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[BCfisherman97]

I gotta agree with shawn

[Chrome Mykiss]

It is true, largemouth bass are here in the Lower Mainland now. We simply have to live with it now, because no amount of rototene or culling will exterminate them from the lower Fraser/Pitt river back waters. Will they have a disasterous impact on the environment like other invasive species around the world, such as the cane toad in Australia or the Zebra mussel in the Great Lakes? Nobody knows for certain. However, one cannot ignore the potential impact these fish can have on the lower Fraser/Pitt river backwaters ecosystems. The only thing which will prevent the spread of Largemouth bass on these waters are physical barriers such as water depth, available structure, water temperature and fluvial hydraulics.

Largemouth bass are a highly productive species of fish. The eggs only take 3-5 days in develop in the nest before hatching. During the spawning period the male Largemouth will guard over the young until they are ready to leave. Young bass can begin to leave the nest as quickly as 6-7 days. They can also tolerate brackish water.

The glorification of Bass fishing on TV shows has many people thinking they too can haul in large bucket mouths on local waters. However, people are forgetting that the largemouth bass on TV are caught in their native waters. Largemouth bass play a role on these warm water ecosystems. They are both a predator and prey in the native waters. Their native warm waters will often have larger predatory fish such as Musky and Pike to keep their population in check. The availability of a food source is what grows larger bass, such as a ciscoes, shad, shiners, crayfish, etc. The waters of the lower mainland are nothing like their native warm waters. There are no large predators to keep their population in check. What food sources do largemouth bass have on lowermainland waters? There are insects such as dragonfly/damsel nymphs, diving beetles, midges, caddis, mayflies and terrestrials. Which are all food sources for native fish species, such as juvenille salmonids, coastal Cutthroat trout, Bulltrout and whitefish. Has anyone ever thought about the amphibian population and the impact largemouth bass have on them. Many of our native frogs and salamanders will be impacted by the predation from largemouth bass. In most cases largemouth bass grow extremely fast during the first cycle when introduced to an new environment, because food sources are readily available. However, as the bass population grow their demand for food will grow and eventually reach a limit. Once all the food sources are consumed the bass population will diminish and restablish an equilibrium. This equilibrium may mean smaller or stunted bass. I think a prime local example is Albert Dyck park. What size of bass are coming out of that pond nowadays?

Deer lake is part of an open waterway. Deer lake is connected to Burnaby lake, Still creek and the Brunette river. There have been many rehabilition projects over the years on these waterways to restore some of destruction caused by urban growth over the years. Many volunteer groups have spent countless hours on these projects. Coastal Cutthroat trout can be found in these waters. Largemouth bass will likely migrate into these waters and compete with the native fish species.

It is up to an individual to make up their mind on whether they should harvest bass from Deer lake. It is unlikely that harvesting a bass  from Deer lake will even have an impact on their population, since they are such prolific breeders. However, I just ask for anglers to take in to consideration the impact these bass have on the aquatic ecosystem. It was difficult enough for the lake to sustain stocked rainbow trout that carried over the winter.  



I sure would like to know who did it, so I could report them and collect the reward  

[fishingwithegg2]

It is true, largemouth bass are here in the Lower Mainland now. We simply have to live with it now, because no amount of rototene or culling will exterminate them from the lower Fraser/Pitt river back waters. Will they have a disasterous impact on the environment like other invasive species around the world, such as the cane toad in Australia or the Zebra mussel in the Great Lakes? Nobody knows for certain. However, one cannot ignore the potential impact these fish can have on the lower Fraser/Pitt river backwaters ecosystems. The only thing which will prevent the spread of Largemouth bass on these waters are physical barriers such as water depth, available structure, water temperature and fluvial hydraulics.

Largemouth bass are a highly productive species of fish. The eggs only take 3-5 days in develop in the nest before hatching. During the spawning period the male Largemouth will guard over the young until they are ready to leave. Young bass can begin to leave the nest as quickly as 6-7 days. They can also tolerate brackish water.

