03-28-2014, 03:50 PM
[quote scartinez]I understand that pelican lakes bass are stunted. That doesn't mean the a slot limit won't help things. Bass that are larger then average in Pelican Lake must be the offspring of a better gene pull. These fish need to be protected while smaller bass need to be harvested. A slot limit with bass from 14-20 or even 18 inches need to immediately release. 10 fish limit or even a 20 fish limit with only 1 over 20 inches or 18 inches. This seems like it would be a great limit in most lakes with stunted bass. An increased limit with protection of fish with a better genes for growing large.
The past few times I've gone to Pelican I've seen stringers of larger then average bass being harvested. The anglers are harvesting the wrong fish legaly. This needs to be stopped. No wonder the bass are stunted. You take all the best fish out, and you end up with nothing but a bunch of small fish passing on their genes.[/quote]
Genetics isn't the problem…that fish that is 9 inches long has the genetic makeup to grow large. You have to remember that fish have indeterminate growth and not determinate growth. In other words, fish grow throughout their lifetimes and that growth is largely "determined" by its environment and not its genetics. IF you were to take that 9 year old 9 inch bass from Pelican and put it into a bass pond with good habitat and a good food source as the lone bass, it would grow very rapidly and probably very large.
The presence of 9 year old 9 inch bass is troubling because it shows very very slow growth rates and "stunting". When fish stunt, their growth rates are slowed…and, in many cases, the fish may even appear to be healthy. This is a problem of overcrowding…which Drew's post specifically mentioned when he referred to the "extreme lack of balance" between bluegill and largemouth. To eliminate this problem the ratio of largemouth bass and bluegill should be changed to where bluegill outnumber the bass (Drew mentioned a 1:8 ratio). So, how do you do that?
In his original comments, Drew mentioned that the lake "suffers from extreme lack of harvest". This is the problem…not enough fish are being harvested. People always worry about protecting the "big ones". But, any kind of protection in a situation where fish are too numerous or overcrowded will exacerbate the problem…not help it. By removing even those "big ones" you open op room for another fish to grow rapidly and attain that "big" size. So, again, when over harvest is NOT the problem--as Drew specifically pointed out--a slot limit will NOT work. What needs to happen at Pelican is for largemouth bass numbers to be thinned…and harvest is the perfect strategy to do this! Your idea of a slot at Pelican would work in theory…but only if people harvest fish. The problem is that most bass fishermen don't or won't. So, the best management strategy is to remove the slot!
The difficult thing is convincing bass fishermen of this….interestingly, I have been fortunate enough to fish with Wayne Gustaveson on Lake Powell a couple times the past few years. I think some of you bass guys would go nuts to see how he operates on Lake Powell…when Wayne or someone in Wayne's boat catches a bass (largemouth, smallmouth, or striped), it is immediately harvested and thrown into a cooler. Why? Because he knows that the more mouths take out of Lake Powell, the better the fishery will ultimately be. Too many bass fishermen, though, don't understand the concept behind slot limits and why they are or are not successful.
That is why things like this are happening:
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2...on_si.html
Just don't tell Cliff….he will never believe that other states have found slot limits ineffective too!
[signature]
The past few times I've gone to Pelican I've seen stringers of larger then average bass being harvested. The anglers are harvesting the wrong fish legaly. This needs to be stopped. No wonder the bass are stunted. You take all the best fish out, and you end up with nothing but a bunch of small fish passing on their genes.[/quote]
Genetics isn't the problem…that fish that is 9 inches long has the genetic makeup to grow large. You have to remember that fish have indeterminate growth and not determinate growth. In other words, fish grow throughout their lifetimes and that growth is largely "determined" by its environment and not its genetics. IF you were to take that 9 year old 9 inch bass from Pelican and put it into a bass pond with good habitat and a good food source as the lone bass, it would grow very rapidly and probably very large.
The presence of 9 year old 9 inch bass is troubling because it shows very very slow growth rates and "stunting". When fish stunt, their growth rates are slowed…and, in many cases, the fish may even appear to be healthy. This is a problem of overcrowding…which Drew's post specifically mentioned when he referred to the "extreme lack of balance" between bluegill and largemouth. To eliminate this problem the ratio of largemouth bass and bluegill should be changed to where bluegill outnumber the bass (Drew mentioned a 1:8 ratio). So, how do you do that?
In his original comments, Drew mentioned that the lake "suffers from extreme lack of harvest". This is the problem…not enough fish are being harvested. People always worry about protecting the "big ones". But, any kind of protection in a situation where fish are too numerous or overcrowded will exacerbate the problem…not help it. By removing even those "big ones" you open op room for another fish to grow rapidly and attain that "big" size. So, again, when over harvest is NOT the problem--as Drew specifically pointed out--a slot limit will NOT work. What needs to happen at Pelican is for largemouth bass numbers to be thinned…and harvest is the perfect strategy to do this! Your idea of a slot at Pelican would work in theory…but only if people harvest fish. The problem is that most bass fishermen don't or won't. So, the best management strategy is to remove the slot!
The difficult thing is convincing bass fishermen of this….interestingly, I have been fortunate enough to fish with Wayne Gustaveson on Lake Powell a couple times the past few years. I think some of you bass guys would go nuts to see how he operates on Lake Powell…when Wayne or someone in Wayne's boat catches a bass (largemouth, smallmouth, or striped), it is immediately harvested and thrown into a cooler. Why? Because he knows that the more mouths take out of Lake Powell, the better the fishery will ultimately be. Too many bass fishermen, though, don't understand the concept behind slot limits and why they are or are not successful.
That is why things like this are happening:
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2...on_si.html
Just don't tell Cliff….he will never believe that other states have found slot limits ineffective too!
[signature]