Carying capacity is not a theory. We do need to harvest fish unless you are stocking trucks of bluegill/bait fish. Maybe have size restrictions example: only harvest bass between 12" and 16". I seen some lakes have these restrictions.
I am a predator same as the eagles. I catch and eat bass several times a year when I am fishing in known clean water. Maybe every 3rd trip I keep fish. I might keep 3, might keep 20. I go fishing probably 4 times a month on average. The fish I eat are making zero difference. Maybe if I took a gill net and took hundreds each time, it might eventually make a dent in the population, but a hand full of fish 8 or 10 times a year is doing no harm. In some places, it is even beneficial to keep and eat some.
I fish in a smaller size lake, about 200 acres. The biologist told me many times they encourage harvest of non slot sized bass. The game department actually removed bout 1000 couple years ago and I promise you it has helped 100 percent. Catch and release is not always the right choice
I keep and eat but i practice conservation and only keep and eat what i can eat. I also practice conservation but keeping the small ones and releasing the larger ones as they are your breeding stock. There are times when i go fishing and i just catch and release. Bass are not just there for the recreational or tournament angler to go have fun, they are there for everyone to enjoy whether it be catch and release or catch to eat. If everyone just practices good conservation, both ways will work just fine.
I prefer the taste of largemouth. I like it over crappie, catfish and bluegill. Anything under 4 lbs is going home to the frying pan. Anything over 4 lb I release.
Most people that eat bass also eat other species as well and it’s cheaper to catch fish and eat them than raise animals to eat. I personally release them but a lot of my family still catch fish to feed their family.
i don't think there are as many bass eaten, as there are die from being caught under FFS at extreme depths, most of which die a day or two after weigh in
Don’t you know his “experience, data, and facts” are the only truth these days. If you don’t agree with him you’re just BS and part of the problem. Don’t believe the biologists or critically think for yourself, just fall in line with the rest of his minions on here.
Randy, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for having the balls to say what so many will not. Catch and release is more important than ever in an age where ffs is available as a tool to catch these fish. You will never make everyone happy, but know there are over 125000 people who agree and support you !
I agree with you for the most part but there are exceptions. Lake Powell (Arizona/Utah)management is one of the exceptions. Anglers keeping the smaller smallmouth has been very good for that lake. I've fished that lake for over 30 years and the selective harvest at Powell has helped.
There have been privately owned and managed ponds and lakes that saw a dramatic decrease in big fish being caught over time. Most investigations revealed the big bass were still there but got harder to catch due to previously being caught. I say this only to ask this question. While I think its possible to over harvest small bodies of water why do we not also consider that fishing pressure particularly in the form of 150 boat tournaments almost every week on some large bodies of water are not having the same effect as harvesting? If a fish is caught and released gets harder to catch that essentially makes that fish now unavailable to the majority of anglers does it not? I know you don't buy what the fisheries managers are selling Randy but they do have a quite a bit of science backing them up. Is some assumed or erroneous for reasons you have stated in past videos? Possibly but just as you believe there are too many confounding elements messing with their research so too those elements impact your years of observation. If the fish are there and just pressured being more difficult to catch than in the past it would certainly appear to your observation that the quality has gone down. The quantity and size of a fish population is dictated by it's carrying capacity. The bigger the lake the more it can carry. The more fertile the more it can carry and the opposite is true if it's compromised. If a significant portion of the fish population is no longer catchable is the lake more unhealthy or in decline? Again so many variables at play here. I think the tournament pressure is actually having a bigger impact than harvesting on the fisheries in my opinion. I think the biologist are more right than you give them credit for. I believe a lot of lakes especially larger ones that seem like the #'s and quality have gone down are just simply suffering from fishing pressure. It's getting harder to catch the fish the traditional way which is why FFS is so effective right now. They are fishing unpressured fish and In a couple years those fish too will quit biting.
Honestly Randy this video gave me an idea.. you SHOULD do a series of videos on how to catch some fish species other than bass. That would be refreshing and I think people would watch it for sure.