The glorification of Bass fishing on TV shows has many people thinking they too can haul in large bucket mouths on local waters. However, people are forgetting that the largemouth bass on TV are caught in their native waters. Largemouth bass play a role on these warm water ecosystems. They are both a predator and prey in the native waters. Their native warm waters will often have larger predatory fish such as Musky and Pike to keep their population in check. The availability of a food source is what grows larger bass, such as a ciscoes, shad, shiners, crayfish, etc. The waters of the lower mainland are nothing like their native warm waters. There are no large predators to keep their population in check. What food sources do largemouth bass have on lowermainland waters? There are insects such as dragonfly/damsel nymphs, diving beetles, midges, caddis, mayflies and terrestrials. Which are all food sources for native fish species, such as juvenille salmonids, coastal Cutthroat trout, Bulltrout and whitefish. Has anyone ever thought about the amphibian population and the impact largemouth bass have on them. Many of our native frogs and salamanders will be impacted by the predation from largemouth bass. In most cases largemouth bass grow extremely fast during the first cycle when introduced to an new environment, because food sources are readily available. However, as the bass population grow their demand for food will grow and eventually reach a limit. Once all the food sources are consumed the bass population will diminish and restablish an equilibrium. This equilibrium may mean smaller or stunted bass. I think a prime local example is Albert Dyck park. What size of bass are coming out of that pond nowadays?

Deer lake is part of an open waterway. Deer lake is connected to Burnaby lake, Still creek and the Brunette river. There have been many rehabilition projects over the years on these waterways to restore some of destruction caused by urban growth over the years. Many volunteer groups have spent countless hours on these projects. Coastal Cutthroat trout can be found in these waters. Largemouth bass will likely migrate into these waters and compete with the native fish species.

It is up to an individual to make up their mind on whether they should harvest bass from Deer lake. It is unlikely that harvesting a bass  from Deer lake will even have an impact on their population, since they are such prolific breeders. However, I just ask for anglers to take in to consideration the impact these bass have on the aquatic ecosystem. It was difficult enough for the lake to sustain stocked rainbow trout that carried over the winter.  



I sure would like to know who did it, so I could report them and collect the reward  

Thank you for such an in-depth and unbiased analysis!

[kid fisherman]

My brother fished deer lake this morning and hooked 3 nice sized bass.

[BC Fishing]

Once all the food sources are consumed the bass population will diminish and restablish an equilibrium. This equilibrium may mean smaller or stunted bass. I think a prime local example is Albert Dyck park. What size of bass are coming out of that pond nowadays?

Deer lake is part of an open waterway. Deer lake is connected to Burnaby lake, Still creek and the Brunette river. There have been many rehabilition projects over the years on these waterways to restore some of destruction caused by urban growth over the years. Many volunteer groups have spent countless hours on these projects. Coastal Cutthroat trout can be found in these waters. Largemouth bass will likely migrate into these waters and compete with the native fish species.

Apparently the Bass were actually introduced in Deer Lake by our Fisheries Officials as part of a stocking program and have been around for 40+ years. The Fisheries tried to exterminate them later, but the expensive attempts failed and won't be repeated. Good luck getting them to pay you prize money for reporting them to themselves xD The Red Side shiners were also introduced by the Fisheries as a source of food for trout, but they ended up eating the trout eggs instead, how ironic. They don't exactly advertise that they were responsible for it Just read the official reports & studies done by gov dot bc and you will dig up a ton of interesting info

In the years 2013-2015 Deer Lake has huge populations of baby bass, the odd adult bass, and adult pumpkinseeds. They hit a surface popper fly like crazy anywhere in the lake. Barely any fishermen knew this back in 2013. Several years later, there are a several fishermen at Deer Lake every day, filling up their buckets. 10+ on average fish get taken out almost every day in spring/summer. I've only seen several big bass caught.

