Post by djkimmel on May 28, 2004 21:05:49 GMT -5
Well, the first good news is that gobies have been in the Great Lakes for many years now and we still have a few smallmouth bass around ;D despite all the inadvertant and purposeful spring bass fishing that goes on legally and illegally in parts of the Great Lakes. A few anglers and fish biologists don't seem to think that is significant evidence.
Oh well. Those of us who enjoy the best smallmouth fishing ever are out there having a good time anyway wondering if some of the above actually ever go bass fishing.
So we see that Ohio has taken away tournament fishing opportunity for two very popular months of their season because of the typical reaction that can occur because we're scared of the questions even though we don't have the answers. They're two or three years away from the having the answers, yet anglers give opportunity that very likely may not have needed to give up.
The study so far says some bass nests are raided by gobies. It doesn't say this definitely leads to a collapse of the smallmouth fishing. They've had no closed season and many tournaments with the gobies for years. Some anglers hear about the gobies and maybe they haven't done as well fishing this year or last so they believe it means something and without actual meaningful results, they decide what the results will be before they have them and give up fishing.
Of course, some of those anglers don't care for tournaments or buy into believing they might be bad for bass too as a few have claimed to know (without any actual studies to back them), so what do they care if there are less tournaments? That's what I've heard from a few anglers. Disappointing.
Surprisingly, especially because of the source of the print, actual concrete results from the same state that took away two major months of bass tournament tourism dollars, comes actual study results showing more what I’ve been saying – from the latest In-Fisherman June-July 2004 Bit & Pieces is information collected by the Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries from the Central basin of Lake Erie showing that gobies “primarily eat mollusks and other invertebrates on the bottom, NOT fish eggs and larvae.”<br>
I’ve also pointed out that I believe the smallmouths have actually gained more from the gobies by using them as an abundant food source. The data shows “since 1995, gobies have made up a substantial proportion of the smallmouth bass diet – 44% of the prey in 60 bass (netted) during June 2003.”<br>
They also found evidence of 4 strong years classes from 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999. Four strong years classes in 10 years is evidence of a very healthy fishery. This entire time, fishing pressure in that part of the lake increased steadily and peaked in 1999, yet no correlation exists in the strength of year classes to an increase in gobies and/or fishing pressure.
So Ohio anglers give up some fishing opportunity, yet there is no good evidence that giving up that opportunity will actually make the bass fishing better for them. If the weather and water conditions warrant, they will probably have strong year classes. If not, they will have weaker year classes. This will happen whether they are fishing a lot or not, and whether they have tournaments or not, just like it has been.
Oh well. Those of us who enjoy the best smallmouth fishing ever are out there having a good time anyway wondering if some of the above actually ever go bass fishing.
So we see that Ohio has taken away tournament fishing opportunity for two very popular months of their season because of the typical reaction that can occur because we're scared of the questions even though we don't have the answers. They're two or three years away from the having the answers, yet anglers give opportunity that very likely may not have needed to give up.
The study so far says some bass nests are raided by gobies. It doesn't say this definitely leads to a collapse of the smallmouth fishing. They've had no closed season and many tournaments with the gobies for years. Some anglers hear about the gobies and maybe they haven't done as well fishing this year or last so they believe it means something and without actual meaningful results, they decide what the results will be before they have them and give up fishing.
Of course, some of those anglers don't care for tournaments or buy into believing they might be bad for bass too as a few have claimed to know (without any actual studies to back them), so what do they care if there are less tournaments? That's what I've heard from a few anglers. Disappointing.
Surprisingly, especially because of the source of the print, actual concrete results from the same state that took away two major months of bass tournament tourism dollars, comes actual study results showing more what I’ve been saying – from the latest In-Fisherman June-July 2004 Bit & Pieces is information collected by the Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries from the Central basin of Lake Erie showing that gobies “primarily eat mollusks and other invertebrates on the bottom, NOT fish eggs and larvae.”<br>
I’ve also pointed out that I believe the smallmouths have actually gained more from the gobies by using them as an abundant food source. The data shows “since 1995, gobies have made up a substantial proportion of the smallmouth bass diet – 44% of the prey in 60 bass (netted) during June 2003.”<br>
They also found evidence of 4 strong years classes from 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999. Four strong years classes in 10 years is evidence of a very healthy fishery. This entire time, fishing pressure in that part of the lake increased steadily and peaked in 1999, yet no correlation exists in the strength of year classes to an increase in gobies and/or fishing pressure.
So Ohio anglers give up some fishing opportunity, yet there is no good evidence that giving up that opportunity will actually make the bass fishing better for them. If the weather and water conditions warrant, they will probably have strong year classes. If not, they will have weaker year classes. This will happen whether they are fishing a lot or not, and whether they have tournaments or not, just like it has been.