I live in SW Ohio and I can probably count on one hand the folks that eat bass. Most were older people who have now passed. This is full of half truths and observations. Intuitive is based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning. I'd refer back to trophy deer management and their practices for guidance. Where they're getting $10K-20K per deer! Maximize quality forage, optimize conditions for growth and health for life. Remove any deer that don't contribute to the end goal. Closing spawning season (we have lakes were known spawning bays are off limits), focus on habitat for bass and forage for all year classes, slots to protect larger fish (one fish over x length), put some real limitations on tournaments and we'd be a long way towards better fishing for all. Stop shaming the people who are not breaking any laws, at least they're eating the fish rather than dumping them in the lake to die later as turtle food.
Agree. I can't imagine keeping a bass. There's definitely a fish taco mentality out there, especially when it comes to stripers and incorrectly labeling them as an invasive species.
I’ll be direct about this. I don’t keep bass to eat myself. I do have family members that do. They typically eat other species, however, they sometimes do eat bass. Fish are a resource, they legally catch them and are just as entitled to use that resource as a tournament angler is. The value of the bass is whatever a legal angler decides. If it is more valuable for them to eat, then let them eat it. Just because you think bass should be only for intrinsic blah blah blah, you don’t have the right to force others into your cultish views. If you really want to value the fish, stop allowing tournaments that injure and displace the fish into cramped areas of habitat.
Tourneys must kill WAY more bass than eaters.Are there even that many people eating bass daily/weekly? I just assume the people that snark back at you about these vids are a loud few. Also never eaten a bass over 2lbs unless it was clearly a goner. Always enjoyed filleting and eating a couple times a year with the dudes in the family 😊
I live in Texas, and believe me, Texas knows what a thing or two about bass. We were told by the biologist that the limit is five. (by the way, I'm going what Texas says). There is not a lake in Texas that if every fisherman keeps their limit, it does not hurt the fish. The important thing is which ones to keep. If you want to keep fish, keep the ones three pounds or less. Reason why, when they reach three pounds, their mouth is big enough to to eat prey big enough to maximize their growth. I'm calling bullshit on you. Bass is the best tasting freshwater fish there is.
40 acres ain't a pond, that's a small lake. Any actual pond that's say 10 acres or less you absolutely have to keep fish every year, including catfish and the bluegill that get too big for bass and catfish to safely eat. I've seen too many farm ponds with stunted fish to agree with you. I don't keep any bass that are bigger than 2lbs out of farm ponds if I'm catching nothing but small bass after a few trips, and I don't get carried away with how many I keep per year. Otherwise, I agree with you on bigger bodies of water.
If you have a lake where everything is perfect I can see it not having to be managed. But if not I've seen it I've been fishing for 58 years and have seen lakes that they are over populated big heads small bodies. Most of these lakes are bowl lakes city owed or small private lakes and ponds. I have personally took care of some in the past and I have took out small fish and within 2 to 3 years the size jumped major in size. Small bass are excellent eating . I don't keep many but you have to use comman sense. But I don't agree personally
Whoever that was with the yard comment, I'm not jealous at all. *My* yard has a pond and cool old dodge trucks, plus it's at the end of a dead end road and you can't see the mile thru the woods to *any* of the neighbors' houses. I'm far from jealous, tho I would like to see the house. I bet Randy's got fair taste in landscaping and stonework.
I was recently approached by FWC on lake Panasoffkee in Florida. He didn’t check for license, check my livewell etc. He just asked what I was fishing for, how many I had caught etc. It was just a study and said they were encouraging anglers to keep the smaller fish because there are too many. Personally I just catch and release bass. I’ll eat crappie (specks in Florida) used to keep walleye when I lived in Midwest and do keep certain salt water species.
Hi, Randy! I agree with most of what you said. I think it was clear you were just sharing your opinion. It’s interesting to see peoples’ response, many of which you predicted. I personally don’t keep and eat bass because I believe they are subpar in texture and flavor to nearly every other fish in the lake. There are also health reasons not to eat large predatory fish such as bass (e.g., mercury contamination, the risks of which increase with size of the fish). If people want to keep and eat bass, they should educate themselves on the risks and benefits and make the decision that is right for them, while also considering the impact on the bass population and lake health. Then if they decide to catch and harvest bass they should focus on fish at the smaller end of the legal limit. Just my thoughts. Appreciate the video. Keep it up!
