The UGLY Truth about Bed Fishing
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- Опубликовано: 18 май 2024
- This will change everything you know about spawning fish! It’s not just sight fishing that catches spawning bass, but anytime you’re fishing around the spawn you’re catching fish on or near beds
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I’m more concerned with the abuse of individual fish. I fish st clair and during the spawn you’ll see 50 boats rotating around the same 29 beds catching and reacting the same fish. By the end of the spawn the fish that survive this abuse have half of their face missing. It’s pretty pathetic to watch these groups of “fisherman” abusing the spawners.
And then these fisherman head back home and miss seeing the result of this abuse - post spawn floaters drifting around the mile roads.
i think catching a bass off a bed is equal to hunting deer over bait. what is the challenge. love fishing but would take up knitting if my only choice was to bed fish.
I posted some footage recently from an underwater camera that shows what you can’t see from above. The goby population in Lake St Clair, and their presence around smallmouth beds, is much worse than people think. They are also quicker and more aggressive than you’d expect.
Dropping the camera down there, the bass were quick to inspect but wouldn’t leave the beds. The goby were in masses and would attack it on sight once it hit bottom. There’s no doubt in my mind after seeing the footage I got that even on a catch and release those goby have already come in and cleaned out that bed.
Not a scientific study by any means, but that footage really opened my eyes.
Let me know if you want some of the footage, I’d be happy to pass it along as you could reach and educate a much wider audience with it than I could.
I’ve seen a few studies by fish biologist that claim catch and release bed fishing really has no impact on bed fishing. They also said the lake will only support a certain number of fry weather 100 or a 1000 fish spawn. I do think a tournament’s should be catch and immediate release paper tournaments.
Good video! I think the impact is greater in tournaments. Been fishing lakes here in mi. for the last two weeks and smacking them bedding. Get them in and release them. I think little damage done. Walleye, trout and other meat fish are managed for catch to eat, Bass not. I've fished local lakes in tournaments for years and have seen Catching bed fish have an impact. Used to place real well in early tournaments with bedding fish. I think years of me and a few other guys who regularly fish then fish has hurt the natural reproduction in them areas.
I just disagree with tournaments around the spawn but nothing we can do about that in Michigan, obviously some fish get done before season opens but those fish that are live welled immediately have their beds raided by bluegills, perch, gobies, etc.
Couldn’t agree more, welling the fish off the bed during tournaments driving the fish off how many ever miles away surely can’t be the best option.
I agree 100%
the best time of year for fishing pre-during-post spawn times. helps manage the lakes, should help cull smaller fish out of the lake and bigger fish to grow and spread genetics. best times and biggest fish. usually multiple fish spawns around the same time and you get giants.
From southern Ontario, Canada bass season doesn’t open until mid June which allow the majority of fish to finish their spawn cycle. If you care about the future of the fishery you should not be fishing for bass on beds. The MNR has closed seasons during the spawn for most sports fish including trout, walleye, bass, Musky, whitefish, etc… there’s a CLEAR reason for this and it makes sense. There’s no argument that catching a fish off a bed is beneficial to the spawn and those future generations.
People cannot understand there is a whole bunch of movement that all coincides so if we "didn't fish the spawn" we would get about 3 mos a year to fish. I don't care to bed fish but have no issue with guys who don't get to fish much catching and releasing a few bed fish. It's not for me but the guys who pick five bigs and give 5:27 them a ride is not a great plan. In our area of Michigan my biggest issue is how many people are still killing 5 nice fish and putting them on the metal stringer and taking them home?? They are old fish and irreplaceable!!
I think that no matter what, there will constantly be people who have nothing better to do than be a keyboard warrior and angrily voice their opinions.
That being said, I don't have an issue with fishing during the spawn. What I do have an issue with are the clout chasing social media idiots who cram multiple big females into a livewell all day for that extremely stupid hero pic at the end of the day. Especially in WA where it is illegal to keep more than one bass of 17" in your livewell at at time unless you're fishing a tournament. You get these clowns abusing big females and often times killing them from all the stress they add on them. Just because they swim away doesn't mean that they survive. This applies all year round and not just during the spawn.
Due to the limited time I have to fish, I have barely spent any time bed fishing. There have been a few years where I was able to go fishing on a particular lake while bass were spawning and catch a few. But since I started bass fishing in 2010, I have been fishing on a lake while bass were spawning less than a dozen times. Most years, I don't get to fish at all during the spawn or happen to choose a lake where it's either too early or too late. That being said, I always found bed fishing to be really fun and challenging depending at what stage of the spawn they were in. Seeing how they react to certain baits or presentations was always super interesting to me. It's something that I have done so little of that I would like more opportunities to do it. But at the same time, I'm not disappointed in the slightest when I don't get to do it in any given year. I'mbeen a big supporter to respecting the fish and never keeping them out of the water of extended periods of time. If I catch a nice fish and want to get a weight, I always let them breathe for a while in between unhooking, weighing, and snapping pictures so that they're never out of the water for very long. That's something that drives me absolutely crazy about the idiotic pros (Mike Iaconelli ESPECIALLY) who sit there and talk for 1-2 minutes about how they caught that fish while holding it out of the water. LET THE DAMN FISH GO BEFORE YOU TALK!
