05-21-2016, 03:43 AM
[quote PBH]
Why have the "nothing over 16 inches" portion?
why not just plain and simple: 10 bass limit.
[/quote]
While it may not matter all that much as a practical matter, here are a couple of reasons why I might prefer some protections on the big fish. (assuming a liberalized limit on small fish.)
1. Foremost, it would focus the harvest on the sizes of fish that need it most. Folks will go ahead and harvest their 10 inchers instead of wasting their time trying to ring up a big one to take home that never shows up and all the while tossing back the fish that need harvesting the most.
2. Mercury. Jordanelle is under a mercury advisory. We do know that the smaller bass generally bioaccumulate less mercury than a big old hog. Folks can worry a wee bit less about the fish they eat.
3. With the proper combination of harvest and better water, I still feel that maligned Jordanelle can still be a trophy fishery. In that instance, some big fish protection could increase the population ratio of bigger fish. You still have to dump the crumbs out of the cookie jar though.
One parting comment. As I mentioned earlier, last year gave me genuine hope for the future there. We finally saw some growth in the medium sized fish and I had some evenings where I went home with sore arms catching a lot of nice fish. Not coincidentally, there were a lot fewer of the 5-6 inch dinks caught by me and my friends. That said, there are still a lot of fish in the 8-11 inch range that may or may not eventually break out. Thinning them would definitely help the survivors along. Now, Jordanelle hasn't been at totally full pool since 2011. Many of the shallow areas are now grown in with weeds and brush sprouts. What will happen when it finally fills and we have decent water for a couple of years, covering all that new nutrition and structure? What happens when this happens at lake Powell? I might suggest that it could be quite good again. Maybe not as good as 2004-06, but a lot of fun. Thats why I would like to see the regs adjust from the mistakes we made 10 years ago.
Anyway, here are a few of the dinks I caught out of there last summer. As many have said, waste of time. Pics are far from all inclusive.
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Why have the "nothing over 16 inches" portion?
why not just plain and simple: 10 bass limit.
[/quote]
While it may not matter all that much as a practical matter, here are a couple of reasons why I might prefer some protections on the big fish. (assuming a liberalized limit on small fish.)
1. Foremost, it would focus the harvest on the sizes of fish that need it most. Folks will go ahead and harvest their 10 inchers instead of wasting their time trying to ring up a big one to take home that never shows up and all the while tossing back the fish that need harvesting the most.
2. Mercury. Jordanelle is under a mercury advisory. We do know that the smaller bass generally bioaccumulate less mercury than a big old hog. Folks can worry a wee bit less about the fish they eat.
3. With the proper combination of harvest and better water, I still feel that maligned Jordanelle can still be a trophy fishery. In that instance, some big fish protection could increase the population ratio of bigger fish. You still have to dump the crumbs out of the cookie jar though.
One parting comment. As I mentioned earlier, last year gave me genuine hope for the future there. We finally saw some growth in the medium sized fish and I had some evenings where I went home with sore arms catching a lot of nice fish. Not coincidentally, there were a lot fewer of the 5-6 inch dinks caught by me and my friends. That said, there are still a lot of fish in the 8-11 inch range that may or may not eventually break out. Thinning them would definitely help the survivors along. Now, Jordanelle hasn't been at totally full pool since 2011. Many of the shallow areas are now grown in with weeds and brush sprouts. What will happen when it finally fills and we have decent water for a couple of years, covering all that new nutrition and structure? What happens when this happens at lake Powell? I might suggest that it could be quite good again. Maybe not as good as 2004-06, but a lot of fun. Thats why I would like to see the regs adjust from the mistakes we made 10 years ago.
Anyway, here are a few of the dinks I caught out of there last summer. As many have said, waste of time. Pics are far from all inclusive.
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