Bass still on the beds for opener?

[crappieperchhunter]

1 hour ago, AKRISONER said:

Live update from the kawarthas

the bass are not on beds and the fishing is tough. Bites are around but you gotta work for them, they sure as hell aren’t up shallow enough to see.

Funny...a spot I fish on Sturgeon for crappie/ gills has 3 bass nests with fish on them I can see from where I'm standing on shore. Been on these bed for just about a week...in about 2 FOW.

[Sinker]

I'm still seeing them on beds too. 

[Chris J]

On 6/14/2019 at 12:22 PM, BillM said:

I haven't found an easier fish to catch then a bedding/nesting bass.   

So you admit to bed fishing? 

[Terry]

2 hours ago, Chris J said:

So you admit to bed fishing? 

Why not if it’s in season it’s legal so everyone has the right to fish within the law

[Whitespinnerbait]

34 minutes ago, Terry said:

Why not if it’s in season it’s legal so everyone has the right to fish within the law

 

[misfish]

59 minutes ago, Terry said:

Why not if it’s in season it’s legal so everyone has the right to fish within the law

Im going to drop by your place and jump in yer bed as you and the mrs,s are spawning. See how you like it.

[Terry]

Hey

   I don’t fish for spawning / nesting fish but if someone wants to during open season I’m not going to say anything to them for fishing within the law 

Edited June 16, 2019 by Terry

[misfish]

8 minutes ago, Terry said:

Hey

   I don’t fish for spawning / nesting fish but if someone wants to during open season I’m not going to say anything to them for fishing within the law 

[porkpie]

6 hours ago, Chris J said:

So you admit to bed fishing? 

If he won’t, I will.  They’re big bluegills, and your lucky I’ll admit to even fishing for them, but sure I’d fish them on beds, I’d fish them on reds; I’d fish them with a gaff, I’d even fish them with a staff, I love fishing bass on beds.  Try it try it and you may, learn to love fishing beds the same way!  I will not fish them in the rain, or if the wind blows more than 30k, but I do so love fishing beds on any other day!

Edited June 16, 2019 by porkpie

[Rizzo]

Everyone talking global warming claim the bass are off the beds in April, and since they are never wrong, the bass were off the beds a long time ago

[ecmilley]

Seen bass protecting fry right into July. Some are just late spawners. This weekend on pigeon all nests I seen were empty of fish or fry scouting sturgeon most area bass had moved off beds 

[Reef Runner]

They were off the beds on canal this weekend.  Lots of gills and perch searching those beds for leftovers.

[Dan668]

3 hours ago, ecmilley said:

Seen bass protecting fry right into July. Some are just late spawners. This weekend on pigeon all nests I seen were empty of fish or fry scouting sturgeon most area bass had moved off beds 

I was out on Sunday, didnt see any bass on nests still. Was a tough day as well to

[BillM]

On 6/16/2019 at 10:38 AM, Chris J said:

So you admit to bed fishing? 

Uh no, I admit to fishing early season pike and panfish and catching incidental OOS bass.   Make another ASSumption my friend.

[Old Ironmaker]

Just last week I saw some nice size males cruising along the shoreline looking for a nice place to have babies. So they will still be on the beds here. I have been watching Smallies make beds, spawn, sometimes a single bass will try to entice a lady fish 2 at a time. Watching them do the nasty is very interesting. People somehow believe if you throw a cigarette butt on a bed with a male there the fish will hit it, not so. I have seen them torpedo Gar, Sheepshead and huge Carp. Small Gobies don't seem to be a problem for them. They eat them as fast as they encroach on the bed. I have seen the fry the size of coffee grounds make a ball the size of a large beachball on a single bed. For the time being Small mouth at least are healthy in great numbers here. My favorite freshwater fish to catch is definitely Smallies. It's all catch and release unless we decide to keep what we call here are "greenies". Probably year old class, about 12 to 16 inches long and are a brilliant green. However after the 1st or 2nd week of July it's only Walleye for us and the occasional Perch hunt for the table. They can't even come close to the exhilaration of catching a 5lb Smallie and trolling around for 4 hours can be as boring as watching paint dry, until you latch onto a 30" Pic. They go back, the 3 to 5 pounders find their way to a table tout suite. 

Don't forget it is legal to catch and release Smallmouth in Lake Erie during spawning season now for many years. Studies have shown that it has not impacted the population whatsoever.

And don't forget Erie in Ontario is still commercially fished. Those nets can't tell the difference between a 5 pound Smallmouth and a 5 pound Walleye. We have trolled through dozens of big Bass belly up after the commercial guys have pulled their nets. 

[grimsbylander]

22 minutes ago, Old Ironmaker said:

 

Don't forget it is legal to catch and release Smallmouth in Lake Erie during spawning season now for many years.

In US waters only!! People will read that and go berserk. lol

[Old Ironmaker]

59 minutes ago, grimsbylander said:

In US waters only!! People will read that and go berserk. lol

Yep, a small detail I omitted. It's been a while since I have posted here. If someone gets caught  fishing here in Ont. before opening they can say Johnny D told me it's OK. I don't think our fellow OFCers would misinterpret  but the hundreds of guests, well maybe. 

Thanks Grimsby. See you at the Peach Festival. It might rain on our parade. 

[AKRISONER]

On 6/17/2019 at 7:18 AM, ecmilley said:

Seen bass protecting fry right into July. Some are just late spawners. This weekend on pigeon all nests I seen were empty of fish or fry scouting sturgeon most area bass had moved off beds 

sure enough, went to the north end of the lake and there were fish protecting fry...go figure south end of the tri lakes didnt see a single bass up on a beds, mostly just other fish cruising around checking out the spawning blue gills and sunnys. Then headed to the north end and sure enough there were largies protecting clouds of fry.

