Interesting Article

[Cecil]

Despite the widely held notion that catching aggressive bass off nests during spawning season can deplete largemouth populations, a new University of Florida study published in a national fisheries journal this week indicates otherwise.

Largemouth bass are easily the most popular gamefish among American anglers. When the fish spawn in early spring, male bass make nests in calm, shallow water, court females, and then protect the eggs and hatchlings for several weeks.

Males guarding nests are notoriously aggressive, striking just about anything that moves. The fish are easy to catch, and as a result, it is commonly believed that intense spawning-season fishing can harm bass populations. As a result, some fisheries managers believe restrictions should be placed on fishing during the bass spawn.

But neither elevated concern nor fishing restrictions are necessary, say the results of a new scientific study.

“We found that in most cases, spawning area closures won’t improve bass populations,” said study co-author Mike Allen, a fisheries professor with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “If you lose some nests, the ones that are left have higher survival rates.”

Allen and biological scientist Daniel Gwinn gathered data on anglers catching bass during spawning seasons in three states. The researchers plugged the data into mathematical models representing several types of restricted and unrestricted fishing. The results showed that prohibiting bass fishing during spawning season would only boost populations in waters where very high percentages of spawning bass are caught.

“Those conditions are pretty rare,” Allen said.

The researcher also conceded that the practice of catch and release fishing may go a long way toward reducing any negative impact of fishing off bass nests during the spawn. In 2008, Allen and colleagues published a study showing that the percentage of largemouth bass caught and kept by anglers was half what it was in the 1980s.

The study’s findings were published in the current issue of the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.

[Reid G]

I don't think the MN DNR has a subscription to the Journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.

I wish they did.

[olski]

Funny. I was watching a show that I taped this week earlier this A.M. and Shaw Grigsby basiclly quoted that article.

[goblueM]

the problem is that there are also many studies that find there is much more increased predation and reduced recruitment

for example, a study of smallmouth nests in Lake Erie found that the entire nest could be predated in 15 minutes if the male was not guarding it

you can't apply a Florida largemouth study to a Minnesota one either. First of all, the florida largemeouth is a different strain than the Minnesota one. Secondly, we also have smallmouth bass. You can't really apply the results of that study here. It just doesn't work that way. the issue at hand is predation, and predator levels vary lake to lake within a local area, much less from Florida to Minnesota

[Nick Kuhn]

It is still somewhat valid. The nest is only guarded for a short time. 99% is still the mortality rate once they are unprotected. There may be 100% mortality in one nest that has a fish caught of it, but then mortality of another nest might drop to 98% and it balances out. Survival of fish fry is usually more dependent on availability of food and structure than it is on the number of fry born. There was a study on Green Bay a few years ago that found one of the lowest perch populations ever recorded produced the most successful recruitment year ever recorded, which is not a very intuitive idea. The relationship of eggs to surviving fish is very non-linear.

[grab the net]

The vast majority of the time, MN bass season is "open" when smallmouth are spawing and the males are on the beds. Many tournaments have been won on bedded SM and the lakes are as good now as they ever have been. A lot of the regulations for openers and regulations are based on emotions and traditions. Great article in I-fisherman on bluegill spawn and the relationship of removing big males off nests, and the resulting correlation of stunting the population.

[matthothand]

I just got a reply back from the MN DNR on this subject. I asked them to consider altering the bass regulations to let anglers target bass during the closed harvest season if they us artificial lures and immediately release the fish. So an early catch and release with artificial lures only season pretty much. The reply stated that they were drafting legislation that would do just that. I'm not holding my breath, but I was glad to hear that they atleast acknowledge there are people that like to fish just for the sake of fun not food.

[Hula_Grub]

New York went with a year-round catch and release bass season recently, Michigan has at least opened up in a few lakes too. Ontario has some (if not all) year-round waters, too.

Similar latitudes, and yet the bass continue to exist. How can this be???

[Reid G]

Similar latitudes, and yet the bass continue to exist. How can this be???

Ah, they must base their decisions/regulations on science and study data... rather than emotion, history, etc.

[EBass]

Quote:

they were drafting legislation that would do just that

Sweet, at least it's being considered.

[bassfshin24]

This would be amazing. South Dakota does not have a season for bass at all and there are some pretty amazing lakes there. Im actually heading back to my hometown in SD tonight and heading out fishing tomorrow for the first time this year, cant wait!!! Ill post pics tomorrow night if we get into them.

[goblueM]

I just got a reply back from the MN DNR on this subject. I asked them to consider altering the bass regulations to let anglers target bass during the closed harvest season if they us artificial lures and immediately release the fish. So an early catch and release with artificial lures only season pretty much. The reply stated that they were drafting legislation that would do just that. I'm not holding my breath, but I was glad to hear that they atleast acknowledge there are people that like to fish just for the sake of fun not food.

that makes sense, since many people targeting bass are for sport and C&R, and the season is open during the spawn in the northern part of the state

personally i think it is a pressure thing. you get bass on visible nests on a highly pressured metro lake and they will be caught multiple times. when i was a kid before i knew any better i would catch the same smallie off a bed 3 or 4 times a week... pretty soon they abandoned the nest