|
|
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Hey,
Getting cabin fever and doing some research on some local lakes by me, in anticipation of spring fishing, if it ever gets here. Anyway, I found this information very interesting. It discusses how Bass move if caught in one location and released in another. Such as in Bass tournaments where a lot of anglers catch Bass in one area, take them to weigh in only to be released possibly miles from home, or in an entirely different system altogether. The possible implications are food for thought, such as Bass populations declining in a particular watershed to a point of where it could effect the entire balance of the system, simply by releasing the fish in another location. It's rare that they make it back home after weigh in. As they suggest in the article, it might be a better way to go by having multiple weigh in locations during heavy tournament season. Anyway, as I said, it's food for thought and an interesting read. To tell you the truth, I never really thought about it, but I probably should have. Maybe we should start taking more responsibility when it comes to fishing if were not C&R ing directly after the catch? http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/publi.../largebass.pdf Thoughts? Opinions? Doug |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
"Tournament anglers generally assume released fish return to locations
where they were caught" Gotta wonder where he got that bit of research - not from Georgia tournament fishermen, I guarentee you. And to base his whole study on a total of 9 bass, and those not caught in a tournament but shocked up - why didn't he track tournament caught fish? And such a small sample is not very informative. Also the study might be informative about a natural Indiana lake but not sure it would apply to a big reservoir. I have no doubt we stock some areas of the lakes we fish and somewhat deplete others, but here in Georgia we might have a dozen club tournaments on any given lake any weekend day and they are scattered all over the lake at different ramps. Some lakes, like Eufaula, have a concentration of fish released in one area, Lake Point, and it has caused some problems but bigger tournaments have been using release boats to scatter them some. I like to fish areas where a lot of bass are released. Sometimes it pays off. Ronnie http://fishing.about.com |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
"Doug" wrote in message news:dbCxj.3439$my3.1218@trndny06... Hey, Getting cabin fever and doing some research on some local lakes by me, in anticipation of spring fishing, if it ever gets here. Anyway, I found this information very interesting. It discusses how Bass move if caught in one location and released in another. Such as in Bass tournaments where a lot of anglers catch Bass in one area, take them to weigh in only to be released possibly miles from home, or in an entirely different system altogether. The possible implications are food for thought, such as Bass populations declining in a particular watershed to a point of where it could effect the entire balance of the system, simply by releasing the fish in another location. It's rare that they make it back home after weigh in. As they suggest in the article, it might be a better way to go by having multiple weigh in locations during heavy tournament season. Anyway, as I said, it's food for thought and an interesting read. To tell you the truth, I never really thought about it, but I probably should have. Maybe we should start taking more responsibility when it comes to fishing if were not C&R ing directly after the catch? http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/publi.../largebass.pdf It's borderline interesting reading, but I agree with Ronnie, nine fish isn't enough to determine any kind of statistical certainty. -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Doug wrote:
The possible implications are food for thought, such as Bass populations declining in a particular watershed to a point of where it could effect the entire balance of the system, simply by releasing the fish in another location. It's rare that they make it back home after weigh in. http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/publi.../largebass.pdf Thoughts? Opinions? Doug I'm really taxing my rememberer here,(do you smell wood burning?) but I seem to recall an article several years back on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website about tagging bass to see if they hung around weigh-ins at Lake Fork. I've tried searching for the article but can't locate it. This study showed them returning to the area they were caught in rather quickly, even when released miles away. It impressed me because I had expected the opposite result. |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
