Removing bass from their beds

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Bess on May 30, 2011 at 8:13am

Have you seen a doctor?

Aaron Christel said:

You should have seen all the empty beds I saw today. Not a tourny lake, but one that was heavily fishd this weekend by amature fishermen. I'm feeling a little sick tonight.

Permalink Reply by Rodney Heupel on May 30, 2011 at 9:49am

I have been seeing empty beds the last 3 weeks, and haven't seen beds where I normally have seen them. The high water and cooler temps is spreading the spawn out over a longer period is my theory. Overall the spring fishing isn't what it has been the past few warmer springs.

Aaron Christel said:

No, american. Tons of people out there fishing. Did happen to see a trout swim by with a yelow tag on its back. Cabelas???

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on May 30, 2011 at 8:44pm

No, but I play doctor on the weekends.

Mike Bess said:

Have you seen a doctor?

Aaron Christel said:

You should have seen all the empty beds I saw today. Not a tourny lake, but one that was heavily fishd this weekend by amature fishermen. I'm feeling a little sick tonight.

Permalink Reply by Ron Langley on May 31, 2011 at 10:38am

Check this out. Last weekend during the Lake Chelan open. I caught a fish in downtown and we weighed it and released it in Manson. Ugly little 2 1/2 lbr with a deformed lip and spot on it's tail.

@ 2pm the next day we caught the exact same fish again. Yea it's a 2 mile trip for the fish and it did it in less than 16 hours. This fish went back to the exact same spot that we caught it the day before. I'm sure by Monday it was right back downtown unharmed and ready to spawn.

so yea as long as you dont kill em they are usually fine.

Permalink Reply by Ryan Lamb on May 31, 2011 at 1:43pm

Hmmm...

Ive always wondered, but ive never brought a fish that far off its bed before, interesting

Ron Langley said:

Check this out. Last weekend during the Lake Chelan open. I caught a fish in downtown and we weighed it and released it in Manson. Ugly little 2 1/2 lbr with a deformed lip and spot on it's tail.

@ 2pm the next day we caught the exact same fish again. Yea it's a 2 mile trip for the fish and it did it in less than 16 hours. This fish went back to the exact same spot that we caught it the day before. I'm sure by Monday it was right back downtown unharmed and ready to spawn.

so yea as long as you dont kill em they are usually fine.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hastings on May 31, 2011 at 2:19pm

I break bed fishing down into 3 major possible scenarios....Not including the point Marc made about harvesting bass not spawning again.  

The focus of my thinking is what compromise is available to maintain a strong fishery, yet strike a reasonable balance with impact to the fish and what actions can be taken to minimize the impact.  After all in a tournament, with prizes on the line, even though bed fishing may be less sporting, it often has more impact to the outcome of the tournament.

The first scenario is catching a fish before the actual act of spawning, (aka the dropping and fertilizing of the eggs.)  If you catch a fish prior to the spawn, and take it to weigh-in and release it, I have not seen a study of this but I'd pretty much bet that fish will spawn anyway. Whether with the original mate or a new one.  So I see this as pretty harmless in the overall scheme of things.  

The second is magically being in the right spot and somehow catching fish while in the act of spawning. I've only seen fish in the act on TV, and I suspect there are only a few on this forum that have actually witnessed  the act in person.  I also suspect that while they are doing the deed, they are not to concerned about any offering...... Would you?   They may be spooked by your presence but again until eggs are deposited, and they have finished their fun, ( sorry Marc... I got the message from your professor) again this very brief period would be rare to witness.

Third, that leaves, after the actual act of spawning, If two fish are still around, wisdom would say if you are going to take a fish for a tournament, take the female,(she's larger) the male will continue to guard the nest, as she will be abandoning it soon anyway... but avoid taking them both, and don't take only a single fish guarding as this leaves, eggs and/or fry most susceptible.   Obviously releasing the female for next years fish is a critical part of maintaining a long term healthy fishery. 

Finally if you can return the fish to the beds you removed them from, that would also be beneficial, but is not always practical.

 

Steve

Permalink Reply by Jeff Grimes on May 31, 2011 at 3:12pm

I am curious how you feel about the Rivers ( YAkima and Columbia) being so high and fast recently with all the debris flowing down them ....and in turn destroying numerous beds and spawning areas and blowing out which could result in a high loss of population.  Nature takes fish away from beds just as Anglers do.  I would venture a guess that the flooding has destroyed and affected way more bed fish than any number of tournaments could. ( this year) 

 

Also, asa result of the anticipation of flooding, the Columbia was dropped severely on the Wallula pool exposing huge spawning flats down below the Snake River....which I am positive that fish had already been in there bedding and such.  

