Keeper bass

RichZ wrote:


I understand what you're saying, but in the spirit of friendly debate, I
would suggest that it comes from the perspective of fisheries managers who
by their nature tend to view fisheries as something that requires human
intervention in the form of 'management'. Think of a virgin fishery. No
catch, no release, no harvest, no interference from man (IE, no management).
Ever see one that was overpopulated with stunted fish?

Absolutely, we have a non accessible creek close to my home, for a
hundred years that creek was DEAD, well 25 years ago they cleaned it up,
the problem is there is little access to it, no one fishes it's length,
it's a tough canoe trip and takes two days to run from one access to the
next.

WE did that last year, we caught over a 100 bass a day, (each of us did)
none were over 1 1/2 lbs, 98% of them were under 12 inches

WE have another creek the same size as this one, that has multiple
accesses,, you see cars parked at every bridge and trails along it's
bank, I regularly catch 4 to 5 lb spots out of it, with most bass
running over 15 inches


One thing here that has been forgotten about in a true natural balance,
in nature there are many fish removed from to the water, by animals of
the land, these predators are rare now, none really around here, as our
bears have been gone for over 150 years, we have just a hand full of
bald eagles, very, very few giant river otters, now we do have a lot of
snakes that eat the very small fish.

God balanced the waters to supply food for the land creatures, as it is
now, we are the only real land creatures to take those fish out. So to
get a true natural balance we need to restock our bears, and otters, and
alligators (the gators have not returned this far north)

Everyone that I know that deals with lakes, and fishing is aware of
this, except for tree hugging PETA crazies, and bass fishermen that like
to catch a bass, every cast, regardless of size.
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

RichZ wrote:


I understand what you're saying, but in the spirit of friendly debate, I
would suggest that it comes from the perspective of fisheries managers who
by their nature tend to view fisheries as something that requires human
intervention in the form of 'management'. Think of a virgin fishery. No
catch, no release, no harvest, no interference from man (IE, no management).
Ever see one that was overpopulated with stunted fish?

Absolutely, we have a non accessible creek close to my home, for a
hundred years that creek was DEAD, well 25 years ago they cleaned it up,
the problem is there is little access to it, no one fishes it's length,
it's a tough canoe trip and takes two days to run from one access to the
next.

WE did that last year, we caught over a 100 bass a day, (each of us did)
none were over 1 1/2 lbs, 98% of them were under 12 inches

WE have another creek the same size as this one, that has multiple
accesses,, you see cars parked at every bridge and trails along it's
bank, I regularly catch 4 to 5 lb spots out of it, with most bass
running over 15 inches


One thing here that has been forgotten about in a true natural balance,
in nature there are many fish removed from to the water, by animals of
the land, these predators are rare now, none really around here, as our
bears have been gone for over 150 years, we have just a hand full of
bald eagles, very, very few giant river otters, now we do have a lot of
snakes that eat the very small fish.

God balanced the waters to supply food for the land creatures, as it is
now, we are the only real land creatures to take those fish out. So to
get a true natural balance we need to restock our bears, and otters, and
alligators (the gators have not returned this far north)

Everyone that I know that deals with lakes, and fishing is aware of
this, except for tree hugging PETA crazies, and bass fishermen that like
to catch a bass, every cast, regardless of size.
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

At last, a comrade!

Warren

"RichZ" wrote in message
...
Shawn wrote:
in some areas of North
America, the "catch-and-release" philosophy was almost having the
opposite
effect as people were thinking, in that decreased harvest was resulting
in
more bass, but smaller in overall size, bordering on "stunting" in some
populations because of limited food resource availability.


I understand what you're saying, but in the spirit of friendly debate, I
would suggest that it comes from the perspective of fisheries managers who
by their nature tend to view fisheries as something that requires human
intervention in the form of 'management'. Think of a virgin fishery. No
catch, no release, no harvest, no interference from man (IE, no
management).
Ever see one that was overpopulated with stunted fish? If you did, you
would
probably suspect the forage base as the problem.

Adding 100% C&R into that mix shouldn't change the equation. From a
standpoint of its effect on the population dynamics of the lake, Catch/No
Harvest is no different than No Catch. Yet time and again, we've seen the
professional fisheries management answer to that situation is attempts to
adjust the harvest. Perhaps the root of the problem is insufficient
nutrition, whether from not enough forage or prey that requires more
energy
to hunt/capture than it produces in calories.

Harvest as a means to manage a lake's population balance can only be
effective if there are enough successful anglers who are also inclined and
willing to harvest the small ones. And even if it does work, it still
fails
to address the possibility that the root of the problem is related more
to
forage than to harvest patterns.

I can't think of a lake in the northeast that had this problem over the
past
35 years that was cured by anything other than the introduction of a high
protien forage species -- in most cases, alewife, although I know that's a
dirty word in VT.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

At last, a comrade!

Warren

"RichZ" wrote in message
...
Shawn wrote:
in some areas of North
America, the "catch-and-release" philosophy was almost having the
opposite
effect as people were thinking, in that decreased harvest was resulting
in
more bass, but smaller in overall size, bordering on "stunting" in some
populations because of limited food resource availability.


