Climbing up on my soap box. . .
This has been a very interesting discussion. As usual, some topics are more important to some, than to others.
Personally, I don't want to attempt to catch a female trying to spawn on a bed. I also don't want to attempt to catch a male that is in the process of 'guarding eggs or fry'. That way, I give the fish the best chance of reproducing, in a somewhat normal way.
How do we best protect our fisheries? That's a very different question. They are trying the slot limit on Fork. Is it working, most would say yes. However, the slot limit did not protect the bass when the 'virus' hit some years ago.
On Wylie, the SC side has a 12" limit. On the NC side, it has a 14" limit - but you can have 2 12" fish in your creel. Wylie is one of the most fertile lakes in the region. But it's not a large lake, by any means. In several weeks, there will be a BFL tourney there. 200+ boats will be fishing (400 anglers). Each of those teams/individuals will likely pre-fish at least 2-3 days + the tournament. Is that too many boats for that body of water. Likely. I would hope that my state(s) (SC/NC) would at some regulations on restricting the size/number of tournaments that are held there. If you have a 200 boat tourney, you need to be on a lake that is xxxxx acres in size.
Also, in SC, it 'seems' that there are many here (in SC) that believe if you are fishing in a tourney, you can have as many fish in the livewell as you want - as long as you only take 5 to the scales. In short, cull at the ramp. That is a practice that will kill far too many fish. I personally will never have more than 5 in my well for any reason, during a tourney (LM - that is). I fished with someone several years ago that had 10-12 in his well unitl he culled (on the deck of the boat), about an hour before weigh-in. He didn't want to leave any fish on brushpiles, that someone else could possibly catch. Ugh!
I believe also, that there are far more sportsman fishing now, than have ever fished in the past. You simply cannot compare the catches made in tournaments in the 60's/70's/80's to what is caught now.
Bottom line. Take care of the fisheries in a responsible way. If you can't, then you should think about another sport. I believe that most here do this.
Stepping down off my soap box . . . .
Tex