Spotted Bass Regulation Meeting

[Quillback]

Chief you should send your questions to Jon Stein, I get the feeling he's looking for feedback and would welcome it. They do the shocking every year so they're basing their decision on multi-year data.

[Quillback]

Bill Babler has said that he's been told by the MO bios that spotted bass in Table Rock take 6-7 years to reach 15", which is what they're seeing in Beaver. Maybe in the rivers they grow faster?

[JohnF52]

They are stunted in the clear COE reservoirs. Overpopulation of small bass and not enough forage. Need to stock a bunch of Flathead Catfish and have high limits on 9 to 12 inch spotted bass.

[Chief Grey Bear]

2. Large portion of population is less than the 12” MLL---82% below 12” in 2012 electrofishing.

6. Even if the regulation change does not improve the spotted bass population it will allow anglers the opportunity to catch and keep smaller spotted bass to eat.

They do the shocking every year so they're basing their decision on multi-year data.

I was just going off of his own statement.

And by looking at #6, it appears as if they have already decided to do it. Whether is it good for the population or not. Which I thought this was about size not population.

The more I look at it, the more questions I have. I don't fish the lake a whole lot though.

[Feathers and Fins]

I was thinking about this last night between the rumbles of ( hahah you aint sleeping ) and I would much rather see AGFC concentrate on the LMB and SMB populations. The smallies from what I have been seeing are really doing good and removing some of the competition would only improve the fishery for them. But on the other hand I would say the majority of my LMB are in more riverine areas it seems ( again my opinion and experience ) so a catch and keep on spots could help Both species attain higher population and better size.

To be truthful I would like to see AGFC improve the fisheries for LMB, SMB, Crappie and Walleye. Beaver seems to have a great population of Whites and Catfish and not much needed to help them. She is managed as a trophy Striper Lake and to that end I would like to see a slot limit on them from 28'' to 32'' and then a 1 fish per day over 40'' They will always need to be stocked as will the hybrid's.

[Quillback]

My final 2 cents is that based on my personal experience there are a lot of small spotted bass in Beaver, I'd rather catch 10 keeper sized fish in a day than 30 little spots. Make the regulation change and let's see what happens. If the consequences are bad for the overall fishery, then they can roll It back.

[Quillback]

OK, one more "final" thought, if the aim is to increase the number of quality bass, it might make sense to have a slot limit on spots, for example, release spots that are between 15-18 inches. Tournament guys might not like that however. Texas has quite a few lakes with slot limits and those lakes provide some quality fishing in spite of the heavy pressure. Of course Beaver isn't a Texas lake as far as habitat.

[Justin Spencer]

OK, one more "final" thought, if the aim is to increase the number of quality bass, it might make sense to have a slot limit on spots, for example, release spots that are between 15-18 inches. Tournament guys might not like that however. Texas has quite a few lakes with slot limits and those lakes provide some quality fishing in spite of the heavy pressure. Of course Beaver isn't a Texas lake as far as habitat.

No need to release those bigger spots as they grow so slow very few will ever reach that 18" mark, and the goal is to get rid of them so faster growing LMB can take their place.

[kwall]

Keep all bass less than 12" and throw back all from 12" to 16" and keep over 16" ---- that's my 2 cents anyway

[Champ188]

From what I know of other states' theories, spots are pretty much unwanted. Oklahoma has removed all creel and size limits on them except for a few rare exceptions with individual lakes. The thinking is that spots are aggressive and will out-compete LM and even SM for forage.

I enjoy catching spots and I enjoy eating them because I'm personally convinced that I'm doing no harm to the fishery from whence they came. In fact, I'm likely helping it.

I'm with F&F on the subject of catch-and-release. In some cases, we are loving our bass to death. Game and Fish can pass all the regulations and work their tails off to stock our lakes, but if we don't harvest some of the legal fish then it all goes for naught. Harvest is a critical part of any management plan because every body of water has a per-acre capacity of how many bass it can support based on forage.

Again, I think Stein and his colleagues are looking in the right direction in order to boost LM and SM populations on Beaver.

F&F this is where you quit reading ....

Now if they'd just cease and desist with the striper stockings!