"Ronnie" wrote in message ... "Tournament anglers generally assume released fish return to locations where they were caught" Gotta wonder where he got that bit of research - not from Georgia tournament fishermen, I guarentee you. And to base his whole study on a total of 9 bass, and those not caught in a tournament but shocked up - why didn't he track tournament caught fish? And such a small sample is not very informative. Also the study might be informative about a natural Indiana lake but not sure it would apply to a big reservoir. I agree, that only 9 bass in one state would NOT be an ample sample pool to draw a conclusion, but he does reference other study's done in different parts of North America on Pages 10-12 of the study material. For some reason, it seems that all of the other study's were done with a limited number of fish, maybe due to the cost, or hassle of fitting so many with transmitters? Don't know.... Although, It would be interesting to see how tournement fish relate to their release sites as you mention. I have no doubt we stock some areas of the lakes we fish and somewhat deplete others, but here in Georgia we might have a dozen club tournaments on any given lake any weekend day and they are scattered all over the lake at different ramps. Some lakes, like Eufaula, have a concentration of fish released in one area, Lake Point, and it has caused some problems but bigger tournaments have been using release boats to scatter them some. Seems to me that someone did a little homework and found, or suspected at least, that this might be an issue, or they wouldn't be releasing them in different area's with a designated boat for that purpose. Or it might just be the fish need a re-coop time before they make the journey home, as the study states, which would make them more susceptible to more anglers. I'll have to do a little more digging on the subject, cause for some reason, this really intrigues me. It's been a loooooooong winter bro, and I"m gettin' "The Itch" I like to fish areas where a lot of bass are released. Sometimes it pays off. This reminds me of the trout derby we have here, the DNR pulls up in a big truck at a designated release site, dumps its load and the fishermen dig in. I find it amazing that fish, after all that shock and trama, will still bite our offerings, but God love em! Ronnie http://fishing.about.com Doug |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Henry Hefner wrote:
Doug wrote: The possible implications are food for thought, such as Bass populations declining in a particular watershed to a point of where it could effect the entire balance of the system, simply by releasing the fish in another location. It's rare that they make it back home after weigh in. http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/publi.../largebass.pdf Thoughts? Opinions? Doug I'm really taxing my rememberer here,(do you smell wood burning?) but I seem to recall an article several years back on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website about tagging bass to see if they hung around weigh-ins at Lake Fork. I've tried searching for the article but can't locate it. This study showed them returning to the area they were caught in rather quickly, even when released miles away. It impressed me because I had expected the opposite result. Found it, sort of. It wasn't TPWD, I read it on the Texas Fishing Forum. I posted about it here on 3/25/04. Here's a copy/paste: I just read an interesting post on TFF about bass behavior. copy/paste: Jesse Parker did a survey on Lake Fork several years ago. He had a study of several dozen trophy fish. He advertised a bounty for any bass between 10 and 13 pounds that did not qualify for Share a Lunker program. He had the angler complete a survey and then had local business donate money for the fiberglass reproduction of the fish. He then tagged the bass and released them all from the same location. On the tag was a bounty for any angler who caught the fish again. The second angler then completed the same survey, un-aware of the the first survey. They were paid cash money for the second bounty as well. The results were incredible. The first fish to be re-caught was caught three days later. She had travel 17 miles by water, caught within casting distance of her first catch. Over the course of the next year, the majority of these fish were re-caught. The results were almost identical for the most part. The vast majority of the fish, came from the same area, during the same lunar cycle, and most often, caught on the same or very similar type bait. The results were published in an Angler's Choice magazine back in 1997 or so. I know Jesse personally and he let me review the surveys one evening himself. It was quite incredible. Due to the expense of the program, it only lasted one year. But when you have two anglers who complete the same survey with no knowledge of what the other one said, it was remarkable. It really opened my eyes to how fish migrated and responded to tournament pressure. |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Some of the posts got me to wondering....there are three unconnected
lakes here, and I have been putting some of the bigger bass I catch from the back lake, into the lake in front of my cabin. I have never seen a dead bass in any of the lakes, so I figured they were adjusting to a different home. Do you guys think there is any reason I shouldn't be doing this? John B |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
|
Interesting Study of Bass movements
John B wrote:
