The spawn!!

[FLATHEAD]

Last weekend I noticed the bass in the lake I frequent are out of staging and now on the beds. I caught a few real nice hogs in a spot that I know they bed at. Now that I know the spawn is on I will not target these bass. I could have a field day every time out if I wanted as I know from years of fishing there right where to go. Sometimes I am guilty of picking up a few but I always catch and release anyway.There is a big bruhaha at the lake going on about weather or not to pick these fish off the beds or to leave them be. The problem is I could motor past a bedding area but the next guy will fish it and the next guy and so and so on. So whats the use. Half of these guys dont even know about the spawn. From what I've seen it does not seem to affect the bass much. I would say that 90% of the fishermen on the lake practice catch and release. Looking for some points of view from some of you guys on this subject???

 

[rwise]

Re: The spawn!!

I think that as long as you stay within the limits of the fishing area, all should be fine. Here we have slot limits (14"+) for bass as well as take limits (5 fish per day) that can and does vary from one lake to another. If there are to many fish they will be small. One of the lakes near my home the crappie have over populated and they are talking about killing them out and restocking<br />Richard

 

[neumanns]

Re: The spawn!!

the spawn has been protected here for years by season closures so fishing them has never been an option however, i feel this is proabably a good thing as they make easy targets when they are on there beds. my preferance would be self regulation, as when it is done by the law you lose a lot of good fishing time when they are not vulnerable due to the expansive dates they must use to be sure they have the spawn covered.<br /><br />maybe i am just more conservation minded than when i was younger but whenever i catch any fish that is spawn laden with 50,000+ eggs that could yield on the low side 10 other fish down the years i let them be.<br /><br />i am not judgemental on this issue just my personal effort to give a species a better chance down the road as many other times of the year i do my darndest to finish a few off kinda a give and take approach ya know

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: The spawn!!

Most fisheries are closed here during the spawn.<br />I think its a good idea.And its only for a short<br />period. I bet the fish like it too.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: The spawn!!

They should leave the big sows alone and let them do their thing.<br /><br />If they keep catching and taking them out, a few years down the road, they will be griping then that they can't catch any bass. DUH!!!<br /><br />Nothing gets me more than these so called pros, catching a sow off the bed and then bragging about it.<br /><br />Hell, anyone can catch them at this time.<br /><br />I will be fishing and here comes a boat and they will troll right on by me and then cut back in front of me and get real close to the bankline to see if there are any bedding bass. Real considerate, huh?