I've noticed that the Lower Mainland has almost no insect life, when compared to many places around the world. This is typical of most coastal regions. Maybe the Fresh Water Scociety of BC can invest in some research regarding improving the aquatic food sources? The funds used to dump farmed trout into Deer Lake, which don't even survive there without any angling pressure, might be better used for improving the aquatic life. Physical enhancements may be a first step.

Burnaby Lake has an insane population of tadpoles in the summer. There are trillions of them all around the lake. Even though the baby bass are there too, every year, they are really scarce - as if they don't consider the tadpoles a food source? Baby carp are also present. Seems like a fantastic environment to introduce Pike to. But that would probably mean the end of the salmonoids in that system. Interestingly enough, in other places around the world, salmonoids and pike live together pretty well.

The bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, redside shiner, 3psine stickleback have made it down the Brunette River. However, they are even more scarce than in Burnaby Lake. They most likely don't spawn there, but get washed down and can't make it up the fish ladders, unlike the salmonoids. According to other fishermen, they simply pile downstream of the fishladders and remain there. Could this be a way to protect the other lakes? I somehow doubt the baby bass will ever be sustained in the Fraser. The Fraser's current is way too strong - Bass aren't swimmers, they are ambush predators. I suspect the little bass will be swept away towards the ocean...  If the lush underwater jungles of Deer & Burnaby lakes can barely support bass due to relatively low insect life, it seems like they will simply starve in the fraser. Realistically, there are Bass in the Fraser river tributaries, but there are too few of them, and often there are years where none can be found. After the Chornobyl Disaster, aquatic life in the radiated area is flourishing and there are absolute monster giants due to lack of fishing in just a few decades.

But in the past 40 years, the Bass in the lower mainland haven't exploded out of proportion, and haven't entirely dissipated either. In fact, the trout and salmon populations in Brunette River & Burnaby & Deer Lakes has greatly improved after the river restoration & habitat improvements & fish ladders.

Let's face it - places like the pitt meadow sloughs (a farmer-made muddy marsh with dark brown water) and burnaby lake (a man made muddy marsh with brown water ) are the kinds of places that never had world class trout. They are also the only places the bass live, even after 40 years. The trout & salmon numbers are booming - you can see several dozen Chum spawning in Deer Lake, another several dozen swimming up Brunette River and also nice sized cuthroat trout in the Brunette river system regardless of the Bass.

Uneducated people used to think that the local Northern Pikeminnow are "invasive" and threw them in the bushes to try to get rid of them. Well they are NATIVE, and have lived in IDEAL harmony with salmonoids since the beginning of time...

Humans and their lack of education & respect is the only real danger to the local fishery..

[Chrome Mykiss]

Apparently the Bass were actually introduced in Deer Lake by our Fisheries Officials as part of a stocking program and have been around for 40+ years. The Fisheries tried to exterminate them later, but the expensive attempts failed and won't be repeated. Good luck getting them to pay you prize money for reporting them to themselves xD The Red Side shiners were also introduced by the Fisheries as a source of food for trout, but they ended up eating the trout eggs instead, how ironic. They don't exactly advertise that they were responsible for it Just read the official reports & studies done by gov dot bc and you will dig up a ton of interesting info

In the years 2013-2015 Deer Lake has huge populations of baby bass, the odd adult bass, and adult pumpkinseeds. They hit a surface popper fly like crazy anywhere in the lake. Barely any fishermen knew this back in 2013. Several years later, there are a several fishermen at Deer Lake every day, filling up their buckets. 10+ on average fish get taken out almost every day in spring/summer. I've only seen several big bass caught.

I've noticed that the Lower Mainland has almost no insect life, when compared to many places around the world. This is typical of most coastal regions. Maybe the Fresh Water Scociety of BC can invest in some research regarding improving the aquatic food sources? The funds used to dump farmed trout into Deer Lake, which don't even survive there without any angling pressure, might be better used for improving the aquatic life. Physical enhancements may be a first step.