Some of the posts got me to wondering....there are three unconnected lakes here, and I have been putting some of the bigger bass I catch from the back lake, into the lake in front of my cabin. I have never seen a dead bass in any of the lakes, so I figured they were adjusting to a different home. Do you guys think there is any reason I shouldn't be doing this? John B I know several people that have moved large bass into their private ponds and caught them again later, apparently in good shape. |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Is it against the DNR rules? IIRC, in WI it is, unless it is into a private lake. Dan ======== They are all private lakes, under one ownership. And I have legal control of the property. My only question was the welfare of the bass. We allow fishing in the lakes with permission....but a lot of people don't realize that they need a license to fish a private lake here in Kentucky (except for the owner of the lake). Some people get an unpleasnat surprise when the FGD shows up unexpectedly! :) Thanks for the input! John B |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
|
Interesting Study of Bass movements
On Feb 28, 7:46*pm, (John B) wrote:
Some of the posts got me to wondering....there are three unconnected lakes here, and I have been putting some of the bigger bass I catch from the back lake, into the lake in front of my cabin. I have never seen a dead bass in any of the lakes, so I figured they were adjusting to a different home. Do you guys think there is any reason I shouldn't be doing this? John B Any lake can support a certain number of pounds per acre of bass. Most lakes are pretty much stable. If you move bigger bass, something has to give. It might be a 10 pound bass replaces ten one pound bass - fine until that 10 pounder dies and there is not one growing to replace it. Moving a few big bass may not make much difference in a fairly large body of water. And you can increase the number of pounds per acre by raising the fertility of the lake. Ronnie http://fishing.about.com |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Any lake can support a certain number of pounds per acre of bass. Most lakes are pretty much stable. If you move bigger bass, something has to give. It might be a 10 pound bass replaces ten one pound bass - fine until that 10 pounder dies and there is not one growing to replace it. Moving a few big bass may not make much difference in a fairly large body of water. And you can increase the number of pounds per acre by raising the fertility of the lake. Ronnie http://fishing.about.com ======= Thanks Ronnie, I will probably stop doing it...for the reasons you and Dan gave. Actually there are more bass in all three lakes than there probably should be. I catch tons of 1-2 lb. bass, and the occasional 4-6 lb. ones. The biggest bass caught since I've been here was just over 8 lbs., and a few people have told me some 10 lb. ones have been caught in the small back lake. Thanks for all the input guys! P.S., it was almost 60 degrees and sunny today, and I caught 6 bass this morning...getting ready to try the late afternoon bite right now! :) John B |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
On Mar 1, 4:55*pm, (John B) wrote:
Any lake can support a certain number of pounds per acre of bass. Most lakes are pretty much stable. If you move bigger bass, something has to give. It might be a 10 pound bass replaces ten one pound bass - fine until that 10 pounder dies and there is not one growing to replace it. Moving a few big bass may not make much difference in a fairly large body of water. And you can increase the number of pounds per acre by raising the fertility of the lake. Ronnie ======= Thanks Ronnie, I will probably stop doing it...for the reasons you and Dan gave. Actually there are more bass in all three lakes than there probably should be. I catch tons of 1-2 lb. bass, and the occasional 4-6 lb. ones. The biggest bass caught since I've been here was just over 8 lbs., and a few people have told me some 10 lb. ones have been caught in the small back lake. Thanks for all the input guys! P.S., it was almost 60 degrees and sunny today, and I caught 6 bass this morning...getting ready to try the late afternoon bite right now! :) John B You might get the state DNR to check your lake and give you some advice on management. That is a free service here in Georgia and they can offer ideas. Ronnie http://fishing.about.com |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
John, shut up with the temp talk. * g http://tinyurl.com/29eq5f Dan ======== After reading that 10 day forecast...I put my jacket on! :) We had some cold weather last week, but I have the best of all worlds...the lake in front of my cabin is just 15 feet from my front door, I can run in and get warm, and go back out again. :) But cheer up...springs is just 21 days away! grin John |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
You might get the state DNR to check your lake and give you some advice on management. That is a free service here in Georgia and they can offer ideas. Ronnie http://fishing.about.com ======= Ronnie, They did that a few years back, and all three lakes got a "Thumbs up", on species balance, and quality of the lakes in general....with the exception of turtles, we have a few too many of those critters! :) Crappie fishing is great, and the kids catch all the blue gill they can handle. There have been some 15+ cats taken out of the lakes, and as far as I'm concerned, the bass fishing is almost as much fun as "sex" (just kiddin')! I love it...just didn't want to mess anything up with my "transplanting" thing. Thanks for all the information! John |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
