Harvesting SMB

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JeffK

JeffK

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Can i get some help clarifying what size SMB is best to harvest for the health of the lake . I have gotten some conflicting information
 
It's always unpopular for people to harvest the "big" bass. But any harvest will help. Remember, the little ones spawn too. Take your 20 bass and enjoy them.


This is a snip from an article published by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources title "A simple 4-step method to manage for quality fishing"
1588945705566.png

You want your fish population to be in the "zone of maximum population growth". That means fish are growing fast -- the biomass increases from 60 --> 130 in 1 year. Lake Powell smb would most likely be in the "Annual production from an underharvested population", where growth rates are significantly slower. How do you get the population of fish down to that zone of fast growth? You lower the population. Size of fish harvested doesn't matter -- you just have to harvest fish.

The true answer to your question of "what size smb should I harvest" is: ANY
 
I don't have any science or graphs, but I do know it takes quite a few years for smallies to get to trophy size. 5lbs plus. I would like us to harvest smallies less than 14 inches and release all over 14". I struggle convincing my brothers who like to harvest fish for the freezer with this every year. Smallies are so much fun to catch and when you lock on to a 5lb plus smallie, whoa nellie! Would love to see the Lake Powell smallies grow to the size of lower Colorado River fisheries.
 
RandyAustinFishing said:
I don't have any science or graphs, but I do know it takes quite a few years for smallies to get to trophy size. 5lbs plus.
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Look again at the graph. The reason many lakes (like Lake Powell) take so long to grow large small mouth is because those fish are underharvested, and thus the growth rates are slow! Fish grow large when their growth rates are fast. How do you get fast growth rates? You reduce your overall population size so that their annual production is in the zone of maximum growth!

Again, look at that graph. When fish are in the zone of maximum growth their biomass increased by 70 lbs per acre IN ONE YEAR.
When fish are in the underharvested zone their biomass increased by 15lbs per acre IN ONE YEAR. That's a big differnce.


RandyAustinFishing said:
Would love to see the Lake Powell smallies grow to the size of lower Colorado River fisheries.
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If you want big fish, then you must increase their growth rates. Too much harvest, and you limit the fish. Not enough harvest and you restrict their growth. You have to find that middle ground -- and at Lake Powell, that means we need to be harvesting small mouth bass. Not just little fish. The removal of any fish helps the overall population. There is a very good reason why the current regulation for Lake Powell does not include a size limit or slot on smb.

I'd love to share the full article, but the pdf is too large for this site's settings (1.2mb). If anyone wants it, send me a pm and I'll email it to you.
 
I agree smallies do need to be harvested just not those that have survived to grow past 14 inches. But I don't care to eat fish all that much so if not for my wife and family wanting fish for the pan I would probably still release em. Man I am ready to get on the water!! Even the little ones are fun. The tug is the drug!!
 
Just too show how long it takes for a smallie to grow to trophy size. Rate of growth is somewhat different in different bodies. I will catch and keep a limit under 14 inches. Release the big old fish for another day.
How to create a world class smallie lake.jpg
 
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I don't think I've kept a LMB or SMB in 15 years. But when I get up there in a couple weeks I'm going to go ahead and bring home 15 or so smallies. I just don't want to clean more than that, lol
 
We go through this every year. Keep as many Smallmouth Bass, stripers and walleyes as you, your kids, your neighbors, and your friends will eat. I filleted well over 500 SMB last year and that was well below our average year. They got to be hard to catch later in the year. Don't have any problems giving them away. I don't usually fool with any thing less than 10". Just not worth the effort. The little ones are great fried - similar to crappie. The bigger ones - 14" plus are great grilled or baked with a little butter and lemon pepper. If you are not good at filleting, watch some you tube videos, and practice, you will get better if you want to. There is usually just not enough feed/forage for them to get big quick. Keep all you can legally keep and utilize. Same for stripers and walleyes. I never ever throw a live striper back into the lake regardless of the size. I honestly think that if we could triple the striper harvest we would be catching many more 15 + pounders. If you really care about fishery management you must harvest fish in an under fished lake to maximize the growth and potential of all the sportfish. A lot of fisherman like to claim to be strictly catch and release. If you think that you're helping the fishery, you are simply wrong. Those of you that are catching bigger smallmouth this year can thank the abundant and rare amount of forage from last year, Wayne's brilliant management skills and people like me that keep and utilize the organic - nutritious and tasty fish. I wish I was as skilled as some of you video geeks that are able to take videos and post them. I would make a filleting video.
 
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Taken from Smallmouth history lesson posted by Wayne on this site.
SMALLMOUTH BASS LIMIT IS 20:
Please keep 20 bass of the most common size (9-12 inch). Release larger bass that are large enough to eat smaller bass and will help restore the proper size balance within the smallmouth population.

I agree we need to harvest a LOT of smallmouth, there are an abundance of fish in the 9 to 14 inch size range, but I still believe and I believe Wayne supports this, releasing the larger bass this will help restore the size balance of the smallmouth population.

The larger smallmouth bass will canabilize the small fish and result in an increase in the overall size average of fish. I believe Powell has the potential to be an even better smallmouth lake than Mohave or Havasu. Maybe even world class someday if we let those special old fish live another day.
 
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My advice is to listen to Wayne. While models and graphs and scientific literature are all fine, each individual fishery has different dynamics. What is right for one body of water may not be right for another. One man, Wayne, is responsible for what a great fishery Lake Powell has become. I'm sure no one is better in tune with a particularly fishery anywhere than Wayne is with Lake Powell. He's been proven right every time. I remember back in 1999, 2000 and 2001 at Powell when it was easy to catch a bunch of little smallmouth but pretty tough to catch smallies over 12 inches consistently. Look at where we are now! Wayne is responsible for that.

The so-called scientific literature isn't always right all the time. I think some biologist we all know once said fish don't read textbooks. I think that says enough! :)

Ed Gerdemann
 
Flipper said:
We go through this every year. Keep as many Smallmouth Bass, stripers and walleyes as you, your kids, your neighbors, and your friends will eat. I filleted well over 500 SMB last year and that was well below our average year. They got to be hard to catch later in the year. Don't have any problems giving them away. I don't usually fool with any thing less than 10". Just not worth the effort. The little ones are great fried - similar to crappie. The bigger ones - 14" plus are great grilled or baked with a little butter and lemon pepper. If you are not good at filleting, watch some you tube videos, and practice, you will get better if you want to. There is usually just not enough feed/forage for them to get big quick. Keep all you can legally keep and utilize. Same for stripers and walleyes. I never ever throw a live striper back into the lake regardless of the size. I honestly think that if we could triple the striper harvest we would be catching many more 15 + pounders. If you really care about fishery management you must harvest fish in an under fished lake to maximize the growth and potential of all the sportfish. A lot of fisherman like to claim to be strictly catch and release. If you think that you're helping the fishery, you are simply wrong. Those of you that are catching bigger smallmouth this year can thank the abundant and rare amount of forage from last year, Wayne's brilliant management skills and people like me that keep and utilize the organic - nutritious and tasty fish. I wish I was as skilled as some of you video geeks that are able to take videos and post them. I would make a filleting video.
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I agree 100%. On my boat it’s strictly catch and kill for stripers. We started chunking them vs using anchovies when we bait fished too. It works great!
We also keep our 20 apiece on the smallies. They are delicious.
And as many walleye as we can get our hooks on.
I’ve spent some quality time at the fish cleaning station at Wahweap. What a great facility.
 
We started chunking them vs using anchovies when we bait fished too.

Tell us what you you mean by chunking them, never heard of it, but willing to learn.
Thank's
 
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