# Bass size limit



## Grizzyaries (Jan 10, 2005)

I've noticed that when fishing for bass large mouth or small mouth I just don't see the current 14" fish they are all in the 10"-13" range most of the time and out number the current legal 14" fish. Bass under 12" eat up and taste better anyway. Why not have the bass size regulations change to lets say a 5 fish limit and lower to 10" minimum length but no more than 2 fish of the 5 fish limit may be over 14". So many waterways have too many sublegal bass as it is. What are your thoughts on this?


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## Jimbo 09 (Jan 28, 2013)

Imo I don’t see any reason to change it. Not many people eat bass. I’d say the average size we catch are mostly 15-18”. If you catch nothing but small ones I would be switching up baits and techniques to target bigger fish.


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## Blaze (Oct 13, 2005)

I say leave it as it is.....most bass fisherman practice catch and release. ( What Jimbo said)


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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

Make the size limit longer .Most of our inland lakes have way too many small panfish due to lack of predator fish .Limit to one fish over 18" per day .Do the same with pike 26 " long one pike over 28 " per day .


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

Grizzyaries said:


> I've noticed that when fishing for bass large mouth or small mouth I just don't see the current 14" fish they are all in the 10"-13" range most of the time and out number the current legal 14" fish. Bass under 12" eat up and taste better anyway. Why not have the bass size regulations change to lets say a 5 fish limit and lower to 10" minimum length but no more than 2 fish of the 5 fish limit may be over 14". So many waterways have too many sublegal bass as it is. What are your thoughts on this?



Your thoughts are spot on. BASS are basically a catch and release fish. Why not allow the people who like to eat them keep the ones that make for the best table fare. 10-15" keep and everything else should go back. Pike should be the same story. 

Instead we have inland lakes full of undersized bass/pike and stunted panfish.


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## BigW (Dec 29, 2016)

Perhaps you should contact the NRC if you feel strongly about the subject. I've been impressed with the response I've received to emails sent. You may not get your way, but at least your giving voice to your opinion that they can consider. 

Bring up the subject of converting a few inland lakes with modified size limits to see if the theory stands up to practice. You might get farther with them if you can present reasonable data, say from Canadian fisheries, that support your claim.


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## Lund Explorer (Jan 23, 2011)

Grizzyaries said:


> I've noticed that when fishing for bass large mouth or small mouth I just don't see the current 14" fish they are all in the 10"-13" range most of the time and out number the current legal 14" fish. Bass under 12" eat up and taste better anyway. Why not have the bass size regulations change to lets say a 5 fish limit and lower to 10" minimum length but no more than 2 fish of the 5 fish limit may be over 14". So many waterways have too many sublegal bass as it is. What are your thoughts on this?


The blessing (or curse) of age is that I've seen the size limit on bass rise from the 10" limit, to a 12" limit, and finally to the current 14" minimum. Back in those good old days in the 1970's when you could keep a 10" bass, it was amazing how many sub-legal 9 7/8" fish you would catch on certain lakes. When the size limit was raised to 12", within a year it seemed like every fish grew exactly two inches, keeping them just short. Same thing happened when we went to 14" and there were a large number of fish that bumped just short again.

All of this has led me to believe that there are a whole lot more people keeping bass than practicing catch and release on those certain lakes. On a lot of other lakes, catching keeper sized fish has never been a problem, for me at least. Raise the minimum size to 16" and I don't think that would change the results on any of those lakes. 

The one thing I've learned is that if you are having trouble catching keeper sized fish on one lake, then move to another lake. Lots of lakes in this state, and there isn't any reason to beat a dead horse staying on a stunted lake. The "Cast for Cash" tournament boys might not like this, but one of the best ways to figure out what lakes to target is to look at their schedules. Most of the clubs in this state seem to spend their limited time on lakes with proven populations of keeper sized fish.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Lund Explorer said:


> The blessing (or curse) of age is that I've seen the size limit on bass rise from the 10" limit, to a 12" limit, and finally to the current 14" minimum. Back in those good old days in the 1970's when you could keep a 10" bass, it was amazing how many sub-legal 9 7/8" fish you would catch on certain lakes. When the size limit was raised to 12", within a year it seemed like every fish grew exactly two inches, keeping them just short. Same thing happened when we went to 14" and there were a large number of fish that bumped just short again.
> 
> All of this has led me to believe that there are a whole lot more people keeping bass than practicing catch and release on those certain lakes. On a lot of other lakes, catching keeper sized fish has never been a problem, for me at least. Raise the minimum size to 16" and I don't think that would change the results on any of those lakes.
> 
> The one thing I've learned is that if you are having trouble catching keeper sized fish on one lake, then move to another lake. Lots of lakes in this state, and there isn't any reason to beat a dead horse staying on a stunted lake. The "Cast for Cash" tournament boys might not like this, but one of the best ways to figure out what lakes to target is to look at their schedules. Most of the clubs in this state seem to spend their limited time on lakes with proven populations of keeper sized fish.


yep. like fishing Fletchers pike. Seems like when i fish it soft water, 90% of the pike are 23.75" lol... Wonder why....


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

I don't really have any dog in the legal limit fight, but can suggest pike minnows under a bobber for hauling in more keeper bass. I like to bobber fish pike and catch more legal bass than pike in some lakes. Bass can be good eats. I like to put them in water overnight to firm them up, whole milk for 20 minutes to soak before coating and pan frying. Learned this because my oldest son used to want to keep every legal fish he caught.


