I agree for a test on one water but not for all waters right away. As well we might need to hire more fish cops on shore and out there watching for the bass 
Carp??
Carp are only trouble if you have a shallow body of water or trout or june suckers..
Think before you say..
You should of seen the 3ft carp monster there were where I was fishing around for bass around the rocky banks of DC .
I still disagree with your proposal. Once again thanks a lot for the laughs last night. It made it totally worth going to it. 
What I got from that RAC meeting, wais the reason for no slot on bass here in Utah is as FFL said, weather for one, and of course food source and population.
His example was in one lake that is over populated, a 6 year old Bass does not get over 15".
Too many variables here.
At least, this is the way I understood what Paul were trying to convey.
A length limit like what was once at Jordanell is another story. Seemed it worked, didn’t it?
What I got from that RAC meeting, wais the reason for no slot on bass here in Utah is as FFL said, weather for one, and of course food source and population.
His example was in one lake that is over populated, a 6 year old Bass does not get over 15".
Too many variables here.
At least, this is the way I understood what Paul were trying to convey.
A length limit like what was once at Jordanell is another story. Seemed it worked, didn’t it?
Yes, your understanding is right. A slot limit is not going to do miracles when the small bass grow so slowly and are overpopulated. If some of the dinks can be taken out, and there is enough food for the remainder to grow, then it would be a good strategy for a trophy fishery. I still think Jordanelle has that potential for a few more years and would like to see a slot happen there, but we do need to harvest some of the rats to really get results.
When slow growth and overcrowding is a problem, slot limits are NOT very effective. Slot limits are effective where overharvest is a problem. I would suggest that if there are too many small fish and fish take a lot of time to grow large, the problem is that fish are overcrowded. Harvest of all fish sizes can be very helpful in these situations. People seem to forget that large fish are usually the result of fast fish growth and not age. By removing fish from the proverbial bucket, more room is made available for growth. The problem that bass fishermen typically have is that they simply do not harvest enough fish. Bassrods has never understood this concept…and many other bass fishermen do not as well.
So, as far as Jordanelle is concerned, biologists need to determine what the limiting factor for fish sizes are–is it slow growth caused by fish densities, or is it overharvest of larger fish? If overharvest is the issue, a slot limit is a good idea as long as bass fishermen harvest fish within the slot. A slot limit where fishermen don’t harvest fish is an unnecessary regulation and really useless!
If you can’t get enough meat out of 6 ten inch bass to feed 2-3 people you should never keep fish. You’ll just end up butchering them and wasting most of the meat.
I generally keep 4-5 eight to ten inch bass to feed my wife and I. That ends up being plenty of food for us, especially if you make tacos or a fish sandwich.
When slow growth and overcrowding is a problem, slot limits are NOT very effective. Slot limits are effective where overharvest is a problem. I would suggest that if there are too many small fish and fish take a lot of time to grow large, the problem is that fish are overcrowded. Harvest of all fish sizes can be very helpful in these situations. People seem to forget that large fish are usually the result of fast fish growth and not age. By removing fish from the proverbial bucket, more room is made available for growth. The problem that bass fishermen typically have is that they simply do not harvest enough fish. Bassrods has never understood this concept…and many other bass fishermen do not as well.
So, as far as Jordanelle is concerned, biologists need to determine what the limiting factor for fish sizes are–is it slow growth caused by fish densities, or is it overharvest of larger fish? If overharvest is the issue, a slot limit is a good idea as long as bass fishermen harvest fish within the slot. A slot limit where fishermen don’t harvest fish is an unnecessary regulation and really useless!
I think we are in general agreement here. Last fall, when I helped with the gillnetting there, the discussion of the ratio of large fish harvested vs small fish harvested came up. According to the creel surveys, the ratio of big fish taken compared to smaller bass was much higher than the ratio of big fish vs small fish living in the lake. For this reason, I think a slot could help and that big fish harvest has been an issue. The biologist agreed at the time. However, the number of small bass at Jordanelle just keeps going up and up. Unless these crumbs “are removed from the cookie jar”, I agree that a slot would not be very effective.
Might as well remove the limit on smallmouth under 12 inches. I wouldn’t mind harvesting 20 of these little guys in a day. I can eat what I want then and vacuum seal the rest. I prefer to harvest a bunch in comparison to 5 or 6. Then I only have to deal with the mess once instead of dealing with the remains 3-4 different times.
