Aunts 5/20

[m&m]

My thought is that a 2004 study might not be as accurate in 2017. My other thought is that if you know you are going to release the fish, why put them under stress in a live well just to release them later? I'm not sure if it hurts the fish population but common sense tells me that it cannot help it. IMHO 

Mike

[misfitfishingco]

1 hour ago, m&m said:

My thought is that a 2004 study might not be as accurate in 2017. My other thought is that if you know you are going to release the fish, why put them under stress in a live well just to release them later? I'm not sure if it hurts the fish population but common sense tells me that it cannot help it. IMHO 

Mike

Mike, 

We were running a small buddy tournament with two other boats (friends) for fun, making the livewell a necessary component. Using best management practices when handling fish is imperative to the mortality rate which is truly the larger issue, however by utilizing these practices to insure the health and well-being of the fish, this tends to not be as much of an issue. All fish were released and immediately swam off without a hitch. If you are truly interested in these effects from more recent articles, let me know as I have numerous articles that support the findings from the 2004 article mentioned previously. Here is a quote from 2014 from Florida biologist Bob Wattendorf:

"Because bass drop so many eggs, it's only necessary for a few fish in any lake to successfully spawn. If each parent pair have only two offspring that survive to spawning age, only once in their lifetime, the lake population remains stable--but a big female may drop over 40,000 eggs each year over spawns a few different times and different areas. And since the fish spawn over an 8 to 10 year life span, having enough young fish is rarely a problem--that's why it's not usually possible to greatly improve fishing by stocking fingerling bass. Unless there's lots of habitat not being used by other fish, the extra fish won't do well."

Understand I am not trying to be argumentative, but rather am using professional research to further my understanding and wanting to share that with this community. 

If people deny the research, then they need to move forward and make a motion for closing bass fishing during the spawn. 

[jpb2187]

Nice bags... Care to share any details on your bite. Main lake stuff? Secondary? 

[misfitfishingco]

41 minutes ago, jpb2187 said:

Nice bags... Care to share any details on your bite. Main lake stuff? Secondary? 

All our fish came on points and mouths of spawning coves. 8-12 FOW. Misfit Fishing Co. Spinnerbait 1/2oz

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

Dang we almost made it through the month of May without this topic coming up.  

[m&m]

Misfitfishingco, I didn't take your response as argumentative and you certainly don't have to explain anything to me. Sounds like you guys had a pretty good outing. I enjoy a friendly tourney amongst a couple of buddies. That is why I enjoy the OAF tourney. I am not for a blackout period but I am in favor of a big bass format rather than a quantity tourney. Just my opinion and I don't fault anyone for quantity fishing. All is good. 

Mike

[marcus]

I saw some guys cleaning some nice smallies at kings cove resort made me sad poor fish.....that's what the crappie are for .....its a shame .....smallie lives matter 

[misfitfishingco]

1 minute ago, marcus said:

I saw some guys cleaning some nice smallies at kings cove resort made me sad poor fish.....that's what the crappie are for .....its a shame .....smallie lives matter 

Bass are friends, not food.

[Champ188]

Misfitfishingco,

First, thanks for taking my post in the spirit it was intended and also for the informative article. As one who speaks out often for bass conservation, I pretty much owe it to those who endure these posts to at least know what I'm talking about. So I try to read everything credible that I can on the subject.

Second, the fact that you guys were holding a contest changes everything. I fished tournaments for 35 years and still toss my hat in the ring on occasion, and although I'd like to see fewer of them on Table Rock, they are a fact of life. Two boats or 200, tournaments are here to stay.

As for fishing during the spawn, I'd be all for closing a certain section of the lake each year on a rotating basis. Not the entire lake and not even half of it ... just a section.

Anyway, glad to have you guys on the forum and thanks for the report. 

 

[Champ188]

15 minutes ago, misfitfishingco said:

Bass are friends, not food.

Amen, and legal or not, you can only eat them once.