Question About Spawning Fish

[Ben_Daniels]

Me and my uncle got to talking and both think its wrong to fish for bass, walleye, ect. during the spawn, Neither of us being Salmon fisherman we're wondering why its ok for so many people to fish during the Salmon spawn? We know a couple salmon guys and they are truely conservationists and really do care, if they thought it was wrong they wouldn't fish during the spawn. Why is this?

 

-Ben

[Terry]

most Salmon are put into the system from hatcheries and do not successfully spawn any ways, most creeks and rivers do have an area they close during the spawn period....

[ccmtcanada]

Like Terry mentioned, Walleye on Lake O are closed Feb and March...their typical spawning period. Here's an excerpt from the Govt of Canada's site....

 

"Normally, spawning begins shortly after ice breaks up in a lake, at temperatures of 7° to 9°C but has been known to occur over a range of from 6° to 11 °C.

 

Courtship may commence much earlier when water temperature is at 1°C. The males move to the spawning grounds first. These are usually rocky areas in flowing water below impassible falls and dams in rivers and streams, coarse-gravel shoals, or along rubble shores of lakes at depths of less than 2 m. "

 

As you can see...for Lake Ontario, this would correspond to the Feb/March time period. Feb for courtship and March for spawning.

[BabyHerc]

True, most salmon are stocked for the taking, but there must be a few natural spawners out there. I guess people know they're gonna die after the spawn, so might as well fish for 'em, no?

[steverowbotham]

Majority, not all, but majority of these salmon are from hatcheries, its kinda sad actually that we can only sustain the population through hatcheries. However, that being said, most of these fish are unsuccessful in their spawn, and they die right after spawning, so it's a put and take fishery. Your license dollars go towards putting more of them back into the lake!

 

EDIT- and also, as Terry said, most rivers or creeks have an area well known for spawning which is closed off, most areas being dams where the fish gather in large numbers. I go to school at Fleming College and we are very actively involved in salmon rehabilitation, especially of Atlantic Salmon. We obtain eggs from salmon directly in the rivers and hatch them at our school, we stock different levels of fingerlings and yearlings back into the creeks and rivers of Lake Ontario. We are hoping for a self sustaining population by 2020.

Edited January 19, 2007 by steverowbotham

[FishFinder]

For the Purpouses of aquiring Roe

[Pigeontroller]

"your licsense dollars go towards putting them back into the lake".

 

So why is the Pacific Salmon fishery in Lake Ontario now dependant on volunteers working the Ringwood Hatchery?

[danc]

 

 

So why is the Pacific Salmon fishery in Lake Ontario now dependant on volunteers working the Ringwood Hatchery?

 

Why are Pacific Salmon in the Great Lakes period? There's a reason why they are called "Pacific Salmon".

[Gary George]

I'm in agreement with the point that Salmon shouldn't be in the Great Lakes. They grow so fast that natural baitfish cannot keep up. Ultimately sustained stocking of Pacific Salmon depletes a lake of it's other species as well leading to the crash of the stocked salmon.

 

Great Lakes tributaries are mostly unsuitable for Pacific Salmon spawning due to siltation, water temperatures and incompatible species. There are a few rivers that reproduce Pacific Salmon but not on a sustainable level, they require the supplement of stocking to maintain levels.

 

Bottomline is they die at the end of a spawn that is primarily a waisted effort.

 

I say rip them all out, the sooner the better!

[Josh Rogers]

The main reason for fishing for salmon when they are spawning i because that is the only time that they are accessible to most anglers. Most guys don't have the money to go buy a boat and riggers and rods or even to rent a charter for the day. When they are spawning you just have to drive to a trib and start fishing. Even though these guys are fishing during the spawn there are a lot of conservation minded fisherman that release most if not all of the fish they catch.