I'm hearing alot of the same logic here that I do from trophy hunters saying we should only have 1 buck tag, ban corn feeders, blah blah blah. People who release bass into lake crisco are doing you tournament anglers a huge favor by reducing the amount of predation on bait fish. Your anecdotal evidence ain't worth its weight in dog scat.
When I was growing up back in the 50s we kept everything we caught. That was before the advent of fish finding sonars and the explosion of fish catching knowledge that has been brought to the sport. Catch and release can also cause fish mortality. Especially if they are being caught and released in deep water. The more efficient our fish finding electronics become the greater fish mortality becomes. As sportsmen are we going to continue down this path of ever greater pressure on the resource or can we rain ourselves in. Time will tell.
If you want to eat fish, why would you eat Bass? They’re the most boring table fare imaginable. You’re better off chasing Bluegill’s and Crappie. In Michigan it’s Walleye and Perch predominantly. I don’t know anyone around here who eats Bass, unless they’re starving to death. 😂
This is simply dogma over data - and a bunch of BS. Do an interview with a biologist and have a live conversation - let’s see what happens. In some cases you are on point - I have two ponds, and a 40 acre lake adjacent to them. Bass are not harvested and the population results are mixed - reason: each ecosystem has variances.
I would never keep bass out of a lake! With the tournament pressure that lakes have there is no way id do that. However, with watersheds here in ks i do think some need to be removed from certain waters. I fish a watershed where you can literally catch 100s of bass a day and there isnt a one over 14". I would prefer to move those fish to a pond that needs stocked but i dont have a problem of keeping a few if you have nowhere to go with them.
Shouldn't be controversial. A bass is a fish just like any other. As long as you're following local rules and regulations, eat what you want. Agreed that the limits are too high, though.
Randy I haven't eaten a bass since I was 23 now I'm 65. I do keep a few panfish when I fish with my 4 year grandson because he loves when I clean them and fry them. Here's a thought, REPLACE MENTAL MONDAY WITH PANFISH MONDAY! Great for Grandkids and Granddads!
Randy, you make important and valid points when premised, as you did, by the importance of good cover and a healthy forage base. Increase harvest pressure on that system and the average size is expected to decline as the average age of the population declines. This is fisheries 101 but it can get complicated as changes in recruitment rates, water quality, plankton composition, species introductions, and numerous other factors occur that change the previous balance. Sometimes removal of fish, often smaller fish, is necessary to reduce competition and restore that balance so that some bass can grow to be the 5+ pounders that excite even us older guys.
What has made bass management difficult in some states is how variable it is. One lake may have a pipulation that is benefiting from eveb heavy harvest rates, where another lake may lose the majority of large fish from much more modest catch rates. slot lengths are often followed by an allotment of several bass below the slot- often it is the slot sizes that must be released.- That is a management plan for lakes with excess smaller bass& high recriutment rates. The extreme variants make it so a " one size fits all" regulatory frame is not possible, however there is a quite simple way to tell if your lake is overharvested. If a lake traditionally produced larger bass now only has smaller bass& it is harder to catch a limit- that lake experiences overharvest.
There is a limit for a reason so my limit hits the ice. I get sick of… ”Hey man, that’s a good weigh fish. Can’t believe you’re keepin that”. That statement proves to me he doesn’t care about the population because his heart hurts for the fish. He’s worried about what he can take to the scale. I’m feeding my family.
Regardless of species, I never understood why u can keep x amount of fish out of a 100k acre lake than keep the same amount out of a 200 acre lake, why don't they adjust the limits based on size, obviously a 200 acre lake will get cleaned out faster
Because (at least my state) controls every body of water. A private land owner with a pond he personally pays to stock still has to follow state limits, even though the state isn't paying for it. The tax paying fisherman is theoretically also funding the hatcheries and stocking efforts.
I don't mind anyone catching fish and keeping them to eat. Having tournaments ect. As long as it's properly managed. I don't believe it is. I don't really see that changing any time soon.
We had a lake that was closed for 5 years. We got 4 - 6 pounders all day long. All fat and healthy. Now if you get 1 over 3 pounds your lucky. Even 2 pounds now is a good one.
Regular media guy, sensationalize statements to get reactions. 10s of thousands of days on the lake, 6 fish a day for 300 days a year, no possession limit? If you are a true Stuard for the fisheries why are you not promoting barbless hooks and limiting the types of baits being used.
