Bedfish

[Matt_Magnone]

Ok I just have to jump in again. For crying out loud for a fish that is in just about every puddle of water some make a LMB out to be a totally wimpy fish that can't sustain their population yet they are everywhere?!?!?

Call me confused?

No wonder why some make fun of LMB guys, lol.

It has nothing to do with the fact that a Largemouth may or may not be wimpy; It's the fact that if you ask 10 guys in the tackle shop what there favorite time of year to fish bass, 9 of them will tell you the Spring when the fish are on their beds. The majority of anglers just can't help themselves to the easy pickings. It's one of those double edged swords. I can also play the devils advocate on this one as well.

Since the beginning when an angler was first given a rod and reel years and years ago, I could guarantee the angler saw a bass relating to a specific spot on the shoreline. Without a doubt that angler found a way to coax it into biting. Years and years later, anglers have been programmed to use this as a viable way to catch fish this time of year. If it were a true detriment to the fishery, why hasn't there been rules put in place to limit it? I completely understand.

In this day and age, there are more fisherman on these lakes than there has ever been. Boats, electronics, the internet and new age tackle is making it easier and easier for the average angler to walk out to the lake and catch a bass. Being that there are that amount of anglers today, based upon what books, television and the internet tell them to do in the Spring, you can't tell me that these fish, which are EXTREMELY easy to catch on the bed, aren't getting the crap beat out of them for a short lived thrill for the angler. It's just a fact not an assumption.

If the roles were reversed and lets say a striped bass were a bedding creature, how many anglers do you think would fish their beds? The shot at a 30# fish no deeper than 20' basically with no choice but to stick around. I'd guarantee that same 9 out of 10 anglers would be STOKED! As a result, the future of that same fishery would be left to question and I'd be fighting for the cause as well.

The whole thing about what I've written is about the preservation of what we have currently. There are those that fight, and those that just let the pieces fall into place and are okay with whatever the outcome may be. Lake Perris these last few days has been an eye opener. Boat after boat hour after hour working the same early bed fish. The bed crazy attitude is wrong.

But I agree with you man, we do come off pretty cracked out at times haha!

[ela]

I don't normally bedfish, but when I do, I throw them back right away...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0PouPVZBuk

Dude, You farted in the video!!! Lol

[ela]

Dude, You farted in the video!!! Lol

[JV]

Interesting study by the state of Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files...Beds_Final.pdf

[HawgZWylde]

Interesting study by the state of Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files...Beds_Final.pdf

Comparing Indiana or any other fishery to California's is almost like comparing apples and oranges. Different structure, or lack there of, different lake or reservoir depths, different vegetation, or lack there of, different forage, or lack thereof, different apex predator (Striper), and a huge difference in population. Not to mention Cali's year round fishing. Whole different ballgame out here...

[Pete Marino]

My own personal opinion is that Bed fishing doesn't hurt the spawn in the least. For every guy bedfishing there is an unfathomable number of carp, bluegill other bass and other fish doing much more damage to the spawn then anglers can ever do REGARDLESS of if the male or female is there protecting the bed or not. And frankly the female doesn't stick around long enough to even be much of a "protector". She drops her eggs hangs for a day and is gone in most cases.
Reason would tell us that we (the anglers) could do damage for the simple fact that once we take a bass off the bed and take it to weighins that we could be hurting that bed...HOWEVER its also Naïve to think that we are doing as much damage as some of you think we're doing. The number of anglers taking fish off beds to weigh them in simply doesn't come anywhere close to the number of "predators" that do harm to the beds even if the male is there on alert. Simply put...we the Anglers do very little harm to the overall spawn. A largemouth bass alone does FAR more damage to its own reproduction before and after eggs are hatched then we can ever do or even possibly imagine....and that doesn't even account for the unfathomable damage stripers, bluegill, carp, trout, and crawdads do. Sorry guys, but people are being a bit overzealous if you think that we make a dent in the circle of life.. Just my opinion..

