Interesting article on Catch and Keep.....

[Tom Chopin]

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmas...CandR_200809005

I find this to be true with most bass fisherman, my self included. I'll keep perch and walleye if I catch them but release all bass.......I think the poor year classes on Erie once in a while actually help the overall fishery.

[schertzing]

very interesting read.

[Hacknslash]

Hmm guess I better help out the fisheries and eat some more often

[bigugli]

Nothing beats a little bass n eggs for brekkie.

[longmayyourun]

Nothing beats a little bass n eggs for brekkie.

Very Interesting article... I have fished lake Lorimer near Parry Sound. Not many cottages on the lake. We always limited out on Bass, but the size was small. My feelings were the lake was underfished, and too much competition for the food.

Whirlpool

[bigugli]

Very Interesting article... I have fished lake Lorimer near Parry Sound. Not many cottages on the lake. We always limited out on Bass, but the size was small. My feelings were the lake was underfished, and too much competition for the food.

Whirlpool

There are lots of smaller, isolated lakes stacked with bass. Same problem throughout. Not enough forage, no predation, and too many bass.

[danlach]

Good article. I my self do not eat bass, not because I think it's wrong I just don't like the taste of bass.

Quote (http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation/news/story?page=b_con_CandR_200809005):

"Teaching new anglers to keep a fish or two within the legal limit will go a long way toward preserving the quality of our fisheries."

There is your problem. A fish or two within the limit. Most of the people I've seen don't just have a fish or two, they leave with a whole stringer full. There has to be a better way to make sure people are only keeping the limit.

[Dan Andrews]

I've eaten allot more bass this year since I got the kayak. Just felt the need to reap the reward for all that work

It's good in fish crisp and hot oil just like any other fish. I don't eat the great big ones but keep a couple smaller or average fish. The ones that give me a prize fight all go back. They earned it

[smerchly]

Interesting read Tom ...... I have mixed feelings about this . I don't like the idea of no limits on any fish , that can lead to abuse like taking them to sell etc. Six good size bass would be a lot of fish to consume and I think that is a reasonable limit for a days fishing per person . We know the situations where buckets full of bass are taken illegally .....could this be helping the fishery ? We must be careful how we present the rules........

Just last week a guy at our camp said he & a buddy caught over 100 bass ....all released . Can we assume all these bass are still alive ? What is the average survival rate ....do we really know ? I know the tourny guys are doing a great job to ensure the bass are handled with care these days . The answer is only a guess , but fits in the equation somewhere.......

If a lake is over populated with "emanciated" fish , would netting them by the mnr or volunteers be more practical & effective to reduce numbers ? Could the meat be donated to food banks or even used for cat food ?

I think the bass clubs who want to maintain a strong healthy bass population should have meetings about this and present their concerns to the mnr before any radical changes are made .

[Snoopy23]

If a lake is over populated with "emanciated" fish , would netting them by the mnr or volunteers be more practical & effective to reduce numbers ? Could the meat be donated to food banks or even used for cat food ?

Or they could be transplanted into waters that are overfished...Hell, dump em in Lake Erie or Ontario and maybe they can put a dent in the goby population

[Guest canada]

I think it's all matter of balancing the population, in some cases the populations are under utillised and in others over harvesting can be a huge problem. It all depends on the number of fishers keeping the fish, trust me I've seen populations reduced to 10% of what was by the white bucket brigade and the amount of trophy fish wiped out It's a good article and shows problems of over population of a species but on the other hand I know a thousand other articles could be written about over harvesting. I still say catch your limit but limit your catch

[Tom Chopin]

There is no clear cut solution and every body of water is different. Just a different angle to add to our education. Maybe they should just post on a site like this that they are killing them on Lake X and the bucket brigade will help balance the population. We weem to have this problem in Ontario more with Pike, some lakes have lots of little ones with only the odd big one or possibly the crappy populations exploding on lakes that don't allow ice fishing.

I know on Simcoe there is a pike tournament every year that works with the MNR to transport Pike from Cooks Bay to a smaller lake where they are trying to re-establish a pike population. At the same time they are transplanting Muskie to Lake Simcoe to try to re-establish that population all the while trying to keep gobies out of Simcoe. Endless work to balance a healthy fishery and provide angling opportunities all across the province. Good discussions and points everyone!

[Smokin Joe]

Great post and read Tom. It reminds me of a very small lake I don't get a chance to fish to often and now I see why. There's a really small lake that I get a few chances to fish up north that has been known to produce at least an 11 lb smallmouth. One of my friends has it mounted so I know it to be true. It's a private lake and has no road access. The owner is a great person and provides two john boats, oars, vests, and even minnow buckets although we've found that plastics work the best. He's particular about who he lets fish there and we always let him know what we caught. Every once in a while he will open it up to the locals to fish. I'm assuming this is his own way of maintaining the quality of fish in the lake.

BTW I'm trying to set up a trip to get my son up there for his 8'th Birthday

[Guest canada]

There is no clear cut solution and every body of water is different. Just a different angle to add to our education. Maybe they should just post on a site like this that they are killing them on Lake X and the bucket brigade will help balance the population. We weem to have this problem in Ontario more with Pike, some lakes have lots of little ones with only the odd big one or possibly the crappy populations exploding on lakes that don't allow ice fishing.

I know on Simcoe there is a pike tournament every year that works with the MNR to transport Pike from Cooks Bay to a smaller lake where they are trying to re-establish a pike population. At the same time they are transplanting Muskie to Lake Simcoe to try to re-establish that population all the while trying to keep gobies out of Simcoe. Endless work to balance a healthy fishery and provide angling opportunities all across the province. Good discussions and points everyone!

I know a few groups of " Human Commorants" I'd love to have transported to those Southern USA lakes with the population problem, NO LIMIT, they'd solve the problem in a couple weeks ........ you'd need a couple of 18 wheelers to get there catch home

[Tom Chopin]

Joe, If he's got an 11 pound smallmouth then he's got a record fish. Call the MNR immediately!

[FishyWishy]

A lot of good points on this thread. The most recurrent theme is "balance." I am surprised though that no one has mentioned about the balance between species. Yes goby populations have been mentioned, so has the idea of establishing musky on Lake Simcoe, but what about the balance of walleye to pike, or perch to pike? What about lakes where mooneye thrive with the large fishing pressure on Pike and Walleye?

Ive seen lakes up north where in 20 years there has been a notable decline in the size and quantitiy of walleye caught, also with a notable skew in the ratio of walleye to mooneye. Lots of locals of course blame selective netting by the MNR for restocking over fished lakes in southern Ontario...heard stories and blame but don't know if it is legit. But I have seen the skew in the populations.

[Smokin Joe]

Joe, If he's got an 11 pound smallmouth then he's got a record fish. Call the MNR immediately!

He told me he did talk with them Tom and was told that there have been some caught close to 14 lbs there ( even though I can't find any record of it anywhere, the biggest I can find is in the 9.67 range )

I'll tell him to check with them again.

[Tom Chopin]

9.84 is the ontario record smallie and 10.43 is the record Largemouth.