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

"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

"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

"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

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.

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.

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

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:46:53 -0600, (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

Is it against the DNR rules? IIRC, in WI it is, unless it is into a
private lake.

Dan

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

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.