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How not to target bass?

Slyster
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fisherman-andy Experienced

fisherman-andy

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If i'm fishing a cove and I have landed 12 bass, and not one crappie(crappie fishing) and the game warden was watching me, I honestly dont think he would at all be out of line to ticket me.. after several fish, I AM aware the bass are there, and my target species arent..

common sense is key.

I beg to differ on that one... Some Wardens will ticket you regardless of what you think. I have seen it happen with some Anglers with crappies in their livewell but they were catching numerous bass hitting their minnow and jigs at the same time. When I asked them they said the warden ticketed them for fishing bass in a designated spawn area even though every bass caught was released. Says it was from someone calling the tip line. Since when is it designated only for bass? Crappies and Bass do spawn in the same areas... what a bunch of B.S!

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Fisher Dave Mentor

Fisher Dave

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The ticket would be dictated by the wardens observations. There are some lakes with dedicated spawning areas .. like tonka.. they are all over the place. These areas are not supposed to be fished until June 1st I believe. The warden may have been observing people in the past in certain areas catching several bass and trying to keep fishermen from targeting them.. weather they knew they were in there before they got there or not.. I believe that is part of their job.. they are not just there to write tickets, they are there for fish and wildlife.. what our license dollars pay to maintain, and protect.

Crappies and Bass spawn in the same habitat.. but not neccessarily the same place at the same time.. In fact, the crappies would never have time to spawn because the bass would be chasing them off the nest.. that doesnt mean that bass and crappies dont feed in the same areas.. they obviously do in the spring.

All I was saying, is if I'm chasing one species(crappies, northerns, tuna, etc) and all I am catching is bass, and not my target species, or enough of my target species to be there... I dont belong there because my target specie at that time would have switched to bass if that is all that I was catching.. many may not agree, but that is exactly what it is. If we keep fishing just because something is biting.. what is biting is our target specie of fish...no matter what the lure used... if I keep fishing where I am catching bass *beyond reason*, weather I am using a crappie jig, or a spinnerbait... I am fishing for a specie out of season... because I know the fish are there, and I am not taking action to avoid catching them.. It is up to me(us) to move to another location to try to find our specie.

If all we can do is catch bass in the usual panfish locations in the spring.. its our responsibility to quit fishing for the panfish and let the bass get done spawning.

The same could happen to a person fishing northerns with a sucker minnow, spinnerbait, spoon, whatever.. it doesnt matter, what ever is on the line, if its not catching the fish you want to at the location, move. If you stay there because the bite is good(although it happens to be a fish out of season).. you are targeting a fish out of season.

On the other side of the coin.. If your casting the shoreline or structure in a huge area, maybe the entire lakeshore on a small lake throwing a spinnerbait trying to target northerns.. the end of your trip, you caught 2 northerns, and 3 bass.. this would not be targeting bass.. the bass were coincidental because you were not focusing on the same locations... I'm not the best with words, I hope people are understanding me.

Here is a prime example of *fish out of season*.. yesterday, MY boat fishing on a body of water.. we started out trolling around for northerns and my partner caught a tiger musky.. we snapped a quick photo and released it unharmed.. the musky was caught at the same time a Bass took my shad rap on the troll.. we had a double .. musky and a bass. A short period of time later, on a different lake(chain of lakes), I had another bass take my shad rap... at this time we have landed 3 fish, none in season.. the sun finally hit the treetops and we switched over to live bait rigs.. pulling a leech around.. lots of little nibblers, and my partner one again got a nice fish on the line in about 20' of water.. the fish got off, but there were no signs of teeth marks.. maybe another bass? It could have been a walleye, that is what we were targeting.

We obviously at no time were angling for bass, or muskies.. it just happens. Even though we caught fish out of season, the way we caught them was completely unitentional... besides the double, none of our fish were caught within 200 yards of each other, and not using tactics that would have us targeting bass or muskies.. This happens in almost everyones boat at one time or another... it is very common this time of year, it doesnt mean we are targeting bass.

Im done... starting to talk in circles..

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Tom Wilson Community Regular

Tom Wilson

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Well,

I've been reading this stuff for long enough to finally chime in. This happens every year at this time, nobody's got anything better to do than fuss and complain about what everybody else is doing. I picked your post to chime in on, because you have no idea what those guys were fishing for. The simple fact of the matter is that there is not one single lure that is banned from being used before Bass opener. Bass fisherman, I assure you, catch far more northern pike than most (not all) of the people who are actually absolutely just targeting northerns. Personally, I catch hundreds of the foul things every year. Northerns absolutely love rubber worms and jigs, but whoa be unto any Bass fisherman that's throwing a rubber worm or a jig before Bass opener. He could have caught 20 plus northerns that day, but in the 2 minutes you saw him, he catches a Bass, so he is Bass fishing. That's just wrong. There are those who really don't care, but unless they are putting the Bass in their livewell, no one can say whether or not he's targeting Bass. This time of year bass are schooled up for the most part, and if you get into them it is up to you to move off of them, and continue in your quest for northerns, but there is absolutely no law, rule, or otherwise that says you can't fish with a certain bait. C.O.'s know this and that is why they often don't respond like some people wish they would by sending out the national guard to stop someone from fishing, because the person calling the TIP line thinks they are purposely targeting Bass or doesn't like the lures they are using. My advice to all of you is to try fishing for northerns using Bass fishing tactics, you will find your success rate improve dramatically. Northerns and Bass at this time of year inhabit the same water, and the same locations on most lakes, and whether or not you agree with this post or not, or whether or not you like Bass fisherman, they are allowed to fish just like you are, and until a person is absolutely breaking the law, and are caught doing so by the game warden they are allowed to use any bait or presentation that they have confidence in, and to do so in the area of their choosing--the same as you.

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Fisher Dave Mentor

Fisher Dave

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Tom.. I agree.. 110% to what you said as you worded it.

I havent accused anyone of fishing for fish out of season.. I was just setting a couple examples of what was seemingly debatable to others on fishing for closed species was.. it wasnt dictated by lure choice, angling tecniques, etc.. it was based upon what was actually being caught. I know as well as anyone, *bass tactics* are deadly on northerns.. there is nothing wrong with using the tactics in locations where your not catching several bass, or better stated.. at least having a certain ratio of success on the species they are targeting.. as you said, they are pretty much schooled up right now... if a person finds that school, they should take it upon themselves to move.. they might find their target species 100' away... if they dont move, and do all they can to catch as many closed species of fish.. that angler, is in the wrong.. I guess a more proper question would be.. when is it coincidental, and when does it turn into targeting the other specie? Its a judgement call we all have to make for ourselves, and in a case where a warden is around, we had better hope our judgement is similar to theirs.. they know as well as we do, fish are caught by accident, it just happens.. but how many do we have to catch in that spot before its not an accident?

Its a judgement call. Our own judgement that may be monitored by a CO.. It usually takes a foolish action to get a ticket... we all know there are SOME foolish individuals fishing in this state.. very few by percentage, but they are out there... not neccessarily on this forum.

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Slyster Mentor

Slyster

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Welp! Only 6 more days and it doesn't matter anyway smile.gif

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