Learn About Bass Fishing Season

Bass is a species of north-American fish. It belongs to the sun fish family. There are mainly three kinds of bass fish-the smallmouth bass fish, largemouth bass fish and stripes. Then there are local varieties like the Kentucky bass, Florida bass etc. Bass fishing originated in the southern U.S. Initially it was used as a food source but later it became a hugely popular sport. During the 50’s it was the second most favorite game in the USA. Today bass fishing is worth billions of dollars and brings lots of money to the state. Today bass fishing industry has become extremely specialized regarding the development of fishing gears from rods to reels. More and more modern bass boats and electronic boats are being manufactured every year. Today bass fishing is practiced in many countries. Large mouth bass was introduced to the many countries and all of them now have active bass sporting programs.

Fishing season is a very important tool in allowing nature to take its course. If you want to fish for bass every year then you must also allow it’s habitat to produce more and more fish each year. By taking too much of the bass in a season may cause depletion of the fishing stock which is not good for an angler who wants to achieve the highest level of enjoyment. Many anglers consider the spawning season to be the best time for bass fishing. While the female lays the egg, the male fertilizes it and guards over the egg as well as the fry once they hatch. So, catching the bass at this time becomes an easy task. While you catch, photograph and release a bass, dozens of eggs or fry would already have been gobbled by other fish. A dedicated angler who is also concerned about protecting the environment would never do such a horrible thing. He knows that it is not only illegal but ethically incorrect to fish for bedded bass.

As a part of the managing bass fisheries many governments have come up with action plans to maintain a balance between the demand and supply and one such plan is to have closed season and open season. While you may catch a particular fish during the open season the same kind of fish remains protected during the closed season. The idea is to allow the fish to spawn safely which in turn may get added to the future population. Bass needs a fairly long closed season while it spawns and protects the nesting sites from predators. In the sea, bass breeds mainly between March and July. They breed in offshore waters, on reefs and rock patches and also in the mouths of estuaries. The eggs and larvae are carried inshore and frequent estuary creeks and run-offs. The main bass nursery areas include river estuaries and harbors where juvenile bass fish are found in abundance and can be caught easily. There are many bass nursery areas close to the shore where fishing is prohibited sometimes during a particular season or even throughout the year. This is to allow the school bass to become mature safely.

Also if anglers are found harvesting too many bass from a particular lake then also the lake may be closed temporarily in order to prevent over harvesting. Current strategy is to close bass fisheries during spring and early summer in order to safeguard the bass during their reproductive period.

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