No Longer A Length Limit On Spotted Bass At Beaver Lake

[BIGBASSDAVEY]

I was unaware of this until my buddy made mention of it last Friday when we were catching a bunch of what were short fish by the old 12" limit. So I looked it up today and sure enough, should have kept a few....

http://www.agfc.com/enforcement/Documents/FishingRegsApproval.pdf

Elimination of the 12-inch minimum length limit on spotted bass in Beaver Lake.

Spotted bass in Beaver Lake exhibit slow growth rates as documented by age and growth studies. It takes Beaver Lake spotted bass 3.8 years to reach the 12-inch minimum length limit and over 7 years to reach 15 inches. The spotted bass population in Beaver Lake is dominated by smaller fish. Results from the last two years of electrofishing showed that over 82% were below 12 inches. Discontinuing the length limit on spotted bass will promote more harvest of the species which will reduce competition for available forage and allow for increased growth rates of other black bass species.

[Ham]

so was the recommendation approved?

[BIGBASSDAVEY]

That's what I gathered from the full report, from what I understand the last page states that it went into affect Jan 1 of this year...

WHEREAS, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and its staff have proposed the attached fisheries regulations and

WHEREAS, the attached regulations have been communicated through a variety of media avenues to sportsmen and the general public throughout the state for review and comment for the past 30 days; and

WHEREAS, after carefully considering the recommendations of Commission staff and the Regulations Committee, as well as comments received from the public, the Commission has determined that the attached regulations promote sound wildlife conservation and management and are consistent with Amendment 35 of the Arkansas Constitution and that these regulations should now be approved for application statewide.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDERED this 15th day of August 2013, that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission hereby approves and adopts the attached regulations, which shall become effective January 1, 2014.

BE IT FURTHER ORDERED that the Commission staff is authorized to proceed with legally certifying and filing the attached regulations with the Secretary of State, State Library, and Bureau of Legislative Research and incorporating them into the Commission Code Book and Addendum.

[JohnF52]

There are so many little 5 inch spots they will swarm a small lure thrown in the right spot. Hopefully the flathead catfish eat a lot of them.

[J-Doc]

I plan on taking some home. There are way to many and they eat a TON of the bait population. They need to be thinned out.

[J-Doc]

Look back in some of the previous threads here from last year. There are at least 2 or 3 discussions on this topic.

[1969Larson]

You know what eats tons of those 5-inch spotted bass? Wrong. Not stripers.... Other black bass!

[J-Doc]

You know what eats tons of those 5-inch spotted bass? Wrong. Not stripers.... Other black bass!

Correct. Stripers like gizards shad and minnows. Sunfish too.

[marknsaw]

the Spots still occupy the same habitat as Blacks and the Smallies. I am for this decision.. actually pushed for it when interviewed by AGFC ( along with more wally/yellow perch stocking ) . From what I read, they will compete and out-spawn and out-grow Blacks and Smalls, but they don't get as big as them. Just a bit tired of trolling up good eatin' 13-14 inch spots and throwin' em back. Just my opinion...but anytime I can boat more fish is fine with me. Now to start working on the 20" limit to stripers AWWWW come on! how many 18.5- 19.0 inch stripers has everyone caught? Get it down to 15" like all the other bass is alllllll I'm sayin.

[J-Doc]

^ Hahahahahaha!!