Bass full of eggs

[L Dub]

So I caught my PB best fish today, doubling my PB from last week. 8.5LMB TOAD!!! And she was full of eggs!!!

After I caught it, some guy offered to buy it off of me and I politely turned him down. I took a couple mins to explain to him about size being hereditary in bass. Plus, I knew exactly what he wanted to do with it.

After I caught my previous big fish last week, all my friends and relatives asked how I cooked it! Again, I explained to them how I feel and about the size traits.

Anyways, after he saw my catch, he immediately switched from trout fishing and started trying to go after my fish! ( I had released her already) Now I'm hoping he didn't have any luck cause I know he was looking for a meal.

After some thought though, I'm wondering how come there aren't rules about keeping spawning bass? It would be tough to enforce, but if more people knew there was a rule/ law I'm sure we could reduce the amount taken. I love this sport and want to be able to pass my knowledge to later generations.

Is there anything that can be done? Am I over-reacting? Some of these lakes have dwindling numbers of bass due to pollution and such things, and then I have to think about someone taking home big fish full of eggs?!

[Steve]

You will find that in many states you cannot fish for bass during the spawn. In CA, the only lake I know of that has a different regualtion during the spawn is Trinity.

[Hollywood]

do these states have names that you can't fish during the spawn?

[Steve]

Nope, none of them have names! I know thats hard to believe, but its actually true.

But, if you really want to know, do some online research and focus your efforts in the Northeas, New England, and the mid west states that border Canada.

You must have ate some bad sushi today.

[Hollywood]

i never once heard there is a state in which you are not allowed to fish for bass during the spawn, i know lates close certain areas or coves like castaic in so cal that do this but i have never seen a written rule or even heard of it where you can't fish for "bass" during the spawn.

Nope no sushi today. I ate thai food and it was great!

[Steve]

Come on now Hollywood. You seem like a smart knowledgeable person. Confuscious always says "look for answer prior to opening mouth and sticking foot in it".

Look up the regs for New York State. Last I was there they had a no fishing reg during the spawn (it may have changed by now, Im not sure). And, if'n ya really want to do some pokin, many of the Great Lake border states are looking into the affects of fishing during the spawn. Specifically, how the introduction of gobies is affecting the smallmouth population. More specifically, do gobies "raid" bass nests when a protecting male is temporally removed (i.e., caught). BTW, the answer to this is that gobies eat the crap out of the eggs when a protecting male is removed even for a short period of time. I was told it looks like those videos you see of sharks going into a feeding frenzy. So, many of those states, if they dont already have one, are contemplating closing the season during the spawn to protect populations from the affects of yet another exotic.

[Hollywood]

sorry, just never heard a lake was off limits for bass fishing due to the spawn. The spawn can last from feb to june on some lakes. That is nearly half a year.

I dont need to research it, it's happy hour. Ill take your word for it.
Guess I don't get out of my zip code all that much.

[pokey69]

L dub,

how bout a picture?

[L Dub]

Pokey, it's on the photos page. I thought I sent it to you anyways?

Fellas, you're missing my point. I would HATE to not be able to fish during spawn. What I'm saying is having written rules about not KEEPING Bass full of eggs.

Thank Hollywood for highjacking another thread! j/k

[Hollywood]

Actually L Dub, Steve said it was illegal to fish for bass in many states during the spawn, I simply asked for which states that would be? I didn't get any answer, just a well maybe you should check with new york cause last time I think I saw, well yeah.

You want hijacked, you can have that too.

[Robert F]

Sorry as I know this is not the point of your post but selling a game fish is definitely against the law.

[L Dub]

Good to know, but I'd never sell my catch. I told the guy I wouldn't sell him my fish for $100. I should have said, I wouldn't sell my fish PERIOD.

So I'm guessing that people who keep pregnant fish (Term?) isn't that big of a deal? I was hoping for more input.

[Gator]

It is a big deal. If a fish is full of eggs, and removed from the system, not only is that bass lost but potentially hundreds of other bass are. I would never, ever keep a spawning fish. But, the rules that are currently in place in California do allow any angler to keep any legally caught fish up to your daily bag limit.

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Removing one egg carrying female from a system has little to no overall bad consequences..Now of course we all know that more than one will probably be removed..Chances are they will have little overall negative consequences..

I too would return any obviously egg laden females to the system, as a matter of fact I return all of my catches to the system, unless they have expired..In some cases it might be a good idea to not return them to the system, especially if the system is already over run with stunted fish, due to over population..

Most bass fishermen return their catches to the system..Meat fishermen rarely do..In all honesty I think we have them outnumbered and probably have little to worry about..

mac

[L Dub]

Wait... Which lakes are over populated with bass? I'm fishing in the wrong places!!!!

