Quote Originally Posted by Fntsyfbgod View Post
Catching a few spawning smallmouth out of a lake that size won't make an impact. If they were fishing a smaller lake it might affect the spawn but not a big lake. Florida has been allowing big national tournaments to get tournament exemptions for years and it hasn't been an issue. I don't think every little tournament should get an exemption but I think it's a great idea on big lakes with tournaments that handle fish care properly. I want to showcase our great lakes and that's what the exemption does.
Stating Cumberland can support a few spawners being taking off the nest based on size, is very short sighted.

Lake size,
Lake fertility.
Spawn success.

A **** ton of factors go into evaluating if it will hurt or not.

Dale Hollow suffered a gigantic fish kill a decade ago. Smallmouth fishing there was practically decimated. the 25 yr old slot limit was LEFT ALONE, and the 2 fish limit was left in place for smallmouth and guess what. The smallmouth population is exploding.

Personally, I believe a 2 fish limit and a 16 - 20 slot would be awesome for Cumberland...IMHO.

Now to the fact of ripping spawner off the nest and dragging them 50 miles....that is a severely IGNORANT ideology, and should stop. Period. I agree to what others have said about northern lakes. They have closed seasons on smallmouth, and I believe those closed seasons significantly help the smallmouth.

On a personal note:

I used to plan trips to the BWCA and Quetico around the spawn, but we stopped that years ago. There was no sport in pulling the male and then the female off the nest.......NO SPORT. Any ignorant fool with a fishing rod can do that. It takes a little more skill to find and locate the fish staging. Heck I think the fall is one of the best times, as the weights are significantly heavier as they feed up for their long winter.



Later,

Geo