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## PWood (Aug 6, 2004)

Trout King said:


> I don't really have any dog in the legal limit fight, but can suggest pike minnows under a bobber for hauling in more keeper bass. I like to bobber fish pike and catch more legal bass than pike in some lakes. Bass can be good eats. I like to put them in water overnight to firm them up, whole milk for 20 minutes to soak before coating and pan frying. Learned this because my oldest son used to want to keep every legal fish he caught.


I agree that "bass can be good eats", especially when caught through the ice. Ice cold water seems to firm up the meat. The smallmouth I've caught through the ice in Dec. taste every bit as good as any panfish.
That's why I've always questioned why anglers can't keep bass in winter in Michigan (Jan., Feb. and the first half on March). You can keep walleye and pike until March 15 but the bass catch-and-keep season ends Jan. 1. I never understood that.


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

PWood said:


> I agree that "bass can be good eats", especially when caught through the ice. Ice cold water seems to firm up the meat. The smallmouth I've caught through the ice in Dec. taste every bit as good as any panfish.
> That's why I've always questioned why anglers can't keep bass in winter in Michigan (Jan., Feb. and the first half on March). You can keep walleye and pike until March 15 but the bass catch-and-keep season ends Jan. 1. I never understood that.


Ask the local fish biologist and report the answer. Wed like to know, also..


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## cireofmi (Feb 13, 2001)

Would be nice to know. I don't ice fish, but wondered if they don't survive well if caught during ice fishing and released. I eat bass, rock, largemouth, or smallmouth. Kept one 14 inch largemouth caught while fishing for walleye. We weren't catching many walleye.


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## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Lund Explorer said:


> The blessing (or curse) of age is that I've seen the size limit on bass rise from the 10" limit, to a 12" limit, and finally to the current 14" minimum. Back in those good old days in the 1970's when you could keep a 10" bass, it was amazing how many sub-legal 9 7/8" fish you would catch on certain lakes. When the size limit was raised to 12", within a year it seemed like every fish grew exactly two inches, keeping them just short. Same thing happened when we went to 14" and there were a large number of fish that bumped just short again.
> 
> All of this has led me to believe that there are a whole lot more people keeping bass than practicing catch and release on those certain lakes. On a lot of other lakes, catching keeper sized fish has never been a problem, for me at least. Raise the minimum size to 16" and I don't think that would change the results on any of those lakes.
> 
> The one thing I've learned is that if you are having trouble catching keeper sized fish on one lake, then move to another lake. Lots of lakes in this state, and there isn't any reason to beat a dead horse staying on a stunted lake. The "Cast for Cash" tournament boys might not like this, but one of the best ways to figure out what lakes to target is to look at their schedules. Most of the clubs in this state seem to spend their limited time on lakes with proven populations of keeper sized fish.


This is my recollection also. I'm guessing that the guys who are out specifically targeting bass C&R, the folks out for a meal of panfish keep them. And it doesn't take as much pressure as we used to think to reduce the average size of the entire population.

My suggestion if someone wants to go to the NRC is that they do a study like this: pick X number of stunted lakes and make half of them 10" MSL no more than two over 14", make the other half C&R on ALL species. See what happens in five years.


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## Bow hunter on a Mission (Oct 15, 2017)

I agree there are stunted lakes but also big fish get big for a reason. They’re hard to catch. It’s like big bucks there pretty much everywhere it’s just not always easy to fool them. 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Lund Explorer (Jan 23, 2011)

I really can't remember visiting a whole lot of lakes where the bass were stunted. What I have seen is a number of lakes where fishermen are taking lots of barely legal fish which doesn't allow them to grow into the bigger sizes that hardcore bass fishermen seem to like. I also know of some lakes where catching a limit of big fish, say 18" or larger, isn't that much of a challenge. All of these lakes are public access lakes, and no, I'm not going to name those better lakes. In my opinion, if a person really wants to catch more big bass, then it is time for that person to expand their horizons and find some of those lakes that produce what they are looking for. I really don't want to see a hodgepodge of regulations for bass like we've seen happen with trout fishing.

Of course you could always dig yourself a pond in the backyard and grow your own trophies. That seems to work for the guys with the high wire deer ranches.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Lund Explorer said:


> I really can't remember visiting a whole lot of lakes where the bass were stunted. What I have seen is a number of lakes where fishermen are taking lots of barely legal fish which doesn't allow them to grow into the bigger sizes that hardcore bass fishermen seem to like. I also know of some lakes where catching a limit of big fish, say 18" or larger, isn't that much of a challenge. All of these lakes are public access lakes, and no, I'm not going to name those better lakes. In my opinion, if a person really wants to catch more big bass, then it is time for that person to expand their horizons and find some of those lakes that produce what they are looking for. I really don't want to see a hodgepodge of regulations for bass like we've seen happen with trout fishing.
> 
> Of course you could always dig yourself a pond in the backyard and grow your own trophies. That seems to work for the guys with the high wire deer ranches.


There are lots of places fish are stunted, including bass. However, you're right, many lakes are full of barely sub-legal bass, likely because a lot of them are kept as soon as they touch that legal mark.

Take fletchers... pike there used to average a lot larger. Now you might get a couple keepers to 15 sub legal, many being 23-23.5".


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