Fishing Rule - Bedding Bass, Seasons...

[TrepMan]

OK guys, Ed and others have been discussion lots of stuff that keeps mentioning "rules" in some states like a "Season" for a specific fish, or some states prohibit "bed" fishing and so one..



My question is how do they know?? OK so you don't schedule a bass club tourney on a lake that has a "season" the week BEFORE the season opens. But... lets say GA were to pass a "no fishing bedding fish" law, how is that possibly inforced, which makes the time/effort to pass a law a waste of taxpayers $$? I mean do the DNR guys go under cover and pull up next to you in their bass boat while you are bass fishing and say "hey dude, how's the bass biting? you Bed fishing???"



I know i'm making a little "light" of this, but help me here guys it makes no sense to me on how they would ever enforce it so why pass it?



A season for "bass", i usualy "target" bass, by the lures and techniques I use but on my home lake I am just as likely to catch a catfish, crappie, striper or bluegill (and have) as I do bass. So again, does one lure or rod/reel make it a "bass" fishing trip??



Now we have on some parts of our trout rivers a season, but thats pretty easy to enforce - you fishing on that part of the river out of season, you are caught.



Just some thought provoking questions from Trep today.

 

[Tony Payne]

How do they know? The same way they keep track of Creel limits and other things... Spot Checks...



95% of the enforcement of these rules is based upon "sportsmanlike conduct"... the honor system.



Also, enforcement officers know when/where to look for he behaviour they want to catch... they're quite good at it when they need to be.

 

[Jeremy Theys2]

They can enforce it, but the argument wouldn't stand up in court if you wanted to fight it. It's one man's word against another.



With bass it would be very tough to enforce. I personally have never lived in a state with any regulations like that, so never really thought about it.



I would rather the officers spend their time enforcing no wake zones and clearance from other boats, thatn try to punish fishermen for trying to fish.

 

[Edward Lea.]

Amen on the clearance from other boats..... My son likes to crappie fish in the spring and I am tired of being ran over by 60 mph boats while anchored on submerged brush piles.

 

[Bryan McDonough]

I guess launching a bass boat would make you an immediate target in states that had bass seasons.



Are there any states that prohibit fishing for bedding bass? Or do they prevent this with seasons.

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

In NY State it is very much for real, they prevent it with seasons.

 

[Edward Lea.]

Trep, game wardens can tell what most people are up to. Every year folks are busted for pheasant hunting from a vehicle even though they have managed to unload thier shotguns before being pulled over. You would be surprised how many people will ride around with the guns loaded and the case open in the front seat and bail out of the vehicle right beside a bird in the ditch and start blazing away or worse shoot out of the widow or van door. Wardens still get them even though they unload the gun and zip the case before stopping when the warden pulls them over. I would guess they could watch from a distance with binoculars and tell if people were bed fishing or the type of fishing your up too. Now they would have to use common sense and that isn't always the case when people are involved making judgement calls.

 

[TrepMan]

Sim - SPot checks, if I only do catch and release there is nothing to check? In a lake like some of the northern waters where pike, walleye, bass, perch and such if i'm fishing a crank bait for bass, who knows if i'm fishing realy for Pike or bass?

 

[davetnitro]

No Bass season in calif.. and people fish beds all the time, knowingly or not!

and OBTW, it has certainly NOT hurt the bass fishery out here, catch and release

works.

 

[Edward Lea.]

If the Pike season is closed and you are using a 10 inch crank bait on 30 pund test line with a steel leader and a 5 foot stiff rod they got you.

 

[Andrew Zuber]

Michigan enforces the bass season pretty effectively...

They are trying to have the season closed for pike, musky, and walleye at the same time as bass, so there is no question on which species you were targeting....

When bass season is closed, you CAN NOT even target bass...if you are trying to catch them, you are in violation of the law....who determines you are in violation? Mr. or Ms. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Officer. It is totally up to them. If they believe you are in violation, they can seize your catch, your equipment, your boat, and even the vehicle you used to tow your boat! Then comes all the fines, loss of license (sometimes for LIFE), and court costs.

So...you are targeting crappie with live minnows and bobber or small jigs...you catch a bass during the closed season...are you in violation? If it is obvious you are not targeting bass, you release the bass and you are OK...

Be realistic guys...the DNR officers know..."I'm fishing for bowfin (dogfish)!" is probably not going to fly!



az

 

[Steve Rizza]

Trep,

Here's Pa.'s regulation on Bass fishing out of season.



--NOTE: It is not a violation of the bass regulations if a bass is immediately returned unharmed to the waters from which it was taken.** It is unlawful for an angler to cast repeatedly into a clearly visible bass spawning nest or redd in an effort to catch or take

bass.--



Now.. the first part is pretty simple...But the second part can be a grey area.

How many times have you repeatedly made casts into the same lay down tree?? Especially when the fish were a little slow?? Now what if a Warden was standing on the shore watching you??

Even though you may not be bed fishing,,how can you prove your case??



I like that we can Bass fish year 'round. To be honest I don't really know when the exact season is because I catch and release anyhow. But the bed fishing clause can be trouble.

 

[Tim m]

First problem here is while you guys are on here discussing catching fish,I am out there actually catching them...Here is the first general rule of fishing...IF THEY ARE IN THE WATER THEN THEY ARE CATCHABLE FISH....Problem solved...Now go wet some hooks...

 

[TOMMY RICH]

It's just not for me...I'll leave em'. If I fished tournies?........maybe:blink:

 

[Brian Ingersoll]

Tee, or anyone else- would you leave it when you see that 12# smallie or 23# largemouth on a bed?

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Would it happen?...probably not

I'll also add...you won't see smallies spawing that shallow like LM...at least not TVA lakes.

 

[Brian Ingersoll]

I'll have to agree that I haven't seen any smallmouth or spot beds before, they bed way to deep around here.

I guess that question was loaded, a record fish is a different situation than just a big fish.

 

[TrepMan]

Again seems split on folks who are in states that have these "rules" and even on folks who agree with them.



I just always wondered how they would enforce it, some of you gave me some insight. But up here as i've never seen a bass on a bed, usualy too muddy water, and I don't know if spotted bass bed that shallow (someone will know) and there are not yet any laws/season's down here, a moot point for me.