Fishing the Spawn-OK/Not OK?

[Tar Heel]

So I bought my son(and me) ''The In Fisherman Guide to Smallmouth Bass.'' Great book, but it says ''never fish for spawning fish.'' Now I wonder if they are talking about water bodies like the Columbia or Willamette when they wrote that. And I guess I wouldn't kill a big fat hen full o' eggs anyway, and I do 95% C&R fishing anyway. But what are guys' thoughts about fishing the spawn? Maybe on a little river with a small recruitment capability, but around here? That's when we get into the bigguns, right?

[nitrobass]

Thats when we get the bigguns...Just take a pic, thank them for the battle, and release them asap.

[Poindexter]

I don't have a problem with fishing walleye during spawn, because we're not right on top of the beds (although on Roosevelt you can't even fish in the Spokane Arm where they're spawning during the spawn) but I have a problem with fishing over redds or over trout spawning in streams. I don't think we should be pulling fish off of their spawning beds. Just my opinion.

[sbasser]

I'd rather C&R during the Spawn than during the winter, when the fish blow up like balloons and die (even if vented). I've caught pre-spawn LM in a small (maybe 90 acres) in Western WA, in early July. So, how do you know the ones you didn't see first weren't spawning? For every fish that's caught, there's probably 10 more that never see a lure, IMO. Plus, a lot of bass fry are eaten by bass...that's the way it is. Plenty still make it. The Fisheries Biologists will tell you that there's no shortage of "recruitment" with bass, tho in some waters the SM will crowd out the LM to some extent.

I'd say, don't worry about it, but treat the resource well. If you want to keep some, do it during the cold water periods.
:twocents: C&R, Steve

[cavdad45]

Since every bass in a lake is not spawning at the same time, I think it's ok to fish during the spawn. HOWEVER, I never fish for a bass on a bed. It's as low as shooting a grouse on a logging road and calling it hunting.