Tournaments during spawn?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom Walters on March 15, 2009 at 10:10pm

In as much as a spawn, takes sight fishing, to a higher level of excitement, I feel that we should leave the fish alone.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Bavery on March 15, 2009 at 10:19pm

Wow, if you threw this question on a swimbait forum they would try to hang you, regardless of your views, haha, happens every year.

There is 2 sides to this that I consider:

1. The obvious, that the fish will absorb the eggs because of shock/exhaustion, yadda yadda. And that the male being taken off the bed allows perch, BG's, craps and whatever else to raid the eggs.
2. A study done by Cornell Univ(Im pretty sure it was them) says that taking bedding fish does nothing to the population because of the sheer numbers of eggs that are laid/hatched that are never seen. They went on about other things. That bass bed till around 20ft deep, so the beds we actually see are a small % of the actual beds that exist. Most females dont pick one bed only, they lay eggs on one, move to another, lay eggs, for potentially several beds. Please dont quote me on these, its been a while since Ive read it.

So my opinion is that its not wrong to have it, but I just wont do it. We all know bed fishing can be horribly tough, esp for greenies. It doesnt bother me at all for someone to do it, but I just dont do it much. There is always fish that are prespawn, postspawn, or spawning. Its not like all bass in a lake spawn at the exact same time. If I see a 10 pounder on a bed, your damn right i will tie a white jig on. I be PRO CHOICE!

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on March 15, 2009 at 10:47pm

Good stuff Dan. I'm with you. I don't think the effect on the fishery is devastating at all. I think that fisherman catch a small fraction of spawning fish, because I believe there are many fish that spawn in deeper water as well.

I'm not a huge fan of bed fishing overall. After a trip or two catching fish on beds I'm ready for them to move off. When they are on beds you know what size fish you are trying to catch, where if you don't see the fish, any bite could be the next 5+ smallie, or 8+ Largemouth.

I think just as the controversy of fishing in 50+ feet of water its up to the individual fisherman.
I'm also PRO-CHOICE for bed fishing.

Permalink Reply by C-RIDE on March 15, 2009 at 10:47pm

I do believe it does affect the fish. I don't know how much but there is no way that it doesn't. Especially on the lakes that have at least one tournament every weekend from spring to fall. I think that we could minimize the affect on the fish if everyone put the fish back on the beds after weigh-in. But its hard to tell what fish go to what bed without a detailed map and then what do you do if you catch a fish on one end of the lake and have to cull it on the other end? I think most guys would let it go where you caught the other one. So would that fish make another bed or use another Basses bed? The other thing that I dont know is do the fishes mouths heal fully. I see some pretty tore up mouths on these lakes during the spawn. Are there some states that make the spawn off limits? I really don't know where I stand on this subject. I like most Bass anglers am itching to catch fish all winter long and then all of the sudden in the spring you can see the big females right there for you to catch. Its hard not to catch them. I know it sounds like I might be against it but I can promise you that I am looking forward to the first day I see a Bass on a bed this year!

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on March 15, 2009 at 10:47pm

This topic comes up every year and people get pretty emotional about it. It seems that those that are against it base their arguments on emotion not fact. I can't site the studies but I believe there are more than one that show there is little effect on reproduction from tournaments during the spawn. If you want to talk Lake Washington I doubt anyone (even Ron) can find more than a small fraction of the beds on this lake. I think Daniel makes a good point about the length of the spawn. Also compare our lakes to lakes in other areas of the country and our fish get a lot less tournament pressure. There are some bodies of water in other regions that have multiple tournaments going every weekend almost year round (this obviously includes right though the spawn) and the fish populations are just fine.

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on March 15, 2009 at 11:12pm

I have studied this extensively, and I agree with Eric. As far as affecting the bass, you could argue that everything we do at any time of the year affects the bass.

If a lake's population of bass is in trouble; if recruitment is below average, then you could make an argument to not hold a tournament or for that matter even fish at all.

I wrote an article about this several years ago that you might find interesting...

http://www.marcmarcantoniobasspro.com/articles/BedFishing.pdf



ciao,
Marc

Eric DeLay said:

This topic comes up every year and people get pretty emotional about it. It seems that those that are against it base their arguments on emotion not fact. I can't site the studies but I believe there are more than one that show there is little effect on reproduction from tournaments during the spawn. If you want to talk Lake Washington I doubt anyone (even Ron) can find more than a small fraction of the beds on this lake. I think Daniel makes a good point about the length of the spawn. Also compare our lakes to lakes in other areas of the country and our fish get a lot less tournament pressure. There are some bodies of water in other regions that have multiple tournaments going every weekend almost year round (this obviously includes right though the spawn) and the fish populations are just fine.

Permalink Reply by Ron Baugher on March 16, 2009 at 6:49am

well as you can see Lake Wa. hasn't been devastated nor any other body of water that is large enough to hold large boat count tournaments. There are lakes that could be if we did not return the fish but as far as tournaments that is not the case. Some will argue that it makes a difference and it has to have an impact albeit negligible in my opinion. Kinda like taking a salt shaker to the ocean, I agree you are changing the salt content but I don't believe it would show on any water sample. Just my humble opinion so take care guys and girls. Also great job Jordan on this site.

Permalink Reply by S Hwang on March 16, 2009 at 12:29pm

On the whole I don't think it makes much difference, but I do agree with Marc's post about how each lake's population should be scrutinized on its own versus grouping all lakes together at once to describe the spawn.

Permalink Reply by Rodney Heupel on March 16, 2009 at 11:01pm

The spawn do make for excitement and good tv, look at the pro circuits schedules. I'll agree there are many on both sides of the fence. The important thing is the states game and fish departments are the ones who manage the resources, they do a good job. I feel that the concept of catch and release is good, yet I also beleive that selective harvest is good too. We as fishermen are just part of the equation that plays out in the management of the bass we love. I my self love to catch bass during the spawn, and releasing them. In the interest of proper management is that the right thing?