If we as fisherman could be in charge of our lakes in the sense ,that i would like to see our lakes have a catch and release only on small ,spotted and largemouth bass.I know there are skeptics who will say that the bas will overrun the lake and only stunt the populations growth/size ,but iknow from fishing for the last 30 years i cant swallow that pill,Lake Barrett in san diego being one of them a catch and release only fishery that still kicks out some large fish.I believe that a certain percent of bass in any lake including barrett will be poached,fry eaten by predators and so forth.Most lakes only have a minumum length and maybe 5 bass per day.but it makes me ill to go to my local lakes in the spring and find spawning bass dying/dead on someones stringer,and not just the 5 bass but they bring theyre whole family so theyre even keeping fish for the kids who arent even fishing.if we cant impose rstrictions as above how about seasons were you can keep bass ,maybe starting july 1st -janurary30 you can keep 5 bass.kindao flike they do back east for salmon etc.
Just a thought thats been bugging me for a few months/years now.
hope i made sense,
Brian

I agree to a point. I dont think there should be catch and release on ALL bass. I do know for a fact that there are some people that "Target" spawning bass and keep them. They dont fish for bass the rest of the year except during spawn. I am not sure what effect that has on population but I can tell you that taking 10+ fish out of the gene pool you loose those 10+ genes forever. I think these people are the exception and not the rule.

I agree to a certain point as well. My thoughts are this: If you look back in the 70's 80's you will notice that ALOT more bigger fish were being caught, like bass in the teens, even on the east coast were not that uncommon. Today they are almost impossible to find except for small nitches around the country. It should be obvious that there should be a catch and release only on big bass. Especially with the growing popularity of replicas. Keeping small bass to eat is not gonna hurt anything. Another thing to consider is Stick Marsh Farm 13. That place has been catch and release only, and say what you want, it has it's ups and downs, but overall that lake never stops producing numbers and even large fish. I don't see why we can't just put a limit on keeping larger fish to keep the big fish gene pool alive in all these lakes, and keep the possiblity of growing teen sized bass more likely. Alot of these fisheries on the east coast have turned into dink lakes, but if you look back in the 80's these lakes were producing 15 lbers pretty frequently. Hmmm. Now all you can hope for is a great day catching 2 lb spots and maybe get a 12 lb sack if your really on fish. Too many lunkers were caught and kept.

Release the big girls, keep a couple small ones if you want something to eat...My 2 cents, Jeremy.

All the literature I've read or heard. Say's to take out a percentage of fish per acre to keep the population healthy. I don't know the exact numbers but they all say it will keep the health of the fish and prey in balance. Definately pro catch and release on bigger fish to keep the balance under control as well. Bigger fish can eat the larger prey. I don't think removing small bass will hurt the overall quality of fish coming out of a lake but improve the fishery as a whole........BassMan

I think we should impose slot limits on waters with sizable bass populations. I see these type of probelms even at my private club lake I fish. In spring, people try to catch the spawners & then keep them. It's sad & fournately we imposed some new rules. Now you must catch & release any bass up until a certain date; in this case until mid June, so by then most of the spawners are in post-spawn & your average Joe fisherman can't rack up on them without giving it some skill. This rule works great, & I think if we put up some slot limits for the rest of the season we could have an even better fishery for bass. I've seen a lot of fry & fingerlings this year, which is great because that means a majority of the bass are spawning unhindered. I think if a slot limit of, say, 3 bass between 10"-14" (for any amount of people in a group) applied to many waters would work wonderfully. That way you're getting rid of some the smaller guys & making more room for the newly hatched fry and more food for the exsisting keepers.

i'm definitely a believer in selective harvest, but taking of fish say, over 5 or 6 pounds can harm a fishery depending on it's size. but i also think catch and release can be taken to an extreme. look at lake perris. still good fish in there for sure, but in the spring and summer there are literally millions of 4-8" bass thriving in there. i also feel better about people taking those juvenille bass, be it illegal or not, out of the lake than the big girls who are actually making the little guys. complicated issue with lots of gray areas. i like the way they do the redfish stuff in the southeast. have to be over a certain length and under another. that system definitely works out for the best.

Jake

They had a thing on Bill Dance outdoors about waterway management that said 12-14" bass are the best size to take and it does not affect the fishery much. Infact makes it better sice big fish have more to eat. Anyhow I throw em' all back :-)

Its impossible to put the same regulation on all lakes and expect to achieve the same results. Many, many variables play a role in determining whether or not catch and release is appropriate in a particular lake. However, the number one factor in determining if a slot (keeping smaller fish) is appropriate for increasing the "quality" of a fishery: recruitment. In general, if recruitment of the first few age classes is very high, keeping and eating those fish will increase the quality in that lake. However, if recruitment in the first few age classes is low, keeping those smaller fish will harm the fishery.

It gets alot more complicated than that but thats a start. For example, what if a lake is loaded with bass under 15 inches, the fish you catch are very fat (no problem with the prey/forage ratio), growth rates of those fish are on par with normal (no stunting), but you almost never see a fish over 15 inches? Hmmm, then whats the problem?

Without a doubt, the number one problem with bass fisheries today is overcrowding, and this is a result of the catch and release craze of the 70's. Most fisheries today can only benefit from keeping sub 12 inch fish. And thats a fact.

There's a lake by me that has a catch and release only during spawn and the rest of the year is a 12-24" limit. Now 24" bass is a good fish and I think it's a little bit big for the slot limit. 12-18" would be OK with me, but I throw them all back no matter what. I think all lakes should be catch and release only during spawn. Like Febuary through May/June would be good for most of the country I think.

At lake mclure, a very decent bass lake, they have a year round slot limit of 12-15". This lake is HEAVILY fished, it gets pounded, yet if you stop at the bait shops on the way you'll see plenty of pictures of 10-14 pound bass, covering the walls. I believe the lake record is 16.something. My largest out of there was roughly 7 lbs. But I haven't had decent acces to a boat since my dad sold his about 8 years ago. A good friend of mine pulled an 11lber out of there about four months ago. If you fish the lake, you'll catch a lot of 12-16 bass. A 18-22" bass isn't too uncommon. This may not seem like it's that great, but with how heavy this lake is fished it is amazing to me that it's as good as it is. If the slot limit wasn't enforced i doubt that lake would even be worth the trip.
Hunter