Last week, I discussed the impact of catching bass during the nesting season. A subject of debate likely since bass fishing began, the topic today is of even greater interest due to the overall efficiency of modern fishermen.
Given our progress, is there reason to believe that we, as anglers, can impact a fishery as a whole by catching bass at this vulnerable time? How does catch and release impact our opinions? And, overall, how many fish in a given body of water are we really affecting?
Scattered amongst a few juvenile personal attacks, I was able to get some positive feedback from readers on opposing sides. While some anglers voice serious concern, others are more vocal of other factors affecting our fisheries.
As I alluded to last week, I’ve been gathering data from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, including the results of its multi-year bed fishing studies. Upon further review, I found some very surprising results.
The studies being done are basically broken down into three components:
The first takes place on private ponds, intricately managed and controlled by the FWC. Another branch of study is occurring in waters open to fishing, with no additional regulation in place. Finally, studies have been done on a few small lakes that are semi-private, representing a wild population of fish, but a controllable angler base.
Today, we’ll discuss the results of the private pond study. As mentioned, these bodies of water, all about 1 acre in size, were drained, filled and managed by the FWC. The entire population of bass living in the ponds was stocked, mostly from wild populations, tagged and DNA sampled. With such prudence, there would be no room for discussions of error in the data.
In the case of the pond study, 20 adult bass were stocked in each pond – 10 males and 10 females, along with various forage and nest-predator species (bluegills, shiners, etc.). All nests in each pond were marked by snorkelers during the spawning season and closely observed on a regular basis.
Each season, half of the ponds were fished, and half were not fished during the nesting season. Then, each fall, all the fish in the ponds were removed and counted, including all young-of-the-year bass, to determine overall recruitment.
It’s important to immediately point out, as you’ll learn later, the type of “fishing pressure” bass succumbed to. In the case of those ponds with angling pressure, each and every nest was fished until the bass on the nest was caught or 30 minutes elapsed. Anglers were experienced bass fishermen choosing from a variety of artificial baits. Any caught bass were held for one hour, then released back into the small pond.
I must say, the results were not what I expected.
The study concluded that, overall, recruitment (the number of new bass added to the population) was nearly identical for both the fished and un-fished ponds.
Therefore, factors like nest predation by bluegills and other bass, fluctuations in habitat and weather, even forage; all seem to trump angling pressure. Good news for bass fishermen, right? Maybe, maybe not.
Perhaps one potential flaw exists in this incredibly methodical study.
As I alluded to, those bass that were caught by anglers were held for an hour, then released. The study found that, of those bass that were caught and held, about half returned to the nest and experienced successful spawns. So, in essence, a large percentage of each pond’s recruitment came from bass that were caught, then released a short distance from their original nesting site.
This study’s methodology was carefully thought out by the State of Florida to most accurately represent today’s angling pressure. It’s true that the vast majority of bass caught by today’s anglers are released, and most release them on the spot – much like the control. But such methods leave out two important scenarios that I feel may play an underrated role: trophy hunters and tournaments.
In the case of harvesting trophy bass, while it’s nice to think that most anglers favor catch and release, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. In fact, I recently watched in horror as a fish camp operator unloaded a box full of mounted trophies from the taxidermist. Six bass, each weighing in excess of 8 pounds, represented just one week of fishing at one camp. If anyone can reasonably say that selective harvest of trophy animals does not impact the structure of a population, I challenge them to argue with operators in other arenas, like trophy deer management, or even trophy catfish and panfish lakes, for that matter.
Secondly, the study does nothing to simulate the impact of tournament fishing. As you all know, I’m often both in favor and critical of the impact of organized fishing. I’ve often wondered: What is the impact of pulling a spawning bass off of a bed, hauling it 20 miles away, and releasing it 8 hours later?
Believe it or not, my scientist contacts feel it may not be as drastic as I thought. They argue that many bass spawn numerous times, especially in Florida, and that a lot of those transplanted fish will still contribute to the population.
In addition, studies are showing that, overall, Florida-strain bass are much more difficult to catch than other bass species, and that, despite the efforts of the world’s best anglers, most remain uncaught. Finally, researchers are finding that most of the bass in Florida spawn in locales with such dense cover that they are never even noticed by anglers, no matter how advanced their polarized sunglasses are.
While the results of this initial study are encouraging, it’s important to note that they cover specific populations in a very unique environment. We must be careful not to paint with a broad brush. It’s likely Northern fisheries, with their condensed spawning seasons, may yield quite different results.
Also, I’m anxious to learn the results of studies conducted on wild populations of fish. Stay tuned here and I’ll be sure to share.
(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
