Should Fishermen Be EATING More Bass? (Biologist Explains)

What makes a GOOD fishing pond? How many bass should you KEEP and how many should you RELEASE? Are Fishing Tournaments BAD or GOOD for our lakes? In this episode, I sit down with a fisheries biologist who has worked all over the country for 18 years, helping people make their fishing lakes GREAT! If you love science and bass fishing, you will love this interview! SUBSCRIBE to see more of Steven and I talking bass fishing, and drop a question you want steven to answer in the comments below!
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This video is all about bass fishing, bass fishing tips, pond fishing tips, pond fishing for bass, private pond fishing, giant pond bass, bank fishing, bank fishing tips, bank fishing for bass, and so much more bass fishing tips and tricks!
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Time Stamps:
0:00 - Biologist Explains
1:18 - How Steven Became A Fisheries Biologist
3:09 - How To Know If A Pond Is Good To Fish At
4:50 - What Structure And Cover Is BEST For Bass Fishing?
7:36 - Is Snot Grass Bad For My Pond?
8:43 - Why Fisheries Spray/Kill Aquatic Vegetation
12:53 - What Structure And Cover Does Steven Use?
14:11 - How Does Weather Affect Bass Fishing?
16:30 - Metabolism And It's Effect On Bass Behavior
19:27 - Should We Be Eating/Harvesting Bass?
25:06 - How To Properly Manage Your Pond Or Lake
27:04 - Is Catch And Release Actually Effective?
30:29 - How Resilient Are Bass?
33:35 - Is Some Post-Release Mortality A Good Thing?
34:49 - Are Fishing Tournaments Doing Harm To Lakes?
37:49 - What Major League Fishing Doing RIGHT
42:03 - Viral Infections In Bass Populations
44:00 - Do We Know If Bass Can See Color?
44:38 - What Drives The Bass Spawn?
46:46 - Is There A FALL SPAWN In Our Lakes?
47:50 - What Is A "Senko Bass"?
49:25 - Misconceptions About The Sharelunker Program
52:34 - How Fish Age Effects Fish Health
54:48 - Does Catching A Spawning Bass Affect The Lake?
58:06 - Is Bed Fishing Ethical Anyways?
59:50 - Is Forward Facing Sonar A Positive or Negative?
1:02:27 - New Lake Effect And Fish Populations
1:03:21 - Every Fisheries Management Department CARES
1:06:31 - What Questions Do YOU Have For Steven?

[@TylersReelFishing]

What questions should I ask Steven in the next interview?🤔

[@katelynroper225]

You’re my favorite KZbinr Tyler Hope you catch a 10 pound bass. Please reply on this comment.😂

[@donnieblackketter7897]

@@TylersReelFishing I think that you did a really good job on asking the questions

[@timstewart6544]

@@TylersReelFishing How much does a family of otters affect a pond? I fish a 54 acre pond where I’ve spotted 4 otters. I talked to the biologist that manages the pond and she said they’re not a problem considering the osprey and gators that inhabit the pond the bass adapt. That seems like weak logic. I feel the otters will eat it clean and leave.

[@carterlarson24]

I would like to know the difference, if there is really one, between northern and southern strains of bass.

[@tennesseekayakfishing5691]

What is the best time of year to catch bass for the best flavor. I’ve heard that bass caught in the summer have an “off” flavor.

[@muakongyang]

Wow, one of the best and most informative bass fishing videos I have ever watched. It has greatly changed the way I look at fishing and bass in general.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Definitely changed a few of my viewpoints too

[@WistfulKnave00]

I love watching them to see how the ecosystems have adapted or failed due to us as humans. Especially in fishing, it’s not just about the hunt it’s about conservation for future fishermen as well.

[@Smiththebat]

I don’t know how anyone has ever watched tournament fishing and thought, “WOW! Those guys sure handle those fish with care!”

[@TylersReelFishing]

Nobody thinks that. But lots of people are indifferent about it

[@Smiththebat]

@@TylersReelFishing and that’s sad to me…

[@OrionsKelt]

I live right near lake hartwell and every time they have a tournament there’s several dozen dead fish washed up on the shores near the ramps that hosted the tournament. I know it wouldn’t be sustainable if we kept all the fish that we catch, but it sure would be nice to see some put to use rather than catch and released over and over until they die. All environments have a carrying capacity and the reservoirs are far from natural environments so it’s our responsibility to manage them. Plus bass is delicious!

