05-18-2016, 08:20 PM
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[font "Calibri"]Growing up in Michigan we hardly ever went fishing and didn’t catch bass. Lg and smallmouth are abundant nearly everywhere and I can tell you unless you know where the smallies are and can effectively target them your chances of being overly successful are low…Lgmouth are different in the sense the come much shallower and become easy targets for anyone from the shore. Certainly the water levels affect fishing in Utah from year to year especially the survivability of fry and the availability of food. However, I believe the major contributor is down to the legal limits and size. Due to the fact food supply fluctuates with water levels each year more fish are competing for available food sources, this will eventually stunt fish growth. Fish are much like managing deer. Folks who manage their private property target the mature deer based on age, not antler growth. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Bass in Utah waters need to be managed in a way that allows for growth. In addition to the limits/size restrictions it seems many of the bass reports I read end with the angler stating “returned to catch another day”. Catch and release is great for many reasons, but can also contribute to overpopulation and stunted growth. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Growing up in Michigan we hardly ever went fishing and didn’t catch bass. Lg and smallmouth are abundant nearly everywhere and I can tell you unless you know where the smallies are and can effectively target them your chances of being overly successful are low…Lgmouth are different in the sense the come much shallower and become easy targets for anyone from the shore. Certainly the water levels affect fishing in Utah from year to year especially the survivability of fry and the availability of food. However, I believe the major contributor is down to the legal limits and size. Due to the fact food supply fluctuates with water levels each year more fish are competing for available food sources, this will eventually stunt fish growth. Fish are much like managing deer. Folks who manage their private property target the mature deer based on age, not antler growth. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] [/font]
[font "Calibri"]Bass in Utah waters need to be managed in a way that allows for growth. In addition to the limits/size restrictions it seems many of the bass reports I read end with the angler stating “returned to catch another day”. Catch and release is great for many reasons, but can also contribute to overpopulation and stunted growth. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] [/font]
[signature]