Mac, I guess what you say is true, I would just be really bummed if the guy went back, caught the fish and ate it.

I was just hoping there was a better way we could educate the meat fishermen about these bass.

I told the guy as I was releasing my fish, "I want her to go back and make me some more 8lbers to catch in the future!"

[krpierce]

I always wondered that when guys catch females on there beds, does that affect the hatch? Sorry about the question it dosent really have anything to do with the original question, was just wondering...

[bassdude]

Here in montana we go some rules that say you cannot posses a bass from June first to july first on Noxon. That is because it has a great smallmouth population and smallies are extreamly easy to catch if they are on beds. So we try to protect them because it is hard to watch 4-6lb smallies go to the fryng pan. And the locals do a good job of that.

[Robert F]

Removing one egg carrying female from a system has little to no overall bad consequences..Now of course we all know that more than one will probably be removed..Chances are they will have little overall negative consequences..
mac

I disagree with this statement. One female bass will lay up to 7000 eggs per pound of body weight each year. Obviously all 56,000 of these fish will not grow to maturity but thousands will and the loss of an 8 pound female bass would affect the system. If those fry survive just one year they will reach close to a pound in body weight. To compare, a bluegill will spawn twice a year and lay up to 200,000 eggs each time! Bass are not the most prolific fish in the pond. To answer Krpierce, a female will get back and lay the eggs wherever and whenever she can. Not much potential for loss pulling a female off the nest but removal of a guarding male can be devastating. After the eggs are layed the female leaves and the male stays to guard the eggs and subsequent fry from predators (usually bluegill). This will take 1-2 months for the fry to mature enough and scatter off the nest. When the male is removed it usually means complete loss to that hatch. I would be more careful removing a postspawn guarding male than a prespawn female. Though they both are important. Dub, you did the right thing. Catch em and get em right back. Stay off the guarding males in post spawn.

[krpierce]

Thanks Robert, great info.

Kenny

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

I stil think, not know, the removal of one female in an established fishery isn't going to even come close to ruining the fishery..Chances are the absence of just one female would not even be noticed, no matter what her size was..Of course Robert is correct in that it would eliminate a good many possible fry, but in an established fishery you would be very hard put to notice it..I still say the best thing to do is return the female to the water, so we both agree on that point..

mac

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Yeah, Bones, you have a point there..I have seen a lot of them on the near San Jose lakes..It wouldn't be so bad if the Game Wardens would just walk around just a little more than they do..

mac

[miklanderson]

I've seen the same thing...Shadow Cliff's back lakes during spawn are a prime example. I saw a guy walk in there with 2 kids and catch 15 fish a day for 4 straight days during the middle of the spawn.

[Robert F]

All good points and yes Mac I do agree that removal of that one female does not ruin the fishery. The best that can be said for the meat fishermen is that they are accounted for by the DFG. The funny thing is that this is not even a native species but DFG gets more involved in making sure the mortality rate at a permitted event is below their quota than dealing with poachers and fishermen taking shorts and fishing past their limit. Best I can say is call CalTip. maybe they will get tired of hearing about the same area and send somebody out. It certainly is tiring to hear that same "we just dont have the resources" response when you call.

[fishfan]

Cal-Tip.... keep calling and they will get busted! I've called and watched the game warden dump out his buckets of fish, write him a fat ticket and confiscate his poles!!!!

Jeff H.

[kopper_bass]

Hey Hollywood,
I think a recent Bassmaster magazine actually did an article on NY laws, where they for the 1st time ever have a new law that finally allows them to catch bass & immediate release, during the spawn months. Prior to now, they were 100% off limits during these months and only could start fishing and catching bass, sometime in June.

That's just 1 state, but i think the other guys are correct, that there are many other north eastern states that have off-limits, (a.k.a. - fishing seasons) for bass. They kind of treat bass fishing like hunting, so they regulate when you can and can't fish; the can't part being during the spawn.

Here's a few state links i found doing a search. It seems that beside NY, New Hampshire, Mishigan, Wisconsin and some others have off-seasons for Bass.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing ... easons.htm
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/BassR ... 3654_7.pdf
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/fish/seasons/bass.htm


Fish-on,

Kopper_Bass

[Steve]

See that Hollywood, online searches are easy, fun and informative!! Even you can do them to find every answer you ever wanted to know!

[Hollywood]

but i only use askjeves.com, Jk, i am a friend of google! Sometimes I would rather you research it for me, in this case i didn't have to although it was on my list of things to do when i find some spare time inbetween well posting and fishing, id say working but i don't know what that is.