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Bass tournament is justified, despite
spawn questions ©By Dan Kimmel* |
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In
response to a letter from Mr. Ferrari: I was a participant in the Michigan BASS
Chapter Federation (MBCF) tournaments on the chain of lakes June 7 and 8. First,
where we stand legally. Once our bass season opens Memorial weekend, all
licensed anglers have an equal right to fish on public waters. Organized
tournaments are required to get an MDNR permit when launched from an MDNR
boat ramp. There are no regulations to prevent tournaments if they launch out
of a non-MDNR ramp. Bass
tournament anglers are under no obligation to release bass we catch. We could
each legally keep 5 keeper bass. We voluntarily release all bass in our
tournaments. We are actually penalized for dead bass. We have voluntarily
chosen to limit each two-person team to five bass. In essence, we’ve reduced
our impact by 50% since each team could possess 10 keeper bass. This meets
our needs while lowering our impact on the bass populations because we do
care. Despite
studies showing minimal impact, bass tournaments are often perceived as
having greater impact because they are so visible. Rarely do all participants
catch a limit. Catch rates in bass tournaments are often lower than catch
rates of non-tournament anglers. Spawning tournaments in clear water are a
good example why. Tournament anglers who can see the size of a bass will
usually only attempt to catch a bass that appears larger than what they
already have. Bass
survival rates are higher in the early and late parts of the season too.
Holding tournaments during cooler water periods is actually a recommendation to
minimize tournament catch mortality. We have a slightly higher release rate,
very close to 100%, in the spring and fall verses our mid to high 90% range
during the summer. Our
present opening bass season was set about 30 years ago. Even though the MDNR
states our closed bass season is necessary to protect the bass spawn, a
majority of Northern Michigan bass spawn after the season opens. The
reality is 42 states do not have a closed bass season. Only 3 states have a
statewide closed spring season where it is technically illegal to even
attempt to catch bass. The reason 46 states allow spring bass fishing: There
are no studies that show a closed bass season is necessary to protect most
bass populations. Bass
produce many more young than necessary each year. A few adult bass can easily
populate a large lake. Studies actually show there is no relation between the
number of bass that spawn and the resulting number of young-of-year bass
produced. Most fisheries biologists accept this fact. That is why you won’t
see limits on holding tournaments during the bass spawn, nor many closed
spring seasons. The recent
trend in Northern states has been to create spring catch-and-release seasons.
This has been a slow process in a few states mainly because just as some hunters
are personally opposed to shooting does, some anglers do not like the thought
of fishing for spawning bass even though our present season doesn’t protect a
lot of the spawn. It has little to do with science and much to do with
opinions. The amount
of bass we caught June 7 and 8 is a tiny percentage of the number of bass
that live in the chain of lakes. Almost all the bass we did weigh during the
actual tournament were released alive into the Torch River near Torch Lake.
They had quick access to Torch, or could head downstream to Skegemog and Elk.
Studies show that many of the released bass begin moving back to the lakes
they came from shortly after release. We have previously shown bass released
in the Elk River to get as far as Torch Lake within two weeks. We had an
exceptional weigh in June 7 and 8. The overall catch was very impressive, as
good as previous catches going back many years. The average size of the top weights was actually noticeably
larger than any previous tournaments we’ve had on the chain indicating a very
*This article previously appeared in the July 3, 2003 issue of The Town Meeting Elk Rapids paper |
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