No smallie kill on the bay

Thanks for posting this Brovarney!
There are some good points made…although the guys killing and filleting the bass have a right to take their legal quotas…can someone tell me why the state DNR officials open the season during the peak spawn?
The Wisc/Mich border regs are catch/release until after June 20…I think that is a wise decision. Ai least a good portion of those fish get a chance to spawn before catch/kill.

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can someone tell me why the state DNR officials open the season during the peak spawn?

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99% of the bass fisherman targeting smallies on their beds are looking for VISIBLE beds that they can sight fish for. The percent of smallie beds which can be seen is very small. I have been making annual trips to Green Bay for a few years now and can tell you just last year I saw a WHOLE new world to the smallies spawn. It was high noon with zero clouds and their wasn’t a breath of wind. I was AMAZED at the hundreds and hundreds of beds in 10+ FOW that we could barely see. It was awesome. For all these years I have never seen anyone fish this deeper flat where all these fish were.

I don’t buy that fishing for smallies during the spawn is affecting the smallie population. Green/ Sturgeon Bay is such an awesome fishery and keeps getting better each year while anglers remain fishing for smallies during the spawn each year.

As soon as I see proof that the population is declining, trust me, I’ll be the first to jump on the no spawn fish bandwagon because the last thing I want is for these GREAT fisheries to go away.

RIGHT ON D NORT SEE YEAH THIS WEEKEND UP THERE LEAVEING FRIDAY MOURNING FOR THE BAY

We should be leaving tomorrow morning.

Tom. I understand the question about the spawn and the season starting later. What about the Walleye and Sauger fishing on the Mississippi river pools 4,5,5a. The season never closes and there are alot of fish taken each year through the spawn and the population seems to increase or at least stay the same. Just a thought.

The DNR has published a report that says basicly that the fish are bigger, more pluntiful and stable across year classes than ever before.

It is a big body of water with a great forage base. It also is a fishery where it is tough for the average joe to find and catch them for a great portion of the year. Add to that the scary water conditions during much of the spring and you have a fishery that protects itself.

It ain’t broke and doesn’t need to be fixed.

Amen

Got an email from Pat Schmalz at DNR. He talked to the Guy at UWSP that did the study Here is what he said:

We held 398 SMB and 2 LMB. One 16.5 inch SMB died on 5-20-06 after weigh-in. There was one bass dead at weigh-in each day. So there were 2 initial mortalities and 1 delayed mortality.

I will take that any day.

One thing that people who wished it could do to help is to contact Pat and help him gather economic data on your spending while you were there. At the E-50 the economic impact of the event was $2.000.000.00 I am sur the SBO was even bigger. Help him help us.

Ok, so there were 3 direct kills that are countable.

What about the thousands of eggs that were either “dumped” by the females or reabsorbed because of the stress of being boated/living in livewell/rough boat ride/weigh in/thrown back miles from their spawning grounds (or if the eggs were layed or hatched–and the male was taking off the bed)? What about the “meat hunters that see a few bass boats fishing in a particular spot and wonder why they are there?” They go over and find a spot that they wouldn;t have known was there. Where do these numbers come into play?–They don’t because it is difficult to “study” this.

I know that “the fihsing is better than ever before”. Could this because of increase technologiy in the sport? Whether it be eletronics, things like “invisible yet sensitive flourocarbon”, increased knowledge of fish habits and habitat, an overall better field of anglers?

I have read the stats. Sure, there are more and bigger smallies being weighed in. It is strictly due to increased numbers/size of fish? MAybe, but I don’t think so. I think there are alot of other factors involved that most folks don’t think about. While most will argue that the fishery is great and current regulations are satisfactory (and they might be), you CAN’T tell me that a 200 boat tournament is 100% GOOD for the fishery. Good for the economy, yes, 100% good for the fish..not so much.

Of course, this is my opinion and we all how much that counts around here.

Here is the DNR report on the Smallmouths of Green Bay….More fish, stronger year classes, More large fish.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/fhp/fish/lakemich/Smallmouth%20bass%20survey%20final.pdf

ZX202,

Although you have had confrontations in the past, your thoughts are still welcome. I agree with some of your points about the technology, but I think that not enough credit is given to the anglers of the past. Also, many more fish were taken home in the past by catch and keep anglers.

Just thoughts from my end. This is a wonderful fishery and it is on the up swing. One thing to remember, these things do cycle when conditions stablize. I think it will only continue to strengthen for many years though.

Bassman

The fishing regs on Green Bay seem to be working very well. The balance of game fish populations are very stable. It doesn’t make any sense to me to change these regulations based on speculation. The DNR has highly skilled fish managers to give us the biological facts of our waters. When we have a system like Green Bay let’s leave it alone.
I truly believe that those who would like to see more regulations on bass in Green Bay want it to get rid of tournament fishing on the bay. I just wish these folks would let us know what they are really trying to accomplish when they support these new proposed bass regs on Green Bay.
So to all of you anti-tournament folks out there… You Lose..

Dave…I will be looking for the yellow banana..I am leaving tomorrow AM as well!!!