11-29-2006, 07:10 PM
GENTRY - It is seldom that a body of water has too many largemouth bass, but that's the case with SWEPCO Lake, a power company impoundment in far northwest Arkansas, near Gentry.
The lake serves as a cooling facility for a power generating plant of South West Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO), and its warm water year round has resulted in bass action for anglers evening the coldest periods of the year.
The fishing has been catch and release only for bass for the past seven years, but Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries biologists have found the largemouths are too crowded. Anglers have complained of "skinny" bass also, according to biologists.
On January 1, the bass rule will change for SWEPCO Lake. Anglers can keep up to 10 largemouth bass a day, but only one of them can be longer than 18 inches.
By reducing the number of bass in the lake, which is open to the public for fishing, biologists expect overall conditions to improve for the fish.
The lake serves as a cooling facility for a power generating plant of South West Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO), and its warm water year round has resulted in bass action for anglers evening the coldest periods of the year.
The fishing has been catch and release only for bass for the past seven years, but Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries biologists have found the largemouths are too crowded. Anglers have complained of "skinny" bass also, according to biologists.
On January 1, the bass rule will change for SWEPCO Lake. Anglers can keep up to 10 largemouth bass a day, but only one of them can be longer than 18 inches.
By reducing the number of bass in the lake, which is open to the public for fishing, biologists expect overall conditions to improve for the fish.