Bass Decline - Anyone?

[b_cdot]

Lake Erie is LOADED with SMB..........if you're not catching them, it's your own fault.......the fishery has changed to what they are eating just like the perch and walleyes. You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results, that's the def of insanity.

Continuing to read this thread is the definition of insanity. Everyone is comparing different fisheries. If you could only get a 3lb smallmouth out of that school look for schools of bigger fish. Being an LSC smallmouth fisherman you will find that certain times of year you will see schools of fish and catch 50 2lbers and they are all the same size and you begin to wonder where all the big ones are. The big ones are somewhere else and it's up to you to figure that out. I can't agree more with Mister G. I can't speak for pte au baril but as a whole I think the smb and lmb fisheries are pretty solid in ontario. It's so cyclical and you are speaking of a pretty small sample size. Don't get too discouraged.

[AKRISONER]

Continuing to read this thread is the definition of insanity. Everyone is comparing different fisheries. If you could only get a 3lb smallmouth out of that school look for schools of bigger fish. Being an LSC smallmouth fisherman you will find that certain times of year you will see schools of fish and catch 50 2lbers and they are all the same size and you begin to wonder where all the big ones are. The big ones are somewhere else and it's up to you to figure that out. I can't agree more with Mister G. I can't speak for pte au baril but as a whole I think the smb and lmb fisheries are pretty solid in ontario. It's so cyclical and you are speaking of a pretty small sample size. Don't get too discouraged.

 

Remember its not just me but also others on other lakes!

 

Not to mention we were covering ground the entire time.

 

Perhaps the smallmouth size scenario was just a fluke, but this still doesnt explain the largie size issues in the kawarthas or complete disappearance of them in GB

 

I think most astonishing was the MNR telling me that he had a report of 4 largies caught in the entire PAB area over the course of an entire year. These guys werent slouching either, they were tracking down every boat fishing in the area and questioning every single one.

[OhioFisherman]

http://www.pleasantcove.com/fishing.shtml

 

No idea on how recent their recent catches are? Just the back part of that area, from Payne's to the Sturgeon, is bigger than most lakes here, and a lot better habitat and spawning areas for them. Hard to picture a real decline without signs of a die off.

[Cloudy15]

I am on the trent, just east of Rice. I have notice a massive decline in size and numbers. Last year the tournament at the local marine had very low average weights.

 

It is very rare these days (for me) to get a bass over 4lbs. I thought it might be due to the huge spike in Pike numbers.

[dave524]

One thing I noticed over my years is that Largemouth started showing up in a lot of lakes, like oligotrophic lakes in Haliburton that were previously Smallmouth only, in the late 70's and increased in numbers. This type of lake was not really largemouth habitat , I suspect well meaning cottagers were the source of the fish but in spite of that they thrived for a while, perhaps the largies are naturally in decline in some areas that they really were not suited for.

[KraTToR]

my thoughts are that the smallie population has benefited from the zebra mussel and goby situation. They are visual feeders and the cleaner water in the great lakes and Simcoe benefit them. Plus add a (new) food-source that they love and there you have it.

 

Regarding largemouth, we are at their most northern range. If you look at their habitat down south there really isn't that much of it here. Add in the lower water temps and shorter season and you have a pretty good recipe for the OPs concerns.

 

For example, long point lake erie has substantial largemouth habitat but they are seldom targeted as they are more difficult to catch and there's no size bonus over the smallie. The season opener derby this year showed that the winning largemouth was about the same size as the winning smallie.

[AKRISONER]

http://www.pleasantcove.com/fishing.shtml

 

No idea on how recent their recent catches are? Just the back part of that area, from Payne's to the Sturgeon, is bigger than most lakes here, and a lot better habitat and spawning areas for them. Hard to picture a real decline without signs of a die off.

 

ohio my place is 10 doors down from PC They are less a fishing camp now and more resort for time shares. They actually put up all of the cottages for sale!

 

Cold water really really is starting to feel like the culprit here. I imagine bass in Florida think water in the high 70's is cold. While on GB its july and the shallow bays are 72.

[Oggie]

There was a time in my father's day (man that's a long time ago LOL) that anglers didn't keep pike or bass. The new generation of anglers do practice more catch and release but the they also keep bass unlike their fathers IMO. Our cottage lake will be great for several years as the cottagers have agreed to release bass in our small lake. Then a visitor to the lake discovers the resource and the lake gets hammered for a summer. The large bass are hard to catch for a few summers but they do recover. It's pretty cyclic actually.

