Note To NH Fisherman

[Greg Duggan]

To my fellow NH anglers,

this is posted on the NH Bass Casters page. I am friends with this guys father so i thought i would pass along to all of you.



The Start Of My Graduate Work

jman Today at 12:57 pm



.Hello everyone,

I hope you are all having an awesome season thus far. As some may or may not know I am currently in graduate school at Plymouth State University getting my masters in biology. My thesis is on smallmouth bass spawning behaviors and how recreational angling may influence them. All of my work will be conducted on Squam Lake started this week and lasting until the end of the spawning season. This work has been cleared by NH Fish & Game and by FLW where my work maybe featured in an article in one of their late summer/early fall magazines this year. I hope to gain more knowledge on the dynamics of spawning, and to educate angles on proper educate when fishing for bedding bass.



I will have a handful of study sites around the lake where beds maybe marked with numbers bricks, and the guarding males will have a bright color coded t-bar tag on their dorsal fins. Now, I am asking EVERYONE if you happen to come across these fish PLEASE pass them by. I know I can't prevent everyone person from catching these fish, but the less others are catching them, the easier it will be on me and my field work this summer. I thank you all for your support and please pass this information on to anyone you know that will be fishing Squam in the next two months.





Thanks everyone,



Justin .

 

[Jim B]

Greg,

You might want to throw this on New England Sportsman too. A lot of the mass tournament guys hang out over there.



I would be interested to see what the actual outcome of the study is.

 

[Greg Duggan]

Jim,

i will be in touch with Justin to follow his findings. I will be happy to share he reports with you. I fished a tourny with him Sat at Lake Sunapee. He took second and smallie lunker, go figure......

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Noble effort but in the true sense his goal is to document "smallmouth bass spawning behaviors and how recreational angling may influence them", isn't recreational anglers yanking them off the beds part of what he is studying? IF he marks and isolates them, then 1/2 of his stated goal is removed correct? I don't know what caliber of meat fishermen you have but marking them (and the bed)is a flag for an easy catch. I would think his cause would be better served by marking a spawning area "off-limits" to fishing altogether. Keep us posted on the results.



TOXIC

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I see that as dang near impossible...agree Tox.

 

[Jim B]

Tox,

"Meat" fisherman should not be much of an issue really. In NH from May 15th to June 15th which is spawn time up there its instant catch and release for all Bass.



Im sure there are still idiots that will take those fish but NH does enforce their fish and game laws and form what i have heard the fines for breaking the rules are pretty steep.

 

[Greg Duggan]

Im sure there are still idiots that will take those fish

i agree with that staement.



Tox,

i am not 100% clear on his study. I will be sure to update with his findings. I would also agree with what you said about marking spawning areas as to keep fisherman out versus araes that get hammered by fisherman during the spawn.

Time will tell.





GregD

 

[Mini]

Tox,



I am almost ccertain that he needs a control group of fish that have not been harassed by fisherman....good thing for him he doesnt live around me



To get a part of the lake off limits to fishing is like pulling teeth. It reduces every fisherpersons angling opportunity and they pay taxes too (well the 1% ers do...lol)



I harrass em every chance I get!