What'd ya think of this... Colorado DOW anti-C&R?

[Fish Dog]

We have relatives in Colorado so subscribe to the local paper there to keep track of goings on. Here's an excerpt from the Department of Wildlife (their Fish and Game) from the local paper...


McPhee Reservoir — The water is rising and the temper ature remains very cold. Inlets are running off-color. Some trout are being taken, but bass fishing has been very slow. The lake recently was stocked with catchable-sized trout. Please remember that all smallmouth and largemouth bass 10 to 15 inches long must be returned to the lake immediately. However, anglers should keep fish that are under 10 inches. They are tasty, and by taking out the smaller fish, more food is left for the others to grow to trophy size. Boat inspec tions begin May 11 from 6 a . m . to 8 p. m. at the Sagehen ramp.

Just wondered what ya'all think of this since people seem to get so upset when people don't C&R fish, especially the smaller ones, around here.

[sansou]

Apples and oranges...

[calico killer kevin]

Bananas and strawberries...

[TonyLisa]

peaches and pears

[bsp]

Some of the smaller fish have to be kept in order to maintain a healthy fishery. The problem with most SoCal lakes is that the bass populations aren't very big to begin with, so removing the smaller bass does more harm than good. Either the bass are competing with stripers for food, or they are in such a small environment that there just aren't enough to reach the carrying capacity.

In a fishery with where largemouth are plentiful and are the main predators, keeping the smaller models is actually helpful because it allows there to be enough food to for the remaining fish to grow to a large size. Without some culling in lakes that need it, the bass populations become dominated by huge amounts of small 1lb or 2lb bass. They actually considered doing that at LNL before the die off because there were too many small bass to sustain a healthy fishery. Then the die off happened, and while the bass fishing is bad now, it will recover again in a few years.

So, keeping small bass in some lakes is necessary for a healthy fishery, but in most SoCal lakes it is not. That's why a lot of people get really ticked off when somebody keeps a bass at one of the local lakes.

[DarkShadow]

X's and O's.

Wait, that's what Phil Jackson needs to get back to doing...nevermind.

(And, people need to look at population density maps. That'll help explain a lot.)

[goodguy]

We have relatives in Colorado so subscribe to the local paper there to keep track of goings on. Here's an excerpt from the Department of Wildlife (their Fish and Game) from the local paper...



Just wondered what ya'all think of this since people seem to get so upset when people don't C&R fish, especially the smaller ones, around here.

The main difference is that this is from an area that doesn't have the over fishing of lakes that we have in socal... In most of the country selective harvest is a must in order to keep the population healthy and good size...