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Silver linings

Another old one from Sexy Loops
When I first came to Japan, I thought I'd really get into bass fishing the lakes nearby but it just never happened.  I tried, I really did, and despite catching a few largemouth I just couldn't really get into it. and I spent several years fishing almost exclusively for carp.  I do fish for largies now and then from my float tube but they don't do it for me the way their little cousins do.

Now, I love fishing for smallmouth bass, especially in the clear rivers around Tokyo.   there's something about the way they inspect a hopper before sucking it under or smash a streamer on  the pause that's just amazing. They're a perfect fly rod fish.   Unfortunately, they're an invasive species here and we're supposed to kill them. I don't.  Pretty much everyone here releases fish, and the only killing is through the bad handling that is sadly all too frequent here. 

The thing I have difficulty with is the evidence of my own observations. Of course I'm not a fishery biologist, but of the rivers I fish here the ones with a population of smallies seem to have a far healthier and more diverse fish populations of other species than those that don't.  I can only assume it's because the bass are keeping the carp in check by predating the juveniles.  This runs contrary to everything I thought I knew and it should go without saying that I'm not supporting further stocking of non-native species (although for some reason people seem to be OK with trout).  It just seems that the terrible, destructive invasive smallmouth bass might not be all bad

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