Catch and Release Ploicies in Fishing
Catch and Release Ploicies in Fishing
Every bass fisherman fishes for the same reason, in hopes of catching a ten-pound-plus bass. This dream will not be fulfilled if bass fishermen, as a brotherhood, do not practice catch and release.
America’s love affair with the catch-and-release ethic has had a profound impact on the sport of bass fishing over the past thirty years. Quite simply, it recycles the resource. But improper care and the handling by anglers can jeopardize this valuable natural resource.
Without question the mishandling of fish before they are returned to the water can prove fatal. Extensive research has been conducted by state fisheries agencies nationwide looking at the phenomenon of delayed mortality, and scientists have concluded that the biggest factor resulting in delayed mortality relates directly to the care that fish are given immediately after the catch is made and in the hours that follow while they are confined inside a boat’s live well.
Clear lake, California is known for its huge Florida-strain bass. The chances of catching a ten-pound-plus bass are higher than average. Clear Lake houses hundreds of tournaments every year; honestly, there is at least, one tournament every weekend of the year. The enormous amount of pressure placed on this lake can have a tremendous effect on the fish. Clear lake is only one of the thousands of lakes with this type of problem.
There have been cases of trashcans full of dead bass from tournaments. Seeing those fish dead in a can for only about a one-thousand-dollar purse in a tournament is disgusting. If fish are not released right after being caught, their chances of survival are slim.
When bass are caught and kept, it reduces the number of fish in the lake and if it is a big fish, it eliminates a fish with “big bass genes.” All big fish have big bass genes. If a big bass is caught and immediately released, it is then able to reproduce and its offspring will carry those genes along with them through the generations. Big bass, usually females, are targets for trophy-fish fishermen. Any fish eight pounds and over would be considered a lunker or big bass worthy of being mounted on a wall. Rich Holland, Western Outdoors writer, says the problem is “eighty percent of big bass are females” (69).
During the spring when bass spawn, female bass are swollen...