Tiger Bass..bane or blessing?

[BassNva]

i'm sure that was the 1st article you went to(or will go to)in the latest bassmaster mag.
this one has me stupefied.does the purist bass angler really want genetically altered bass that will make it easier to catch monster bass?
i'm leaning toward liking the idea,but can't really commit to supporting that tampering with genetics.
any of you guys have opinions on this?

[jeffman]

TOM,

IT'S NOT NICE TO FOOL WITH MOTHER NATURE!

JackL

[zman]

Did you ever see Jurassic Park?

All we need is Jeff Goldbloom commenting on how fooling with nature has always come back to haunt us.

[LEVI]

I agree with jack, if you mess with her she will mess right back . I thought that was the whole deal behind catch and release, if you release them then they can have a better chance to become trophies ???. I haven't read the article yet but I am now interested, its in the new bassmaster magazine right?

Kybasser

[Infisherman1]

I wouldn't want there to be genetically altered bass. Rasing certain strains of bass in fisheries is one thing, this is soething different. Anyways, it would make it too easy.

[fredhatch]

I dont think that altering bass is good. Look at this- How long has the world record held? How fast will it be destroyed? or should an altered bass even count for the record? Bass are predatory- How long till they decide to take out the competition? ie:black,smallie,etc.. Fl has suffered terribly from introduced non native species.(we have all of it-plants,trees,fish,bugs,snakes) If a genetic bass is going to be bigger,stronger,etc. How big could one get? Think about it, the warmer climates, bass pretty much have a year round growing and feeding time. This could be devastating to all kinds of fish populations, of any species. Even if they do this in a SO CALLED "CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT", some a-hole still thinks what if I put one or two of these in my lake or river. Maybe not now or five years from now, but one day it turns into a problem. What about disease? Will they be more prone to diseases or will they just become carriers? To many what ifs? for me. I dont want anyone messing up what mother nature has blessed me with. Nature has a way of dealing with strong,weak,sick or disabled- Who are we to screw with this? Sorry I turn my soapbox over to the next. 8)

[Worm_King]

I have to agree with hose holder. What goes around comes around and usually when you mess with mother nature you get the short end of the stick. Records will be broken when they are meant to be broken. If I were to catch a record bass that was genetically altered I don't think it would be something that I would be terribly proud of. If I was Barry Bonds I probably wouldn't have a problem with it. Sorry had to take a shot.

[Rob Mak]

the problem i see with this is tiger bass look excatly like a regular large mouth. the also have a hybrid called a gorilla bass. which are highly aggressive-even more than the tiger bass-
imo if these fish get released into a lake. they may make the native bass more aggressive. as in if the native bass don't grab the bait first these bass will native bass will starve. going hungry a time or too will make them grab the bait hard, fast, and first.


these hybrids were bred to be pond bass only.

zooker

[Infisherman1]

[quote author=zooker link=board=MessBoards;num=1106841084;start=0#7 date=01/27/05 at 17:49:51]

these hybrids were bred to be pond bass only.

zooker Â* [/quote]

Maybe for the rest of the U.S. ,but I wouldn't put it into any florida ponds. Invasive species have a way of getting around here.

[catfishtonyd]

It's another tempest in a teacup. This kind of thing has happened before, and died out. It will this time too. Remember "meanmouth"? Nobody else does either.

[BassNva]

these are a cross between aggressive northern bass and florida strain.supposedly they grow about a pound a year.i can see zook read the article.they have these fish already.says they're so aggressive you can catch 50-60 in an hour.and they hit on just about anything you throw....think about that!..pretty scary stuff.

[Infisherman1]

That would take all the fun out of bass fishing.

[BassNva]

IMO, it wouldn't be a sport anymore.

[Infisherman1]

Yeah, if I wanted to throew something on a line and catch big aggressive fish, I'd go deep-sea fishing. Taking out the method would completely ruin it.

[Rob Mak]

belive it or not i got my bassmaster rag today i pulled the post above out of my brain. besides last year bassmater -or bassnews-had this articel in it. i think it was just about this time of year. oh yeah did not say any where in the new verison that they have had these bass for the last 12 YEARS.

yep never studied for a test ever in school now you know why.

zooker

[bearpaw]

They may be designed for ponds but how long will it take for these bass to hit the open lakes ?
I personnally wouldn't have a problem catching these fish. As long as it (as previously mentioned) didn't disturb the life cycles of native bass.
Has Florida strained bass disturbed the cycles of native bass ?
Granted, there are alot of the same characteristics, but slightly different fish.....Somebody fill me in on this.

[macgyver]

[quote author=CajunBass link=board=MessBoards;num=1106841084;start=0#9 date=01/27/05 at 18:44:29]It's another tempest in a teacup. This kind of thing has happened before, and died out. It will this time too. Remember "meanmouth"? Nobody else does either.[/quote]

I do remember "meanmouth", but that's about it. Just that is was a new strain at the time, and I can't remember How long ago it was.

To answer the question, I have no problem for them on private ponds. I will now say that if they are allowed, then they will get moved by folks, and will be invasive, no matter what the LAND OWNERS SAY(tell me they won't Sell some to folks who would undoubtedly pay quite a lot for them). Because they may or may not know when it happens. And if they get out, then I think they would have a definate impact on the fisheries. If it is as ACTIVE as they say, then it will kill, eat everything around, grow quicker than it's brothers, and will mate. So if everone wants a new dominate strain of bass, then let er go. If not then give it up, and spend the money on cleaning up the waters, and conservation, not HOW TO MAKE THE MOST AGRESSIVE BASS ALIVE. They already are aggressive when it's time for them to feed. That's the times we all look for, but if it's a everyday occurance, then the challenge of it would dissapate, along with the enthusiasm. Just my 2 cents, but if you want to just take a kid out to get him/her some fish, start with bluegill, or crappie, something he can already catch a lot of. Then move him up to the challenges of other types of fishing, and why we DON'T ALWAYS CATCH ANYTHING BUT WE STILL HAVE FUN. Why not use this research time and money on how to re-grow arms or legs, or cancer cures. We already have the great gamefish, some things just don't need to be improved on.



Lizards