Great read mrl0004

I have no biological degrees, etc. But I do alot of reading and make the most possible informed judgements based on readings and personal experience.



Currently in Michigan, we are having many miles of gear restrictions put on PUBLIC waters. This is due to, in part, big organizations that influence government decisions.

Tell me that wouldn't tick ya off.... the government telling you you can only use flies in a section of trout stream... I'm talking like a 100 mile section of river.

I can't speak for all states but here in MA the water isn't clean at all and the fisherman who catch and keep outweigh the catch and release fisherman. We have no real seasons of fish so it's fair game everyday of the year (minus a few bodies of water). The state puts in trout because there are very little wild trout left. The state hasn't done anything with Bass in years and years and now there isn't much fishing on 90% of the waters. You can find great fishing in the backwoods ponds or farm ponds but you've got to get permission because it's private land.

Good stuff mrl0004,

Buckhunter14 - There are a lot of "fly fishing only" waters here in the northeast and it is a real bad deal for those of us who never fly fish. You know - our license money goes for stream management just like the fly fishing elites does. How many times have you seen a sign on a river saying- "bait fishing only?" I've never seen one. I have been against this kind of discrimination for as long as I have been aware of it and I preach against it whenever I get a chance.
There are a lot of public ponds and lakes in the northeast, that are managed strictly for trout and salmon and are fly fishing only. Quite often, lately - the state boys are complaining that someone is illegally planting other species of fish in these nice ponds - like Smallmouth Bass or Northern Pike or Chain Pickerel or bluegills. It's my theory - that a lot of the ordinary guys and their families who fish from the bank with live bait, want something other than the sacred trout or salmon to fish for and so, they make it happen - and there is really no way to stop them all. It's high time the state quits wasting time and money catering to the trout and salmon elite, and starts managing all the waters, for all the fishermen and women.
And by the way - Bass - both Smallies and Largemouth are delicious if you fillet and skin them - they are some of my favorite eating, and I eat a lot of them every year, plus put some in the freezer for winter. C & R - in my opinion, is a matter of personal preference - just like what religion you choose - it is a free country yet.
When I lived in Alaska - and fished for Arctic Grayling on some remote streams in the tundra - I practiced C&R most of the time, as those fish populations were very vulnerable and had never seen a lure of any kind before - you could literally catch a hundred or more on a good stretch of river - just walking along casting a # 2 Mepps spinner from the bank. The only time I ever kept any, was to cook a couple up on a gravel bar for my lunch. It just depends on the situation.
Tight lines and bouncing bobbers.

IMO that makes you smarter than the people that do have the degrees a lot of the time. I definitely am not an expert on fisheries management, as previously stated, but I learned a lot while there doing what I was doing. But what you said sums up what true intelligence is all about, because with any information, the only thing we can do is take it in and apply it with our own experiences to make the best judgements. With the bass stuff though, I have seen it with my own eyes, if a lot of the 14-16 bass aren't culled it will severely stunt the whole bass population. Now this applies from 1 acre ponds to 150 acre lakes. Beyond that I am not sure.

I certainly agree, but I haven't seen it personally. I have noticed this specifically with Bluegill or Bream.

Pertaining to Bass, I live on a private 14 acre lake. There are about 10 houses on it and I can count on one hand the number of fisherman who fish it. Fish numbers (Pike, Bluegill, Specks/Crappie, Bass) are all in very large numbers. I will bet that over the course of a year less than 5 Largemouth bass are taken out of the system. I continually catch half pound bass, and 5 pound bass, a few up in the 6.5 and 7 pound range. For some reason the fish have found a way to maintain the life cycle.

They probably did that by keeping the bass population in check by adding a second predator (pike). The reason the bass are typically stunted is that they are stocked with panfish (bluegill, crappie, etc.) and catfish. The bass produce without anything eating them, and compete with the catfish for the panfish. Therefore, you are left with a lot of bass that can't grow due to food being a limiting factor, which is why they must be culled. In that case, humans must act as the bass predator. So it all goes back to what we both were originally saying: it all depends on the body of water (size of water, other species present, etc.)