Burnaby Lake has an insane population of tadpoles in the summer. There are trillions of them all around the lake. Even though the baby bass are there too, every year, they are really scarce - as if they don't consider the tadpoles a food source? Baby carp are also present. Seems like a fantastic environment to introduce Pike to. But that would probably mean the end of the salmonoids in that system. Interestingly enough, in other places around the world, salmonoids and pike live together pretty well.

The bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, redside shiner, 3psine stickleback have made it down the Brunette River. However, they are even more scarce than in Burnaby Lake. They most likely don't spawn there, but get washed down and can't make it up the fish ladders, unlike the salmonoids. According to other fishermen, they simply pile downstream of the fishladders and remain there. Could this be a way to protect the other lakes? I somehow doubt the baby bass will ever be sustained in the Fraser. The Fraser's current is way too strong - Bass aren't swimmers, they are ambush predators. I suspect the little bass will be swept away towards the ocean...  If the lush underwater jungles of Deer & Burnaby lakes can barely support bass due to relatively low insect life, it seems like they will simply starve in the fraser. Realistically, there are Bass in the Fraser river tributaries, but there are too few of them, and often there are years where none can be found. After the Chornobyl Disaster, aquatic life in the radiated area is flourishing and there are absolute monster giants due to lack of fishing in just a few decades.

But in the past 40 years, the Bass in the lower mainland haven't exploded out of proportion, and haven't entirely dissipated either. In fact, the trout and salmon populations in Brunette River & Burnaby & Deer Lakes has greatly improved after the river restoration & habitat improvements & fish ladders.

Let's face it - places like the pitt meadow sloughs (a farmer-made muddy marsh with dark brown water) and burnaby lake (a man made muddy marsh with brown water ) are the kinds of places that never had world class trout. They are also the only places the bass live, even after 40 years. The trout & salmon numbers are booming - you can see several dozen Chum spawning in Deer Lake, another several dozen swimming up Brunette River and also nice sized cuthroat trout in the Brunette river system regardless of the Bass.

Uneducated people used to think that the local Northern Pikeminnow are "invasive" and threw them in the bushes to try to get rid of them. Well they are NATIVE, and have lived in IDEAL harmony with salmonoids since the beginning of time...

Humans and their lack of education & respect is the only real danger to the local fishery..

Okay, I ran a search through Gofishbc.com through the archives for Deer lake in Burnaby and did not find any stocking of Largemouth bass. The only species I could find were Whitefish (only in 1896), Cutthroat trout (only in 1992) and Rainbow trout. Can you please provide a link or source to confirm that largemouth bass were stocked into Deer lake by the governing body at the time? Also no mention about Red Sided shiners?

I fished Deer lake a lot while growing up, especially in the late 80's into the 90's and never saw nor heard of and Largemouth bass in there. I actually remember seeing Cutthroat trout in the culverted creek that runs into the lake in the Spring time. The only fish I caught in Deer lake were Rainbow trout, catfish and carp.

There is a very well written report by T.G. Brown, B. Runciman, S. Pollard, and A.D.A. Grant of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on Largemouth bass in BC. You can read it here:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/337843.pdf
From this report it states that Largemouth bass came into BC from waterways connected to Idaho and Washington state that had bass. Also from illegal introductions. There were some authorized transfers of Largemouth bass into other bodies of water from 1987 to 1993 (Deer lake was not a lake in that program).

The only species of bass that was actually stocked into BC waters were Smallmouth bass. Which were planted as fry or fingerlings into Christina lake, Langford lake and Florence lake in 1901. You can read about that here: http://ibis.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/AlienSpeciesinBritishColumbiaHistoricalRecords.html#FishFrogs

Not sure how introducing Northern Pike into Burnaby lake can solve the aquatic alien species problem there. Northern Pike are not a native species to our waterways here in Coastal BC. They would present a major issue with the balance of the ecosystem, since they are such voracious predators. The tadpoles your are talking about are actually and invasive species, the American bullfrog.

