eggs.  I dont know of any actual data regarding how all these tournaments in april effect bass proliferation, but in theory catching several off of beds would have a negative impact on the population.  That being said, it is obvious that the bass population in table rock is chugging along quite nicely, and i cant imagine there is anymore pressure on the lake now than there has been in the last five years.  So, empirical evidence indicates that the population is doing just fine despite heavy fishing pressure during the spawn.

This isn't true and it can, and is, done on Northern lakes. You can have a season for anything that is able to be harvested just like deer, turkey, etc. I wouldn't mind a restricted season on Table Rock, say mid April til mid/late May where no bass are to be harvested. Sure you can fish for them but they should be released immediately. Before that time period and after that time period would be just as it is now in the current MDC regulations. Why would you not be able to do it for a specific species? Would be simple to do so.

[m&m]

Michigan has a season for Bass. And they singled out Lake St. Clair and a couple of rivers.  When I lived there I didn't realize it until I read the regulations.  Of course sometimes the ice is still there in May but most years the lakes in the lower half of the state are soft water.

Mike

Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass:

Catch-and-immediate-release on all waters: Open for Entire Year (2016 & 2017)

Catch-and-keep on all waters, including Great Lakes: May 28 – December 31 (2016) & May 27 – December 31 (2017)

Catch-and-keep on Lake St. Clair & St. Clair & Detroit Rivers: June 18 – December 31 (2016) & June 17 – December 31 (2017)

Mike

 

[mjk86]

1 hour ago, abkeenan said:

This isn't true and it can, and is, done on Northern lakes. You can have a season for anything that is able to be harvested just like deer, turkey, etc. I wouldn't mind a restricted season on Table Rock, say mid April til mid/late May where no bass are to be harvested. Sure you can fish for them but they should be released immediately. Before that time period and after that time period would be just as it is now in the current MDC regulations. Why would you not be able to do it for a specific species? Would be simple to do so.

I think you may have misunderstood my post.  Yes...you can indeed restrict harvest, or possession limits as you mentioned, however,  you cant close bass fishing in general on a body of water...but allow fishing for other species or people will just bass fish and claim to be fishing for something else.

[MOPanfisher]

Those highwater years have done more for the successful reproduction of bass than all the release of spawning fish combined.  I have no issue with  continuing  to vocally call for CPR of bass during the spawn but to lobby for a law restricting posession of legal bass (which would never happen anyway) is an example of a solution searching for a problem.