Hi
Just wondering how long does it take for bed fish to return to the bed. Or do they ever return after the weighin? Oh and how far away can they return to the bed?
Bed Fish
Re: Bed Fish
I'm not an expert but I doubt they would find their way back or even try. Once the fish has been hooked and hauled to weigh-in, she probably doesnt feel like spawing any time soon. BASS did a fish track a few seasons ago and I remember one fish traveling over a mile during the 4 days of the tournament...
I have caught bed fish and released them immediately and they go right back to their bed..but the fish was released 10 feet from the bed...
I have caught bed fish and released them immediately and they go right back to their bed..but the fish was released 10 feet from the bed...
"Feel the steel"
Re: Bed Fish
It depends on the fish. A male released immediately and carefully will often return within a few minutes. I often look to see if a fish returns when I am working a new bedding fish close to where I just released one.
Females are usually just hanging around the area. I don't see them return as often to a bed because they are not usually as committed to the bed where it was caught. The female often sits out in slightly deeper water waiting to be coaxed in by a male, or recovering. Most females are only on a bed with the male for a short time to rub and deposit eggs. They can be very hard to distract long enough to catch when they are rubbing.
I don't know how much fanning of the nest that a female does, but it seems like males do most of the work and most females are much more nomadic. I've read studies that say females often spawn with multiple males in a season. This is good news for tournament fisherman because a female weighed in during a tournament may be released to spawn again in the same season. I doubt males travel long distances back to a bed after being weighed in because bluegill and other fish often eat the unprotected eggs. But, there may be hope for males also because I've seen studies that say fish will often travel long distances back to their home area after being weighed in.
Females are usually just hanging around the area. I don't see them return as often to a bed because they are not usually as committed to the bed where it was caught. The female often sits out in slightly deeper water waiting to be coaxed in by a male, or recovering. Most females are only on a bed with the male for a short time to rub and deposit eggs. They can be very hard to distract long enough to catch when they are rubbing.
I don't know how much fanning of the nest that a female does, but it seems like males do most of the work and most females are much more nomadic. I've read studies that say females often spawn with multiple males in a season. This is good news for tournament fisherman because a female weighed in during a tournament may be released to spawn again in the same season. I doubt males travel long distances back to a bed after being weighed in because bluegill and other fish often eat the unprotected eggs. But, there may be hope for males also because I've seen studies that say fish will often travel long distances back to their home area after being weighed in.
Re: Bed Fish
This study makes it sound like tournament fishing doesn't hurt a large well populated reservoir like Sam Rayburn much. Unfortunately, this study only scratches the surface. Our small Socal reservoirs seem to be hurt on a larger scale. It seems logical that a higher percentage of bed fish are displaced when tournament pressure is high on a small lake, like at DV Lake. Also, I seem to catch higher percentages of the larger "tournament" fish at DVL that have big holes from cull pins. I think this is an important issue that the DFG and tournament organizations need to address. I have been putting my cull pins through the mouth and the last row of the gills that is closest to the gill plate. This doesn't seem to affect the gills and there is no hole. I haven't lost any fish yet.Revoke36 wrote:This may help http://www.bradwiegmann.com/fish-biolog ... ippi-.html
The good news is that fish don't have as far to travel back to their home range on small lakes, and they often use a release boat at DVL.
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