Hi Grump:
There have indeed been several studies that show tournament caught fish often return to the catch site. There have been studies carried out by Queens University on the Rideau system (Big Rideau) done with the co-operation with a local bass club that confirms several other studies. Smallies tend to race back to their home waters while largemouth take a more leisurely trip. Some fish do not return, though, if they find suitable habitat (cover and FOOD) in their wanderings.
I have done a lot of reading of John Hope's studies over the years. The home ranges of largemouth and the daily routes they travel (especially at night) made for very intreresting reading. Good stuff.
I'm not surprised that tournament-caught fish, when released into other waters, could be caught the next day. I have often caught the same fish on consecutive days and even caught the same fish four times in a matter of a couple of hours. Smaller fish have to be aggresive in order to grow, and properly handled bass normally suffer no ill effects from being caught.
Selective harvest is a valuable process where it is required. However, most eastern Ontario waters have an abundance of prey species and the fisheries are healthy as is. A good mix of quality fish, medium fish and new recruits.
I have only encountered one small lake (probably less than 3-400 acres) where the predator/prey balance was way out of whack. Lots of big bass and a few decent pike. I take that back, lots of big-
headed bass with sunken bellies. Fish that should have weighed 5 pounds, weighed 3.
This being an ongoing situation, I had no qualms at all when my partner took home a limit of these unfortunate fish. This was over 10 years ago, though, and I haven't encountered any other waters in that condition.
CCB
