Maine’s proposed ban on North Zone bass derbies is an insult to anglers

By Pete Warner, Bangor Daily News Staff

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is in the sometimes unenviable position of trying to serve two masters when it comes to fishing. The first is to provide opportunities for anglers, and the other is to manage the fish species that swim in our waters.

Unfortunately, the dual mandates sometimes conflict.

The latest example is DIF&W’s proposed banning of bass tournaments in the North Zone. The plan, which is making its way through the rulemaking process, has angered some anglers.

The new regulations would prohibit bass fishing tournaments and derbies in the North Zone, which includes Aroostook, Piscataquis, Somerset, and Franklin counties, along with Oxford County north of the Androscoggin River and Penobscot County north of routes 11 and 157.

Some argue that such a change would rob a handful of communities and conservation organizations of potential income from derbies, which often are used as fundraisers.

Bass tournaments would still be allowed in the South Zone, where the species is actively managed by the state as a sport fish through size and possession limits.

While perhaps well-intentioned, a derby ban would not significantly impact fisheries, other than to ensure that more smallmouth and largemouth bass survive.

It is understandable that the state doesn’t want to give the impression that it is promoting a fish it considers to be an invasive species, nor does it want to show support for activities such as derbies related to them.

But prohibiting derbies in the North Zone makes no sense. If the concern is the presence of bass in waters where they don’t belong, the state should embrace derbies and require participants to harvest the fish. Then DIF&W could at least feel better about putting a small dent in the populations.

And while hardcore bass anglers would not support such a requirement, one that might reduce their potential future success, it would send the message that bass are not wanted in the North Zone.

The North Zone and the fishing regulations implemented there were created to protect the native coldwater species for which Maine is famous. That includes landlocked salmon, brook trout and, to a lesser extent, the rare Arctic charr.

In contrast, efforts in the South Zone focus on management of numerous hatchery stocked waters containing brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout and salmon, and warmwater fisheries where bass and black crappie are among anglers’ main targets.

The popular smallmouth bass is a feisty and aggressive game fish that provides plenty of excitement for anglers. However, it also competes for habitat and food with some of our native coldwater species. Hence, the conflict.

Bass were in northern Maine waters long before the zones were created and, barring a disease that wipes out the population, they will be there forever. And while the state doesn’t want to promote any invasive species, refusing to acknowledge their existence and their recreational value to anglers seems contradictory.

The state should withdraw the proposal and continue to allow bass derbies in the North Zone. Even Francis Brautigam, Director of Fisheries and Hatcheries for DIF&W, admits there are presently only a handful of such tournaments held in the region each year.

Allowing bass derbies doesn’t mean the state condones the fish’s presence in those waters, but a ban on tournaments won’t improve anything for the fish or the anglers.

Nobody who truly cares about fishing in Maine supports the illegal stocking of any invasive species, but limiting opportunities to pursue bass where they are already established is an insult to the anglers DIF&W is committed to serve.