Killing bass?

On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:42:40 -0700, Olebiker wrote:

On Jun 7, 1:15 pm, forthesky wrote:
The Fact is, if you are bothered by the sight of seeing someone
legally catch a legal size and legal limit of fish and KEEP them, you
DON'T belong behind a fishing rod.

What's legal isn't always a good idea. One of the 20 acre lakes in my
neighborhood was almost completely stripped of bass one summer by a
couple of guys who kept every legal bass they caught. These two guys
fished almost every day and, for the first few weeks, caught legal
limits of five to eight pound fish nearly every time they went out.

They broke no laws, but the lake never recovered it's bass stock.

There is no way 2 guys or even 20 could "fish out" even a small lake.
maybe a tiny "pond". I know this because I have tried. About 15 of us
(friends and cousins) found a pond/swamp (less than 3 acres) about 5
miles hike through snake country from the nearest access road. We all
fish it super hard for two years now and have not decimated I, every
year sees about the same level of bass.
I believe there is no way a Lake could be "fished out". Here in PA
whenever a lake or dam (and we have small ones too) gets low on fish,
The PFBC slaps a "big bass" limitation and reduced creel limit into
effect and usually within two years the fish stock is back up. And
that is with literally hundreds if not thousands of anglers using the
lake or dam. If your state has no such wildlife conservation in effect
, then perhaps your states anglers should push for better management.

I fish a certain trout stream that has a two mile stretch that is C&R
only. The first day of trout season this year My daughter and I fished
just downstream of this stretch. By noon we had counted 59
dead/dyeing/seriously distress trout go by, not many of which were
under 15 inches. Fortunately there was a flock of Amish children
scooping the floaters up with nets (illegal but much better than the
alternative). I have watched anglers take upwards of five minutes to
free a fish from their hook and then flop it into the water and watch
it float away with a confident look that they did the right thing. I
have seen too many anglers rip their spinner from a bass with all
force they could muster, just to hurriedly get back into it cause the
bass are "really hittin".
again I must say
The Fact is, if you are bothered by the sight of seeing someone
legally catch a legal size and legal limit of fish and KEEP them, you
DON'T belong behind a fishing rod.

Forthesky
Western PA

On Jun 7, 8:18 pm, forthesky wrote:

There is no way 2 guys or even 20 could "fish out" even a small lake.
maybe a tiny "pond".

You seem pretty sure of that from 1,000 miles away. Lake Blue Heron
is drained right now to repair the dam and scrape the years of
accumulated muck off the bottom. During the time period that these
two guys caught all of the breeding sized bass is was extremely
shallow and had no natural cover. It was just a bowl. The guys built
five "fish attractors" that concentrated the fish in those five areas
and made them easy picking.

I believe there is no way a Lake could be "fished out".

You are hiding your head in the sand.

Here in PA
whenever a lake or dam (and we have small ones too) gets low on fish,
The PFBC slaps a "big bass" limitation and reduced creel limit into
effect and usually within two years the fish stock is back up. And
that is with literally hundreds if not thousands of anglers using the
lake or dam. If your state has no such wildlife conservation in effect
, then perhaps your states anglers should push for better management.

Florida's laws allow a fisherman to keep one bass a day over 22 inches
and up to five total over 12 inches. That law is effective except in
such an extreme case.

again I must say
The Fact is, if you are bothered by the sight of seeing someone
legally catch a legal size and legal limit of fish and KEEP them, you
DON'T belong behind a fishing rod.

Your reading comprehension is poor, isn't it?

Your reading comprehension is poor, isn't it?

No, but neither is your sarcasm and self-righteousness. But that was
an almost good shot at someone when your argument was getting weak.

In extreme cases I guess anything is possible. But for your poor
reading abilities I will simplify. I am talking about the C&R guy that
thinks the taking of ANY fish is a shameful act. I am NOT talking
about extreme cases of abuse or waste. FWIW you come off as a person
who must think he is right about everything and feels very important,
so I am sure you will have something witty and sarcastic to reply
with. my hat's off to you prince olebiker, all hail the prince.

Forthesky
Western PA

On Jun 7, 9:00 pm, forthesky wrote:
Your reading comprehension is poor, isn't it?

No, but neither is your sarcasm and self-righteousness. But that was
an almost good shot at someone when your argument was getting weak.

In extreme cases I guess anything is possible. But for your poor
reading abilities I will simplify. I am talking about the C&R guy that
thinks the taking of ANY fish is a shameful act. I am NOT talking
about extreme cases of abuse or waste. FWIW you come off as a person
who must think he is right about everything and feels very important,
so I am sure you will have something witty and sarcastic to reply
with. my hat's off to you prince olebiker, all hail the prince.

Forthesky
Western PA

Lets try this one more time: I have no problem with a guy keeping a
few small bass to eat. My problem is with the guys who kill our
breeding stock.

Lets try this one more time: I have no problem with a guy keeping a
few small bass to eat. My problem is with the guys who kill our
breeding stock.

Please define what you mean by "few small" and "breeding stock". would
you prefer 100 lunkers or 200 15 inchers in a given body of water?

On Jun 7, 11:40 pm, forthesky wrote:
Lets try this one more time: I have no problem with a guy keeping a
few small bass to eat. My problem is with the guys who kill our
breeding stock.

Please define what you mean by "few small" and "breeding stock". would
you prefer 100 lunkers or 200 15 inchers in a given body of water?

Here in Florida, I would consider a 12 to 15 inch bass to be a
candidate for the skillet if you chose to eat bass.

Here's some information from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission:
"Age and Growth - Growth rates are highly variable with differences
attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season.
Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach
trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male
bass. Males seldom exceed 16 inches, while females frequently surpass
22 inches. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of
males. One-year old bass average about seven inches in length and grow
to an adult size of 10 inches in about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years."

If you limit yourself to bass under 15 inches you are less likely to
be catching and killing a breeding sized female.

On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:57:36 -0700, Olebiker wrote:

On Jun 7, 11:40 pm, forthesky wrote:
Lets try this one more time: I have no problem with a guy keeping a
few small bass to eat. My problem is with the guys who kill our
breeding stock.

Please define what you mean by "few small" and "breeding stock". would
you prefer 100 lunkers or 200 15 inchers in a given body of water?

Here in Florida, I would consider a 12 to 15 inch bass to be a
candidate for the skillet if you chose to eat bass.

Here's some information from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission:
"Age and Growth - Growth rates are highly variable with differences
attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season.
Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach
trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male
bass. Males seldom exceed 16 inches, while females frequently surpass
22 inches. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of
males. One-year old bass average about seven inches in length and grow
to an adult size of 10 inches in about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years."

If you limit yourself to bass under 15 inches you are less likely to
be catching and killing a breeding sized female.


well there might be the problem. It seems florida has it all
backwards. Here in PA when a lake starts to get "fished out" they slap
"big bass" regulations in effect. "big bass" means you can ONLY keep
bass OVER 15 inches. This has worked superbly here in PA with Lake
recovery time at about a year or so. All or lakes up here are full of
bass, and i mean FULL. So if the lakes in florida are stressed, maybe
it has to do with florida's backwards (at least from PA law)
guidelines.