"It is a focused effort and it results from the slow growth rates of largemouth bass in this particular flowage. "This is a test case on the separation of these species, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass," Avelallemant says. The 14-inch size limit remains in effect for smallmouth bass, and biologists are encouraging people to release all smallmouth bass caught, even legal sized ones.
That regulation takes effect with the June 18 start of the "harvest" fishing season in the northern zone. The DNR is encouraging anglers to harvest largemouth bass by removing the 14-inch size limit for largemouth bass only. It's also a water which has good numbers of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. The Chippewa Flowage in Sawyer County is one of those waters where walleye are in decline. Chippewa Flowage largemouth bass regulations change Most of these waters also will have signs posted at the landings. "Take a look in the regulations pamphlet under the county headings to find those waters with have no minimum length for bass," Avelallemant says. In other waters, where once naturally abundant walleye populations have declined, the DNR is encouraging harvest of expanding largemouth bass populations as one measure to help rehabilitate walleye populations. "They could use some thinning, especially of the small fish." "On many of these waters largemouth bass have always been the dominant predator but they have become overabundant and slow growing," Avelallemant says. These waters have no minimum length limit for all bass although most have few if any smallmouth present. There are waters in the northern zone, however, where DNR biologists are actively encouraging harvest of largemouth bass right out of the gate, although the reasons vary. Statewide, anglers tend to release far more bass than they keep: a statewide mail survey of anglers showed that only 550,335 of the 10,073,286 smallmouth and largemouth bass caught during the 2006-7 survey year were harvested, about 5.4 percent. So please let those big dogs go to complete spawning if you do happen to catch them," Avelallemant says. "Overall, we don't have a huge concern, but one of the things that can happen when they are that vulnerable is you can overharvest large fish. "They're going to be easier to fish because they will still be on the beds in many waters on opening day of the harvest season."Īvelallemant encourages anglers to enjoy the fast action but consider practicing catch and release for a while longer, especially for large bass. "The cool spring means the bass are spawning later than normal," says Steve Avelallemant, Department of Natural Resources fisheries supervisor in northern Wisconsin. RHINELANDER - The northern bass zone harvest season opens June 18 and the cool spring is likely to deliver some hot fishing action, state fish biologists say.
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