Early Catch and Release Bass Season in Lake Ontario for 2021

[SmokestackLightnin]

Anyone see the new regs.  Zone 20 which is Lake Ontario for 2021 has an early catch and release bass season from Jan 1 to May 10:

https://www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-fishing-regulations-summary/fisheries-management-zone-20

 

[SmokestackLightnin]

[SmokestackLightnin]

And of course note that the regular smallmouth season has been delayed until the first Saturday in July.

 

[Fisherman]

And I'll almost bet there are those who choose not to understand written english will go home with buckets of fish.

[grimsbylander]

23 minutes ago, SmokestackLightnin said:

And of course note that the regular smallmouth season has been delayed until the first Saturday in July.

 

Makes sense. 

[Terry]

It’s about time 

I wish they would do it every where 

[mamona]

Agreed with Terry, maybe this is just beginning

[AKRISONER]

\I think this is something that is going to be tested in Zone 20 and eventually make its way across all of the regs. 
 

To me it makes total sense to give the bass even more time to finish up spawning while they are guarding nests. I take a week off every year at opener and its incredible the transition of the fish over a 7 day period and the difference it makes on catch rates. Especially in colder years those first few days the fish are still dirt shallow and by the end of the week they are out into 10 fow. If you gave them the extra week I am certain you would be saving a lot of fish, especially from tournament pressure where anglers are taking the fish and totally relocating them.

 

The most important part about this change is that it opens up the pre-spawn bite to recreational anglers but unless you have an implemented MLF style digital tournament set up, these regs completely eliminate the possibility of tournaments until July while allowing recreational anglers to target some big big fish. I dont know about anyone else but I am beyond stoked at the opportunity to take a few of those warm March/april and even early may days and target some giant bass out of Hamilton and the Toronto islands.

Ill see you guys out there on lake O, ill be in the white skeeter!

Edited December 15, 2020 by AKRISONER

[dave524]

19 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

\I think this is something that is going to be tested in Zone 20 and eventually make its way across all of the regs. 
 

To me it makes total sense to give the bass even more time to finish up spawning while they are guarding nests. I take a week off every year at opener and its incredible the transition of the fish over a 7 day period and the difference it makes on catch rates. Especially in colder years those first few days the fish are still dirt shallow and by the end of the week they are out into 10 fow. If you gave them the extra week I am certain you would be saving a lot of fish, especially from tournament pressure where anglers are taking the fish and totally relocating them.

 

The most important part about this change is that it opens up the pre-spawn bite to recreational anglers but unless you have an implemented MLF style digital tournament set up, these regs completely eliminate the possibility of tournaments until July while allowing recreational anglers to target some big big fish. I dont know about anyone else but I am beyond stoked at the opportunity to take a few of those warm March/april and even early may days and target some giant bass out of Hamilton and the Toronto islands.

Ill see you guys out there on lake O, ill be in the white skeeter!

I'm 70 and in my memory there has always been several sanctuary areas at Pt. Colborne where you can't fish until 2 weeks after the regular opener, judging by Dave Chong's recent post out of there, it works.

[BillM]

I wonder how many guys are going to break the S-0, C-0 rules and load up their livewells for those double fisted IG and Facebook hero shots?    I don't mind the reg changes and I like the fact that they give them a nice break to spawn.   I catch way too many bass jerkbait fishing for pike that aren't even close to getting ready to spawn.  Hopefully we see this reg in a few other FMZs in the future.

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, BillM said:

I wonder how many guys are going to break the S-0, C-0 rules and load up their livewells for those double fisted IG and Facebook hero shots?    I don't mind the reg changes and I like the fact that they give them a nice break to spawn.   I catch way too many bass jerkbait fishing for pike that aren't even close to getting ready to spawn.  Hopefully we see this reg in a few other FMZs in the future.

The internet is a good thing for policing that kinda crap bill. Recently a Instagram chick got caught up transporting fish around for pro staff shots illegally and regular folks picked up on it and basically shut her up Instagram down and made her lose her crappy little sponsorship.

if people are doing what they are doing within the regs and at the end of it all still put the fish back to live another day then so be it. I’ve watched how “musky canada” guys apparently think is the right way to handle musky (thats another story)...it definitely doesn’t look like putting a bass in a live well by itself for a bit while on a good bite to see if you can get a second big one.

I’m also not opposed to tournament angling personally if things are being done right either. But of course to each his own. I am more concerned about people just taking fish to eat but at the same time I think the time of year for the most part would have me believe that only the most hardcore anglers will be dunking boats in April to chase smallies. When was the last time you even saw a boat aside from in the Larry targeting bass? Lots of shore guys around but not many boaters. 

More importantly maybe it will reduce some of the clowns that I see every year throwing spinner baits and whacky rigs for musky and pike in early June...probably not though who am I kidding.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by AKRISONER

[BillM]

Josh R noticed that 'pro staffer' last year doing her outfit changes.  I remember the original thread, I was dying lol.   I've got the screenshots somewhere I'm sure.  

[AKRISONER]

42 minutes ago, BillM said:

Josh R noticed that 'pro staffer' last year doing her outfit changes.  I remember the original thread, I was dying lol.   I've got the screenshots somewhere I'm sure.  

lol so you were aware of that one as well. The best part were the simps trying to stand up for her ahahha

[BillM]

Probably the same guys the paid to join NPS and think they're pro fisherman because of it  

[akaShag]

well.....................I guess I am in the minority here and don't think this is a good idea.  UNLESS we get a hell of a lot more enforcement, which seems unlikely.