Let me tell you, we had boats on all three lakes in the tri lakes and the largemouth fishing saturday and sunday was not good at all. Piles of dinks and males around and not a single bigger fish to be found. Our biggest fish from 3 boats was a 2lb smallie on sunday, thats rough!

A couple of 4lb smallies were caught over the weekend but they were definitely cruising shoals for food and not bedded up.

Edited June 18, 2019 by AKRISONER

[ecmilley]

And to add to the weirdness of the weather this year was out on balsam Monday and found 40+ nests some empty some with a guard and several with bass still pairing up had a tough time finding an area of lake without active beds 

[johnnyb]

21 hours ago, Old Ironmaker said:

 

Don't forget it is legal to catch and release Smallmouth in Lake Erie during spawning season now for many years. Studies have shown that it has not impacted the population whatsoever.

 

2 really great articles that talk about how yeah, in fact, the c&r seasons have impacted the fish populations.  Definitely worth the read, but if you skip it, here's the nutshell version: 

22 years of study has been completed on closed lakes in Ontario,  and the evidence overwhelmingly shows a negative impact on fishing during the spawn.  Also, the fishing on the Canadian side of border waters like Erie, St. Lawrence and Niagara is consistently better  yielding bigger fish, as evidenced by the tournaments on these waters. 

https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/ontario-now-has-the-worlds-best-smallmouth-fishing-heres-why/

https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/fishing-for-nesting-bass/

[BillM]

You'd think it would be common sense to leave the fish alone when they're spawning and protecting the fry. 

[Old Ironmaker]

2 hours ago, johnnyb said:

2 really great articles that talk about how yeah, in fact, the c&r seasons have impacted the fish populations.  Definitely worth the read, but if you skip it, here's the nutshell version: 

22 years of study has been completed on closed lakes in Ontario,  and the evidence overwhelmingly shows a negative impact on fishing during the spawn.  Also, the fishing on the Canadian side of border waters like Erie, St. Lawrence and Niagara is consistently better  yielding bigger fish, as evidenced by the tournaments on these waters. 

https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/ontario-now-has-the-worlds-best-smallmouth-fishing-heres-why/

https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/fishing-for-nesting-bass/

Thanks for the links johnnyb. I have to say when Gord Pyzer speaks everyone should listen. To the counterpoint of the above data I attended a fishing seminar at the University of Buffalo with a few of my friends and relatives that live in western N.Y. They live and breath Smallie fishing. Often coming to our place for the Ontario opener. All C&R. Of course the speakers also had data showing no negative impact to the fishery on Erie in western N.Y.. That was about a dozen years ago.

We live right on the north shore of Erie. Where we are is an outcropping of limestone with a scattering of beach stone on sand from the shoreline to about 30 feet out where it is approximately 6' deep. I have been watching the Small Mouth spawn here every spring for the last 23 years. In late May and June of 2018 I did not see any beds as the waves crashing on the armour rock wall due to high winds and high water making the water very cloudy. I can't imagine any beds would survive those conditions. There are beds that can be seen this year. Just late last week I saw meandering males looking for a good spot to make their beds. They are on the beds today. Our deck is 25 feet above the shoreline and the beds can be clearly seen in the crystal clear water. I use binoculars to get even closer and have snorkelled with my wife watching this amazing time, in our backyard. Some beds are as close as 6 feet from the shoreline. I have counted 10 beds just scattered across out 75' lot. Those are beds I can clearly see close to shore, I am positive there are beds beyond what I can see. I can tell you that those Bass regularly leave their beds unattended. Around 7AM and again around 7PM, twice a day like clockwork. They roam the area to feed at those times. They can be off the beds for up to 5 minutes at a time. We can see them gorge themselves on Emerald Shiners top feeding. The minnows beach themselves so not to be prey for those males. The predatory fish that meander through the beds are primarily  a gill net can't tell the differCarp and Gar Pike and from the times we have watched them I have yet to see those fish feed on the baitballs of Smallmouth fry that are left unattended. They look like coffee grinds the size of a beachball. I know there are other fish in the area however they, Gar and Carp, are right in their spawn activity when the bass are guarding the beds and those other fish could care less feeding when they spawn. They are spawning at times within feet from the beds. Once those fish have finished their spawn I have seen Carp primarily encroach on the Bass beds. The males torpedo those big carp. Those Bass are unbelievably fast in a short run. I am not a scientist, just an observer. Above is what I have observed for the last 23 years. I don't know if fishing on Bass beds is right or wrong, I do know that it is done across this shallow pond and the regs aren't about to change anytime soon. Remember it was on the U.S. side that commercial fishing was banned years ago to protect the sport fishery. We still commercially fish here on Erie and those gill nets can not differentiate between a 5 pound Walleye and a  5 pound Smallmouth. We have trolled for Pics through areas where the nets had just been pulled and have seen many dozens of very large Smallmouth in the wakes of the commercial boats belly up or floundering on the surface. 

Johnny D

Edited June 19, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[johnnyb]

Pretty solid observations Johnny! 

[Headhunter]

11 hours ago, BillM said:

You'd think it would be common sense to leave the fish alone when they're spawning and protecting the fry. 

Tell that story to the trout and salmon every spring. Why is one species open game and others aren't?

HH

[misfish]

10 hours ago, johnnyb said:

Pretty solid observations Johnny! 

Is this shirtless poser Johnny b ?