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

[Trout-Chaser]

Well this answers my question in the post about Uncle Paul's Pond being strictly c & r!

I disagree 150%. Humans are NOT part of the ecosystem that LMB exist in. Therefore, there is NEVER any reason to remove them through human action. As I have always said, understanding population ecology will demonstrate that natural selection and carrying capacity will always bring the population of LMB under control. (This happens through various ways including predation, starvation, disease, etc.) In other words, nature has its own way of dealing with population size in any ecosystem.

This is especially true on "high pressure" lakes such as those in California. Practicing CandR here in California will ensure a quality fishery for years to come.

To me, the thought of culling LMB in ANY lake in California is rediculous.

Just my two cents!

[basscat]

I agree with the views that say to leave the bass alone in the lake.

What would really be good is that if you're going to C/R bass that you fish ALL your hooks barbless.

It's very easy to simply use the hooks you have on your line (not saying to do your entire tackle gear), to crimp down on the barb with a needle nose pliers. I know when we fish Barrett Lake you must be fishing with a barbless hook(s) be it on a popper or crank or jerkbait, any hook must be barbless.

I have NEVER ever lost a LMB due to a barbless hook, and if you know about Barrett, 30-40 to over 100 bass per day is not that unusual, I'm sure other Barrett guys here can attest to that fact.

My point (no pun intended) is that I see others fishing the lakes and wrangling and mangling a LMB due to them trying to remove a hook that's stuck pass the lips. With a barbless, there's nothing to snag.

At Barrett, with DFG sometimes there, they have ticketed hefty fines for fishing a barbed hook.

How do you know if your hook can pass the test? I've seen some DFG guys use a socks or cloth, as sometimes the old thumbnail or rubbing with your index finger does not work. I pass mine thru a cloth and it comes out clean. I fish the local lakes going barbless.

That's fishing the C/R the right and proper way. If you haven't tried it, do it once and see if your caught bass gets off the hook. If it did get off the hook, it wasn't because of the lack of a barb, it wasn't a good hookset anyway.

Will fishing barbless make you a better fisherman? No, but it will help the fish heal much faster and better to live another day.

[That Dang Guy]

It's hard to say without actually having read the article you're talking about. Comments like that are easily taken out of context. In out lakes, C&R does definitely help keep the population healthy. But I can understand why they're saying reducing the bass population could help in special circumstances. Look at Barrett, a catch and release lake only. It has a very large population of northern strain bass, but for the most part they're on the smaller size of the scale.

As for barbless, I like them. They're required for barrett and I haven't had any issues with lost fish. But at the same time I haven't had many fish gut hooked with standard hooks. Dropshot for me seems to be the worst offender out of all the technique. Everything else gets a pretty clean hookset.

[Socal Bassman]

check out legg lake alot of people kept bass this last year and now its dead

Legg Lake didn't die because a lot of people kept bass this last year. It's dead because a lot of people kept bass for the past few years. I learned how to fish for bass at both Legg and Perris in '97. From '97-' 00, the fishing was good at Legg with plenty of big fish. Then from '01-'06, I've witnessed that lake go downhill with the increasing amount of people keeping bass that are caught by legal and illegal means.

[TonyLisa]

Legg Lake didn't die because a lot of people kept bass this last year. It's dead because a lot of people kept bass for the past few years. I learned how to fish for bass at both Legg and Perris in '97. From '97-' 00, the fishing was good at Legg with plenty of big fish. Then from '01-'06, I've witnessed that lake go downhill with the increasing amount of people keeping bass that are caught by legal and illegal means.

yeah i agree i think last year was the worse tho cause the year before that i was catching atleast 5 still but now i get like 1 a day or even skunked. I seen alot of poachers this last year. People throwing out nets, keeping undersize bass, people using live bluegills and trout, no license.

[carpanglerdude]

Ok, uber misleading title here. Change, or face the wrath of angry bass people lol :)

Total C&R isn't the best idea for uber heavy pop largemouth lakes. Not the case in Cali.

[BIGRED KILLA]

I was reading yesterday in the California Fish and Game magazine at the supermarket and it was talking about C/R bass and how it is bad. It was say the you are doing more bad then good for the lake. It was saying that you have to take a few out or the size of the bass in the lake will not get that big because there to many of them and not enough food for them all to grow. Go and look at this month issue and you will see it in there.

Is this why you kept all the spotted bay bass. not bashing just asking.



Bigred

[bowler]

The only bass i keep is bass from the ocean not from the lakes.

[BIGRED KILLA]

The only bass i keep is bass from the ocean not from the lakes.

Just watch out how many spotties you eat the water is not to clean in the harbors.


Bigred

[bowler]

I do not eat that many of the bass i give it away to a lot of people.