My recent column on using live minnows as bait for bass fishing drew a wide range of comments from fishermen. Some said it was OK to use live bait and others condemned it.
If you want to start an argument while sitting around the tackle shops just bring up the subject of using live bait for bass fishing or keeping a fish to eat. Nothing stirs the hackles of many bass fishermen as the use of live bait and keeping a bass for the dinner table.
But are these bad practices? Take the use of live bait such as minnows. The use of jumbo minnows at Clear Lake has become common during the winter months because the fishing is normally so tough. But the use of live bait often divides the bass fishermen into two camps; those who favor it and those who adamantly oppose it.
There is little question live bait is deadly on bass, especially the larger ones. Minnows are natural food for bass and one on a hook differs little from one that is swimming naturally.
As an example, a fisherman told me that he and several other fishermen were recently fishing in the area of Little Rocky Point using plastic worms and crankbaits. After two hours they had caught only a few bass, then a guide pulled up with two clients and started casting live minnows. Within less than an hour the guide and his clients had caught and released more than a dozen large bass. Similar stories have been told again and again.
I can remember a number of years ago when I guided on the lake. One day a client from Southern California told me how successful fishermen from down south were using live crawdads. He even showed me how to rig one properly. It opened a whole new world for my clients and me. The one thing I learned was that clients wanted to catch fish and the use of live bait didn”t deter them one bit.
Back during those days I took a lot of heat from other guides because I used live bait. That was until I found out from the local tackle shop owner that many of these same guides were coming in secretly to his shop and buying crawdads.
The same thing is now occurring with fishermen using live minnows.
Most of the guides on the lake use jumbo minnows. Using live bait doesn”t mean you”re killing the fish because the overwhelming majority of fishermen are releasing their fish.
The other controversial subject is keeping a fish for the dinner table, especially bass. The catch-and-release method has become a way of life for bass fishermen and woe to the person who keeps a fish. But is keeping an occasional fish bad and will it destroy the species?
When you look at the numbers, many more fish are killed during a major bass tournament as compared to fishermen keeping fish to eat. A typical bass tournament will produce approximately 300 fish per day.
According to biologists, immediate and delayed mortality of these fish runs about 10 percent. Delayed mortality is when a fish dies several days or a week after being released. So, on average, a one-day tournament where 300 bass are caught will produce 30 dead fish. On any given day on Clear Lake I”ll bet there are less than 30 bass taken home for the dinner table.
It”s also a fact that large bass caught in a tournament suffer high mortality. When you haul around a 10-pound bass in a livewell for six hours, the chances are slim it will survive after being released.
While I”m an advocate of catch-and-release, I see nothing wrong with a person taking an occasional fish home to eat. In fact, when I fish for bass at Indian Valley Lake or Upper Blue Lake I usually bring home a few fish to eat and they are delicious.
Every biologist I have talked to has said a fisherman taking home a few fish to eat has little impact on the overall fishery. Bass, as well as all other fish, reproduce in such large numbers that any fish that dies is quickly replaced. According to the biologists, a lake always reaches its maximum carry capacity in what is called fish poundage. The carrying capacity is dependent on food and habitat. As the food supply increases, so does the number of fish. The small number of bass kept for human consumption at Clear Lake has no effect on the overall population. The same applies to fish lost in a tournament.
How you fish, like all other types of recreation, is a personal choice just as long as you obey the law. There is no law against using live minnows and keeping an occasional bass taken from Clear Lake.