[@aneedmorehead9006]

@OrionsKelt Source: trust me bro

[@ricomock2]

​@aneedmorehead9006 Dude, there have been a bunch of studies on tournament associated fish mortality, feel free to help yourself to them. He is not wrong, it's not uncommon for many fish caught in tournaments to die following release

[@Santino.E]

We need something like the share lunker program to support our northern fisheries.

[@TylerDoesStuffnThings]

I wish, as an angler living in Indiana I couldn’t agree more

[@fishingwithfoxxxy1371]

Living in Washington state that would be cool ther are some lunkers you can throw anything to em and they ain't interested biggest bass for me was 20"

[@jimmyjamesluciano]

agreed. our northeastern strains are getting upwards of 7 lbs but there are so little of them. def gonna reach out to my local state biologist

[@GeoFishing]

Great video I was excited to learn more yet seems I’m well versed. Awesome! Looked for anything to criticize and well it’s not there. Amazing, great job done Tyler. Great video absolute true and genuine information.

[@sportscompilations7719]

Tyler. This is one of the best bass fishing videos on KZbin. It’s crazy how much effort you put into these videos. Best fishing KZbinr of all time

[@TylersReelFishing]

I appreciate that!

[@Cdmjr71]

That has to be the best video you’ve ever made. Thank you Tyler we all needed that

[@thejohnleos]

On duty for the 4th of July in Japan…this video saved me an hour of staring at a wall. Great information!!!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Great to hear!

[@ChapmanWolf]

This needs to be put out everywhere possible to change people's minds. Unfortunately the average angler will never see this kind of stuff and few people will be able to spread the word, especially about harvest. Most guys will never agree with some other fisherman telling them to harvest bass. C&R is so deeply engrained in our fishing culture now, and the lack of harvest has absolutely destroyed fisheries. I speak for some fisheries that I grew up on, specifically one in CA that has 6 of the top 25 biggest bass ever caught from it, now you would be lucky to catch a fish that weighs 4 lbs. I hope people see this interview and take it to heart and start harvesting limits of fish. Taking out underweight, slot fish to allow the big ones to truly get big. It's up to us as the anglers to harvest!

[@ryanmozisek6464]

Tyler, thank you for having Steven come on and help include fisherman into the world of fisheries management. Growing up as a tournament bass fisherman all I ever wanted to be when I grew up was somebody that worked for a game and fish agency. I didn’t realize until I got into this field that fisherman and fisheries biologist did not always agree with each other, and sometimes there was quite a bit of animosity. Great to see your content and you getting everybody involved. Hopefully, one day I can impact some people quite like Steven has. I’m new in my career with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

[@baileyerickson6544]

This is the type of valuable content we need

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thank you! I think so too

[@prestonchrisman7382]

Fisheries biologists finally getting the message out there ❤

[@Bankfishindude]

I don’t usually watch hour long KZbin videos…but when I do it’s TRF 🍻 🎣🇺🇸

[@TylersReelFishing]

Heck yeah!

[@granvillej3316]

Tyler this was the truly the best and real interview regarding bass fishing and perspective especially regarding some very touchy subjects we are dealing today! Well done with the interaction and question you were getting expert advice and not public opinion! Tight lines take care and God bless!

[@spaceburger80]

Please bring this gentleman back for more focused topics! This was an amazingly informative video. Thank you so much for putting this out!

[@kunaiwithchain5278]

He's absolutely right about diversity. We as anglers tend to focus only on the fish (bass, bluegill) but we forget that we have to look further down the food chain into aquatic invertebrate diversity (stonefly, mayfly, chironomids) and even into types of primary producers like phytoplankton vs vascular plants, because each has its own ecological niche and contribution towards production vs decomposition.

[@bssin-sifu9991]

Need the next video asap!!!! Thank you for the information! So stoked to understand more about the green fish we chase and appreciate.

[@TylersReelFishing]

You got it!

[@joshbarton4373]

Best video I’ve have found yet for bass fisherman. I just started bass fishing 2 months ago, very seriously, and this is forsure the most informative video I’ve watched and is full of golden information. Thanks Tyler and Steven!

[@ericholtam8870]

Phenomenal interview! What a gem to share with the angling world. Thanks for taking time to produce this and thanks a to Steven for sharing his time with us. I truly hope there are more videos with him to come.

[@TylersReelFishing]

More to come for sure!

