Smallies on the Chip

First time out fishing after my surgery and had a blast, was throwing a pumpkin tube and just about every cast was hitting smallies, only camera we had was my brothers cell phone. Was only out for 3 hours. Had 6 of them that where big enough that we needed the net. DNR is thinking about changing the regs for the Chip, 5 Large mouth with a size limit and 1 Smallie over 15 inches. Read the article and can not see where they think there are too many Large mouth. Sure going to hurt tournament fishing. Not sure if I can find the article on the web, but will check, still had a great time.

This is from last week’s Sawyer County Record:

Quote:

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Among the proposals fisheries managers are floating is opening the bass season statewide on the first Saturday in May. It’s now split into southern and northern zones, with bass harvest not permitted in the northern zone until the third Saturday in June.

Also, they are proposing different regulations for smallmouth and largemouth bass. On lakes that have both smallmouth and largemouth bass and walleyes, they are proposing no minimum length for angler-caught largemouths and a daily bag of five. For smallmouths, the minimum length would be 15 inches and the daily bag limit one.

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Later in the same article:

Quote:

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DNR fishery biologists in northwest Wisconsin “are increasingly concerned about observed shifts in fish community dominance from walleyes to largemouth bass, even in historically excellent walleye waters like the Chippewa Flowage. If our hypothesis is correct, we should see even fewer walleyes in fyke nets on the west side of the Flowage this spring, and we should see lots of largemouth bass in electrofishing surveys there.” Electrofishing surveys for bass and other species took place in late May.

When all the data from spring 2008 (east side) and 2009 (west side) are summarized, “we hope to have the evidence needed to justify liberalizing the harvest of largemouth bass in order to increase recruitment of young walleye,” Neuswanger said. “We hope to protect smallmouth bass in the process, because that highly valued fishery does not endanger the walleye fishery. But currently Wisconsin regulates the two bass species as one. We will need lots of support to break with tradition and manage the two bass species separately.”

For 2009, the DNR is encouraging Chippewa Flowage anglers to harvest legal-size largemouth bass (14 inches and longer) and to release all smallmouth bass voluntarily (even those over 14 inches long).

We think we can have an excellent bass fishery without hurting walleyes, but only if that bass is smallmouth. Regardless of our beliefs, we strongly advise all anglers to abide by current laws. We have zero tolerance for wanton waste, so all sub-legal bass should be released unharmed immediately after being caught until we assemble the proof needed to liberalize harvest of largemouth bass.”

This spring, the fish survey crew captured smallmouth bass at a moderate rate of 12 per mile. A relatively high proportion of those (73 percent)were of “quality” size (over 11 inches long), as defined by the American Fisheries Society.

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Couple of questions:
1) Were largemouths native to that water or introduced?
2) Do that many people like to eat bass?

This problem would be solved quicker if they could convience the Native Americans to spear bass-how easy would that be when they are on their beds?

There was a report in in-fisherman some time back on a study the WDNR did in regard to the negative impacts of largemouth bass v/s walleyes. Basically, the conclusion was that if they live in the same environment-the bass will dominate. Hats off to the WDNR to recognize this problem and impliment a fix. But the WDNR may have caused some of their own ills as past fisheries management tried to please too many people. Rather than allowing a lake to flourish with native species that would do good in that environment, they would stock a lake with everything under the sun–we now see that sociological issues have no place in wildlife management when it clouds objectivity and the good of the ecosystem.

Maybe Native Americans don’t like the taste of bass.