Your right uneducated humans are a real danger to local fisheries. Especially the ones who think they know how to manipulate the aquatic ecosystems by introducing a fish species that is only beneficial to their own angling interests. We as humans have made many mistakes in the past, let's try not repeat them.

[Dave]

Good post!

[BC Fishing]

Okay, I ran a search through Gofishbc.com through the archives for Deer lake in Burnaby and did not find any stocking info

A simple google search with the right key words gets you into into a bunch of studies & reports by the government, biologists, UBC, etc that are hosted on http://a100.gov.bc.ca/. Clicking links straight from google search opens the PDF reports directly.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Science Branch, Pacific Region
Pacific Biological Station

A Review of Yellow Perch (Perca Flavascens),
Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu),
Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides),
Pumpkinseed (Lepomis Gibbosus), Walleye
(Sander Vitreus) and Northern Pike (Esox
Lucius) Distributions in British Columbia

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/337851.pdf

"There are no provincial records contain no accounts of
authorized largemouth bass stocking in the Lower Mainland."

Ok, so the lack of records indicates that the province wasn't responsible for bass introduction.

"Dymond (1936) refers to stocking of smallmouth bass in various BC
waterbodies by the federal Department of Fisheries in 1901, but notes that other
species, including pumpkinseed, may have accompanied these fish.

Wait.. What does that sound like to you? To me, it sounds like the federal department of fisheries initially stocked other invasive species in addition to smallmouth in various water bodies in BC a 100+ years ago. They admit that they may have stocked pumpkinseed as well. Them not being sure what fish they're introducing sounds a little irresponsible on their part. Or maybe I am not understanding the wording correctly? Perhaps all the individuals who illegally distributed members of the sunfish family simply thought they were continuing the job (and mistake) of the federal department of fisheries started in 1901, as a vast majority of reported newly established bass populations happened within the next few decades (which means the actual illegal stocking happened shortly after 1901, as it takes a while for a lake to become noticeably populated with bass.

Interesting, this is such a "detailed" recent report dating to 2009..... (by detailed I mean they say things such as: fish is distributed along 4.1km of lake X. Wow, 4.1? why not 4.2km? Sounds like it's extremely detailed!) However Deer Lake isn't even on list of studied locations! It's not mentioned in there at all! It Deer Lake, a WHOLE LAKE has been left out of the paper, I wonder what else has? In my experience, 1 in 100 things gets reported, 1 in 10 reported things gets confirmed, and 1 in 2 confirmed things doesn't get "lost" in the archives.

So if the federal department of fisheries admits to stocking multiple invasive species, and the recent report fails to include a study regarding Deer Lake, in my opinion, this gives an inconclusive result due to a lack of concrete information. I would agree with you that no matter what happened initially, most likely the bass was also illegally stocked in the years to come.

Some other interesting articles:

B. C. GAME COMMISSION
- SCIENTIFIC REPORT - RED SIDE SHINERS
1950
http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/acat/documents/r9082/Lindsey1950_1283460179350_d57cc03a3afc475d9e3f541346c8516ac27c1d2b35913641422b76cd790d888d.pdf

"The harmful effects are felt by all sizes of trout, while the beneficial
effects apply only to adult trout. "

The glorification of Bass fishing on TV shows has many people thinking..

I agree with you on that glorification goes a long way into getting people overthinking the good, and the bad, about this species. After the initial growth boom, like you mentioned, the system goes back into balance and the fish remain small. Small, weaker, reproduce less.. The lower mainland isn't full of monster bass that are gobbling up every insect. There are barely any locations with only 3-4" bass, which don't require as much food. Pumpkinseeds are another story..