[@tancolepropertyrehab6108]

I got a chance to speak with the lead Bass biologist in Arkansas recently. It was an absolute amazing conversation. And I’m so excited to see what’s in the future for Arkansas. He was a younger fellow. But seemed extremely sharp. And really fired up about bettering our fisheries. Thank you for this video. Great job!!!!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Awesome!!

[@vanhargis2495]

Great episode! Thanks for doing this interview and being prepared with good questions.

[@colecraftTV]

phenomenal interview dude well done!

[@babadeedee]

Please do more with Steve! He’s a wealth of information!

[@TylersReelFishing]

I will!

[@rattz6374]

Those were great questions. I’m humbled. You Tyler, will come up with new better questions than any of us.

[@njgfpv3696]

Good for you. I am not a typica viewer of yours but was interested in the topic. I respect someone of your age willing to take the time to look at this. A lot of adults don't care. It blows me away that more people don't care when it benefits us all.

[@RiverBassTv]

Awesome video Tyler!! Need more of these to get the awareness needed to take care of our fisheries.

[@jamesfaudeck540]

This was a great interview with great questions asked I've been fishing for bass for about 27 years and I still learned a thing or two today

[@dangermonkey7779]

This video was terrific. Thanks so much Tyler for putting this together.

[@AlaconTV]

This was really awesome, thanks to both of you for taking the time for this.

[@MWM92688]

Very informative, thanks guys for doing this video, looking forward to more!!

[@OrionsKelt]

This is one of the best informative videos I’ve ever watch on fishing. I’d love to learn more.

[@stompylee]

I usually do the garage thing (today it’s new outboard for my jon) while I listen to someone talk. I got nothing done, just watched and listened. Great interview and thank you Steven for sharing your knowledge. I learned a lot today.

[@darrellbaker2895]

This is the most informative fishing video I’ve ever seen. Steven Barton is a walking fish encyclopedia. The video refutes a lot of the myths we now accept as true. Often, they are perpetuated by proffesional fisherman based on opinion rather than fact.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Yep, exactly. Pro fisherman are great at giving fishing tips, but not always great to understanding the science

[@rickvann3489]

Charger boats had a pro-air live well system that used copper tubing that wound coils through the ice chest and cooled the live well water way down and never lost a fish best system ever. But in the winter, you had to add glyco to tubing and purge it and close off system, and people didn't, and the copper tubing busted, and people complained, so they did away with it.

[@josearagon7295]

WOW this was a amazing interview. I have gained great knowledge from this. I enjoy all your videos. THANK YOU for this video......

[@krustysurfer]

One of your best episodes! 👍 Lors of data to extrapolate from🙌 thank you and happy fishing from W. Michigan 🤙

[@bobbydavis3246]

Powerful video. Thanks to both of you for sharing this knowledge.

[@ReidGriffin080]

Another great and very informative video! Thank you, sirs

[@David-wf4wc]

Dude, this was eye opening. Thank you both for this. He's more like a habitat engineer in addition to being a conservationist.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Correct

[@Tygor3533]

Man great info on here, not just for fishermen and fisheries management, but aquarist’s too!

[@BlueLineFishing]

Just wow... What a fantastic interview with pertinent questions and great answers. I especially liked the information on harvesting bass and the growth rate of those fish. Very informative and well done Tyler!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you liked it!

[@anthonycardona89]

Excellent video. Quality information that we needed to hear

[@tonymook2]

Great video, Tyler! This is exactly the information we need to help manage our 100-acre lake in northeast Texas. Also, thank you for taking the time to add all of the extra content in the description.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TheUncontrollableYeti]

Ain’t never had a problem eating ditch pickles. They are delicious. Always have been.

[@just_dippy7153]

Such a good video! shared with my fishing buddies!

[@adammitchell3462]

One of your best videos man,very informative and I'd love to see more content like this

[@TylersReelFishing]

More to come!

[@Hoodbilly310]

This was a great video with really great information!!! Thanks for making this knowledge more accessible for so many more people 🙌🏼

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dylanforney780]

Great vlog, Steven is easy to follow and a wealth of information, I could listen for hours. Thank you both

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@whitehondarider22]

My local small lakes are completely over ran by 15” and smaller bass, because nobody will keep any, instead they only keep the bull bluegills and then that lake takes years to recover. There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a handful of small bass on ice and eating them.

[@thedrdoug]

This was great! So much to learn. Thanks for the information.

