Bass are in trouble and need protection!

[smallie_hawgin]

Research by Dr Mark Ridgway of the Ontario MNR on Lake Opeongo researching nesting behavior and recruitment/survival of smallmouth bass has shown that angling has a significant effect on nest guarding behavior and ultimately recruitment of smallmouth bass. (The Lake Opeonogo research project has been in progress since the 1960s, and is one of the longest-running animal research projects in the world, so the data is pretty solid...) Ridgway's research showed that targeting nesting males had a significant effect on brood survival:

"We found that the abundance of age-0 smallmouth bass decreased as the daily probability of capturing a nesting male increased in both catch-and-keep and catch-and-release policies. Opening dates during the nesting season, when males were guarding broods, also decreased the abundance of age-0 fish. This decrease was dramatic when the opening date occurred early in the parental care period relative to late in the period. Stress resulting from handling time for catch-and-release can have a significant impact on the abundance of age-0 fish because nesting males may abandon guarding behavior."

Finally, factor in the relatively concentrated nature of spawning bass on many bodies of water, and then consider the effects of even catch and release angling on bedding fish.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Eric- that was fun to read!.. yikes, you used a lot of big words... hurt my head.. LOL

Very well written!