There are quite a few anglers on the local forums that mention they have fished bass in brunette river and other locations 20,30,40 years ago. I'm just putting it out there..
I've never caught small mouth in the lower mainland. I also believed black crappie was a myth - people mistook it for the pumpkinseed, as the only sun fish I caught, by the dozen - was pumpkinseed.. Until a black crappie hit my fly in Pitt Meadows in 2015. There used to be a huge population of catfish in 2012 in Pitt meadows. Not anymore! At least, I can't find them or get them to bite. They aren't growing big. I wonder how many people knew about the catfish in Deer Lake? My first and last sighting was a 4"-5" catfish caught in the shallows by a crow, and dropped on the main beach about 11 years ago. What I'm trying to say is that the lack of abundance and catchability of invasive species, aside from few isolated locations, like Deer Lake, leads me to believe that the invasive species aren't doing too well here after all.

Pumpkinseed are well known to eat eggs of other fish. Redside shiners also eat salmonoid fry and survive well in trout waters, unlike bass. Pumpkin seeds were introduced in several large european river systems and they halved the number of native species as they ate all of their eggs, within just 5 years, have colonized everything, even the "mud puddles on the side of the road". Thankfully we do not observe that here, at least not yet. The conditions in the local water systems aren't looking ideal for those kinds of warm water fish. Although spread is possible and does occur, naturally and illegally, it's more localized to "dirty" sloughs at golf courses, silt & mud beds; areas that aren't popular salmonoids anyway. I doubt the carp, catfish & bass will take over the harrison, fraser or vedder river and wreck havoc on the salmonoids. The spawning channels on Stave river are about 250ft away from Silvermere lake, a popular bass fishing location, according to the web, and it seems to be doing just fine.

For example.. There is a local website with a nice long write up of the harm done to the Brunette river system. There are even groups of people doing a "neighborhood watch" sort of thing over the salmon streams in that area. I don't recall them mentioning that bass were devastating to the salmonoids in that system. I do however recall them blaming every toxic run off from the industrial developments that was killing off all of the fish there.

Bass have been in Deer & Burnaby lake for a good while. Yet salmon returns began increasing recently. If bass were as deadly as their reputation is, no amount of new fish ladders or stream restoration would have increased the salmon returns. Sure, the lack of bass may yield even higher salmon returns, but there's not much anyone can do about that.

Regarding my joke about northern pike.. a little clarification is probably needed. Burnaby lake, a weedy frog filled pond that already has minnows, bass, sunfish, carp, catfish, trout, salmon and the lingering ghost of that snakehead.. The only fish missing from this aquarium soup, would be a pike, right? ..I'm not suggesting someone throws a pike in there. However, regarding "usefulness".. there are field tests being done to put pumpkinseed populations in european naturally formed trout ponds under control by releasing big, sterile pike - as a last resort. The idea is that a large quantity of same sex sterile pikes quickly eat the food supply. The pikes were supposed to include gps trackers, which allows for monitoring, and the possibility of netting them out after several years so the river delta (an area at the base of the mountains, without natural pike habitat) can be stocked with trout yet again. This extreme solution is a solution being tested for that particular water body and its unique attributes and isn't necessarily applicable anywhere else in the world.

To summarize,
1) The federal department of fisheries began the initiative of stocking an invasive species.
2) The federal department of fisheries admits to the possibility of them stocking multiple members of the sunfish family like pumpkinseed, (and others: crappie, and largemouth).
2) Based on my observations, maybe it's not as disastrous of an issue in our waters as it's made out to be or has been in other places around the world.
3) Based on the local regulations, the fisheries department considers crappie/sunfish far worse than bass, as the limit for bass (large/smallmouth combined) in the lower mainland regulations is 4 per day. Interesting. You can also keep 4 trout. If invasive bass are so bad to the local systems, wouldn't it be wise to raise the limit to 20, like the crappie/sunfish limit, to encourage people to lessen their numbers for the sake of improving conditions for the salmonoids?
4) Historically, no matter the intent of the people responsible, introducing an extra species (invasive or not) into a fishery usually has a negative impact on the existing species.
4) "Alien invasive species have been described as the second most prevalent threat for Canadian freshwater fish species at risk next to habitat loss". So, as I mentioned in the previous post, habitat loss due to human development is a much bigger issue. Improving habitat conditions is a much more effective way to improve the native fishery.

