Smallmouth

There is a difference between one having an assumed license, people under 18 or 65 and older or any of the other categories as listed in the other post I made that outline when you need a license and when you don't, and one not needing to buy one for the "free" weekends and the "free" week they allow during the year. The limits if you don't have a license but otherwise would normally require one during those "free" weekends or that "free" week are different than they are for one who has an assumed license.

Also from page 7 of the regs.

Ontario and Canadian residents are also provided four opportunities throughout the year to fish without having to purchase a fishing licence.
These dates include:
??? Family Fishing Weekend (February 13-15, 2021)
??? Mother???s Day Weekend (May 8-9, 2021)
??? Father???s Day Weekend (June 19-20, 2021)
??? Ontario Family Fishing Week (July 3 to 11, 2021)
Government issued identification is required and anglers must follow catch and possession limits for Conservation Fishing Licences.
 
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I don't have as many years of fishing the bay as some, but a look at tournament weights from Long Point vs. elsewhere on Erie is telling. Lake Erie overall is a world class trophy smallmouth fishery - LPB doesn't keep up (still a great fishery, though).

The closed season and sanctuary are supposed to prevent disruption of the spawn but the reality is that the smallies are sometimes still guarding fry when the season opens. Some of those "really good" years fishing on the opener are the result of a later spawn. Ironically, this probably leads to much higher harvest numbers (so much for protecting the spawners).

The reality is that if a bass is coming home in a bucket then it really doesn't matter if it was spawning or not. It takes very few successful nests to provide enough fry to sustain pop. numbers, but an adult bass has overcome remarkable odds to reach even 3 lbs. IMO we focus too much on protecting the spawn, and not enough on promoting C&R (especially of above-average sized bass).

IMO the same is true for pike. The bay has fantastic spawning habit for them, forage and access to cold(ish) water. Yet a 40" + trophy pike from the bay is a rarity (or I'm just really bad at finding them :banghead:).

I like a fish fry as much as the next guy including both bass and pike. However if we want to see improvements in our fishery then releasing more big bass and pike would help. The little ones taste better anyway, not to mention the plentiful sunfish, rock bass, perch, walleye...
 
Unfortunately the SM bass of any postable size aren't there like they used to be in LPB. It is almost like crappie and trout, that most anglers do not talk about where they are.

Now that i have somewhere to call home down there i will be spending more time targeting them instead of just perch, pike and Walleye. I plan on getting back to my bass roots this season and try to find a pattern with them (y)
 
Hey Derkd9 I???m not being self righteous just concerned about a fishery in trouble My grandfather took me out on-opening day in 1955 , fished the bay every year since . You said you don???t have enough experience to comment , maybe you should heed your own words . All I am concerned about is that things are not right with the Smallmouth bass fishery on The inner bay , things have changed and not for the better. Opening day 50 years ago there were 200 boats tops , and every body couldn???t believe that there were that many , care to take a count now? I don???t know what the fix is but if your a largemouth , pike , pickerel fisherman all is good.
 
I said I wasn???t experienced enough to know the difference in what the fishing was like 60 years ago
I???m experienced enough to know you???re being self righteous if you think I???m harming the fishery for fishing opening week

but you???re good because you wait a week before you hammer it all summer long

Thanks for the comments tho
 
Stay within your limits and your seasons for the zones that I???m fishing other then that you can???t say a thing that will make me feel bad.
I don???t get near as many chances to fish as most retired people or people that work mon-fri
So nothing you say about the time in which I fish will make me feel bad or that I am doing the wrong thing!
so find something else to do
 
The fishing used to be good enough you could as you put ??? hammer them ??? all summer . I used to keep smallies to eat , all kinds in the 12 to 14 inch range . Not anymore. You have no idea how good the bass fishing used to be , I???m just a concerned bass fisher . Pretty hard to hammer them when they are not there !
 
I only fished long point aria a few times for bass small and large mouth so I can't comment on the issue what the cause of the decline
But I have fished a lot eastern lake Erie, specifically on the US side ,
On the US side all year open season on bass C/R
Than in April trophy season with 1 bass limit
and I believe its June full open season similar to Canada
The fishery there is absolutely nothing short of spectacular and has been for years both size and quantity,
So in my humble opinion it's more likely has to do with declining fishery at long point the change in habitat vs fishing pressure
I'm not saying increase in fishing pressure don't have any effect but I would consider that a small percentage
Also " and not trying to bash peoples abilities to catch bass " but adapting to ever changing conditions will put the odds in your favor and not just going with the same old method you got fish on 6 outings ego ,
I'm not a competitive fisher just for the fun of it
As for eating bass I prefer perch and walleye faster growing species and taste better ????
 
The math is pretty simple. Hundreds of boats out on the water Opening Day Saturday, as well Sunday. Monday still has lots of boats. Then a week later Canada Day which involves hundreds of boats over the course of a couple of days. Conservation limit 2, Sport limit 6. Thousands of smallies end up taken home. Fishery can't sustain that kind of pressure.
Two solutions:
1) Lower the limits
2) Practice C&R
If nothing changes then LPB smallie fishery will continue to decline.
 
I???m one of those once a year guys
Who has been fishing them once a year for the last 5 or so years
Maybe brought home 2 dozen fish from my boat in those years! I must really be damaging the smallmouth fishery... ??? ????
how about you dudes who skip the opening week to save the world how many smallies have you brought home in the last 5 years??????
Give your head a shake
 
I did not judge anyone for keeping smallies. As long as you are following the regs I have no issue.
I am simply stating what I feel are the facts. LPB is a small area and it is relatively easy to boat multiple fish on opening weekend. (as compared to the big water) Eventually something has to give and I am afraid we will continue to see a decline in the LPB smallie fishery.
I am not telling anyone how or where to fish just stating what I observe from fishing many days each year on LPB.
 
We have had some very productive days the last 2 years for smallmouth but not on the same drifts. Seems like the high water and the water clarity have changed the weed bed growths. The higher water and high weeds also move the bottom around a lot. Lack of a long winter ice cover could also play into the wind and water rearranging the bottom and exposed gravel beds. As far a fish size go they are a lot bigger. My long point days started in 1979 in a 10 ft row boat.
 
Derkd9 said:
Just have to trust the ministry is doing their job to protect the sustainability of the population.
And if you know of people taking more than their limit you have to tell the proper authorities.
Click to expand...
Cough cough..you really beleive that?
 
I???m not calling out any individual either. It???s the collective harvest that matters. Depending on the year, the first few weeks of smallmouth season in the inner bay can be like shooting fish in a barrel, and that???s when the max # of boats are out there. That must constitute a big portion of the total harvest for the season. Can???t say with certainty what impact this has, but Lake Erie smallmouth fishing in general is better than ever while LPB lags behind.

I can???t fault anyone for taking a legal limit, but we shouldn???t pretend that staying inside the limits means we can???t impact our fishery. There???s an endless list of northern lakes with stunted walleye and pike where this has played out. The bay is remarkably fertile and resilient so we still have phenomenal bass fishing, despite the pressure (but could be even better IMO).

The 6 bass limit is the same across the whole province and hasn???t changed in ages, so it???s hardly a fine-tuned threshold for the bay. Honestly, the regs don???t make sense at all but that???s another subject.

I???d rather get the chance to C&R a 5-6 lb trophy than have a stringer of 3 + lb bass for the table, so I limit my harvest and promote the idea to others. I do bring some small bass home on occasion, but stick to 1 pounders. Just one opinion but I haven't found there to be a shortage of little ones, they're just not schooled up with the bigger ones. Sitting on a school of 3+ lb bass and not catching any dinks is a fun problem to have!
 
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