Question

[kreppy74]

I was looking at the fishing regulations and this may be a question that has been answered but I cannot locate the thread. I have not lived in NYS in 15 years and when I left you could not fish for bass out of season period. In reading over the current regulations, I read it as you now can fish for bass, albeit catch and release prior to the third Saturday in June. Am I reading this correctly? Getting to my question, my father was at the lake last week and ran into numerous fisherman at the launch who blatantly said they were going out for bass. I asked him if he was sure and he said yes. Is this a new regulation for NYS and is Black lake included?
Apologies again if this has already been discussed, please point me to the thread if it exists.

Brian

[Phil]

Hi Brian.
Yes the regulations have changed and catch and release Bass fishing is allowed; BUT not everywhere. Black Lake is one of the not everywhere places.
It is illegal to target Bass, on Black Lake, out of season.
Hope you enjoy our little forum.

[kreppy74]

Thank you for the reply. I definitely do, allows me to relive my many trips years ago, hoping to one day soon return with my own boys.

[MrSimon]

This gets talked about a lot, and it can be a real touchy subject.

The letter of the law says you can't target bass. Period. Which is kind of weird at Black Lake because the bass live in the same places and eat the same stuff as pike, walleye, crappie, and catfish.

No matter how or where you fish on the lake, you can and will catch bass.

The spirit of the law, however, is to leave bedding fish alone so they can spawn in peace. We all know what that means .... stay away from the shoreline and shallow areas where bass build their nests. If you do happen to catch a fat bellied old girl, release her carefully and quickly.

Other than that, just fish and have a good time. Don't fret when you catch a bass .... snap a quick pic and put it back in the water. No harm done.

[kreppy74]

I live in NC now. There is no closed season here. They actually fish tournaments during spawning season and it has had no adverse effects on the bass population. They actually look at me funny when I tell them in NY there is a "closed" season. It was a shocker to me to be allowed to fish for bedding bass when I moved here in 1999. It also was a shocker to me to read "catch and release only" with only artificial allowed from Dec 1 to the Friday preceding opening day in the regulations I read two days ago. I was curious if that pertained to Black as well, as I am well aware there are county specific regulations as well. Thanks all for the conversation and I enjoy reading all the posts.

Someday I will return.....

Tight Lines!!!

Brian

[492VS]

What ever bodies of water fall in NYS DEC Region 6 has not adopted the change to catch and immediate release of Black Bass like most other regions in NYS the last few years. I believe the major sticking point is the St Lawrence River from what I have casually heard in the recent years. Slowly regions have been changing, but the wheels of change are very slow.
Like said above, the bass on Black Lake are chewing everything early in the year, then get scarce as hens teeth come late summer.
Tourism revenue in Region 6 is taking it in the shorts for these few months not having at least a catch and immediate release of Black Bass period. In other related matters they just jack up your property taxes to make up for any shortfalls.

[erik]

Come fish the Black River in Lewis County NY, monster bass, walleye, and pike that go 30 plus lbs! It's the only catch and release body of water in the tri county area.

[JR]

Once again, ditto's to Mr. Simon. Don't target them, but when you do catch one, take a quick pic and release it quickly.

[492VS]

Plagiarized from an ongoing effort, unfortunetly the changes are only allowed every two years.
Our Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Chief of Warm Water Fisheries allows each of the nine regional managers to decide if they want to support the statewide Catch & Immediate Release (artificial lures only) for black bass from 1 Dec through the third Saturday in June.
While most regions follow the statewide C&R season a few don't and they base that decision on sound scientific data. However, the DEC Region 6 Fisheries Manager has been allowed to successfully use limited creel and net surveys from the Eastern basis of Lake Ontario to deny bass anglers the C&R season on all inland waters within the region.
I ask you to think about that for just second and ask yourself how can the water quality, habitat or recruitment of black bass in Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence Seaway have any influence whatsoever on the self contained inland waterways of the Region. I know it's wild to consider, but one simply need look at the map of all of the hundreds of miles of rivers, lakes and ponds to see there is no possible way the state of the fishery on Lake Ontario or the St Lawrence Seaway could influence the
inland waterways of the Region 6.
If you feel the same then please join us and lend your voice to this effort by contacting the state and regional DEC offices to announce you support the C&R season for black bass in Region 6.

