Northwest Fishing Reports

Not to name names, but I noticed a post showing some illegal sized bass that were caught, and I couldn't help but be just a little bit irritated. I know we all make mistakes, but it is not that hard to pick up a regs book and double check size limits. Just to make it clear... Statewide rules say that an angler may keep a total of five bass. Only one of those may be 17 inches or larger and none may be between 12 and 17 inches. To quote bigastrout "read the regs and pick up someones trash since they can't." Anyways, I'm done ranting!

Joe

Yeah, I saw that post too. We are all entitled to, but why would you keep them? I ate a 10" bass once, which are supposed to be the tastiest, and I thought it a little foul. What would those 17+ inchers taste like?

Amen brother...

I'm glad to see the whole worlds not turning into a bunch of PC sissy's.

Keep 'em comin Joe, I like it.

Jon

those bass aren't dead the are just on a stringer from his live well. i can guarantee they were all released

are you talking about dave? he always does that, look back to previous reports. and as far as i can tell from his reports, he's an avid C&R angler.

CK14 wrote:are you talking about dave? he always does that, look back to previous reports. and as far as i can tell from his reports, he's an avid C&R angler.

I sure hope so cause that guy catches a ton of bass. I know he is a great angler, just don't know if he keeps or releases. I'm pretty sure he practices C&R. But you can understand that the pic looks funny, being off the water and all.

If so, then this ranting applies to all those other guys who don't know about slot limits.



fishnislife

Help me out here bass anglers - can Dave (and others) keep those fish in the live well and release later? Because that is what Dave does. I know you wouldn't know they were released because he doesn't mention it. I've gotten a couple complaints so I deleted the post and asked Dave to not send stringer shots anymore, but I would like to know the official reg. My sense is you can only do it if you're in a tournement?

Yes Mike you CAN legally keep them in a live-well and release later. When I tourney fish you keep them in your well with tags so you can grab them out easy. You need to poke a hole in their lip so when dave puts them on a stringer its the same thing. 100% nothing wrong with any of that nor what dave does. It even says so in the book. As far as the pics...most people take pics at the dock and resorts because you can park your boat right next to them.

thanks for everyone stating the regs....but no thanks for raggin on Dave since you guys assumed he was doing wrong.

In the regs(page 33) it says - Bass may be caught,retained,and released alive from a livewell until a daily limit is in possession.

"Bass may be caught,retained,and released alive from a livewell until a daily limit is in possession."

doesn't that mean he had more then his daily limit? thus it was illegal?

i'm pretty sure that you can't keep more then your limit in your livewell like he does, unless you are in a tourny. because how would anyone know if you are just keeping them for a pic or not?

danielt wrote:those bass aren't dead the are just on a stringer from his live well. i can guarantee they were all released

The problem I had was the fact that in his post he said he caught like fifteen or something, and put those four on a stringer. I could be wrong, but I interpreted that as him choosing those particular four to keep. Secondly, the picture showed the bass on a stringer, which was a red flag that he intended on keeping them. I've never tried to release a fish that was kept on a stringer for a while, but I wouldn't think that it is best for the fishes overall health -- having a stringer forced through the gills and rubbing on the gills for who knows how long. I can understand the livewell. No problems there. But why would you put your fish on a stringer if they were going straight to the livewell? That seems quite ironic to me. Finally, the picture that was taken, featured him holding the fish at a house on the deck, and there appeared to be no water present in the background. Even if there were a lake in the vacinity, taking your fish to be photographed on a deck/ patio seems like it would take far more time than having them photographed right on the water, where they could be released much faster, thus giving them a better chance for survival. Even if these fish came straight from the live well, why would you haul your fish all the way home to take a picture. Moreover, where would you release them? For those reasons, I came to my conclusion. Like I say though, I could be wrong... Maybe that deck he was standing on was a structure on the lake, the lake was right behind him and the fish went right back in afterwards. I would still argue with the stringer though. I don't know the whole story, so I'm not going to make any blatent accusations. But I can't help having my own opinions based on what I see and I'm still a little irritated. Larger bass produce far more eggs than smaller ones, and if we only throw back the small ones, the populations will decrease, plus we won't have any 'bguns' to catch. I for one do not want to go bass fishing, and catch a one pounder in the future and have it be considered a 'lunker.'


That's all for now,

Joe (aka beerman)

One thing I see kind of bad about retain bass in a livewell while fishing; just think of all the stress the bass will go though with the ride in a livewell in a bass boat traveling 65 MPH and hitting waves,then calm while the fisherman's fishing and then off to the next fishing spot on the other end of the lake.

I didn't see the post you guys are talking about ,but bass C & R on a stringer -- that is a no no.

i know dave and i know for a fact he releases them. he is one of the best bass fisherman on this sight. he only puts them on a stringer to get a pic of them all at once. putting them on a stringer is safer than setting a fish on the ground. they loose no slime this way, and its no worse than a hook going in its mouth.

Ok. Thanks for the clarification.

Seems pretty clear to me

Page 33 in your pamphlet -
"Bass - no mim. size. Only bass less than 12" may be retained, except 1 over 17" may be retained. Daily limit 5. Bass may be caught, retained, and released alive from a livewell until a daily limit is in Possesion"

Since those bass between 12 and 17 inches are illegal to retained they can not be going into your live well. In addition only one over 17 may go into the live well as it would be a legal fish. Adding a second one over 17 inces without releasing the first would be a no-no and likely to result in a lecture from the man in green.

Of course exceptions are made for the bass tournaments. The tournament fishers can retain what would be an illegal catch for anyone else. I think that is the source of the some of the confusion and leads to folks wanting to "copy the pros".

Personally I have never understood this need to drag fish around for some sort of hero shot at the end of the day. Supposely the thought behind catch and releasing fish is to have them surviving for another day. While the mortality may be low in most cases for fish held in live wells it is also equally clear that immediately returning the fish to the water is the best for the fish.

Tight lines
Curt

Keep in mind fellas that different bodies of water have different regs. When on the Columbia and Snake rivers you may retain 3 bass over 15". There is no slot limit.

Dave i believe that you did the right thing with that bass .. your past has proved it , Mike confirms it , other anglers spoke up for you as well.. That tells me you have a solid REP for practicing C&R and i believe that bass is swimming as we type .. SO HATS OFF TOO YOU FOR A GOOD CATCH GUY.. BBD