That's why Michigan has a closed season until Memorial Day! I know fish the spawn well into June, we've caught them in July full of eggs.
And again in the fall full of eggs up on flats! Last year I was catching bed fish in late July
@@brnowak_fishing I'm in AZ and depending on the water late january to mid summer here. smaller lakes but still. waves of spawn every 3 weeks I can catch completely different fish same areas for months. bass are great at reproducing. spawn should be a time to cull smaller fish to get trophy size in some bodies of water! promote keeping and culling fish for better fisheries. good management!
Great vid Ben!!
Then why are you fishing tournaments? I am a strict catch and release and I don’t fish during the peak spawn time. Tournaments are killing fish unnecessarily for the dog and pony hero shots.
I’ll never understand the mindset of guys who supposedly bass fish but constantly want closed seasons and severe restrictions.
Closed season during the spawn. Next it’s can’t fish deep you are killing those with barotrauma. Then of course gotta ban livescope. Side imaging / 360 / mapping gps makes it too easy, better ban that too 😂
Here’s the Michigan facts. We have a short open water bass season. Don’t tell me not to fish ‘cause the fish might be spawning. If we could bass fish open water year round it might be different.
Facts. My time fishing is limited enough as it is
Well said bro!
Illegal here in PA until the season opens back up late june
I caught about 50 smallies the other day on beds and watched them all go right back to the bed immediately. This was a clear lake in Western Michigan. Also it was 23 Lbs for my best 5 on an inland lake. I’m doing it again Thursday hopefully.
Gull Lake doesn’t have the biggest Goby population so that place isn’t as bad as LSC or Grand Traverse Bay
I agree Ben, I have noticed a decrease in spawning smallmouth around the charity Islands as well. But with that said, I have noticed an increase in spawning smallmouth around wild fowl bay, and I really think it’s largely due to the relocating of bed fish from tournaments over the years. I just had this conversation with my buddy Tom Patten like 2 days ago. 👍🏼
I had the same conversation with Nathan too. Bayport is better than it’s ever been! It’s really interesting seeing it all change. It’s an obvious example for me of what moving spawners can do to a fishery (for better, worse, or just how it changes)
I eat bass and i catchem on beds but I try to only do that in small non tournament waters.
Not every bass spawns and that's a problem. So it's not the same as catching bass when they are not spawning Ben.
The bedding bass are usually safe from me. 😅 I don’t usually catch many but anyway great video Ben! Gobies are devastating to eggs when the bass is pulled off, crayfish are also supposed to do the same thing. Other fish can even do this. It’s so much nicer to catch and immediately release the fish next to/near the bed so they can go back. But I do see how it will be devastating from catch and weigh tourneys completely removing them from beds and taking them to another part of lake. I also have to argue and say deer mate not spawn lol 😂😂😂
I agree 💯 %good video
Bayliss and Hoff study showed that maybe 50% of males and maybe as low as 25% male adult smallmouth actually make a bed.
Exactly.
I personally don’t get too much enjoyment from bed fishing so I save those fish for when I’m with my kids.
Just had the first of 2-4 tournaments every week on Green Bay.
Like Jimmy Houston says, there is no way anglers can even catch a small percentage of all of the spawning bass in a lake. That being said if you do fish for spawners, take care and get them back as fast as possible
When the last dodo, and the last carrier pigeon and the last...FILL IN THE BLANK was killed, the hunter/collectors always said to themselves, oh their are plenty! We won't deplenish the population.
Also, you may just be one angler pulling bed fish but behind you is another and tomorrow is another 2 or 3 or more, then the day after and the day after that...gat it????
Believe me, here in Southern California the fisheries are in trouble. The local authorities don't have the $$ to replenish these stocks much less guard the waters from night poaching. I see a lot anglers pulling many undersized catch pulled. We don't have enough state wardens, county park rangers or city management staff to enforce our water bodies. Think about how we have to ban fishing in the ocean to protect fish. Even more so does it need to be done with small bodies of water in urban areas.
Michigan is Catch and Immediate release, how are people putting bass in livewells and running them accross the lake when its illegal? Catch, get photos, and measurements, release them back. All my fish are back in the water in about 60 seconds. It specifically says in the laws that you are not allowed to hold the bass in any containers under any circumstances including livewells. So where do conservation laws start and end, are tournament guys exempt from the state laws?
