Kozak has it right !!! As a Ma. tournament fisherman, we have discussed
fishing during the spawn many times. The Ma. F&G has done many studies
about this, and they have decided they do not have to protect the bass during the spawn.
They have found the bigger fish will spawn deeper, and will be much
harder to see. It's not impossible to catch them, but most do survive, and these are the fish that we want to repopulate the lakes.
I live next to a lake of about 200 acres, that has LM bass. There is a
community bass club that promotes catch and release. When I first moved to this area about 25 years ago, we had quite a few big LM, up to 5-6 pounds.
Now that catch and release is promoted, the big fish are almost gone. now we have a ton of LM in the 10 to 14 inch range.
There are just too many bass for the forrage thats available.
So, what I'd like to propose, is don't be afraid to eat some average sized bass a couple times a year. It won't hurt the population, and will most likely help it,
especially if you want more larger fish.
Just one man's view.....
__________________
IFish
|