Smallies

[HighHook94]

To everyone saying it was good he kept the smaller ones, I believe i read somewhere that it's better to keep the big ones to improve the population. The fish in the 12-14 inch range are more reproductive compared to a giant who is probably quite old and not very fertile anymore. Also, i read that the giant bass eat the majority of the bait in a lake and leave little for the smaller fish to grow. Just trying to play devil's advocate here. Not saying i believe in this, but i read it awhile ago and it does make sense. That being said, i am strictly catch and release for freshwater nj bass fishing. I will not keep a smallmouth out of my favorite holes in the north/south branches of the raritan river because then i will catch less in the future. Panfish are fair game to keep anywhere though. However, if i am on a fishing vacation/camping trip in another state at a big lake like lake champlain, ontario, or erie, I sure as hell will keep a few smallmouth because it's a camping trip, and taking a couple fish from huge lakes like that isn't going to kill off the whole population. I just don't take freshwater fish from nj because i fish here 99% of the time and want to catch fish on future trips. Saltwater fishing is a different story for me though. I keep plenty on saltwater trips. But i stay within the regs.

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by HighHook94

To everyone saying it was good he kept the smaller ones, I believe i read somewhere that it's better to keep the big ones to improve the population. The fish in the 12-14 inch range are more reproductive compared to a giant who is probably quite old and not very fertile anymore. Also, i read that the giant bass eat the majority of the bait in a lake and leave little for the smaller fish to grow. Just trying to play devil's advocate here.

In general, the larger the bass, the more eggs it can produce. Although I'm sure there is an age where a bass just loses its ability to lay eggs, I don't know of too many places where a bass can grow that old.

Here is a chart from Pond Boss Magazine: http://www.bassresource.com/fish_bio...mouth-fry.html



As you can see, an 18" bass can produce 700% more eggs than a 12" bass.

I'm not big on the idea of "selective harvest" on public waters. Private waters that get very little fishing or no harvest are forced to cull out small bass to free up available forage. Here in New Jersey, we are burdened with living in the most densely crowded state in the U.S. - and one of the most crowded places in the world. There is more than enough harvest going on that the bass really don't need your help. There are plenty of sunfish for the bass to eat.


.

[Chrisper4694]

Well in a perfect world people would only take from the meaty part of that bell curve of fish size...then more monster fish would start showing up. But you're right there is enough people keeping everything including the big girls. I still don't think keeping game fish on the small legal size range will harm any fishery...if it does then that system is way too fragile and there are other problems there. I encourage people to keep small legal game fish from places I like to fish, but I also encourage never keeping a big one (and of course that will never happen)

[HighHook94]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

In general, the larger the bass, the more eggs it can produce. Although I'm sure there is an age where a bass just loses its ability to lay eggs, I don't know of too many places where a bass can grow that old.

Here is a chart from Pond Boss Magazine: http://www.bassresource.com/fish_bio...mouth-fry.html



As you can see, an 18" bass can produce 700% more eggs than a 12" bass.

I'm not big on the idea of "selective harvest" on public waters. Private waters that get very little fishing or no harvest are forced to cull out small bass to free up available forage. Here in New Jersey, we are burdened with living in the most densely crowded state in the U.S. - and one of the most crowded places in the world. There is more than enough harvest going on that the bass really don't need your help. There are plenty of sunfish for the bass to eat.


.

Interesting, I never knew that. Good info!