[OhioFisherman]

I remember the camp fish fry's of the 60's - 70's - 80's, most people were cleaning smallies and panfish for them, they weren't catching walleye in the summer.

 

Akri " ohio my place is 10 doors down from PC They are less a fishing camp now and more resort for time shares. They actually put up all of the cottages for sale!"

 

LOL, camps have changed I guess, it did look like a yuppie retreat!

[jedimaster]

Here is my take on fish mortality of tournaments.

The mortality rate for the FLW Tour down south is 98.7 survival. That's with 340 anglers all with limits of 5. That's some 1700 fish. That's 22 dead fish per tournament.

 

If you took those 340 anglers and ban all tournaments Do you think those 340 fishermen will no longer fish? What will they fish for? How many fish would that take out of a lake? Likely more than 22 fish.

 

So is that to say that tournaments have no effect? No that's not true as it does. What is the effect? The fish get moved around. Fishing becomes more difficult. That felled tree you fish may not have fish in it any more because they have been transported and released across the lake. This is most evident on the BASS Elite series as lots of guy starting Day 2 of tournaments fish around where the fish got released and keep catching those day after day.

 

Populations of fish and large populations of fish get moved around every weekend on tournament lakes. So If your honey hole isn't working you need to adjust. If you know in the morning you always caught them in say 3-5 fow on the winded side of some eel grass and they aren't there. Go find another patch of eel grass and try it. Its a lot of hide and seek when fishing tournament waters. If you are fishing for fun, pay attention to where the tournaments launch out of and go fish the bays near the blast off and weigh in areas. Most tournaments do drive the release boats very far to dump fish.

 

[captpierre]

Having a hard time with a 1.3% mortality rate.

My gut says way higher especially in the heat here in Ontario waters.

[John Bacon]

Having a hard time with a 1.3% mortality rate.

My gut says way higher especially in the heat here in Ontario waters.

 

I woud think that the 1.3% refers to that died in the tournament boat livewells or in the livewell of the release boat. I don't think they would have any measurements for post release mortality. I don't know the survival rate is for the bass that they release; but I am sure that some of the must die.

 

Some of the culled fish may die after release as well. Or, some unethical participants may "cull" a dead fish.

 

So, I would agree that the real mortality rate is higher than the 1.3% claimed. But, I am not sure how much higher it is.

[slidehammer]

I find that there are plenty of bass around most everywhere I fish, but I would like to see a minimum of 12 inch keep size limit on them

[GBW]

I remember the camp fish fry's of the 60's - 70's - 80's, most people were cleaning smallies and panfish for them, they weren't catching walleye in the summer.

I'm a 70's kid and all the fish from my youth kept for a meal were bass as well. In fact my 93 yr old grandmother still asks me to keep her 1 or 2 a year vs walleye and other fish. Me, walleye and or perch for a meal...

 

I find that there are plenty of bass around most everywhere I fish, but I would like to see a minimum of 12 inch keep size limit on them

Same here (lot's of bass) and use the MIN size for a tourny as a starting point (thought is was 13") and a max size of 17" to keep for harvest

Edited July 8, 2016 by GBW

[OhioFisherman]

Here is my take on fish mortality of tournaments.

The mortality rate for the FLW Tour down south is 98.7 survival. That's with 340 anglers all with limits of 5. That's some 1700 fish. That's 22 dead fish per tournament.

 

If you took those 340 anglers and ban all tournaments Do you think those 340 fishermen will no longer fish? What will they fish for? How many fish would that take out of a lake? Likely more than 22 fish.

 

So is that to say that tournaments have no effect? No that's not true as it does. What is the effect? The fish get moved around. Fishing becomes more difficult. That felled tree you fish may not have fish in it any more because they have been transported and released across the lake. This is most evident on the BASS Elite series as lots of guy starting Day 2 of tournaments fish around where the fish got released and keep catching those day after day.

 

Populations of fish and large populations of fish get moved around every weekend on tournament lakes. So If your honey hole isn't working you need to adjust. If you know in the morning you always caught them in say 3-5 fow on the winded side of some eel grass and they aren't there. Go find another patch of eel grass and try it. Its a lot of hide and seek when fishing tournament waters. If you are fishing for fun, pay attention to where the tournaments launch out of and go fish the bays near the blast off and weigh in areas. Most tournaments do drive the release boats very far to dump fish.

 

It became very rare to see people carrying a limit of bass on a stringer dead here!