[@benchauvin5862]

This has got to be the most informative interview I have seen regarding fishery management. Great job guys!

[@deepintheheartoftx7548]

Agree!

[@JDK499]

WHAT A VIDEO!!! So much knowledge about bass it's hard to wrap your head around. Thank you Tyler for taking the time to produce top notch content

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad it was helpful!

[@skiplovestofish6992]

Best video ever. I enjoyed this video. There Yao much talked about that I never knew. What an educational video. Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge!

[@tukywuky2125]

i really enjoyed this one tyler i found it really informative keep up the quality videos brother!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@RestlessFisherman]

Great video, every fisherman should watch this. Steven is the kind of guy I'd watch on History/Animal/Discovery Channel back when they were still good.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Man those channels in their prime were GOOD

[@chrisbgarrett]

We had a 1/2 acre pond with just big crappie that I stocked originally and small bass. After doing a heavy cull every 2 years on thanksgiving day,our size went up way more and much healthier fish. Usually keep every bass under 2 pounds. We then had 4-8lb bass. And the fish that used to have the 6lb heads on 2 pound bodies went away. And cost us nothing.

[@benpotts5210]

Absolutely great video. I've been listening to Steven talk for 6 or 7 years now and he is a wealth of knowledge.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Couldn't agree more!

[@MassBasterDavid]

I haven’t even started the video! Long time fan! I’ve learned so much from your videos, and even shout your channel out in a few of my early videos of my channel as a plug for Great Bass fishing knowledge! I already want to thank you for talking about this subject!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@lastcastlures_satx]

Great video! Lots of great take aways and I love hearing it from a different perspective

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thanks so much!

[@donnieblackketter7897]

This was really awesome, great information I needed thank you very much!

[@TylersReelFishing]

You're very welcome!

[@sobifishing]

Super interesting video! Thanks Tyler & Steven for the sit down discussion.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thanks Sobi!

[@raidernai6646]

Great interview, i learned a ton.

[@ramrodrymensnyder2648]

One of the best videos on KZbin right now. Should be mandatory viewing for any angler, not just bass guys.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Well thank you!

[@babadeedee]

Yes, every high school fishing team should show this at their meetings and discuss it.

[@toadslayer72]

This was fantastic. Great job buddy

[@Lloyd_1414]

Great video! Really good to know this kind of information, especially from someone in his line of work

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Troutfisch]

Fascinating video, learned more about bass and fishing management here in one clip than I’ve heard to date! Thanks for sharing!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you enjoyed it! More to come with Steven!

[@lukespies4192]

Can this get turned into a series, whether with other biologists, professional anglers, or just others in the fishing industry, we NEED more sitdown content like this.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Yep! Got more planned

[@jamesjensen3089]

Allways love learning more from you Tyler!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Hope it was enjoyable!

[@HookedUp_DKC10]

This by far had to be one of the DOPEST interviews in the fishing community! You asked and hit every question right on the head! If you really fish this is a MOST WATCH! Thanks bro!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@HookedUp_DKC10]

@@TylersReelFishing Every Second of it!🎣💪🏽

[@OptimizeNurse]

WOW! Steve and Tyler thank you for the fantastic interview! Would love too see more like this!!

[@TylersReelFishing]

More to come from us I’m sure!

[@jaredwilliams7160]

This is one of the best videos I’ve ever watched. So informative and eye opening on the who, what, when, where, why and how. Hopefully this video spreads like wildfire and every angler takes the time to watch and learn.

[@TylersReelFishing]

I hope so too!

[@CastingwithKirk]

Quite a few lakes in the Midwest now have changed their limits due to the lakes getting stunted because of C&R . One lake near me has a keep slot of 8-12” because of all the stunted bass. They are also delicious 😋

[@TylersReelFishing]

Interesting!

[@JeremyMartin-xq7pb]

Great video Tyler! Thanks for sharing.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thanks for watching!

[@javieravila7547]

Great conversation, I learned a lot and was also left with some more questions nevertheless you earned my subscription to your channel, great job!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Love that, welcome aboard! What questions did you have for Steven?

[@javieravila7547]

@@TylersReelFishing awesome! Well I’m curious to know how bad an invasive species like carp can affect a fishery and how can it be controlled?

[@glennoldenburg2952]

Thanks so ok much for this information, dispelled so many years of misinformation in such a short period. I’ll take this forward and contribute to better management one small step at a time.

