New Regulations for Lake Jackson Largemouth Bass

[Steve Stinson]

Just emailed to me from FWC:

For immediate release: September 17, 2013


New largemouth bass regulation in effect on Lake Jackson
A new largemouth bass harvest regulation is in effect on Lake Jackson, just north of Tallahassee. An angler on Jackson can now keep up to five bass a day, with one of the five bass exceeding 16 inches in length.
The old regulation on Lake Jackson prohibited anglers from keeping or harvesting smaller bass, most of which are male and now make up a large part of the lake’s bass population. The former rule also allowed the taking of largemouth bass over 18 inches, which are typically female “trophy fish” that bass anglers love to catch.
“The rule change will allow the needed harvest of some of these smaller bass,” said Chris Paxton, Regional Fisheries Biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Allowing the harvest of these abundant smaller bass will reduce competition for the available forage. Increasing the abundance of food for fish that are 14, 15 and 16 inches will enable them to grow faster.”
Paxton said that the majority of the 419 anglers (96 percent) interviewed in 2011 who fished Lake Jackson supported a move to the current regulation.
Lake Jackson normally covers about 4,000 acres but currently is 2,000 acres. The water level is about 3 feet lower than historic full pool. As a result, access is limited to a few ramps and to those using smaller boats about 16 feet or less in length.
Currently, the best ramps are the ones at Crowder Road Landing and U.S. 27 (North Monroe Street). Some boat ramps, such as Miller Landing, may require the use of a four-wheel drive vehicle.
For more information on fishing regulations, go to MyFWC.com/Fishing and select “Freshwater Fishing.”
To learn about the TrophyCatch black bass conservation and angler-reward programs, go to MyFWC.com/Fishing and select “Freshwater Fishing” then click on the “Black Bass Management Plan” picture.

Good Fishin -

Steve Stinson
President
Meridian Surveying and Mapping, Inc.

[bman]

That is Great news... lets cull some of those little ones out!

[cotton]

Thank you FWC!!!!

[wevans]

The way that reads, there is no minimum size limit?

[kenfly]

Well I'm a catch and release type of guy when it comes to bass, but if this helps the bigger fish than I'm all for it, just don't want to see them getting wiped out. The one I caught a couple weeks ago was prob about 2-3 lbs skinny and would have been a double digit fish so maybe this will help those bigger ones.

[cotton]

I'm also a catch and release guy. Except on Saturdays I keep enough to feed 2. I'm not fond of bass and prefer specks. fyi - it takes 4 gills, or 2 specks, or 1 15" bass per person if you filet, to make a pretty nice meal. 15" bass are pretty tasty.

From a genetics point of view, its just as important to remove inferior fish as it is to put trophies back.

Its sad we can't age fish and determine which of them 15" will some day be a 26". But we definitely know the genetics a 26" has.

[SS-342]

I'm also a catch and release guy. Except on Saturdays I keep enough to feed 2. I'm not fond of bass and prefer specks. fyi - it takes 4 gills, or 2 specks, or 1 15" bass per person if you filet, to make a pretty nice meal. 15" bass are pretty tasty.

From a genetics point of view, its just as important to remove inferior fish as it is to put trophies back.

Its sad we can't age fish and determine which of them 15" will some day be a 26". But we definitely know the genetics a 26" has.

Cotton…..I like the way you think!

It hit me kind of funny, I suppose we would keep all the Black Sea Bass. Seems they got all the inferior growth genes plus the Big Appetite gene. An odd combination!