These bag limits are all Chamber of Commerce bag limits and never reflect the resource availability. Fish and game are viewed as economic drivers and nothing else for a state. The Hungarian partridge bag limit in Iowa is eight per day, you won’t see eight in a lifetime anymore. Same for quail in most states. Damn be the fish and game, there is an economic impact that has to be artificially manufactured by politicians.
Randy I love the channel and watch all the time. I am a catch and release angler. That said, how do you reconcile your opinion about keeping bass (within the legal limits) based your own limited management of a fishery, against the experience, expertise, shocking surveys, tagging and all other data gathered by state wildlife agencies? These guys aren’t just university educated idiots. Many of them are life long bass fisherman as well. I don’t agree with you on this brother. Keep up the good work on FFS!
I like recreational fishing for large bass to catch and release habitat is only part of the equation but you do make sense but I know lakes that do have only small fish in it
25%-30℅ of bass fishermen are keeping and eating bass? Not on my lake, I'm betting it is closer to 5%! I would need to see some actual stats not just "your experience"
According to the wildlife biologist that Tyler from Tyler’s Reel Fishing just interviewed, there isn’t enough harvesting of bass. You claim science, yet a real scientist disagrees with you. All your ranting, which is all you do any more, is pushing your subscribers away, me included. Goodbye.
Most bass fisherman I know don’t ever keep bass. I like your show but going here talking about a few guys wanting to keep a few to eat is a little ridiculous.
You can't imagine how many are taken. I've seen restraunt owners go out and bring back cooler full. Claim they had 10 guys fishing. No one checks live wells when people leave. A lake near me on a river is catch and keep so bad its hard to even catch a fish.
I don’t agree with most of what you surmise is best for bass. If everyone did not eat bass, then it would mean more bass for tournament fishermen and that is probably where your heart really is. I am a crappie and Striper fisherman and I like the taste of bass much more than crappie. I know you don’t like them, but that doesn’t mean that we should turn them loose because you don’t like them.
It's getting harder to afford anything these days. It's no surprise more people are eating the fish they catch. There are bigger issues here. Keep up the good work Randy.
This is far more lake dependent than you think. Very few people keep smallmouth out of one of the larger reservoirs near me and now because they are pretty prolific spawners the majority of the population is stunted to the point where a 2 lb smb is winning big fish and if you hit 10lbs on a 5 fish limit you are almost guaranteed the win. They need to either allow for the harvest of smaller bass or go nuts stocking more forage. Neither is likely to happen though
On my closest local lake don't taste very good; too much pollution; water fowl droppings, urban street run-off, etc. I've tried some of the bluegill but had to heavily salt in a marinade overnight; had to cook it outside so the house wouldn't stink. We are on the west coast so we can get fresh, saltwater fish that taste much better. The State of Ca., manage our fisheries and they don't really have the staff nor funds to properly take care of all the water bodies in Ca. Our state fishing license is $62/adult!!!
I think that the bag limits do need to be changed, for example the daily bag limit for bass in Ohio is 5 bass per day while in Ontario, CA for the sportman tag it is only 6 bass total. We need something like this instead of the daily per person limit that the DNR sets and if someone is using cheater scope then catch and release only, that needs to be mandatory. Great video Randy and I hope that you are having a good day!
@@marvinmoore5712 Yes! The number of tournaments has gotten way out of control. Everyone thinks they are a pro now! I used to fish a bunch of tournaments and fished in clubs. I quit doing both and now enjoy going fishing much more.
We have 8 big and small lakes in our community and almost all have small fish. Even the fish surveys bare this out. They beg the fishermen to keep the 1-2 lb bass. Bass are like cattle in that you can only raise so many lbs of fish per acre and you can have a bunch of small bass or few, but bigger bass. Your choice.
