Small Trout...?(!)

[Littoral]

Any relationship between the abundance of trout caught just under the slot and the impact of recreational fishing pressure? I doubt it.
Our recent experience isn't formal research but as anecdotal evidence it’s really a good opportunity to consider the potential effect of what we do.
Any takers on dropping the limit to 3 with 1 over 20?

[Frank Bradfield]

3 trout would look pretty small in the cooler...there are plenty of big trout, they are just a little smarter, if you wanna catchem remember this, do something different, big trout have seen a million CTs and jigs, maybe try a jerk bait, less bites but bigger fish..

[FUTCHCAIRO]

THESE SMALLER TROUT ARE THE ONES THAT CAN GET THROOUGH THE NETS, SHOULD OUTLAW ANY NETTING OR SALE OF TROUT AND WE WOULD HAVE A MOUNTAIN OF LARGE TROUT ON THE FLATS IN ONE YEAR. THE LIMITS AS THEY ARE NOW ARE FINE, JUST NEED TO STOP THE NETTING.
PA (AKA) ALMAR

[Chalk]

Why don't we close the season when trout really spawn...Why don't we institute restocking trout, I guess the success stories in Texas are too good to be true ....

I'll be your huckleberry, how about 3, trout 15-20 and nothing over 20....

What happens after 10 years and nothing has changed, active commercial netters will say more recreational fisherman than ever, close the season to recreational fishing for trout...Say it will never happen? Do some searching on Grouper limit's you might be suprised at what you might find and what might happen in July of this year.....

[Riverrat]

hey the best way is to close the season to all Ga fishermen lol hahhaha

[dstockwell]

hey the best way is to close the season to all Ga fishermen lol hahhaha

If you did that Keaton Marina would be outa bidness.

[Littoral]

...ahhh, thank's Frank. Good advice.
I assume that you don't agree with the recreational impact point I put out for discussion(?).

By the way, here's a recent pic of some trout dumb enough for even me to catch:

[Fisherman989]

The limit is already 4 per person in the "south" region of the state. Is their fishing any better than the northern region....for speckled trout?
We sure have the numbers this year...but not the size. Most little ones I've ever seen. Sure will be a good year crop in a few years.

[georgiasportsman]

Littoral - That's a nice mess of fish. Apparently the 5 fish limit didn't hinder your efforts. I would think the initial efforts should be made in limiting the impact made by commercial fisherman. What kind of regulations are imposed upon them?

[Littoral]

GA, yeah, a nice mess of fish. You can be sure there were 3 of us fishing. I rarely keep trout.
I'm not current on the commerical aspect of trout so hopefully someone will chime in. I know I've never seen them for sale around here.

[catchin1]

Chaulk is right close the season when they actually spawn not the month of Feb. when the least amount of people fish, and the State of FL loses the least amount of tourism dollars (a lot from GA).
BTW heard Lowndes Co. is going annex Keaton Beach.

[Frank Bradfield]

Nice catch Littoral, I knew you caught em, i've seen your posts before. I personally think any limit , size or amount will have an effect in long enough time, ( If you don't change the size or bag limits for long periods of time funny things happen, like we catch a lot of fish just under the limit )I would be more apt to believe changing it every 3 yrs , like, like it is then for 3 years, then to a slot , throw back 15-18 or whatever like that. I think size limits change's would always help in the rec. area, now the commercial stuff is another beast in itself, everyone complains about it all the time but how much really gets done ? I hear of the new grouper regs coming , 3 bag limit, and actually i'm not against that at all, they make a lotta meat in the freezer.

[rocket]

hey the best way is to close the season to all Ga fishermen lol hahhaha

If you did that Keaton Marina would be outa bidness.

Wanna bet???

[Littoral]

I just appreciated another chance to brag about my fish.
The idea of cycling different regs is interesting and it might make biological sense. I would think a 4-5 year pattern would be necessary though. But then the legal issues would be a mess. Folks have a hard time keeping up with regs already. Having just typed that though I don't have much patience with people not knowing the current regulations. It's just part of what you have to do to fish. If they were more complicated then we'd just have to find a better way to insure sure people could be informed.

[Jumptrout51]

The abundance of juvenile trout(those under 15") is a testament to voracious spawning and fertile habitat conditions. This years 15-16-17 inch fish were last years short fish. To me there appears to be no less keeper fish 15-20" than any of the last 7-8 years. There also seems to me to be more over 20" fish than in previous years. Trout tend to spawn year round although some months there are more active spawners at times. In our local area something that probably has resulted in a lot more small fish is the fact that for 3 years past the trout have not congregated in the rivers in the winter. Wherever they have gone has allowed more fish to be available for wintertime spawning,creating an abundance of small springtime fish.
The current quantity limit and size limit is satisfactory and should not be lowered.
If anyone is only catching small fish they need only to improve their fishing skills.
All fish intended for release especially undersized fish should be handled with care to increase survival rate. A closed season only means they are not to be kept, closed seasons say nothing about catching.
Thousands of businesses are dependant on year round fishing revenues in Florida. Boats,motors,fuel,tackle etc.
Additionally a restock program would be beneficial as stated by Chalk. If a restock program was to be undertaken in Appalachee Bay I would reccommend doing as Texas does. That is use fish(trout,redfish) from the Indian river area. Genetically they produce bigger fish than those spawned in the Gulf.
Some thing else I would like to see is a tagging program for the trout and redfish that are released. The data would be invaluable for or against the above statements.
By the way, the main reason Texas restocks from Florida stock fish is because of wintertime fish kills. They have very little winter habitat to protect the fish from the elements.