Abolish 12 inch size limit for largemouth bass?

Batjack

Cap`n Jack 1313
AND every where in public waters in the state that don't have a 14" or slot limit on large mouth bass, the minimum length is 12". Now, spotted bass and some others have no minimum, but large mouths do on all public waters.
As for the original question, I think that it's worked just fine so far.
 

cowhornedspike

Senior Member
INCORRECT INFO

check www.gofishgeorgia.com for bass size. Many lakes are 14" (Blackshear, Lanier, Oconee, George, West Point, and many PFA's).

AND every where in public waters in the state that don't have a 14" or slot limit on large mouth bass, the minimum length is 12". Now, spotted bass and some others have no minimum, but large mouths do on all public waters.
As for the original question, I think that it's worked just fine so far.

Fair enough. Same website gives conflicting info because that is the site I quoted as well.
 

lampern

Senior Member
12 inch minimum length limit for largemouth bass from the Ocmulgee River
(Macon’s Spring Street bridge crossing to confluence with Oconee River).

I thought there was a statewide 12 inch limit except for lakes with a 14 inch limit?

I guess I should have looked at the latest regulations before starting this thread. Sorry bout that.
 

The mtn man

Senior Member
Largemouth should be at least 16" limit, should be no regulation for spots on our reservoirs, should be considered non game.
 

61BelAir

Senior Member
I guess they should leave it as is. It really depends on the body of water as to what should be done and a lot of different rules would just make it hard to keep up with.

I think a lot of places would be better off allowing people to keep every bass under 14" between November and February. That would remove some runts and maybe allow some more of the spring fry to survive.

I completely agree with the no limits on spot plan. Why in the world would the DNR place any kind of limit or regulation on an invasive species? I'd love to see some "no release" tournaments for spotted bass. Smallmouth are already rare in the few GA waters they are native to. With the way things are going the lesser known species our state has will be virtually whipped out/displaced.
I know several guys on here enjoy catching spotted bass and some even make a living guiding for them on lakes where they have taken over. I don't hate the fish - I just hate what they are doing to our native species.
 

lampern

Senior Member
But only a few lakes have/need special regulations on bass

The 12 inch limit is not a special regulation. It applies statewide with just a few exceptions and those are higher limits

I can keep 10 22 inch bass but not 10 10 inch bass

It dates from the 1950s and 60s when the DNR was trying to establish largemouth populations in the big reservoirs being dammed during that period.
 

Bream Pole

Senior Member
leave as is. Its working good.
 

Gordon

Senior Member
The rules need changing somewhat. Personally, if you want to take bass for the table, they should be on the small side, they taste better anyway, a slot limit would work here. The rules need to be flexible enough to allow tailoring for different waters too. On some waters, Spots for example are 90% of the bass population and they are on the small side, I see no issue with removing small ones. On other waters, there is a very healthy population of large spots, that should be protected with a high end size limit. I regularly take bass for the table, I always try to keep the small ones only, where rules allow.
 

lampern

Senior Member
I posted above

It prevents people from harvesting small fish and makes them harvest big ones

I prefer people eat small fish not big ones
 

kmckinnie

BOT KILLER MODERATOR
Staff member
How many eggs does 1 female bass lay a year ?
Oh yea I forgot that don’t get caught off the bed. :(
 

red neck richie

Senior Member
How many eggs does 1 female bass lay a year ?
Oh yea I forgot that don’t get caught off the bed. :(

Kmac. The big females are hard to catch on a bed . The males are more aggressive defending it. I have spent many an hour trying to get fish to bite on a bed. some days you are wasting your time. The key is to get them angry enough to bite it otherwise they just move it.
 
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