Creek Spawners - Give 'em a Break

[jastew]

First let me say this...I'm a creek smallie fisherman and I release all the bass I catch. If I want a meal there are better fish to catch. I don't fish for males on the nest, but I will sure fish for the big girls that are in the area. Females aren't locked in to one nest and may even spawn with more than one male.

I'd like to see almost all creek bass go back just because they're a small and fragile ecosytem that can't recover as easliy as a larger body of water.

That being said...taking a bass off a bed is no different than keeping it at another time of the year. It's gone regardless. It doesn't matter when you take it out of the population. Keepin spawning fish is really no different scientifically than keeping at another time, it just depends on how each fisherman looks at it.

[jcb]

That being said...taking a bass off a bed is no different than keeping it at another time of the year. It's gone regardless. It doesn't matter when you take it out of the population.

This just seems counter-intuitive to me.

Scenario A, you keep a female 2 days before she spawns out.

Scenario B, you keep a female after she spawns out.

Under Scenario A, that's X number of bass removed from the population, isn't it? Some fry will die off due to predation and other factors, but others won't.

[jastew]

This just seems counter-intuitive to me.

Scenario A, you keep a female 2 days before she spawns out.

Scenario B, you keep a female after she spawns out.

Under Scenario A, that's X number of bass removed from the population, isn't it? Some fry will die off due to predation and other factors, but others won't.

That's a good point if you are looking at one spawn. I was talking about more long term. If a female is taken out of the population, say in the fall, she won't spawn next spring. If you take her out during the spawn, you get the same result...she's not around for the next spawn.

The males are the ones that guard the nest and the fry. Females only spend a few hours spawning then they are gone.

[mhall]

I support what JCB is saying and agree with it as well....

The creeks aren't lakes guys it's different....MUCH different.

[imthemedic]

After a quick conversation with a state biologist he assures us that we are doing no damage by taking fish off the nest. Study after study has confirmed this and there is no scientific data that indicates any harm to the fishery. He stated that If there was any harm then the state would have impossed regulations to protect the fishery.
Now to be clear we are talking about catch and release practices only and that it was not being over fished.
Now I can see where small fisheries such a streams could be over fished during this period, but he indicated that was a very small risk and the state could impose regulations in these cases. But I would think that it would only apply to bodies of water that they are currently managing or sampling. Im sure they don't do many creeks.

Lots of opinions out there I guess.

[smashdn]

If I want a meal there are better fish to catch.

The big green bass you catch out of the creek do have a stronger taste to them. But he big brown ones out of cold water are mighty fine eating.

I have never caught one over 4lbs out of a creek but the big 6 lb brown bass don't seem to get as strong tasting as say a 6 lb green bass. But that is just lake fish. You end up with about 2lbs of pretty white fillets off of a 6lb brown bass. Out of the cold water makes them even better.