St Lawrence and Jefferson counties are off limits for preseason bass fishing

[Kevin J Legg]

Once again this year I’m seeing many people targeting bass on the St Lawrence River. If bass are removed from their beds it has been shown that gobies quickly move in and eat eggs and fry. (I earlier posted a video showing this predation) Obviously this is harmful to the future of our fishery.

This morning after fishing early for walleyes I returned to see an out of state tricked out bass boat launching. They asked how I did and I said I caught one walleye and was avoiding fishing shallow as there were many bass on the beds. The guys response was “that’s what we’re here for”!

I said “you’re a week early and it’s not legal to target bass now” . No responds.

I’m not sure if people aren’t aware of the law or simply don’t care but this is occurring far to often. It also seems that many violators come from out of state.

I believe DEC should post the regulations at all public launches where these rules apply as the law does vary throughout the state. I also believe DEC should have a more visible presence during this critical spawning time.

Yes we have a great resource as the bass pros have shown but wouldn’t it be great if future generations could also enjoy it. I personally hope my grandsons can experience it this year once season opens.

 

 

 

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[jperch]

27 minutes ago, Kevin J Legg said:

I believe DEC should post the regulations at all public launches where these rules apply as the law does vary throughout the state. I also believe DEC should have a more visible presence during this critical spawning time.

That is a great idea.  I would hope that many, if not most, are just not aware of the law.

[Kevin J Legg]

That is a great idea.  I would hope that many, if not most, are just not aware of the law.

I know they post regulations on many trout streams at access points.


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[jperch]

I SCUBA dive in Lake Ontario in the Oswego area.  The bass eggs are often deposited in "nests" formed by the bass removing mussel fragments.  They are constantly hounded by gobies, it's amazing that any survive.  They should probably have this law in any body of water that the gobies have established themselves in.  Unless, in some bodies of water, the goal is to reduce the bass population.

[EsoxAC3]

I believe the most recent comprehensive fishery study indicated that overall Bass population was down nearly 25%. Gobie and other pressures were thought to b the cause. Not good.


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[shameless]

I thought bass season opens on 3rd saturday in june which would have been the 19th this year.

 

[Wassup8687]

Good post Kevin. I completely agree with you. I don't fish in areas where I know there are bass until the season opens.

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[jperch]

8 minutes ago, shameless said:

I thought bass season opens on 3rd saturday in june which would have been the 19th this year.

 

Yes, but in most of the state you are allowed to "catch and release" for bass prior to the opening.  This is not true in the areas discussed above.  It's easy to catch bass when they are "on the beds" because they aggressively defend their beds.  But now with the gobies the nest is immediately raided.  By the way, the darn gobies leave their eggs underneath cobble rocks and their fry stay there for some time after hatching.  You can see this by lifting cobble rocks when diving or snorkelling in areas in the SLR.