Should Bait Fishing Be Banned?

A new study provides evidence that we seriously need to re-think bait fishing.

I love the taste of walleye. As much as the thought of a rainbow trout done in my own special way on the bar-b-que causes my mouth to water, I really think that there is nothing better than fresh caught walleye fillets fried in a little butter.

About 45 minutes from where I live, there is a small little known village that has a river flowing through it. The river has been dammed, and when I fish there, I park my car right beside the dam and in minutes I will be casting minnows into the water falling over the dam, with enough weight attached that the bait will go deep and entice a nice walleye to hit. At times, the fishing can be awesome! I guess I am simply not cut out to be a fly fishing snob or purist. I think fishing should be fun, and if one needs to use methods other than fly fishing to catch fish, then so be it.

I have never seen anyone try to fly fish near the dam for walleye. I suppose it's certainly possible to catch a walleye with a streamer, but it wouldn't be an easy job to get that fly down where the walleye are. I would simply prefer to use bait minnows at that spot, anyhow.

There could be a problem with this type of bait fishing, however. It's a problem that all anglers should take a long hard look at and consider the possible consequences of purchasing minnows from the local bait shop to use for fishing.

In a recent study, published by Nature magazine, authored by John Vander Zanden and John Casselman, both of McGill University, evidence was found that bait anglers have a major impact on the native fish species of the lakes that they fish. According to a September 30th, 1999 article in the National Post, by Margaret Munro, this is becoming a very serious situation. "The researchers say anglers have no one to blame but themselves for the demise of some of their favorite fishing holes," Munro writes.

The study centered on lakes around the world famous Algonquin Provincial Park in north central Ontario. It discovered that native trout in the lakes suffered after other species of fish were introduced to the lakes and that their eating habits changed. When bass are introduced, the bass apparently are the victors when it comes to consuming minnows, and the trout are left with eating plankton. What this means is much slower growth rates for the trout, as well as a lower number of trout eggs each year.

Often, other species of fish are introduced to lakes on purpose. In other cases, according to the National Post article, the blame can be squarely placed upon anglers who choose to use live minnows as bait. When they have finished fishing, quite often they will dump the remainder of their live minnows into the lake they are fishing. What they have done is added new species of fish to the lake and could be contributing to the harmful changes that are going on in our eco-systems. Those buckets of minnows could contain almost any type of fish, from bass to pike, to chub and any other species. As a fly angler, this concerns me. It should concern you too.

"Casselman hopes educating anglers to the dangers of exotic species will go along way toward slowing their spread," Munro wrote in her article. I have my doubts. The problem is that it doesn't take a lot of new minnows dumped from a bucket into a lake to start the damaging changes. There are always going to be anglers who have total disregard for the balance of nature and the enjoyment by others of public property. No amount of education will change those attitudes.

In North America, we are pretty lucky to have the fishing opportunities we have. Almost anyone can find a body of water to fish at no cost to themselves other than the tackle and a government permit. In the United Kingdom, this is not the situation at all. The best waters are owned, and you must pay for the privilege to fish. Sometimes, one must pay some pretty hefty amounts. The other side of this though is that these rivers and lochs are far better managed than they are here. The property owners and river keepers simply cannot afford to make mistakes with the property they own, now or in the future. Rather than experiment with exotic species, the know that the best way to look after their water is to ensure that the natural fish already present have the best environment possible to grow, breed, and live.

Should we put tighter controls on bait anglers? How much of a hue and cry will the bass and walleye anglers raise if bait minnow availability is greatly reduced or prohibited? Does it matter how much they yell? Or should we seriously consider moving towards private ownership of our fishing waters, with the result of paying high fees, but the payoff being better managed waters? I don't think Governments are doing a very good job of it!

You can read an abstract of the article that appeared in Nature Magazine here.