Michigan is catch and immediate release only until Memorial Day weekend, then they can keep up to their limit even if they’re bed fish. So it’s not happening yet but it will starting next weekend
@brnowak_fishing do they still hold tournaments while the law is still catch and release or are they legally not allowed to? I've had people giving me crap about bed fishing and while I am not specifically bed fishing I understand that I am fishing for spawning bass. I fish from shore and I do not yet have the luxury of getting in a boat and going out to target LSC smallies any time of the year. So my window to target these bass is pretty small, and I take care of the bass I catch as much as possible, anything around 4+lbs I revive regardless of how short of a time I have had them out of the water. I think LSC doesn't open until mid June as well so usually they are almost all post spawn at that point.
@@adt83live Catch and release tournaments (kayak style) happen before the season opens but the American side of LSC opens Memorial weekend just like everything else. Plenty of people are still catching numbers of bedding fish at that time, some well into June.
@nireland84 LSC, St Clair River, and Detroit river, bass season starts June 15th.
@@adt83live I'll be damned, you're right!
I am not against it but I don’t target them on bed I have never bed fished in my life just a preference
Couldn’t Agree with you more n
If there’s money involved it’s ok. If you’re a rec angler it’s bad lol
😂 that’s pretty much how it feels lol
I caught a large bass that was pre spawn, just blind casting into grass. My wife got one that had just spawned also, we’re both PB’s for us. Next day I went to another lake in a different state and there was a kayak tournament. Everyone was standing up in there kayaks and targeting bed fish by sight. It just had a bad look to me. It’s a hard place to fish and some tournaments there only a few anglers will catch fish. I don’t know how I could feel great winning a tournament that way.
Please don’t listen to these knuckleheads that try to shame you for fishing during the spring. Man has been fishing for fish as they are actively reproducing, since the beginning of time. And there’s still plenty of them and always will be. No, there shouldn’t be any tournaments unless they are paper/catch and immediate release type formats. But hell, bed fishing is fun, often tricky, often frustrating, often challenging. Yes, there’s those couple days when smallmouth are mental and will attack anything immediately that approaches the bed, but there’s usually a more prolonged challenging phase. I agree, as you said, it’s probably more detrimental to be picking off huge pre-spawn females in an early spring tournament and holding them, then it is for catch and release off of the bed. So, it is mostly semantics and politics. Keep dealing what you’re doing my friend 💪🏻🎣😉
no tournaments should be held during the spawn. period.
There needs to be a spawn closure across the country. Only a few states protect the spawn population. This country will undergo a massive recession, again, and the government won't be able to protect them much less restock bass and trout.
After watching:
I see what you mean about the negative part of tourneys targeting prespawners. However I think the only solution that would make sense is to have more regional seasons in our state. Just to limit the amount of fish being pulled miles from their spawning zones.
Can bed fishing ever be “outlawed” without outlawing all bass fishing from May-July? Probably not. Like you said with the boulder dragging example, sometimes you just don’t know.
There are a lot of impacts like you said that we have but we certainly have to be more mindful of which impacts are the most harmful, and do what we can to minimize that.
Before watching:
Bed fishing (sight fishing them off their spawning area) should be outlawed. I can’t think of any other species where it’s as supported to target spawning fish as in bass fishing. Guys love it. I see the fun and the easiness of it but you have to think about the effects that you’re having on the fry and the stressed fish as a whole.
Bed fishing Tournaments are sickening to me. We’ve seen them decimate fisheries of all sizes. When those big females are relocated miles and miles away there is a certain negative effect on their spawning for that year. Will we see immediate effects? Probably not. Will we see a decline in good genetics down the road? Most likely.
I think something in Michigan that really hurts the future of our sport is the encouragement of bed fishing tournies, especially for those anglers that are highschool level. Dads will drive miles, catching the same fish as other groups, just to locate the 5 biggest fish to race to on tourney day. Do those kids not know any better? Maybe. But they get this concept that the way to succeed this time of year is to fish just like they were taught.
It’s a sad reality of fishing and the way tourneys are headed in our state unless something changes (i really hope it does). enough ranting though, I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
If it’s so bad why hasn’t the last 40 years of bed fishing tournaments caused problems?
I agree with you and Pay Back Bass Holds one of the biggest bad fishing tournaments every year. Either burt/mullet, or now up on Torch. Idiots can't wait a month. Burt/Mullet Has seen a major decline in juvenile bass. Ages 1-6yo hmmm makes you wonder
@@stevemarchione5895 precisely!
You have to ask yourself? What have I done to promote the population of B.A.S.S. in the lakes I’ve fish? Instead of arguing about everything, maybe you could look at your future in fishing, if your bag limits get smaller and smaller it’s because the bass population isn’t replenishing itself. I haven’t fished for bass on the bed for 50 years. I’m 69 years old. That’s what I do to make sure the future population survives! What do you do? Keep the faith brother!👍🥸🙏