About C/R on bass and why it is bad for the lake.

[oakboy]

I'm not saying that your little pond doesn't have a population problem but you are not a fish biologist and every body of water and it's eco system is unique to itself.Only a biologist/Lake management company can do extensive enough research to figure out the problem.

You are probably correct but the same argument works against all the anti-culling people. Most of us are not bioligist, and cant really make an educated guess on the subject, we do have our observations but they most likely are small windows into a large ecosystem with tons of variables. Also, Large mouth Bass are not native to southern california so to "Let Mother Nature Figure it Out" doesnt really work, because it is a non-native fish eating other fish which are not normally native to there habitat. Many of the ecosystems as a whole are not balanced anyways and never will be. Because of this man needs to get involved and create some sort of equilibrium, just like a lot of people who used to slaughter the striped Bass so they would eat all the young LMB or trout.

Some of the measures i have read others say in this thread make sense like selective culling. Like the Halibut and white sea bass regulations in California, that is working.

I cant wait for the flack i will get for this post. By the way i have never taken a LMB and only practice C&R because if i want to eat fish i go to a restaurant or buy it from the store.

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KP

[Natural Lefty]

Bowler, I feel sorry for you. Bringing up this article here is like giving a talk about evolution at a Baptist Convention. Unfortunately, there are a lot of C and R people on this site whose minds are made up, and don't seem to believe in science. However, I did see some intelligent replies, such as Bones and Oakboy, too. For the record, I am on your side, Bowler.

It is true that there are some heavily fished lakes in SoCal, so if everyone was keeping their bass, the bass population would quickly be depleted, but there are lots of other lakes with abundant bass populations, where the bass would grow larger with some selective harvest. The article you mentioned was in a California magazine after all, so I presume it applies to most California fisheries.

[bowler]

Bowler, I feel sorry for you. Bringing up this article here is like giving a talk about evolution at a Baptist Convention. Unfortunately, there are a lot of C and R people on this site whose minds are made up, and don't seem to believe in science. However, I did see some intelligent replies, such as Bones and Oakboy, too. For the record, I am on your side, Bowler.

It is true that there are some heavily fished lakes in SoCal, so if everyone was keeping their bass, the bass population would quickly be depleted, but there are lots of other lakes with abundant bass populations, where the bass would grow larger with some selective harvest. The article you mentioned was in a California magazine after all, so I presume it applies to most California fisheries.

i got fish in the last week that are skinny as hell. They came from a pond that i fish. I have two picture i will put up the bass are from the same pond. The bigger healthier one was caught 5-6 years ago i forgot when i got him but the other on i just got on Sunday. By look at them and you can tell that C and R it is hurting this pond. But i can fix it if i but more food in there so they can get fatter or take a few of them out.