Pre-season bass fishing - ethical ? Destructive ?

First of all, it was likely a male, not a female, if there was only one fish
present. Females deposit eggs the male has built, the male then fertilizes
the eggs, and takes up watch. The female leaves. Absolutely no parental
care invested by female bass (neither smallmouth or largemouth). The male
stands guard over the eggs as well as the fry once they hatch, keeping
sunfish, minnows, and an assortment of other critters at bay until the fry
get to the size where they being to leave the nest on their own.

So - the second question to ask ...... just how many eggs or fry got gobbled
up in the 5 to 7 minutes it took for you to play the fish, land it,
photograph it, put it back, and have it return to the nest. Most scientific
studies show even a short period of time removed from the nest can result in
drastic fry predation.

Whether legal in your area or not, dedicated, concerned, and
conservation-minded anglers should seriously question whether it's ethical
to fish bedded bass, whether they should participate in such activities
themselves, and just what we want for the future of our bass fisheries.

See the following for more info :

http://www.basscanada.com/articles_p...mallmouth.html

http://afs.allenpress.com/afsonline/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1577%2F1548-8675(1997)017%3C0557:TIOCAR%3E2.3.CO%3B2

http://afs.allenpress.com/afsonline/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1577%2F1548-8675(1997)017%3C0568:PTEOAF%3E2.3.CO%3B2

http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~ael/ael_smb.html

http://aquanic.org/publicat/usda_rac/efs/srac/200fs.pdf


Here are some abstracts from scientific research papers in the book Black
Bass: Ecology, Conservation, and Management,. American Fisheries Society
Symposium 31. Edited by David P. Philipp and Mark S. Ridgway. ISBN:
1-888569-38-7. Published January 2003

The Use of Sanctuaries for Protecting Nesting Black Bass from Angling (Pages
371-378)

Cory D. Suski, Frank J. S. Phelan, Mark F. Kubacki, and David P. Philipp

Catch-and-release angling for bass during the brood-guarding stage can
induce premature nest abandonment by the male parent, resulting in loss of
the brood to predation. Significant levels of angling-induced brood loss can
cause a population-level decrease in reproductive success. If that decrease
in reproductive success translates into a decrease in recruitment, the
population density and/or size structure of the bass population may be
affected negatively. To avoid these potential problems, managers in some
parts of North America have implemented regulations designed to protect
nesting male bass while they are spawning and guarding their young. The
purpose of this study was to determine if Voluntary Bass Conservation Zones
(areas within a lake that are closed voluntarily to all angling until the
bass spawning season is over) could be used to protect these highly
vulnerable bass from angling. Our results demonstrate first that with
sufficient levels of advertisement and community enforcement, a Voluntary
Bass Conservation Zone can both reduce levels of angling for nesting bass
and increase the reproductive success of the bass population within the
zone. They demonstrate second, however, that a Voluntary Bass Conservation
Zone that is not properly enforced can actually decrease bass reproductive
success by attracting unscrupulous anglers to bass spawning areas, thereby
increasing levels of angling for nesting bass.



How Well Does a Closed Season Protect Spawning Bass in Ontario (Pages
379-386)

Mark F. Kubacki, Frank J. S. Phelan, Julie E. Claussen, and David P. Philipp

Current management strategies for largemouth and smallmouth bass sometimes
incorporate seasonal closures in spring/early summer to protect bass during
their reproductive periods. Our 12-year (1990-2001) field study investigated
how well southern Ontario's closed bass fishing season matched the
reproductive periods of nesting male largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides
and smallmouth bass M. dolomieu in two lakes and two rivers in the region.
Study areas within each system consisted of two-kilometer stretches of
shoreline in which bass reproductive activity was monitored visually by
divers. The data collected for each nesting male included species, egg
deposition date, level of mating success, duration of parental care, and
whether that male was successful or unsuccessful at producing surviving
offspring to the free-swimming independent fry stage. Our results
demonstrate that the extent of protection afforded nesting male bass through
the use of the closed season varied significantly among water bodies and
among years, reflecting the variation in spring warming rates. Smallmouth
bass guarded their broods at the nest site significantly longer than
largemouth bass and were, therefore, vulnerable to anglers longer. In
addition, visual surveys of angling activity revealed that angler
noncompliance with this regulation was common and even pervasive at some
sites. The annual and geographic variation in the extent of protection
afforded by the uniform seasonal closure indicates that a refinement of that
regulation may be beneficial. Furthermore, the substantial levels of
preseason angling observed in several of the study sites indicate that some
other method of protection (e.g., sanctuaries or total closed seasons) may
be more effective in many instances.

most dribble removed

"Shawn" wrote in message
...
First of all, it was likely a male, not a female, if there was only one
fish
present. Females deposit eggs the male has built, the male then
fertilizes
the eggs, and takes up watch. The female leaves. Absolutely no parental
care invested by female bass (neither smallmouth or largemouth). The male
stands guard over the eggs as well as the fry once they hatch, keeping
sunfish, minnows, and an assortment of other critters at bay until the fry
get to the size where they being to leave the nest on their own.

So - the second question to ask ...... just how many eggs or fry got
gobbled
up in the 5 to 7 minutes it took for you to play the fish, land it,
photograph it, put it back, and have it return to the nest. Most
scientific
studies show even a short period of time removed from the nest can result
in
drastic fry predation.

Also consider how many lakes get stocked by people, how many fewer people
remove fish from lakes as they can buy food at the local store, and a thing
called "nature". Ignoring all that, I think you _might_ have a point.