Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Warm water bite!

Just returned from fishing SNP the last 2 days -- had plenty of time to think about this.  Plus, I went to scout out the stream here locally (bass) earlier today, to see it after the rain and check things out.  

The rain very clearly (furher) eroded the south bank of the stream, the water is still fairly murky, and no fish appeared to be hanging out in the usual places.  To me, this suggests that any attempt to avoid fishing to spawning bass seems....possibly well-meaning, but ultimately pointless (i.e. a single heavy rain event probably removes more bass from beds and leads to egg/fry mortality than people trying to rip them off of beds).  Put another way, if the population of LMB on the Potomac is relying on predictable recruitment from urban streams like the ones I fish, "good luck" to the population.  I'll also toss in the irony of avoiding spawning bass "habitat" while trying not to sink up my my waist in sediment and not stepping on rusty scrap iron (no exaggeration).  

I've also searched a bit for peer-reviewed journal articles (not opinions) attempting to quantify what effects (if any) fishing during the spawn has on LMB populations.  Most of what I've found suggests it has moderate to negligible impact, and I suspect the success of LMB in most places they've been introduced is a direct result of their adaptability and hardy nature.  

So why mention this?  Because I feel that bringing in the first place serves to do what so many fly fishermen seem to do -- divide anglers into groups of "right" and "wrong".  When you consider the money spent yearly on gear/licenses (we spend > $200 alone on licenses every year) this is a lot of $ going toward much bigger picture items which will do more toward protecting the resource than all the other things you could think of, combined.  

So even if I wanted to target spawning bass, literally sitting on beds (which I do not) -- what of it?  Where in the VDIF regulations is it spelled out that this is illegal?  http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/regulations/

Anyway -- my usual approach is to let this kind of thing go, but it pisses me off that this came up attached to a thread I started as it basically suggests "anyone reading this post please take note not to do like this guy" which is really just nonsense and should be called out as such.  

We'll keep fishing every spare minute we get with the few other members who we enjoy fishing with and just by ourselves as always, and maybe see some of you out on the water! -- 

Gene

On Monday, April 14, 2014 2:41:29 PM UTC-4, TurbineBlade wrote:

You know.....some of the more interesting topics come up unintentionally. This should probably be something I relay to my wife, since she enjoys bass fishing.  LMB are a not my first choice, for a few reasons.  

Growing up in a MASSIVE bass fishing culture (Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri) led to me developing a really nasty attitude toward bass fishing.  That's no reason to not try to help from trampling the nests though -- so I'll try to keep an eye out for them when I'm fumbling around out there, trying not to step on too much rebar.  One of you guys might want to run this by Beth though -- I don't like trying to tell her what to do.  When she was 4 fishing with her brothers they tried that, and she got mad and threw the whole rig into the lake.   

See folks at the beer tie!  

Gene

On Monday, April 14, 2014 10:11:02 AM UTC-4, Richard Farino wrote:

I wrote a long post about a week ago about fishing for bass and decided it was best to not mention it since the less it's talked about, the less people will try to catch the easy targets.

The bass will be on their nests very soon, and although it's important not to fish for bedding fish, even more important is that they spawn in clear, protected water, generally 1-6 feet, and folks should be advised to not wade thru these areas.

I won't write too much about it, but there are many popular fishing areas nearby, and they will definitely hold spawning bass, and accessing them involved walking directly over the bedding areas.

Please be careful.

R

Richard Farino

Urban Angler VA | 108 N. Washington Street  2nd Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 527-2524 | fax: (703) 527-3313 | richard@urbanangler.com    

From: TurbineBlade <doubl...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 8:15 PM
To: <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Warm water bite!

Rob -- Were you sitting on a bar stool when you wrote that?  ;)  

These guys aren't sitting on nests (yet), they're just cruising up and down stream and aren't taking anything flies I've casted out in front of their paths.  They appear to be in pairs and small groups of like-sized individuals.  

Once they're on beds, I only target the "riff raff" males with their tin of skoal and toothpick hanging out of their mouth which VDIF asks you to remove as a service to the population. Check with VDIF for more information about "riff raff" males.  They're a real problem in the DC metro area.   

Gene

On Sunday, April 13, 2014 6:40:31 PM UTC-4, Rob Snowhite wrote:

Just a reminder not to fish for spawning bass. We talk about brookies and their spawning vulnerabilities here but not bass. A male bass removed from a nest will most likely kill it from malnourishment and exhaustion. In addition a bass removed will allow predators to consume its eggs.  An average of 10 bass will survive from hatching on a given guarded nest, no dad = no survivors (spoiler alert) think about Nemo. 

His parents couldn't guard the next and he's the sole survivor. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 13, 2014, at 5:00 PM, Vic Velasco <velasco...@gmail.com> wrote:

Nice fish Gene!  Where were you at?  Lake Newport in Reston just turned on this week - I imagine all the water around here will be on soon if not already. 

On Sunday, April 13, 2014 4:00:42 PM UTC-4, TurbineBlade wrote:

It's on! -- I can't believe how many turtles are out moving around.  The huge "breeder" bass aren't taking anything, but some crappie were biting pretty well. 

 

 

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