Randy, while I understand your position. There are many points that you need to expand upon further. Most of the points you have made are from your perception and experience. While that does have merit. Perception isn't always reality. I have always thought the purpose of managing wildlife/fisheries was to reduce or eliminate the natural peaks and valleys of wildlife populations. To try to keep a baseline. Hence, a "healthy" ecosystem. Of course, if you leave a waterway to manage itself it will. But you are going to have highs and lows over time. However long that cycle may be. It's going to happen. You also spoke about having more and more fisherman on the water. But the data shows that license sales are in a slow decline. Hunting more than fishing, but a decline nonetheless. I think MO is holding on better than other places. Sales seem to jump and fall by 2 million from year to year. Now are license sales the best indicator. That's very debatable. But it gives us data other than perception. Say its true, there are more fisherman what steps if any are you willing to take to limit the fishing pressure? You also spoke in MO you are allowed to keep 6 bass a day. Which is true. You are also allowed to possess 12. Once you reach that number you have to consume a fish before you can keep another one. Also, if you follow the MDC recommended amount of fish you should consume per month, you will never come close to the number of bass taken that you claim. I do agree with you, there are plenty of people in MO that will eat every bass just to give a middle finger to catch and release group. My main concern with that group is the percentage that doesn't follow the regulations. Those people are a danger to the fishery. With your concerns on bass populations, I have to ask the question. Have you lost faith in the MDC and their management practices? If yes, what has caused you to lose faith? Have you contacted the MDC about your concerns? That reminds me, you spoke about Spots being in invasive species and trying to get them out. The only place I know the MDC is actively doing this is in the Meramac water system. I have not seen anywhere else that doesn't have length regulations on Spots. The length limit is shorter, but Spots generally don't get as long. Even in the Meramac water system there is a daily possession limit of 12. And I think Clearwater lake doesn't have any size limits on bass. Are there more places that you know of? Bass taste just fine. Are there better tasting fish. Yes. Come to think of it. I don't think I've ever ate a fish I didn't like. Even gar are good. A little pungent, but still a quality fish. And let's say everyone stopped eating bass, and switched to another species. After some time you start to catch fewer and less quality of those fish. Are you going to advocate catch and release for that fish? Because let me tell you over the past 7-8 years I am not catching the same amount or quality of bluegills out of the rivers like I used to. The only thing I know that's changed is more and more people don't keep Smallmouth. Cause and effect. I contacted the MDC about this and I had a long conversation with their top Smallmouth biologist at that time. No conclusions were met. Could the smallmouth be eating up the Gills? Maybe. Could it just be ebb and flow? However, it did give the MDC something to check up on that they never thought about. They don't check out how the Gills are doing. Lastly, what is your end goal? Is it to catch a 4lb every cast? Are you concerned about fish numbers? Which again leads back to trusting the MDC management practices. What are your thoughts on selective harvest? Or slot limits? And is this your rebuttal to recent articles/bass anglers advocating the practice of keeping bass from time to time.
I fish when I can and that’s not often. I agree. Bream n Crappie eat way better. For me, I return slot bass of course. I also release big bass (after a photo). Dinks go in the live well for sammiches!!!😊
Don't conflate actual education with standing next to the water your whole life. I know of an old fella that lived down in costa rica, had a whole life time of swinging a machete as an old man. My buddy watched him put his blades in the campfire every evening and heat them red hot before he sharpened them for the next day "to put the carbon back into the steel". The old man that was such a machine with a machete for all of his 60 years in the jungle had 0 clue about anything to do with metal, had no idea about temper, annealing, couldn't say why carbon might need to be put back after a day at work, nothing.. he could lay a hell of an edge on one and swing it all day for years on end, but knew nothing at all about it. Same goes for fishermen that think they know more than someone that can actually do the math on what your water can tolerate.
Out of my main local fishing area, we're lucky enough to be considered safe for three meals of bass and 1 of larger predators per month. As an adult. 2 sets of locks upstream, it's one meal every month for bass and large predators aren't safe for consumption at all. This is after 40 years of cleaning and eliminating new dioxins and heavy metals, too. Have to travel at least a county away from the river before I'd consider them safe to eat on the regular.
Did u see the video from Oliver bigbassdreams made a video about this topic recently... But I'm kinda old school I still wanna see them all go back as much as possible...
