Article about smallmouth in the Susky

[chex]

http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/201...bass-sick.html

[Splitscreen]

I didn't know this was such a big issue. Matter of fact I had no clue about it at all. The one thing that strikes me about issues like this is how often these warnings are ignored. There are always follow up stories about how new fishing rules and regulations are being ignored. I'm sure there will be no lack of fishermen pulling sm out of the susky even after the new law is in place. It makes me wonder where the problem lies. Is it a problem of education? Is there simply not enough attention put to issues like these? Or is it a problem of a lack of policing of these issues? Both? In any case, it's pretty frustrating to hear of boats in the bay being impounded and their captains and crew being thrown in jail because of 80+ striped bass found inside. I hope this time it's different.

[jsquare]

In all honesty i'll say that the Susquehanna is not a fishery that I have paid much attention to. So, like splitscreen said, this news definitely struck me by surprise. Reminds me of the headlines concerning the largemouth bass in the Potomac from several years ago. I totally agree with the idea of removing fishing pressure on struggling fishery during spawning time, especially in a case like this. For these fish, it seems that the fishing isn't the cause of the decline, but more of a factor compounding the problem.

That said, the general course of things in fisheries management is to follow long periods of poor stock data and lax harvest regulations with brief but furious bouts of "rebuilding," usually involving emergency closures or drastic creel and size limit adjustments. This is most obvious in places like the North East coast with the regulations imposed on cod, summer flounder, and seabass.

The major downfall of any of these regulatory laws is that they have no teeth. The regs may stop the honest fisherman, but you can't remove illegal fishing pressure from an area if your law enforcement is spread rediculously thin, and the violators who do get caught receive a smiting of the wrist-slap variety.

Back to the smallmouth. I can picture the conversations already:

Crooked Fisherman: (to his buddy) "Uh-oh. Here comes the police. Catfish, remember, catfish."
Natural Recources Police: "Hello, gentleman. I came over to talk to you because it looked like you guys were fishing for smallmouth bass, which is illegal."
CF: " 'Course we ain't fishin for smallies officer. We know that's illegal."
NRP: "Well, then what are you fishing for?"
CF: "Catfish."
NRP: "Catfish? You're trying to catch catfish dragging a tube? And what's he got on, a rubber crayfish?"
CF: "Yessir. Catfish like a good tube dragged on the bottom."
NRP: depressed by his inability to lay the smackdown the these violators "Oh, OK then. Have fun and be safe."

[MTDluvsFishin]

The ban on C&R of Smallmouth bass is for the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. Below the Dam the fishery is still open. I have caught a fair amount of Smallies below the Dam this past year but I think i read that MD DNR studies are starting to show similar low yield numbers as well.

Smallies are one of my favorites fighting fish to catch.