Doug,
Interesting indeed. Here's a personal observation shared by a lot of guys in this area. We used to fish a not so pretty place called the Calumet River which flows out of Lake Mich. Many years ago we caught limits and double limits of 3, 4 & 5 lb. fish. Some feel and I tend to agree, that after the Bass Masters Classic held here (and prob one of the worst in history) that the fish never really returned to the river. Many were released into lake Mich and subsequent tourneys did much of the same. I dont' know if there's any truth to it all, but it seemed the pressure got up after that and the release site for several tourney's even went across the border into Ind. The fishing in the river was never the same after that big event and it's subsequent spotlight on the river. Just a thought. -- God Bless America Josh The Bad Bear |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:35:26 -0500, "Joshuall"
wrote: Doug, Interesting indeed. Here's a personal observation shared by a lot of guys in this area. We used to fish a not so pretty place called the Calumet River which flows out of Lake Mich. Many years ago we caught limits and double limits of 3, 4 & 5 lb. fish. Some feel and I tend to agree, that after the Bass Masters Classic held here (and prob one of the worst in history) that the fish never really returned to the river. Many were released into lake Mich and subsequent tourneys did much of the same. I dont' know if there's any truth to it all, but it seemed the pressure got up after that and the release site for several tourney's even went across the border into Ind. The fishing in the river was never the same after that big event and it's subsequent spotlight on the river. Just a thought. Ever give any thought to the fact that all the publicity brought out many more people fishing for Bass including people that eat them? Dan |
Interesting Study of Bass movements
I've actually dove into this subject with other DNR's of various states, and
the conclusion seems to be the same in case studies. Some are inconclusive while others show no doubt to the result. While it seems that some(Bass) inevitably return, a lot don't, and the ones that don't can in fact affect the watershed. It seems that a large single system has much better results with Bass returning than a water system with channels and connected lakes, but even then, some still do not return, but stay in the area of their release. Most DNR's it seems agree that there's not enough evidence yet to conclude to what degree it effects any one body of water, hence no laws to govern this formally yet. Josh, I am familiar with the Calumet River, and the little, and I've fished that often for a few years, but now it's been a few years since I've been there. Good Steelhead and salmon run there! Or it used to be anyway. It's funny that I've never fished for Bass there, it just never really struck me as a good Bass hole! Now that's interesting! No matter what the cause of the decline of fishing anywhere, it's a bad thing all the way around when a local hole gets ate up. But it would be good knowledge to know whether it was the fishing pressure, as Dan suggested, or the catch and release that were the culprit for the decline. Either way, it has been negatively impacted by the tournament, it seems. I'm not downing the tournament fishermen, (hell, I fish a local here and there) but maybe some rethinking can be done to minimize the impact that it might have on a particular watershed. Personally, I would like to think I could take my kids to some of the same fishing holes I've enjoyed over the years, and know there's still some nice ones in there to catch. In a single large body of water, it's not as much of an issue, but in connected body's, it COULD be. Kindest regards, And as always, Tight Lines, Doug 57 Degree's and rising today! Not much ice left! yippee!! "Dan, danl" wrote in message ... On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:35:26 -0500, "Joshuall" wrote: Doug, Interesting indeed. Here's a personal observation shared by a lot of guys in this area. We used to fish a not so pretty place called the Calumet River which flows out of Lake Mich. Many years ago we caught limits and double limits of 3, 4 & 5 lb. fish. Some feel and I tend to agree, that after the Bass Masters Classic held here (and prob one of the worst in history) that the fish never really returned to the river. Many were released into lake Mich and subsequent tourneys did much of the same. I dont' know if there's any truth to it all, but it seemed the pressure got up after that and the release site for several tourney's even went across the border into Ind. The fishing in the river was never the same after that big event and it's subsequent spotlight on the river. Just a thought. Ever give any thought to the fact that all the publicity brought out many more people fishing for Bass including people that eat them? Dan |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:18 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2006 FishingBanter