[cutbait]

My own personal opinion is that Bed fishing doesn't hurt the spawn in the least. For every guy bedfishing there is an unfathomable number of carp, bluegill other bass and other fish doing much more damage to the spawn then anglers can ever do REGARDLESS of if the male or female is there protecting the bed or not. And frankly the female doesn't stick around long enough to even be much of a "protector". She drops her eggs hangs for a day and is gone in most cases.
Reason would tell us that we (the anglers) could do damage for the simple fact that once we take a bass off the bed and take it to weighins that we could be hurting that bed...HOWEVER its also Naïve to think that we are doing as much damage as some of you think we're doing. The number of anglers taking fish off beds to weigh them in simply doesn't come anywhere close to the number of "predators" that do harm to the beds even if the male is there on alert. Simply put...we the Anglers do very little harm to the overall spawn. A largemouth bass alone does FAR more damage to its own reproduction before and after eggs are hatched then we can ever do or even possibly imagine....and that doesn't even account for the unfathomable damage stripers, bluegill, carp, trout, and crawdads do. Sorry guys, but people are being a bit overzealous if you think that we make a dent in the circle of life.. Just my opinion..

Good point Pete.

Carp massacre beds. A little local lake here in bako is swarming with slurping carp in the tullies. Sucking every inch for eggs.

I've seen the 10 lb carp bully LMBs off the bed and raid it and the limb is helpless. I'm surprised any hatch

[DEVOREFLYER]

I agree with Pete and I bed fish and make no apology for it. I also C&R ALL of my fish caught. I would be more concerned with those that deep water fish and do not "FIZZ" their catch before releasing. I have fished in the South many years and the fish are under much more pressure from predator fish than here (Stripers, Gar) and nearly everyone keeps their catch to eat and it does not seem to affect the Bass population.

[Stormcrow]

I certainly can see both sides of the argument here. I think one of the things Matt is simply trying to convey is that sheer fishing pressure has a significant impact on the longevity and health of a bass fishery. Further, the lake topography itself plays a role. At DVL for example, for every bed you see, there are tons of beds that you will NEVER see or be able to disturb. In this case, fishing pressure has less of an impact on the overall success of the spawn. At Perris though, I fully believe fisherman have a huge impact on a successful spawn. The sheer number of people bedfishing at Perris, combined with the vulnerable topography of the lake makes for a ton of stress on spawning fish that are approached time and again. At Perris there are simply fewer places to bed without being disturbed.

So, whatever you believe, I can guarantee you that fisherman can have a huge impact on the spawn of LMB and SMB in Southwestern fisheries. As a matter of fact, some biologists have roped off high spawning areas in some high pressure lakes to allow for a successful spawn. They don't do this because it makes them feel good....Sorry.

[Brent]

My own personal opinion is that Bed fishing doesn't hurt the spawn in the least. For every guy bedfishing there is an unfathomable number of carp, bluegill other bass and other fish doing much more damage to the spawn then anglers can ever do REGARDLESS of if the male or female is there protecting the bed or not. And frankly the female doesn't stick around long enough to even be much of a "protector". She drops her eggs hangs for a day and is gone in most cases.
Reason would tell us that we (the anglers) could do damage for the simple fact that once we take a bass off the bed and take it to weighins that we could be hurting that bed...HOWEVER its also Naïve to think that we are doing as much damage as some of you think we're doing. The number of anglers taking fish off beds to weigh them in simply doesn't come anywhere close to the number of "predators" that do harm to the beds even if the male is there on alert. Simply put...we the Anglers do very little harm to the overall spawn. A largemouth bass alone does FAR more damage to its own reproduction before and after eggs are hatched then we can ever do or even possibly imagine....and that doesn't even account for the unfathomable damage stripers, bluegill, carp, trout, and crawdads do. Sorry guys, but people are being a bit overzealous if you think that we make a dent in the circle of life.. Just my opinion..

Pete,

I have a lot of respect for you and I'm not 100% against what you are saying, but knowing how much damage all of the predators do to the spawning bass, eggs and fry, why would you want to do any additional harm. That's all I'm saying.
I just think giving the big girls the best chance as possible to produce more big fish is good for everyone in the long run. Besides, it's a lot like shooting fish in a barrel isn't it?

Brent