03-03-2012, 04:31 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Your principles are sound. No reason to harvest more than you can eat. But that stuff goes out the window with white bass. They are second only to carp when it comes to numbers in Utah Lake. And they can very easily become overpopulated and stunted if not heavily harvested.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is a delicate balance. In years when there are good spawns of all species there is plenty of food for all the predators. But one year of low water and/or poor spawning and the predators...including white bass...eat up all the available forage and there is either a crash or severe stunting.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The past two years have seen white bass growing larger and still maintaining large numbers. It is virtually impossible for anglers to tip the balance in white bass populations...no matter how many fish any angler or group wants to take home. And though it might offend your sensibilities you should really applaud them for helping improve the overall fishery in Utah Lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other factor involved is that because there are no limits on white bass there are families that rely heavily on them as a major part of their food budget. Kind of like the early pioneers living off the cutthroats and suckers. They need them...and they definitely eat what they keep. That is called subsistence fishing and white bass make it possible. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The negative side of that equation is that there definitely are groups of anglers who harvest the heck out of the whities simply to sell them. There are restaurants who will buy them at the back door and there are lots of ethnic families who insist their fish be fresh before they will prepare and eat it. They welcome being able to buy a bucket of still flopping white bass. It is illegal but almost impossible to prove or presecute.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It's one of those things that you don't have to like it...but there ain't a thing you can do to stop it. And it ain't worth frettin' about. Better to channel your frustrations into focused fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is a delicate balance. In years when there are good spawns of all species there is plenty of food for all the predators. But one year of low water and/or poor spawning and the predators...including white bass...eat up all the available forage and there is either a crash or severe stunting.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The past two years have seen white bass growing larger and still maintaining large numbers. It is virtually impossible for anglers to tip the balance in white bass populations...no matter how many fish any angler or group wants to take home. And though it might offend your sensibilities you should really applaud them for helping improve the overall fishery in Utah Lake.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The other factor involved is that because there are no limits on white bass there are families that rely heavily on them as a major part of their food budget. Kind of like the early pioneers living off the cutthroats and suckers. They need them...and they definitely eat what they keep. That is called subsistence fishing and white bass make it possible. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The negative side of that equation is that there definitely are groups of anglers who harvest the heck out of the whities simply to sell them. There are restaurants who will buy them at the back door and there are lots of ethnic families who insist their fish be fresh before they will prepare and eat it. They welcome being able to buy a bucket of still flopping white bass. It is illegal but almost impossible to prove or presecute.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It's one of those things that you don't have to like it...but there ain't a thing you can do to stop it. And it ain't worth frettin' about. Better to channel your frustrations into focused fishing.[/#0000ff]
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