Bass still on the beds for opener?

[johnnyb]

1 hour ago, misfish said:

Is this shirtless poser Johnny b ?

Hahaha maybe it is..... ?

[BillM]

2 hours ago, Headhunter said:

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

HH

Shouldn't be fishing steelhead or salmon on the beds either.   So sporting!  lol   Difference though is salmon and steelhead don't stick around.   One and done.   

Edited June 19, 2019 by BillM

[Headhunter]

But they are still on their spawn and they have to run the gauntlet to do the nasty. As a result, we end up stocking the lake so that fisher people can catch them while they spawn.

Seems like a double standard to me...

HH

[grimsbylander]

1 hour ago, Headhunter said:

But they are still on their spawn and they have to run the gauntlet to do the nasty. As a result, we end up stocking the lake so that fisher people can catch them while they spawn.

Seems like a double standard to me...

HH

Agreed. I’ve raised that question many times in the past and nobody can give me a reasonable explanation. Personally, I think it’s a case of tradition and what we were all raised to believe. Just imagine catching a big female bass, massaging her eggs out into a jar and tossing her back in. Guys would loose their minds....rightfully so too. 

[Headhunter]

4 minutes ago, grimsbylander said:

Agreed. I’ve raised that question many times in the past and nobody can give me a reasonable explanation. Personally, I think it’s a case of tradition and what we were all raised to believe. Just imagine catching a big female bass, massaging her eggs out into a jar and tossing her back in. Guys would loose their minds....rightfully so too. 

Agreed... can you imagine the uproar that the "Spotted Carp" crew would raise if they closed the trout season until well after spawn? They wouldn't be able to refine their flossing techniques or a s mentioned, toss the eggless body back in the drink.

Where would the fun be?

HH

[Old Ironmaker]

1 hour ago, grimsbylander said:

. Just imagine catching a big female bass, massaging her eggs out into a jar and tossing her back in. Guys would loose their minds....rightfully so too. 

Not a Salmon fisherguy. I have never understood what would justify killing one Salmon and perhaps hundreds of off spring to go and catch another of the same species then releasing it for the sake of conservation. ??????????. 

[Rattletrap2]

I measured the temperatures in the pond last week-end and we are barely at 64 deg.F. Past years it would have been at least 74 deg.F by the end of May and all spawning would be long over. Bass and Bluegill are heavy into the spawn now, but nowhere close to being done. Everything is just so much later this year!

[misfish]

Just now, Rattletrap2 said:

I measured the temperatures in the pond last week-end and we are barely at 64 deg.F. Past years it would have been at least 74 deg.F by the end of May and all spawning would be long over. Bass and Bluegill are heavy into the spawn now, but nowhere close to being done. Everything is just so much later this year!

Hmmmmmm, I been working on some bluegill fly,s Mr.B.

[Inkman]

Bass are a very prolific fish, I've been fishing them for 60+ years in Bruce/Grey county, Saugeen river watershed and many tributaries. Catch and release, very few people keep and eat these fish. As a former Wilderness Hunting/Fishing lodge owner in Western Quebec for 20+ years I've seen nothing but a healthy, increasing population of smallmouth bass. As for the comments made trying to link this to Cod in the north Atlantic, Moose in Northern Ontario, Deer in southern Ontario, that is just nonsense, "apples and oranges".....Come to Grey/Bruce and talk to me and lots of locals with thousands of dollars damage to our vehicles due to the "bambi" population! As mentioned I'm  60+ years in this area, the "good old days" are now! Never so many deer, or bass for that matter in my lifetime.......just sayin eh!

[Old Ironmaker]

Inkman, welcome to OFC. Your real world experience and knowledge is very welcome here. I always say the good old days are today.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[AKRISONER]

5 hours ago, Inkman said:

 As mentioned I'm  60+ years in this area, the "good old days" are now! Never so many deer, or bass for that matter in my lifetime.......just sayin eh!

Took my neighbor fishing a couple weeks back and hes lived in Pointe Au Baril since the 50's when I describe the fish that i catch on a regular basis he is blown away. Truly the "good old days" are now. Regulations are tight, the lakes are the cleanest they've been in hundreds of years, there is no commercial fishing going on and the fish are plentiful and fat.