I agree with you , just cause u have bought a fishing license and boat registration does not give you the right to keep every bass you can catch , with more of the public fishing now there needs to be better laws made to help even more our bass populations , DWLF need to rethink and make better laws for the bass in every state , including mine ; all fishing no matter where you go today is tougher and I don’t care what anyone has to say about it cause I’m speaking the truth and now with FFS everyone’s thinking cause they are coming in with big weights that the bass populations are good , that’s total BS , take your cheater box off and go real bass fishing then u will see and understand how bad it truely is , cause those fish you caught with your cheater box would have never ever even seen your lure
People I live in Missouri and everybody better start listening to ol Randy! I haven’t been to Table Rock for 2 years and that where I cut my teeth bass fish. I’m 45 years, this lake is a fraction of what it was 20 years ago. Yes I’m not a pro by any means. Sub par at best.. lol.
Look at lake Norman in NC...spotted bass have taken over and the state is doing something about it. Introducing the F1 strain of largemouth and a very liberal creel limit on spots not much if any size limit. Spotted bass great table fair. There are people spear -fishing the big largemouth..no joke Not people from our country...nuff said on that I don't keep largemouth or smallmouth
Under state law in many states it is illegal to harass a duly licensed sportsman from exercising their rights of harvesting fish or game. This presentation should be construed as harassment and be reported to the right agency.
All small ponds and lakes are overpopulated with small stunted bass. Ask any biologist. Bass spawn 3000 eggs per pound. Lakes can only support 100 lbs per acre. Water quality is very important for all lakes. If you have huge bass in your lakes, don't mess it up. If you catch 12 inch bass that are 10 years old like in Missouri, you need to do something. Eating fish is a great food source that helps the screwed up lakes in Missouri. Those lakes will never have large fish when they won't grow bigger than 10 to 12 inches. Work on your water quality and habitat. What gives you the right to tell anyone how to live??
@@DennisMorgan-ls8sc like I said in the video I’m sharing with you my experiences which are extensive regarding the smaller bodies of water. I don’t know many fisheries biologist who have had their own 40 acre lake for two decades and could study it as intensely as I did.
Fish have been around for ever, they survived all them yrs with us trying to help One of my lakes is all cnr for all species and its loaded with giants, if they say there isn't enough food to grow big fish than there's to many ppl eating the pan fish
Where I am from. Most bass lakes are under 500 acres. You have to catch and release them if you want bass in the future. 50,000 acres can handle keeping bass. I mostly fish walleye. Some times I keep them. Sometimes I don't. But I have seen many bass guys keep walleye. While letting bass go.
@@camojoe83what isn't these days? You can't worry about it or you can make yourself crazy. Most pollution by me is from farm runoff. And we need those farms.
My brother and I have 5 acres . It used to o be nothing to catch 5 lb up to 7. He gave a guy permission to fish any time as long he releases under 3. The last 3 years no 5 lb what you think happened,? My brother I is gone now sister-in-law says to many little ones.
What i see in the north is people with a freezer full and not eaten. Spring comes around and all those freezer burned fish go to the landfill. It's just the wife and me here. We go walleye or perch fishing and keep enough for supper. We do keep enough in freezer for winter meals but we're out by spring. No, we don't ice fish. Too old. If you keep it eat it!!!
I wouldn’t eat Big River Valley or Meramec River bass in Missouri as these waters in your state are contaminated with toxic Lead. Good job selling Lead jigs though! Where is your Lead mined?
I release 99% of the bass that I catch. Bass tournament guys are generally against keeping bass. But I have seen and heard them condone eating walleye, even on southern lakes where bass outnumber walleye 10 to 1. Can you say hypocrisy? The private lake I live on, just decided to make walleye catch and release only. While keeping the limit on bass at 5 per day 14" minimum. I will be keeping a couple 14"-16" bass every other week to eat. Based on the new regulations. I generally put a lot of crappie in the freezer, when they are spawning in May. Never heard anyone say anything against keeping crappie either. Can you say hypocrisy?
Totally agree with Randy on this one...and he hit the nail on the head with the comment about how there are much better fish out there to eat. Crappie, trout, catfish, bluegill, kokanee (just to name a few from my neck of the woods). These other fish are WAY more prolific and/or are heavily stocked so make much more sense to harvest on many levels.
I fish for anything that bites. For me bass don’t taste as good as crappie or catfish or bluegill. I’m a bobber fisher man love to see the bobber go down. Now to your video I have seen videos debating both sides not sure what to believe. Wanted to let you know I love your videos not a bass fishermen just love to fish. Keep up the good work brother.
