going off of gopher02 thread....about the only time i target smallies is in the BW, most open season's(MN) have to do with spawning times(bass-musky-lake trout-in the sorthern part of our state walleye-pike) why are smallies open during spawning season(up north) but go catch and release after sept 7. is it because there even easier to catch ? i guess i never understood the thought process here.

Great question - I don't have an answer but was puzzled to see this in the regulations as well.

I remember an article written by In-Fisherman a bunch of years ago(when the "season" regs were started), and they radio tracked adult SMB in border lakes(or 'near' border lakes). All adult SMB head for the deepest basin of a lake, as early as the second week of Sept. They all end up in a very small area, described as small as a living room, to spend the winter. The fear was ALL adult SMB could be removed from a given fishery in as little as a few weeks, for sure one winter....because they group so tight. This behavior makes them quite vulnerable during the hard water months.

I will search thru In-Fisherman archives to reference this information, so that the info can come "from the horse's mouth".

Uh-oh. A certain bait shop proprietor may go on a de-population mission this winter...

quote bassnet: "I remember an article written by In-Fisherman a bunch of years ago(when the "season" regs were started), and they radio tracked adult SMB in border lakes(or 'near' border lakes). All adult SMB head for the deepest basin of a lake, as early as the second week of Sept. They all end up in a very small area, described as small as a living room, to spend the winter. The fear was ALL adult SMB could be removed from a given fishery in as little as a few weeks, for sure one winter....because they group so tight. This behavior makes them quite vulnerable during the hard water months.


I will search thru In-Fisherman archives to reference this information, so that the info can come "from the horse's mouth"."

Thats exactly the reason, one fall day I caught waayyyyy over 100 smallies from a fifty by thirty yard hole, they were stacked up like cordwood .