I understand what you're saying, but in the spirit of friendly debate, I
would suggest that it comes from the perspective of fisheries managers who
by their nature tend to view fisheries as something that requires human
intervention in the form of 'management'. Think of a virgin fishery. No
catch, no release, no harvest, no interference from man (IE, no
management).
Ever see one that was overpopulated with stunted fish? If you did, you
would
probably suspect the forage base as the problem.

Adding 100% C&R into that mix shouldn't change the equation. From a
standpoint of its effect on the population dynamics of the lake, Catch/No
Harvest is no different than No Catch. Yet time and again, we've seen the
professional fisheries management answer to that situation is attempts to
adjust the harvest. Perhaps the root of the problem is insufficient
nutrition, whether from not enough forage or prey that requires more
energy
to hunt/capture than it produces in calories.

Harvest as a means to manage a lake's population balance can only be
effective if there are enough successful anglers who are also inclined and
willing to harvest the small ones. And even if it does work, it still
fails
to address the possibility that the root of the problem is related more
to
forage than to harvest patterns.

I can't think of a lake in the northeast that had this problem over the
past
35 years that was cured by anything other than the introduction of a high
protien forage species -- in most cases, alewife, although I know that's a
dirty word in VT.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

You're lucky to live in HI Ken. Obviously bass aren't native to Kauai.
Obviously the guys that put them there didn't put much thought into things
either.

Warren

"IMKen" wrote in message
...
I live and fish in an unusual environment. here on Kauai bass fishing is
limited to few reservoirs that are open to the public. Several years
back
I discovered a small hidden reservoir that had not been fished in over ten
years. I began packing in there a couple times a week. it was really
cool
to be able to flip a lure out and catch a LM on every other cast. Most
were
about 1 pound with a rare 2 pounder every now and then. Any day would
produce 8 to ten bass in an hour.
Bait fish were rarely seen. I would every now and then see a small
tilapia
or bluegill but not often. I believe they were just eaten as fast as they
were spawned.

I began taking a few bass for the frying pan every trip in. I took out 60
bass around a pound each over a 6 month period. I still was able to get
plenty of action even though this water was little over 100 feet wide by
600
feet long and 8 feet deep. It was not long before we started catching
some
larger fish. By the second year of culling the small fish we were
catching
3 pounders on a regular basis. Action definitely slowed as we now were
only
catching 2 to 3 bass per hour but nearly all were larger. Small bait
fish
are now seen frequently so I can only think that it is because of the
fewer
number of larger fish preying on them. That I feel is also one reason of
a
lower catch, the remaining bass are not as hungry.

I think some culling of smaller fish where they are over abundant is
proper
and healthy for good fishing.
No science, just personal observation of one case.

Ken


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
I've said it before Ronnie, the overpopulation of small bass on any lake
is
99% of the time based on an inbalance somewhere in the water's
ecosystem.
The problem of stunted fish generally means that those fish don't have
enough to eat. Removing small bass is nothing more than a temporary
fix;
It had nothing to do with the cause of the problem & it has no bearing
on
solving it.

Balanced ecosystems have a way of mainting healthy populations at all
levels, that's my belief at least.

Warren
--
http://www.warrenwolk.com/
http://www.tri-statebassmasters.com
2004 NJ B.A.S.S. Federation State Champions



"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
I say turn em all loose.


on some lakes that adds to the problem of overpopulation of small bass.
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

You're lucky to live in HI Ken. Obviously bass aren't native to Kauai.
Obviously the guys that put them there didn't put much thought into things
either.

Warren

"IMKen" wrote in message
...
I live and fish in an unusual environment. here on Kauai bass fishing is
limited to few reservoirs that are open to the public. Several years
back
I discovered a small hidden reservoir that had not been fished in over ten
years. I began packing in there a couple times a week. it was really
cool
to be able to flip a lure out and catch a LM on every other cast. Most
were
about 1 pound with a rare 2 pounder every now and then. Any day would
produce 8 to ten bass in an hour.
Bait fish were rarely seen. I would every now and then see a small
tilapia
or bluegill but not often. I believe they were just eaten as fast as they
were spawned.

I began taking a few bass for the frying pan every trip in. I took out 60
bass around a pound each over a 6 month period. I still was able to get
plenty of action even though this water was little over 100 feet wide by
600
feet long and 8 feet deep. It was not long before we started catching
some
larger fish. By the second year of culling the small fish we were
catching
3 pounders on a regular basis. Action definitely slowed as we now were
only
catching 2 to 3 bass per hour but nearly all were larger. Small bait
fish
are now seen frequently so I can only think that it is because of the
fewer
number of larger fish preying on them. That I feel is also one reason of
a
lower catch, the remaining bass are not as hungry.

I think some culling of smaller fish where they are over abundant is
proper
and healthy for good fishing.
No science, just personal observation of one case.

Ken


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
I've said it before Ronnie, the overpopulation of small bass on any lake
is
99% of the time based on an inbalance somewhere in the water's
ecosystem.
The problem of stunted fish generally means that those fish don't have
enough to eat. Removing small bass is nothing more than a temporary
fix;
It had nothing to do with the cause of the problem & it has no bearing
on
solving it.

Balanced ecosystems have a way of mainting healthy populations at all
levels, that's my belief at least.

Warren
--
http://www.warrenwolk.com/
http://www.tri-statebassmasters.com
2004 NJ B.A.S.S. Federation State Champions



"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
I say turn em all loose.


on some lakes that adds to the problem of overpopulation of small bass.
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com