Might as well remove the limit on smallmouth under 12 inches. I wouldn’t mind harvesting 20 of these little guys in a day. I can eat what I want then and vacuum seal the rest. I prefer to harvest a bunch in comparison to 5 or 6. Then I only have to deal with the mess once instead of dealing with the remains 3-4 different times.
+1. I’d be more than happy to take home 15-20 smallies under 12 inches. Easy to clean and delicious.
And, I bet the number of large bass keeps going down…the question is whether the allowance of one bass over 12 inches is helping cause that reduction or simply whether that is a correlation. In other words, is the lower number of large bass a result of overharvest or a result of overcrowding. I am sure those in charge of Jordanelle have a pretty good handle on this…but, you could figure this out through a combination of creel surveys and gillnetting/electrofish samples. Or, you could tweak the regs and see if any changes can be seen. Personally, I would bet that you could double the harvest allowance of small fish and not see any changes because the harvest rate won’t change…
but we do need to harvest some of the rats to really get results.
Yes they do!
This is how it looks to me..You have a lake that has good bass big and small then they open it to taking of bass..
In a year or two all you have left in the lake is small bass
but in the spring of the next year you have the fish that the year before was 10" to 11" is now 12" to 14" but they get fished out as the summer go by..So the lake will still have small bass and you have the people saying the bass are stunted..
We need a way of keeping the 14" through 20" bass in the lakes, not catch and kill as soon as they get to that size..
No one is saying not to keep the small one..
Think??Step back and stop..Look and think it through..
Rocket science??? How about common sense..
I am with you on this..But what I am trying to get a crossed is if you have a slot limit of 14" to 20" you can still keep the under size bass and have a chance at a real big bass as well..[crazy]
…the next year you have the fish that the year before was 10" to 11" is now 12" to 14" *but they get fished out as the summer go by..*So the lake will still have small bass and you have the people saying the bass are stunted..
Is there anything available, like a creel survey or anything else, than can help us identify if those fish really are being harvested?
like wormandbobber said – if harvest is the problem, then a slot will work. But if harvest isn’t the problem – if those 10" to 11" fish are only growing to 12", and never getting any bigger…then the slot might not do anything at all.
So, is there any information available that suggests those fish are being harvested as soon as they reach 14"??
(it has to be more than cliff saying “this is what I see”.)
Contact Drew Cushing, he probably has that sitting on his desk.
that’s a great idea albino. But I’m not the person that needs to see it. I already know the answer.
Cliff needs it. And a few others.
I would support a slot limit on bass. I think it’s a great idea. If we could get some bigger fish in these reservoirs they could help to control some of the smaller fish populations. The problem is that the fish rarely make it to a large size without being caught by someone who will kill it. So what we have left is a lot of small fish and not enough bigger predators to control their populations.
There were a few here that was at the meeting Tuesday and they did talk about it but I don’t think many heard it after they heard the term cross bow.[:P]. I know time will tell with jordanelle. The new reg for next year is a start but I do think more needs to be done. For example a great reg that might, just might, help is no fish over 12" and up to 12 fish under 12". But that is just my thought. The biologists do have more info at their disposal than I do.
…the next year you have the fish that the year before was 10" to 11" is now 12" to 14" *but they get fished out as the summer go by..*So the lake will still have small bass and you have the people saying the bass are stunted..
Is there anything available, like a creel survey or anything else, than can help us identify if those fish really are being harvested?
When we did the gillnetting, the biologist indicated that the creel survey from the last year indicated that 24% of the bass harvested was over 12 inches. The gillnetting showed a bass population with far fewer than 24% of the bass exceeding 12 inches. So Cliffs assertion that big bass are harvested excessively has at least a molecule of validity. However, his assertion that the bass grow from 10 to 13-14 inches in a season is not supported and the evidence supports that there are way too many small smallies that are **not **growing rapidly.
Two more small things and then I’m done. One, in spite of its problems, and amazing fish counts of little guys that can at the same time stroke your ego and frustrate you, there are still some good fish in Jordanelle. The place still has potential. I had a decent year there.
Second, fall gillnetting will be soon. You guys might learn something in participating. (even the Hepps 
) I know I did. Might be worth looking into.