Dad just pulled this one up with a spinner bait (big bass inside)

[Walcrabass]

Lowe,

  I think the best way is to go to the internet and type in something like " How to identify a Kentucky or Spotted Bass"? Thanks for the help. I wish all anglers would understand the importance of this effort.

 

Walcrabass

[LoweSTX175]

Just did a search.  I can tell the difference.  When I get back on Stockton in this spring I'll take all the keeper Kentucky bass out of the lake when trolling.  I'm starting to think that I'm picking up several of them and never really realized there was a difference.  I just tossed them back.  I assume the size on Stockton with the Kentucky bass is 12 inches?

[Hammer time]

3 hours ago, LoweSTX175 said:

Just did a search.  I can tell the difference.  When I get back on Stockton in this spring I'll take all the keeper Kentucky bass out of the lake when trolling.  I'm starting to think that I'm picking up several of them and never really realized there was a difference.  I just tossed them back.  I assume the size on Stockton with the Kentucky bass is 12 inches?

The length limit on spots is 15" the same as blacks.

My son and I were stopped and asked multiple questions about our outing by MDC this spring including a proposed lowering of the length limit on Kentucky Bass.

We both agreed to not lower the length limit, spots have there place on the lake as all other species do, Mother Nature will always take care of any problems!

The spots are few and far between so release them all to be caught another day!

Tight lines and CPR 

Hammer time

[Walcrabass]

Hammertime,

  I certainly respect your posts on this forum but I have to say that "protecting" certain species will  allow them to flourish. I consider the 15" length on Spots to be a form of protection as they rarely reach this length on certain waters. Stockton is one of those places. In this instance you and I are in disagreement. You are correct about the Spots being "few and far between" in Stockton. From my own observations and keeping mental notes they are certainly on the increase. I catch far more of them today than 10 years ago. The most disturbing part is that in one day of fishing two years ago I caught three of the Kentucky hybrids in the same day..... on three different parts of the lake. They have to be kept in check with different regulations than the other Bass or the awesome Bass fishing we are enjoying of Stockton will go South. I believe we all need to ask for regulation changes that will allow this species of Bass to be dealt with in a manner that will assure they do not have the opportunity to increase in numbers.

Walcrabass

[waterpossum]

I would have to agree with Hammer time on this one. Kentuckies may be a problem on Table Rock, but are not near as common on Stockton. As a percentage of bass in Stockton an agent told me it was probably less than 10%

[Hammer time]

20 hours ago, Walcrabass said:

Hammertime,

  I certainly respect your posts on this forum but I have to say that "protecting" certain species will  allow them to flourish. I consider the 15" length on Spots to be a form of protection as they rarely reach this length on certain waters. Stockton is one of those places. In this instance you and I are in disagreement. You are correct about the Spots being "few and far between" in Stockton. From my own observations and keeping mental notes they are certainly on the increase. I catch far more of them today than 10 years ago. The most disturbing part is that in one day of fishing two years ago I caught three of the Kentucky hybrids in the same day..... on three different parts of the lake. They have to be kept in check with different regulations than the other Bass or the awesome Bass fishing we are enjoying of Stockton will go South. I believe we all need to ask for regulation changes that will allow this species of Bass to be dealt with in a manner that will assure they do not have the opportunity to increase in numbers.

Walcrabass

I believe that all the stocked walleye are competing for the same forage as all bass. Conservation agent informed my son and me that they will not stock any species of bass for the foreseeable future but will continue to stock walleye to keep Stockton the best walleye spot in Midwest.

Thats fine by me don't fish for them but catch lots fishing for bass and in my opinion they taste better then crappie.

[Lvn2Fish]

The only reason they are thinking of implementing the 12" limit on the spotted bass, is that the spots take a very long time to reach the 15 inch limit. In result you're left with a bunch of sub legal fish eating their share of forage. In fact the agent I talked to said most of these fish never reach the 15inch limit in their life cycle. 

[Walcrabass]

Lvn2Fish,

 You are exactly correct. They have done a study on Stockton. They are basically never reaching the harvestable length of 15". Therefore they have their entire life cycle to spawn and make more that will never reach the 15" limit either. It is very easy to see that with this management approach they will be ever increasing in population. Stockton is a GREAT LAKE for Bass fishing. I do not want to see it get ruined.

Hammertime,

  You are exactly correct too. The percentage of Kentuckies in Stockton is small. But the fact is that until recent years it was almost non -existent. Now that there is a decent amount of them in the lake, and now that so many are prime breeding size which for them is about 11 + inches they will literally sky rocket in percent of Bass in the lake unless something is done immediately. As far as letting Mother Nature take it's course......... Kentuckies are a creek fish...... that is why they are built to spawn at a smaller size as creeks do not generally offer the food that a large body of water offers. As I have said before they have special length limits for them ( in some places no length limit ) on some of the creeks in our nation as they have literally taken them over due to incorrect length/species differentiation regulations. They have poisoned the Smallmouth gene pool due to crossbreeding in some places that it is getting more and more difficult to find a pure Smallmouth. We can discuss this eminent problem for days but the fact is that the studies have been done and action needs to be taken. Stockton is on the verge of a population explosion of these small Bass that will completely ruin Bass fishing as it is now known on the lake. I want everybody to understand that I do not hate these fish. I fish for them a lot on the creeks and rivers. That is where they belong. I have been studying these fish for about 40 years and it is my opinion and the opinion of others that in certain environments ( like lakes ) that they need special regulations.

Respectfully,

Walcrabass

[LoweSTX175]

I hope MDC continues to stock the Walleye and I'm very grateful that they lowered the size limit to 15 from 18.  I think this is the reason we are seeing great numbers.  As far as bass is concerned.  I'm going to try and identify Kentucky bass and keep all legal ones from here on out.  Hopefully I continue to release all LM unharmed.  I take pride in getting them back to the water as quickly as possible with very little handling and no injuries.  I understand that the majority of Bass guys are into catching them for the sport and return them for future anglers to enjoy.

[Hammer time]

It's a very interesting topic but being a marketing major and not wildlife conservation or work for MDC, they are the experts. Their job is to manage our wildlife and in my opinion have done a fantastic job.

I practice catch and release on all bass species regardless if they lower the length limit on spots to 12" I'll never keep one! Ever single fish taken from the lake will NEVER be enjoyed by another angler. 

CPR= catch photo release

The only species I'll remove is walleye and few crappie since those are continually stocked by MDC. As I mentioned before MDC has no plans in the foreseeable future to ever stock any species of bass again so please practice CPR.