growing bigger bass article

Kwin · Post by **Kwin** » Wed Sep 14, 2022 11:14 am

https://www.fieldandstream.com/conserva ... -oklahoma/

Blasphemy on this forum I know, but it is the truth. Trophy bass fishing is dead because of the overwhelming state of C&R angler culture more so than anything else.

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Sat Sep 17, 2022 1:19 pm

Comparing California bass fishery management to States like Oklahoma and,Texas that actually have a bass fishery management program is naive.
Bass are introduced once and left alone to survive as a renewable resource in lake built for water storage that fluctuate radically.
Without C & R our small deep structured lakes that lack cover protection would be decimated by recreational anglers who keep their catch for food. No place to go for sanctuary outside of closed to fishing zones near dams to protect anglers not the fish.
C & R has become a cult like following for some bass anglers and under harvesting can be a problem where that condition exist, not in California were the overall population barely manages to sustain itself without additional stocking programs.
Our giant FLMB population suffers from no management not under harvesting small bass.
Tom

Jboutfishn · Post by **Jboutfishn** » Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:56 pm

Thinking Tom has the right.

Kelly Ripa · Post by **Kelly Ripa** » Sat Sep 17, 2022 7:31 pm

I was going there but Tom pretty much nailed it...Non-existing management. Here is a question.Have you ever seen anyone working for the betterment of the fish or habitat in California that wasn't a volunteer person or private organization? I know of a local tackle store in Ventura who's owner is trying to get them to re introduce Florida LMB in Casitas. How bazaar/Sad is that...........?
But the lake is building a huge water park because we have 2-3 years of water left if we keep tightening our belts by their reckoning. As they have never accounted for silt every time the lake has gone up since the Thomas fire. I'd wager they are flat wrong about the capacity of the lake in general.

Kennortonjr · Post by **Kennortonjr** » Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:36 am

Kelly Ripa wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 7:31 pm I was going there but Tom pretty much nailed it...Non-existing management. Here is a question.Have you ever seen anyone working for the betterment of the fish or habitat in California that wasn't a volunteer person or private organization? I know of a local tackle store in Ventura who's owner is trying to get them to re introduce Florida LMB in Casitas. How bazaar/Sad is that...........?
But the lake is building a huge water park because we have 2-3 years of water left if we keep tightening our belts by their reckoning. As they have never accounted for silt every time the lake has gone up since the Thomas fire. I'd wager they are flat wrong about the capacity of the lake in general.

Regarding your rhetorical question:

I can only speak for my home lake, but over the course of my life I have regularly seen DWR-affiliated projects to the primary benefit of bass habitat (this is on Lake Oroville).

But realistically speaking, you have to consider the fact that bass are non-native (I would never use the “i word”) and California is the natural habitat of two other widely sought and majestic gamefish (trout and salmon).

So that’s why you get $30 Million going to salmon habitat just a few weeks ago:

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2022/aug/2 ... oration-h/

Personally speaking, I fish for bass 98% of the time - and I would love to see that kind of money put into our favorite fish. But I can recognize it’s just not realistic to think non-native fish B (which does perfectly fine) would get funding at the expense of native fishes T and S. If anything, I’m just thankful for the original people who planted bass all around the state in the first place.

Jboutfishn · Post by **Jboutfishn** » Sun Sep 18, 2022 10:17 am

Would love to see FSLM planted in Shasta but with the huge water level fluctuation natural reproduction does not regularly occur. I believe there was some success in the spring of 2019. Thinking if there was a way to hold off the dumping of water a few weeks Largemouth reproduction could be a success, but that will never happen.