[@evolemorej7983]

Thanks for broadening my fishing experiences Tyler, you really are appreciated.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Any time!

[@Jschmidttx89]

Good vid. Thanks for all the knowledge

[@TylersReelFishing]

You bet!

[@matthewj2492]

Great work once again!

[@bitesize_fb]

definitely learned a bunch. id love to see a video on all the things i could do to make my catch and release better and safer for the fish!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Will do!

[@helluva9064]

Great informative video, Wow. One of the few fishing videos I have shared around this much.

[@TylersReelFishing]

I appreciate that!

[@traviscrawford6921]

This kind of content is incredible. Thank you for doing it

[@TylersReelFishing]

My pleasure!

[@lvbuckeye]

Somewhere around the 20:00 mark, he hits on a VERY important fact. I've fished in Ontario since the late 90s. The Conservation License allows you to keep two fish per species per day for seven days. I've been in lakes that had zero fishing pressure because they were off the beaten path. We caught a LOT of bass. They were very long and VERY skinny. The next year, there weren't any long bass, skinny or otherwise. There were still Pike, though.

[@HukNBux]

Dang Ty you out did yourself this time! Awesome and informative video and thanks to your guest too!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thanks for watching!

[@JCrooks410]

Much appreciation to you for putting together a video like this. Besides the best lures to use to catch bass during whichever season, I feel most people (including myself) ask themselves a lot of questions on the science of bass fishing. Yet we never find unambiguous answers lol. Thanks for sharing this content!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thank you!

[@curtisdecker3150]

Very informative bro! Thx

[@micahhwilliams]

Man…..phenomenal video. You asked the biologist some excellent questions that sparked very interesting conversation. I couldn’t agree more about the importance of HARVEST……a topic that is so horribly misunderstood by thousands of people. Thanks for making this video. I hope it encourages/inspires many fishermen to think differently about the topics discussed in that conversation. In my opinion, this type of video is what sets your channel apart from the rest…….a sincere desire to not only improve our fisheries but also educate people about fishing so that we can continue to enjoy the sport of bass fishing as long as possible. TRF = 🐐

[@TylersReelFishing]

Man thank you so much for those encouraging words!

[@RickMidds]

As always, excellent content Tyler. 😉👍

[@TylersReelFishing]

Much appreciated!

[@kylemartinos9210]

This was a phenomenal video! I really enjoyed the conversation and questions asked. I would love to see more additional videos like this, but I still gotta have Tyler on the water 😂

[@TylersReelFishing]

You’ll see it all!

[@stanmanmedia]

Outstanding!!! Great to get a working expert's view

[@rattz6374]

Very enlightening. Great interview. Badass 🔥

[@TylersReelFishing]

Much appreciated!

[@timstewart6544]

Oh boy, I’m excited about this one. Can’t wait to learn in this video.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Hope you liked it!

[@timstewart6544]

@@TylersReelFishing I eat bluegill, crappie, and catfish but throw back bass. I thought I was conserving the population. I’ll keep stunted bass from an overpopulated pond but never thought I’m hurting size by throwing everything back.

[@Daddy_Daiwa]

I was enthralled. This is the best thing I’ve ever watched, fishing related. Obviously I chose the wrong career path! Fascinating!

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thanks so much Steven!

[@fishncoach8699]

Love this content. Thank you

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@Devonux]

Saw the intro and the first thing I did was check the description for timestamps then thanked God.

[@kevincampbell5357]

As a fisherman I like to be able to catch a few fish here and there and usually catch and release unless I plan on eating fish for dinner that day I more like to go fishing for the calm peaceful relaxation and solitude but I learn a lot from this video as well this is by far one of the most educational videos on fishing I have ever watched i absolutely loved every minute of it thank you Tyler

[@TylersReelFishing]

Glad you liked it!

[@JarrettGomez]

Love listening to Steven!

[@guylangenfeld2123]

Great content fellas. Rare to find true educated content on KZbin. Thanks to both of you.

[@TylersReelFishing]

Every video I make is from a teaching perspective 👍🏼

[@chn-su7lw]

Alright Tyler, let’s get some catch and cook videos!

[@TylersReelFishing]

I’ll try!

[@terpsfanyo]

Keep up the good content! Love the videos

[@TylersReelFishing]

Thanks! Will do!

[@613BASS_N]

Steven actually reminds me of Aaron Martens ❤🙏

[@TylersReelFishing]

A little!