Edited June 20, 2019 by AKRISONER

[Headhunter]

14 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

Took my neighbor fishing a couple weeks back and hes lived in Pointe Au Baril since the 50's when I describe the fish that i catch on a regular basis he is blown away. Truly the "good old days" are now. Regulations are tight, the lakes are the cleanest they've been in hundreds of years, there is no commercial fishing going on and the fish are plentiful and fat.

And we have technology today that not only shows us detailed pictures of everything underwater, we also have technology that will drive us to our spot and put us within 10ft of it every time. And it will hold us there as well.

HH

[Inkman]

3 hours ago, Headhunter said:

And we have technology today that not only shows us detailed pictures of everything underwater, we also have technology that will drive us to our spot and put us within 10ft of it every time. And it will hold us there as well.

HH

 

[Inkman]

Headhunter....with all due respect, after fishing my preferred waters for 60+ I have no need for sonar or gps.....I experimented and put in many hours of my youth, and mid life exploring these waters.....I learned and retained the knowkedge and I can go out today and be more successful than in the late 50's, I have all the electronics available in these times.....I use my sonar to search for structure and my gps to help me find "my way home " in unfamiliar waters. I've never seen anyone use electronics to make fish hit a bait?......just sayin

Edited June 20, 2019 by Inkman

[Headhunter]

Now don't get me wrong, I think that if it's available to you and you want to use it, have at 'er. I see nothing wrong with using technology and no, I've never seen a fish caught on electronics. That said, I have used electronics to my advantage and will continue to do so, but to say that the playing field is better now than in the past, I'm not so sure that can be substantiated. I think better equipped fisher people are putting more fish in the boat.

 

HH

Edited June 20, 2019 by Headhunter

[Inkman]

I hear ya and agree, electronics are wonderful, great new technology and are good tools to "have in your box" These are truly "the good old days" there were no salmon in great lakes  when I was growing up, brown trout were "phantom fish" now they are everywhere,  and that's great.  Sure more fish are being caught,  but people now practice catch and release, that was very rare when I was coming up,  sign of the times and we manage the resource like never before. It's a total sustainable fishery that we've created over the past decades....and that's good for us now and future generations of anglers. 

[Old Ironmaker]

3 hours ago, Inkman said:

Headhunter....with all due respect, after fishing my preferred waters for 60+ I have no need for sonar or gps.....I experimented and put in many hours of my youth, and mid life exploring these waters.....I learned and retained the knowkedge and I can go out today and be more successful than in the late 50's, I have all the electronics available in these times.....I use my sonar to search for structure and my gps to help me find "my way home " in unfamiliar waters. I've never seen anyone use electronics to make fish hit a bait?......just sayin

The crazy thing about all the electronic toys available to newbie fisher persons is that after a season of talking advantage of and having the ability to use it properly they can attain several years of experience in a few weeks. People don't have the time or ability to spend their lives on  a few bodies of water to learn it. Before we got our own sonar in the late 70's we generally went to 3 different areas for our 2 weeks of fishing, spring and fall. The Ottawa, Nipissing south shore and Big Island on the Bay of Quinte. And in those 3 areas we didn't venture far from our local spots until we got sonar.  I remember one afternoon my Uncle insisted on heading east from our spot on Nipissing. I warned him that after 8 years fishing at the in-laws cottage for a few days in summer we never ventured far from our regular areas. It took the 4 of us a few hours to get his old 20 foot wooden lapstrake off the shoal we came to rest on after it took a huge gouge out of the keel stem to stern. I didn't know how heavy those old wooden barges were, I did after that day, heavy, really heavy. Our GPS was our arms outstretched to line up the blue cottage with Hollywood Beach for Smallmouth. Start our troll at the burning bush until we got to the Osprey nest, landmarks were our GPC co ordinates, I'm sure they were yours as well. Fishing Lake Erie or Ontario, forget about it. But the stacks at Nanticoke helped a bit when they built the Hydro plant. The old joke then was to answer "Strait off dem dere stacks brudder, straight off dem stacks" When someone asked where did you get dem beauties? We still tell them the same thing and they took down the stacks 2 winters ago. When we hit the fish we earned it the old fashioned way, by working hard. I have a couple of thousand bucks worth of electronics on my boat now (don't want to add it up), and still get kyboshed by the good old Skunk Gods. 