Permalink Reply by Zach Chandler on May 31, 2011 at 3:29pm

Jeff, you bring up some interesting points.  The river dropping and elevating is a huge factor in fish reproduction in my opinion.  With the spawning flats being exposed I'm sure some of those fish have found other areas to spawn, but what will happen when the river is raised again.  A good example of how this affects fish is in Brownlee Res. with the crappie.  I've read that a good spawning year is what populates that fishery for the next 2-6 years until the water is at the right level at the right time again for a banner crop of spawners to reproduce.  The runoff dictates how much water is released and when it's released, sometimes there's not enough water for the majority of the crappie to spawn

Jeff Grimes said:

I am curious how you feel about the Rivers ( YAkima and Columbia) being so high and fast recently with all the debris flowing down them ....and in turn destroying numerous beds and spawning areas and blowing out which could result in a high loss of population.  Nature takes fish away from beds just as Anglers do.  I would venture a guess that the flooding has destroyed and affected way more bed fish than any number of tournaments could. ( this year) 

 

Also, asa result of the anticipation of flooding, the Columbia was dropped severely on the Wallula pool exposing huge spawning flats down below the Snake River....which I am positive that fish had already been in there bedding and such.  

Permalink Reply by Bob Akers on May 31, 2011 at 4:58pm

Has there been any studies recorded, in WA state, about taking fish off the beds? I would be curious to see what was said, if anything.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Grimes on May 31, 2011 at 6:38pm

First of all, who cares about crappie.

 

Where I come from, Crappie are a pan fish and you can keep a lot of them and size doesn't matter.

 

Bass, however, I have always been a Catch and release guy...and the Natural factors such as floods and drought, I believe have been pretty devastating to the Bass spawn at times.  Those areas I spoke of before, that were exposed out of water, were areas where the fish had already made beds and laid eggs.  Of Course, some may not have, but a large number already had.  If you think about an area that is a mile long and 1/2 to 3/4 mile wide..and a rock shallow spawning area, that is a lot of Bass.

 

On the other note, the Yakima River is a big Spawning area as well.  What happened to all teh big females that were on beds ready to drop eggs....when the water rose 10-12 feet and was rushing at 4 times the normal rate bringing debris and extra muddy water down with it.  Not only did the eggs suffer, but the fish themselves may not make it as well.  We are talking the big ones too.....4-7 lb smallies.  Do you think that having  100 anglers fish for bed fish in a tournament, is going to impact the fishery more than Mother Nature does?  100 guys.......60 might Sight fish......those 60 guys might catch 10 per day maybe.  600 fish is a lot.  Out of those 600, a large majority have not spawned yet, and were caught guarding the bed.  Those fish can still spawn after being released.......I don't have figures or data, but I believe that there is a very small affect on the spawners from Tournament fishermen than everybody thinks.

 

Zach Chandler said:

Jeff, you bring up some interesting points.  The river dropping and elevating is a huge factor in fish reproduction in my opinion.  With the spawning flats being exposed I'm sure some of those fish have found other areas to spawn, but what will happen when the river is raised again.  A good example of how this affects fish is in Brownlee Res. with the crappie.  I've read that a good spawning year is what populates that fishery for the next 2-6 years until the water is at the right level at the right time again for a banner crop of spawners to reproduce.  The runoff dictates how much water is released and when it's released, sometimes there's not enough water for the majority of the crappie to spawn

Jeff Grimes said:

I am curious how you feel about the Rivers ( YAkima and Columbia) being so high and fast recently with all the debris flowing down them ....and in turn destroying numerous beds and spawning areas and blowing out which could result in a high loss of population.  Nature takes fish away from beds just as Anglers do.  I would venture a guess that the flooding has destroyed and affected way more bed fish than any number of tournaments could. ( this year) 

 

Also, asa result of the anticipation of flooding, the Columbia was dropped severely on the Wallula pool exposing huge spawning flats down below the Snake River....which I am positive that fish had already been in there bedding and such.  

Permalink Reply by Pat on May 31, 2011 at 8:38pm

if it isn't a salmonoid it isn't studied in WA

Bob Akers said:

Has there been any studies recorded, in WA state, about taking fish off the beds? I would be curious to see what was said, if anything.

Permalink Reply by Josh Potter on May 31, 2011 at 9:13pm

Most of the SM that are caught on beds are males.

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