Contact NYS DEC Region 6 Director http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/613.html Contact NYS DEC Commissioner
http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/407.html

[JR]

Please don't be offended, but I can't support it as far as Black Lake goes.

#1. The reason they don't allow catch and release during that period is that the bass are spawning and while they are away from their nests, other fish can eat their eggs.

#2. Black Lake is known for it's Bass and anything that could harm that can over a fairly short period of time have a large impact on the local businesses. I know Bass are just one of the many fish to target, but I consider it the main game fish for the later half of the open water season.

I saved my main reason for last.

#3. In all of the years I have been coming here, which is always during that period we are discussing, I have never had a problem catching bass. Run a Rapala through the weeds for Pike, you will catch Bass. Cast a bobber with a tiny tube jig for Pan fish near shore, you will catch a Bass. All of which is perfectly legal right now because I am not targeting them. The only thing this change in the law would do is allow a guy to run a rubber worm over their spawning beds. Without even trying, Black Lake is one of the best Bass lakes I fish. I just don't see how opening it to people to target the Bass on their beds would be an improvement or even needed at all.

Please keep in mind that I am basing this strictly on Black Lake and not any other bodies of water in Region 6. I don't know what it's like in those other places, but as far as B.L. goes, Bass are the one constant every year. I target most of the other species and every year different species are biting and others are not. I would hate to try and fix something that is definitely not broken here.

I support your attempt to try and change regulations that need to be, but my vote in this case is "No". I don't mean to tick anyone off, just putting in my 2 cents.

[Phil]

The BIGGER thing this would provide is legal, pre-season,C&R bass tournaments.

[fishinmagician]

How would that work? Catch and release ASAP, and record the weight, or Catch and weigh in at close of the day, and then release. If the latter is used, the fish will be off of the beds for hours. This would allow panfish to clean out the bed of eggs. If the first option is used it would hinge on the word or truthfulness of the angler. (I personally do not know any anglers that might not tell the "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth") Having fished the month of May, and seeing the thousands of panfish in the shallows, I don't think allowing millions of eggs to be eaten will not have an impact sometime down the road. We all can agree that BL is one of the best bass lakes in the northeast. Lets keep her rich and productive. Don't let it become the goose that laid the golden egg. (IMHO.....FM)

PS....would there be a Ref in each boat? ) http://www.blacklakeny.com/forum/postin ... f=1&t=1922#

[Phil]

Not sure how they work those tournaments, honor, I believe. I think they are all about having fun and getting practice in. They do exist though; and I think it would have an adverse affect on the Bass population and the quality of the Bass fishery. Even though I am not a Bass fisherman, I agree that we need to protect the good aspects of Black Lake.
A good place to voice your opinion(s) is to the members of the St. Lawrence County Fish Advisories Board.

[GuidedBassTrips]

This a topic that comes up every year on the forum and I'm still glad to see some of you are firmly standing your ground regarding the strict closed bass season. I read the fishing reports all month during May and chuckle when I hear the fisherman talk about the bass they catch. You suppose there is a reason it is so good?

I guide bass in Central FL for 8 months and on Black Lake and the St. Lawrence for 4 months. If you guys could see what goes on in FL all winter you would wonder how there are any bass left. They have no way of having a closed season because you will see them on beds anytime between January and June. They also have no other gamefish species to target in freshwater.

Yes I'm lucky I get to fish bass year round. But I don't get to experience cabin fever anymore either. I know its hard for guys to wait all winter and then not be allowed to fish for them. I went through that too. Please continue to respect this law and be patient for the opener. Its worth it.

[MrSimon]

I've said this before, whether you like them or not, rules are to be followed. Period. And I hope all Black Lake anglers respect the current rules.

With that in mind however, I do believe strongly that over-harvesting has a MUCH larger impact on fish populations than C&R fishing during the spawn.

For whatever reason, the vast majority of bass fisherman do not eat what they catch, so allowing C&R during the spawn would most likely have little to no negative effect.

Take pike for example. They spawn just after ice out and are pretty much done before the opener. They get to spawn in peace, but their numbers and size are dropping every year. Why? Because people keep and eat them.

If I were in charge of the world, I'd make the following Black Lake regulations:

Bass - no closed season - C&R until June 15, then 2 per day - all fish 15" and bigger must be released
Pike - no closed season - C&R until May 15, then 2 per day - all fish 18" and bigger must be released