edit: by the time you get the new gadget out of the box it's outdated. 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[Inkman]

Oh I agree whole heartedly, electronics are wonderful things....great to fool around with also when the fishing is slow, and we who fish know all about that. They certainly can help to speed things up but only practice, process of elimination by trying different techniques and presentation and learning the habits of the species you seek on any given day will put them in the boat. No substitute for experiance in anything you do in life, and fishing no exception. That's what makes fishing the great sport that it is, you never stop learning and you never stop trying different things to try and establish and pattern out your quarrie......such fun.....

[Cando]

On 6/15/2019 at 3:14 PM, misfish said:

You forgot the ripping around seadoos. I watched 3 of them last weekend ripping around over an area I know the smallies spawn.  They don't have a clue.

I hate those things. I wish it was legal to shoot holes into them when they go whipping too close to shore in front of my cottage. lol

[Cando]

On 6/15/2019 at 4:15 PM, 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.

My buddies grandson caught 2 bass on the May long weekend somewhere in the Kawarthas.

[Cando]

On 6/17/2019 at 10:05 AM, Reef Runner said:

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

My cottage is on Canal but I haven't been up there because they couldn't get in to put in my new septic tank. But they seem to spawn early by my dock. I watch them protect their nests long before opening season.Then those damn bass tourney guys come in and catch my fish. lol.

[Cando]

9 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

Took my neighbor fishing a couple weeks back and hes lived in Pointe Au Baril since the 50's when I describe the fish that i catch on a regular basis he is blown away. Truly the "good old days" are now. Regulations are tight, the lakes are the cleanest they've been in hundreds of years, there is no commercial fishing going on and the fish are plentiful and fat.

Has the fishing come back in POB since they stopped the commercial fishing? I haven't been up there in a few decades and remember how great the pike and walleye were their. We would catch up to 50+ inch pike there.

[Cando]

9 hours ago, Headhunter said:

And we have technology today that not only shows us detailed pictures of everything underwater, we also have technology that will drive us to our spot and put us within 10ft of it every time. And it will hold us there as well.

HH

I'm old school. I don't use electronics. I throw my friend overboard and get him to spot the fish lol

[AKRISONER]

There’s 0 doubt that electronics are extremely handy, especially when it comes to navigating. Certain times of year/patterns rely a lot on utilizing your sonar and even more specifically down imaging. Smallies in September like to sit on bait, for the most part the bait they feed on is barely visible on chirp sonar, but on down imaging you can see the fish chasing bait.

I still have no friggin clue how people used to get around on Georgian bay prior to having a gps. I mean sure you could learn the way through some of the main channels through experience, but there’s no way in hell you’d venture off of them unless you were paddling.

heck I still run into rocks with some regularity while standing on the deck running the trolling motor. I’ve been lucky enough that to date (knock on wood) I haven’t hit the lower end of my outboard off of anything. I basically 100% owe that to having a gps to guide me on my way. As a rule of thumb I stick to drive lines and charted areas and when I want to explore I throw in the bow mount and make my way carefully. I’ve learned a lot of water this way. 

Edited June 21, 2019 by AKRISONER

[Old Ironmaker]

What I am trying to say is the electronics today shortens the "experience" factor greatly. Finding the fish is one thing, getting them on the line is another. I saw a few guys head out in their $100,000.00 brand spankin 20 plus footer Lund. What I did notice was a few rods had wire leaders on them. Good luck chaps.

I too am not a fan of those water rockets they have today. But I would think these huge breakers we get here when a south west wind howls must kick up the eggs and fry on a Bass bed too. These waves we get, not often in spring as fall, has to effect the beds, but we still get them. I had water splashing up on the deck 25' above the beach, or I should say where the beach used to be. I have seen Zebra mussels in the driveway a good 70' from the lake in the spring before. Those beds if there were any had to be destroyed. I think we have had something like 5/ 100 year storms in the last 10 years. Global weather change, specifically high water levels must be a bigger factor effecting Bass spawn than marauding fish feeding on Bass eggs and Fry.

A question I need to get answers to. Any thoughts guys?