I believe that we're all partial to the fish we target, so we tend to be more protective towards that fish.
I for one agree with the Rev, we have all tasted bass and it was tasty. We, WBC members, surely don't make a habit of it. We are defintely protective of our chosen prey and I think it would really hurt to know just how many of our beloved bass are taking daily, weekly and annually from the waters we fish.

I travel from corner to corner of our state for work, often times with boat in tow, at it amazes me to see all the bait fisherman with stringers and buckets full of our bass. Most times these people do not abide by the rules. It pains me to see the larger fish in their creel, for I see good genetics about to be fried. At this point, I feel its in my best interest to put in 2 cents (typical salesman) about whats legal and whats not. I guess I feel like I can possibly educate or atleast scare one angler into looking at the Regs.

I just hope they follow the Singson's house rules - If you kill it you eat it! And I have eaten a lot of walleye in the last 4 years, all from fishing for bass.

So Chuck, what category do I fall in now -
A bass fisherman who continually changes lures, catches Walleyes on accident and who enjoys eating the lazy fish he catches?
UMMMMM Walleye - TASTY!!!!!!

Just my 2 cents!
BTW - 2 weeks ago I saw 2 guys on LWa with 6 smallies - on a stringer- who were fishing nightcrawlers. Unfortunately, when we see it, it hurts. I would prefer not to know!

I do some of my best catchin at Lake Albertsons

I think Walleye probably thrive more in areas where they are usually caught...like the northern states. But we do have bass up here also, but I dont think they thrive as much. Down south, many don't think twice about keeping some bass. They are everywhere in large numbers. If lakes were stocked with bass like they are with trout, we probably wouldn't make it such a big deal. Who thinks twice about eating trout???

I think most of us look at it like this....These bass can be hard enough to catch, why kill the ones we do? Plus catfish is good enough for me to eat.

I hear Larry is still single!...and looking! you can call him at 1-900-please please please, first 15 min. are free.

Embarassing yes... but extremely funny!

Upon re-reading my post, I have now decided that it would have been impossible for me to write anything more embarassing! 

Too much information, Chris!  Oh my virgin ears - la la la, I hear no-thing!   

Let's just say this, Larry. If I saw you on a bed, I would definitely spend some time trying to catch you...

All great answers to a tough question. I basically feel the same way as Rev. With out sounding cocky or conceded I believe it is the class of people. Your "assosiation" if you would. Not that one is better then the next. I think it is great there are different types of anglers out there.

You could also compare the fly-guys to the bait-guys. Or the rifflemen to the arrowmen.

So basicly Chris....If I were a Largemouth with my size taken into account and a relative genous attatched...I would be a Florida Strain Largemouth surrounded by Shad and with a double spawn cycle in the middle of Lake Okeechobee?..........

Maybe I better have a crew truck me to North Dakota and put me in a sterile pond made from a soy bean field!

Hi Rev,

I think I can shed some light on your questions...

12 inch growth rates over a year are probably a stretch in most instances for NW trout. But, 6 to 8 inches per year is pretty common, and that is a lot faster than our bass. The thing to remember about trout in most of our waters is that they usually don't have a good place to reproduce in lowland lakes (colder, flowing water, gravel), so usually they can only sustain fisheries when they are stocked.

12 inch bass are around 3-5 years old in WA state, and there doesn't seem to be much difference between eastern and western WA. Looking at some past reports I have, 4 years would be about average, and 6 is possible, but only in really poor conditions (bad water quality or lack of food).

As far as the slow growth rate justifying why we need to put bass back... I would disagree with those folks in most instances. Bass produce a LOT of offspring, and they mature at an average rate compared to the rest of the fish world. Usually, food becomes the limiting factor for predator (bass) success in a lake. If there is a lot of food, then a lot of those small fish can grow together. If there is limited food, then we need to crop some of those smaller bass to limit competition. I believe this is the driving concept behind the statewide slot limit. Limiting food is a common case in WA state. The warmwater folks that work with this stuff every day may disagree, but I think I am on the same page as them.

"I love hearing myself type."

I would say that walleye metabolism is closer to trout than bass in the wintertime. I say this because they spawn at lower water temperatures than bass and at almost the same time as most trout in local streams.

Chris

As to the taste, I talked to a professional chef who told me that the walleye are one of the best fish to work with in the fancy resteraunts because the flesh tends to take on the taste of whatever spices and ingredients are used.  Therefore the walleye can be fixed many different ways with a variety of excellent results.  Bass (while good) do not tend to lend itself to the same variety of results.

But let's face it, who of us have not had a bass or two that died in the live well or got foul-hooked (in the gills) and ended up in the frying pan since it was doomed to die anyway.  And... admit it - it was good!  

Here's my theory on why walleye fishermen tend to keep theirs and bass fishermen don't.  First, the two kinds of fishing styles tend to attract different kinds of personalities.  The walleye guys love fishing, but they don't tend to want to work so hard for it.  They like the idea of trolling, and sitting back in their chairs, sipping on their favorite beverage, and telling fishing stories.  And yes, when they catch fish - their "fishing culture" has no hesitation about eating them.

Bass fisherman however tends to attract the Type-A kind of personalities who enjoy the chess game of bass fishing.  Win or loose, they like casting, changing gear, adjusting to conditions, etc..  It's not the eating of the fish that is our reward, it's winning the game!  And... our "fishing culture" is more concerned about fooling our quarry than eating it.

Hey, Sarge - maybe you can tell me if this is true:  I heard that a trout in the Northwest can grow up to 12 inches in a year because it is unaffected by cold water and continues to eat year round and therefore grows throughout the winter.  But it takes 5 years to grow a 12 inch bass here in Washington because it's metabolism slows down dramatically during the cold water winter months.  Is this true?  (5 years seems to be stretching it a little) but I've heard bass guys use this to justify not taking bass home because it takes so long to replace the resource.

Which leads to my second question; is the walleye's metabolism in winter closer to the trout or the bass?  Do they grow faster?

Remembering the 12"-17" Statewide Slot Limit for Bass, hopefully the bass kept will be under 12", generally below one pound. That would be a good thing in many waters. Those little guys eat a lot and burn it up doing silly things, like chasing Virgil's white spinnerbaits.  

C&R, Steve

 

"yuck! Pasty white fleshy things"   

Hhhmmm, Virgil is he talking about your legs?  BTW, good job at the Fishing Kids event.

Rich

First time postie here. I miss the taste of bass. Sigh. But for a great fillet, a nice walleye is even better. Would make nice fish-n-chips. Walleye have such a dead bite...drag up like a lifeless branch, and take one last dive down. weird. Brian and I do not keep bass since we joined the club, but I think a rule of thumb some people use is to keep 1-2 lb-ers. I read once (bassmasters?) that this culls out the smaller size fish,which  allows others to grow larger. This may no longer be taught, though, and regs may have changed on size limits. Our main rule, whether slimers, salmon, walleye, etc is only keep what you will eat. I am very spoiled once I found out that the only great tasting fish is fish that was swimming an hour ago! Oh, and NO SLIMERS THAT WERE FARM RAISED>..yuck! Pasty white fleshy things!