Activist Angler Reported – Barring considerable public protest during the next month, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is poised to remove all bag limits for smallmouth bass on the Columbia, Umpqua, and John Day Rivers. It is doing so even though this non-native species has been established in portions of these watersheds for more than a century and negligible evidence exists that bass harm native salmon and trout through predation.
Also, it is doing so even though most bass anglers will continue to catch-and-release, just as they have been doing for decades. That being the case, even if bass were harming native fish populations, the regulation will have little or no impact.
But so what, right? The move is a gesture of good faith, an affirmation that ODFW is doing all it can to help salmon and trout. What harm can it do?
A self-described “multi-faceted angler” from the Northwest recently contacted me to ask that very question. I suspect that he is representative of many in Oregon, for many of us, no matter where we live, are multi-faceted anglers who fish for whatever is biting. Continue reading – http://www.activistangler.com/journal/2015/8/5/oregon-poised-to-remove-bag-limits-on-smallmouth-bass.html