Bass Season, Pike Overlap, and Things I didn’t Know
Well, well.
I’ve been buying a fishing license in New York every year for 19 years now, and I don’t know when this little rule changed, but it makes me happy, and reminds me of the year I spent in Maine.
Per our friends at the DEC, bass season is KIND OF a thing of the past.
| Black Bass largemouth/smallmouth |
3rd Saturday in June through November 30 | 12″ | 5 |
| Black Bass largemouth/smallmouth |
December 1 - Friday preceding the 3rd Saturday in June | Catch and release only | Artificial lures only |
When I say that, I don’t mean I can take bass from the water whenever I want, but rather that the State has perhaps more clearly defined what they mean when they say “fishing” by changing the wording on bass regulations. And again, I don’t know when this changed, but here’s the skinny:
You can target bass year round now. 
You can only take them from the water like always, meaning from the third Saturday in June, etc. But this changes everything.
First, it more clearly states what fishing means in regards to the other species. It means targetting. It means any attempt to in any way hook a fish, as opposed to keep a fish. That was always the spirit of the law, but not necessarily the letter of the law.
Sure, there were some particular stream sections that had “no kill all year trout fishing”, but that was for very specific areas, and very specific creeks. This is an official, statewide “Catch and Release” Bass policy. And it’s great.
Second, it should help some of the resort areas like Black Lake. As choked as that Lake gets late summer now with weeds (and fishermen), this will extend the periods during which they can effectively do tourism commerce. Sure, folks went up the in May and June before and targetted bass, but now they can feel good about it.
Third, it’s going to make my pike trip on Saturday to Black Creek just that much more fun.
I like this regulation. If anyone knows exactly when it went into effect, please comment below.
Tags: bass, black creek, kayak, kayaking, pike, season
