UNDATED (WSAU) — If you’re heading out on the lake to fish for bass this weekend, officials say you’re in for a fight.
The smallmouth bass season opens in the northern part of the state this weekend and Oneida County Fisheries Biologist John Kubisiak says the state is happy to see the bass population strong and fighting. “Our bass populations are doing well, and certainly provide a good opportunity. And it seems that we’re seeing more and more people targeting them. But those populations can really withstand that.”
New statewide regulations are moving into place on both smallmouth and largemouth bass. Kubisiak says if you’re looking to keep some fish or just catch and release, there’s plenty of choices. “Good opportunities both for harvest on some lakes, and some are more of a quality opportunity. Take a look in the regulations, there’s a few lakes with no minimum length limit, and there’s a few more that will be in effect in 2016.”
That reduction on size limit is for largemouth, which have seen an explosion of growth in some parts of the state. More than 300 lakes are now without a minimum size limit. “Those tend to be lakes that have abundant fish, but they’re running 12 to 14 inches. And we actually encourage people to keep some of those smaller to midsize bass to thin the population and let the rest of the fish grow a little more.” There’s still a number of lakes that have no minimum size but do have a protected size slot from 14 to 18 inches to help preserve those larger fish.
The daily bag limit on Wisconsin inland waters is a total of five smallmouth and largemouth bass. You can find out the regulations on your favorite lake in the annual regulations guidebook available wherever you get your fishing license or online at http://dnr.wi.gov.
