06-28-2019, 03:01 AM
I've been studying the white bass for a while now and have found a couple of good sources. Fishes of Utah Lake https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/view...ntext=gbnm can be found online and is a rather exhaustive look at the history of all fish in the lake, plus specifics about each species. Its one problem is that it was published in the 70s, so some of the information is dated. However, I doubt that anything has changed much in regard to white bass growth. The studies show the following lengths-to-age:
1 yo 3.8 " 2 yo 6.5" 3 yo 8.3" 4 yo 9.8" 5 yo 11.1" 6 yo 11.5"
White bass in Oklahoma and Iowa were quite a bit longer than ours. The study says, "It appears that the lack of a suitable forage fish in Utah Lake is probably the limiting factor for growth." So, yes, our white bass are stunted. The fish in those states don't appear to live longer but they grow into the 17" range.
Brett and I fished through the ice this winter to try to get a white bass that was competitive in the ice challenge. I got an 11" and he got an 11.5". It doesn't appear that white bass here live longer than 6 years or get bigger than 11.5" (mostly).
Pisco and I caught same very little fish late last fall from the same dock at Utah Lake State Park. As I recall they were in the 4-5" range. I'm guessing that they were the young of the year.
I'm running a little low on my bait supply so if you or anyone has any that are too short or long, I'll take some[
].
When people were reporting catching 5-6" bass at places like the Mill Race this spring I went to the mouth of the AF River and caught 7-8"ers. I'm wondering if those others may have just been eyeballing the fish and guessing the length. I just went down and measured my frozen bait fish to be sure my lengths were correct and they hadn't "grown" in the freezer.
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1 yo 3.8 " 2 yo 6.5" 3 yo 8.3" 4 yo 9.8" 5 yo 11.1" 6 yo 11.5"
White bass in Oklahoma and Iowa were quite a bit longer than ours. The study says, "It appears that the lack of a suitable forage fish in Utah Lake is probably the limiting factor for growth." So, yes, our white bass are stunted. The fish in those states don't appear to live longer but they grow into the 17" range.
Brett and I fished through the ice this winter to try to get a white bass that was competitive in the ice challenge. I got an 11" and he got an 11.5". It doesn't appear that white bass here live longer than 6 years or get bigger than 11.5" (mostly).
Pisco and I caught same very little fish late last fall from the same dock at Utah Lake State Park. As I recall they were in the 4-5" range. I'm guessing that they were the young of the year.
I'm running a little low on my bait supply so if you or anyone has any that are too short or long, I'll take some[
].When people were reporting catching 5-6" bass at places like the Mill Race this spring I went to the mouth of the AF River and caught 7-8"ers. I'm wondering if those others may have just been eyeballing the fish and guessing the length. I just went down and measured my frozen bait fish to be sure my lengths were correct and they hadn't "grown" in the freezer.
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.