I welcome new information to dispute my findings or conclusions, as the purpose of this is to make future improvements.

[troutbreath]

" "Pleading the Fifth" is a colloquial term for invoking the privilege that allows a witness to decline to answer questions where the answers might incriminate him or her"

[Chuck]

I have to say, i for one am thoroughly glad to see this thread rectified again.  I seem to stumble on this thread every year, but now i've moved to Deer Lake it has sparked more of an interest for me. 

I do appreciate that the existence of Bass in Deer Lake could be detrimental to the native eco system but, as many have said, if they are there now, we might as well fish for them and enjoy. 

While i'm not 100% catch and release, I will release all healthy fish i catch in urban lakes as i'm a firm believer that these lakes should be enjoyed by all, and especially the young and inexperienced.  My soon to be 5 year old is getting excited for the stocking this year to make up for our two skunked trips last year.  He also wants to kill the fish to take home to hi Mum, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  If I do kill a fish it will be for food and not just because they do not belong in the lake.

I would love the lower mainland to have more catch and release fisheries.  Some of the best fishing i had growing up in the south of England was at catch and release lakes. 

But for now i'm looking forward to getting out on my cheap inflatable boat in Deer Lake and going after some Bass, Carp, and Trout.


Edit: And an excellent post by BC Fishing there, a very well argued point, i hope somebody can come back with an equally well argued response. 
 

[Damien]

A few points;

There are DOZENS of places locally from Vancouver to the East Fraser Valley that produce TROPHY largemouth bass.

The local bass club is very tight lipped about it (pun intended).  Most novice level bass anglers can do 'well' catching small bass.  You have to know what you are doing for the most part to catch the larger ones.  They are spooky, tend to be away from the well trodden bank fishing areas and there is a definite art to it.  This can lead many to think that the bass aren't flourishing locally, they are.

We are no different than Oregon and Washington State which has a great balance of trout and salmon, along with the spiny ray species.  As people have mentioned in this thread, the two groups of fish inhabit different types of waters, generally speaking.

You wont find largemouths swimming around the main flow of the Fraser, just like you wouldn't expect them in the main part of the Columbia etc.  The sloughs, channels, oxbows and other type of slower water are a different story.

We are ignorant to think that largemouths weren't stocked at some point over the years, or conversely that they made their way into local waters 'naturally'.  How could a lake like Wiser just over the border have huge largemouths, but nothing on our side?  Look at the Sumas River, Judson Lake, Fish Trap creek, all span the boundary and all have bass.

Government stocked or not.  Bucket Brigade or natural spread.  Doesn't matter.

They are here, and there are BIG ones if you learn the sport and aren't afraid to put in your time. 

[BCfisherman97]

You do indeed find bass in the Columbia. We actually tend to catch a lot of them while walleye fishing, averaging about 1.5 pounds with a few 3's caught over the years.

[Damien]

You'll notice I said largemouth, in the main flow.

Smallmouth are typically found in more similar water to Walleye.  They really like rocks, and don't mind some current.

Harder pressed to find largemouths occupying water in faster currents.

[leaping steely]

 Nevermind.

[BCfisherman97]

You'll notice I said largemouth, in the main flow.

Smallmouth are typically found in more similar water to Walleye.  They really like rocks, and don't mind some current.

Harder pressed to find largemouths occupying water in faster currents.

Touche, skimmed through it without seeing the largemouth part.