 

Within the past six months or so, there was a very good article that I read somewhere (maybe by Gord Pyzer?) comparing the US and Canadian waters of Lake Ontario for big bass.  The author stated their opinion, which seemed to have science behind it, that our later season opener protected the big spawners, so the Canadian side has bigger bass on average that the US side of the lake.

And yahoos will be yahoos, and wilful blindness to a zero bag limit won't stop them.  JMOYMV

Doug

[Pigeontroller]

On 12/16/2020 at 9:01 AM, AKRISONER said:

The internet is a good thing for policing that kinda crap bill. Recently a Instagram chick got caught up transporting fish around for pro staff shots illegally and regular folks picked up on it and basically shut her up Instagram down and made her lose her crappy little sponsorship.

if people are doing what they are doing within the regs and at the end of it all still put the fish back to live another day then so be it. I’ve watched how “musky canada” guys apparently think is the right way to handle musky (thats another story)...it definitely doesn’t look like putting a bass in a live well by itself for a bit while on a good bite to see if you can get a second big one.

I’m also not opposed to tournament angling personally if things are being done right either. But of course to each his own. I am more concerned about people just taking fish to eat but at the same time I think the time of year for the most part would have me believe that only the most hardcore anglers will be dunking boats in April to chase smallies. When was the last time you even saw a boat aside from in the Larry targeting bass? Lots of shore guys around but not many boaters. 

More importantly maybe it will reduce some of the clowns that I see every year throwing spinner baits and whacky rigs for musky and pike in early June...probably not though who am I kidding.

 

 

Please expand on this?

[Terry]

I think he means some people pretend to be fishing Muskie while throwing bass sized bait in areas that hold bass more then Muskie  don’t think he was blaming Muskie fishermen 

[ecmilley]

Poachers gonna poach nothing will stop it. But who in there right mind wants to eat smallies when most of the meat fisherman are in the kawartha s at that time slaying crappies

[Whitespinnerbait]

1 hour ago, ecmilley said:

 But who in there right mind wants to eat smallies........enough said !!

 

[grimsbylander]

3 hours ago, Terry said:

I think he means some people pretend to be fishing Muskie while throwing bass sized bait in areas that hold bass more then Muskie  don’t think he was blaming Muskie fishermen 

I don’t think so. I read it differently also. 

[grimsbylander]

I have to say, as a die hard bass guy who loves our fishery as much as the next guy, I will always remain perplexed that thousands of guys fishing Ontario tributaries for spawning trout and milking them for bait is deemed perfectly normal whereas fishing for bass...BASS, anytime before or during a hint of a spawn, is somehow akin to shooting the last dodo bird. 
And to be clear, this is not a condemnation of the spring or fall trout fishing. Nope, I love it too. Just pointing out the difference in the cultural acceptance of one vs. the other. 

[AKRISONER]

Grimsby has got a point. Heck the same goes for walleye. No big deal to have 100 boats in one small stretch of water keeping two fish per person meanwhile if you target bass in may...and let’s get serious bass arent spawning in 40 degree water, then game over.

oh it’s also cool to keep 30 crappies a day

im a big believer that our protection of them during late may and June is paramount to protecting the fishery,  but I have no clue why they are closed all winter aside from the fact they stack up. This reg makes sense to me. 
 

for people asking about my muskys canada comment, I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with Fisherpete who without putting words in his mouth quit attending muskies canada meetings because he didn’t agree with how some guys truly were handling the resource. I think he said something along the lines of “it’s just an excuse for those guys to drink beer” When I fished with pete he took absolutely every single precaution available to him to ensure the fish survived and low and behold we never lost a fish over multiple trips.

and then through a friend I went fishing with a couple of muskies canada members and watching how they handled the fish we caught I was stunned. I thought they would all consistently take utmost care of the fish being “members” and I wouldn’t call it anything close to the care that pete takes. 
 

let’s just say I’m glad I learned fish care from pete...his methods can be used for all species and I do use them for everything and subsequently very rarely have difficulty releasing fish, to the point that they almost never even need any form of reviving.

Edited December 18, 2020 by AKRISONER

[msp]

On 12/16/2020 at 10:15 AM, AKRISONER said:

lol so you were aware of that one as well. The best part were the simps trying to stand up for her ahahha

She is pretty hot tho.  Just sayin 

[msp]

21 hours ago, akaShag said:

well.....................I guess I am in the minority here and don't think this is a good idea.  UNLESS we get a hell of a lot more enforcement, which seems unlikely.

 

Within the past six months or so, there was a very good article that I read somewhere (maybe by Gord Pyzer?) comparing the US and Canadian waters of Lake Ontario for big bass.  The author stated their opinion, which seemed to have science behind it, that our later season opener protected the big spawners, so the Canadian side has bigger bass on average that the US side of the lake.

And yahoos will be yahoos, and wilful blindness to a zero bag limit won't stop them.  JMOYMV

Doug

Not to sure about this.  Look at Lake Erie with their trophy season. The lake still kicks out giant bass on both sides of the border. 
I would be more concerned about the effect on other fish species. Could you imagine fishing BOQ up shallow in the spring for “bass “ ie giant walleye and pike during April. Either way there are going to be rule breakers and people that take advantage of the new regs 

[grimsbylander]

6 hours ago, msp said:

Not to sure about this.  Look at Lake Erie with their trophy season. The lake still kicks out giant bass on both sides of the border. 
I would be more concerned about the effect on other fish species. Could you imagine fishing BOQ up shallow in the spring for “bass “ ie giant walleye and pike during April. Either way there are going to be rule breakers and people that take advantage of the new regs 

This 100% true. There is little doubt that the Ministry has evaluated the impact of an early catch and release season and has deemed it safe. On Erie, running to US water to win a tournament is extremely common. 
The people that have the propensity to poach don’t need a rule change to make it happen.