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Tompkins: For bass fisheries, Mother Nature knows best
Tompkins: For bass fisheries, Mother Nature knows best
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 10:51 p.m., Sunday, June 17, 2012
The rankings highlighted something most Texas bass anglers, the overwhelming majority of whom equate quality bass fishing with man-made reservoirs, seem to ignore: rivers and natural lakes are just as great, and often better, bass fisheries.The Bassmaster piece ranked black-bass (largemouth, smallmouth) fisheries using a combination of hard science mixed with anecdotal insights and opinions from dozens of some of the most widely experienced and skilled bass anglers in the nation.Magazine staff pored over data on fisheries populations and angler catch rates collected by state fisheries scientists, looked at bass tournament results, surveyed Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) officials in all states and sought input from professional anglers and other bass fishing experts.[...] they live and die, thrive and struggle, based on the ups and downs of water and habitat quality and quantity in these giant wholly man-made and manipulated aquariums.The fisheries that bloomed in those reservoirs were what triggered the explosion of interest in bass fishing in Texas and led to the fish being the most popular game fish in the state and gave us more high-quality bass fisheries than any state.While they may not produce the huge individual fish found in some reservoirs, our rivers and bayous and streams and other Mother Nature-made bass fisheries can hold their own with any man-made lake.East Texas' slow-moving rivers, bayous and backwater sloughs are green gems for bass anglers, filled with fish and, perhaps even more important, are stunningly beautiful, natural places.
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Houston Chronicle
The rankings highlighted something most Texas bass anglers, the overwhelming majority of whom equate quality bass fishing with man-made reservoirs, seem to ignore: rivers and natural lakes are just as great, and often better, bass fisheries.The Bassmaster piece ranked black-bass (largemouth, smallmouth) fisheries using a combination of hard science mixed with anecdotal insights and opinions from dozens of some of the most widely experienced and skilled bass anglers in the nation.Magazine staff pored over data on fisheries populations and angler catch rates collected by state fisheries scientists, looked at bass tournament results, surveyed Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) officials in all states and sought input from professional anglers and other bass fishing experts.[...] they live and die, thrive and struggle, based on the ups and downs of water and habitat quality and quantity in these giant wholly man-made and manipulated aquariums.The fisheries that bloomed in those reservoirs were what triggered the explosion of interest in bass fishing in Texas and led to the fish being the most popular game fish in the state and gave us more high-quality bass fisheries than any state.While they may not produce the huge individual fish found in some reservoirs, our rivers and bayous and streams and other Mother Nature-made bass fisheries can hold their own with any man-made lake.East Texas' slow-moving rivers, bayous and backwater sloughs are green gems for bass anglers, filled with fish and, perhaps even more important, are stunningly beautiful, natural places.
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