Quote:
Originally Posted by KrotzNH
............. fishermen have been asked to kill any rock bass they catch in order to help keep this invasive fish in check, and I just wanted to see if others have heard the same thing.
Thanks!
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While you might not hear that officially from anyone at Fish & Game out of fear that people that can not tell the difference between a Smallmouth Bass and a Rock Bass (because of the similarities with their eye color), might accidentally kill young Smallmouth Bass. However the general consensus among most fisherman is to kill any one of these that you catch and send them to the bottom for the crayfish to eat, I do.
They have really taken over Winnipesaukee the past few years and have now made there way into Lake Winnisquam.
As an avid fisherman who used to spend sometimes (2 or 3) 13 hour days every week on all three of the big lakes from ice out to ice in for many years. I hate to say it but Winnipesaukee's smallmouth fishing is dying a quick death. This spring there were practically no fish on beds where there would traditionally be hundreds. Yes you can still catch smallies, today but where are the new fish going to come from in the next few years without successful spams in the future.
Lake Sunapee had the same problem several years ago and is now rebounding. I don't know if Winnipesaukee can recover unless they start to do something soon.
I have heard that on Sunapee they were having "unlimited" catch and kill tournaments for a while, can't confirm if this is true or if it was ever sponsored by fish & game. I had also heard from what I would consider a reasonably reliable source that a local farmer for a while was offering .05 cents to kids per dead rock bass for fertilizer.