Good Question! I still fish but not exclusively for flats. Its hard to say. I have caught 5 females in the last month that were full of eggs. I know they all dont spawn at the same exact time so I say go fishin. I do tend to focus a little more on channels and blues when the flatheads slow down though.
This is a very challenging question. I like to think that we will not hurt the spawn because nature has provided the fish with a defense mechanism. THEY QUIT BITING or slow down dramatically. There is not fool proof way, but I know a good deal of people who quit fishing during this period because the bite is so slow. This natural occurance should protect the species, especially with all of the CPR
Hard to say but I'm gonna miss fishing during the spawn this year, won't matter, I usually don't do any good at that time anyway. A couple buddies of mine switch to Carp fishing when the Flatties are spawning.
I think that the spawn will mostly take care of itself since the fish pretty well shut their mouths.
Also, I believe if you do catch a fish off the nest that he or she will return quickly to it once released. Some of the eggs may be gone or scattered from the fight but for the most part I believe most of the eggs will be okay.
There is no true way to always tell that you have caught a fish off of a nest. In some cases when we think the spawn is over there are still a few cats nesting and we catch them anyways.
As long as we practice cpr of the bigger fish and keep spreading the word and get others to practice this method also I believe that nature will take care of itself with our little bit of help.
Jack, sorry to hi-jack the thread but PM me and let me know when to call you. I was gonna let you know what the neurologist said or I posted it in my prayer request thread.
I'm sorry again!!!:embarassed:
Interesting questions and responses. I think a male on the bed would return fairly quickly if released. Also, since not all fish spawn at the same time, we have no way of knowing unless we are targeting nesting sites.
Noodling on the other hand, would seem to cause more harm seeing you are directly targeting nesting fish.
Just my thoughts. No facts to back up anything.
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