Bass tournaments before June 15th ??

[thmyorke1]

What are your thoughts the rule? I figured there's plenty of bass and fishing the spawn helps control over-populating.

Yet again I'm not sure how the populations are going in the state. Probably vary by water.

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by thmyorke1

What are your thoughts the rule? I figured there's plenty of bass and fishing the spawn helps control over-populating.

Yet again I'm not sure how the populations are going in the state. Probably vary by water.

I don't know. Since New Jersey is the most crowded state in the U.S. and one one of the most densely-populated areas of the world, we definitely don't have an issue with bass being under-fished and overpopulated.

In my opinion, the harvest restrictions set by Fish & Wildlife are far too liberal to be sustainable and the only reason we have bass fishing in New Jersey public waters is because the majority of skilled bass fishermen are of good character and practice catch & release.


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[thmyorke1]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

I don't know. Since New Jersey is the most crowded state in the U.S. and one one of the most densely-populated areas of the world, we definitely don't have an issue with bass being under-fished and overpopulated.

In my opinion, the harvest restrictions set by Fish & Wildlife are far too liberal to be sustainable and the only reason we have bass fishing in New Jersey public waters is because the majority of skilled bass fishermen are of good character and practice catch & release.


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Good point. I thought the harvest restrictions are pretty strict. Would you say they should be stricter, how so? I think it depends on water, for bass. Ponds are totally different from the Raritan river for example

[trout taco]

I used to belong to a bass club and these closed season tournaments are "paper weigh-in's". Basically you catch a fish weigh and measure it and the five biggest are your "bag" for the day. Very lame. Not sure about fish going in live wells.

Most fisheries when there's a closed season not only can't you have C&R tournaments you can't target the species period. Doing so is considered fishing for them during the closure and subject to some heavy fines. No different than people in salt water trying to fish over the 3 mile line for stripers or small mouth fishing in NY at Lake George before the season is opened. If you're caught targeting, your fined whether you have possession or not. You're fined in NY even if you never had a hit but it appears you're targeting smallies before the opener. I was at Lake Hopatcong two weeks ago and stopped at Lake's End marina. There had to be 10 bass boats fishing that cove! Asked the owner and he said there's bass tournaments just about every week. Don't agree with NJF&G on this one. If the season is closed. especially during the spawn, it should be closed to everyone.

Originally Posted by trout taco

I used to belong to a bass club and these closed season tournaments are "paper weigh-in's". Basically you catch a fish weigh and measure it and the five biggest are your "bag" for the day. Very lame. Not sure about fish going in live wells.

Agree with you and in my opinion that practice puts a lot more pressure on already stressed enforcement agencies to patrol the waters. If the season is closed to protect the spawn, which I assume is the case, no fishing should be allowed. The concern in addition to the practice is what impact does it have on the spawn itself either in stressing the fish out and effecting reproduction or taking females away from the beds and exposing eggs to predator fish.

[thmyorke1]

In reality how will a total bass closure be handled here? All of our waters have bass in it, it seems. How do other states that do a strict/total closure and not just a CnR season handle it?

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by thmyorke1

In reality how will a total bass closure be handled here? All of our waters have bass in it, it seems. How do other states that do a strict/total closure and not just a CnR season handle it?

I'd guess the same way they handle the other closures. Shad dart they assume shad fishing, salmon eggs looks like trout fishing, 8" senko or 12" power worm probably bass fishing.

My bigger issue for fishing for bass this time of year is that it's like shooting fish in a barrel. They are protecting their nests and will hit anything that comes close just to keep it off the eggs... Not as sporting as enticing a feeding strike other times of the year, IMO.

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by thmyorke1

Good point. I thought the harvest restrictions are pretty strict. Would you say they should be stricter, how so? I think it depends on water, for bass. Ponds are totally different from the Raritan river for example

Bass are strictly catch-and -release from April 15 to June 15. The current creel limit law is 5 bass over 12 inches after June 15 which is a lot!

Imagine if everybody fishing your favorite lake or river killed every bass they caught that was over 12 inches up to five fish. How long would that lake be worth your time to fish?

Personally, I release every bass I catch because I want to conserve the resource. I want other fishermen to experience the same fishing I did and I want that bass to grow bigger and lay lots of eggs. In my opinion, people who kill bass are selfish jack-offs who ruin the fishing for others - and themselves.

Bass grow slow. At this latitude it takes a Largemouth 3 or 4 years to reach a legal size of 12 inches and 8 years to reach 18 inches/ 3 pounds (which is where I consider a bass to be big).
http://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/Penn...Management.pdf

When someone catches an 18 inch bass on public water, they aren't 'special' and just discovered something no one has ever touched before. They are catching a bass that was caught many times during its eight year lifetime and was released by the sportsman who caught it. They can either release it to grow bigger and for other anglers to enjoy - or they can kill it. What would an ethical sportsman do? What would a selfish jack-off do?


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