Changes to white bass regs approved

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
Why in the hell would you put a size restriction on white bass harvest?!?!?!?!?!
They are one of the fastest growing, shortest lived fish there is. I'd like to know the reasoning behind the 14" minimum. It's gotta be a hum dinger for sure.............
 

Firefly

Old Mossy Horns
A 14 inch White Bass? I have never seen one that big and we have caught hundreds of them out of Santee-Cooper and Lake Wateree....If this is true IMO its a stupid regulation for sure. Maybe Mack has caught a lot of 14 inchers, I sure haven't..
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
got a link? I cant find anything about this

Here is the adopted proposal.

F13) Modify the general statewide regulations for White Bass by establishing a minimum size
limit of 14 inches and reducing the daily creel limit from 25 fish to 10 fish.
15A NCAC 10C .0318 White bass (page 18)
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
A 14 inch White Bass? I have never seen one that big and we have caught hundreds of them out of Santee-Cooper and Lake Wateree....If this is true IMO its a stupid regulation for sure. Maybe Mack has caught a lot of 14 inchers, I sure haven't..

lol...i havn't caught many over 14.....biggest were 3.0 lbs and 2 lbs 15 oz but don't know the length but 14 inchers are haaaaaard to get......crazy proposal.

Here is my beef with protecting the white bass. The white bass maybe native to what 5 percent of less of north carolina whereas the white perch is native to the fall line down so 33 percent give or take.........
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
well I don't have a dog in this since I have caught exactly ZERO white bass in my life (reckon I need to do something about that),,,,,,,but their justification makes sense to me,,,,,unless it's BS,,,,,,,,

Justification: Populations of White Bass across the state, including Lake Tillery, B. Everett Jordan Reservoir, and Falls of the Neuse Reservoir, have declined over the past decade. Recent data from these reservoirs have indicated that White Bass populations are mostly comprised of younger fish and that the potential for overharvest of these younger fish exists. Male White Bass typically are able to reproduce at age 1, while female White Bass are able to reproduce by age 2. The proposed change will allow White Bass the opportunity to spawn at least once before becoming vulnerable to harvest by anglers.
 

dpoutdoor

Ten Pointer
well I don't have a dog in this since I have caught exactly ZERO white bass in my life (reckon I need to do something about that),,,,,,,but their justification makes sense to me,,,,,unless it's BS,,,,,,,,

Justification: Populations of White Bass across the state, including Lake Tillery, B. Everett Jordan Reservoir, and Falls of the Neuse Reservoir, have declined over the past decade. Recent data from these reservoirs have indicated that White Bass populations are mostly comprised of younger fish and that the potential for overharvest of these younger fish exists. Male White Bass typically are able to reproduce at age 1, while female White Bass are able to reproduce by age 2. The proposed change will allow White Bass the opportunity to spawn at least once before becoming vulnerable to harvest by anglers.

Where did you see this? I still can't locate it in the regulations anywhere
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
well I don't have a dog in this since I have caught exactly ZERO white bass in my life (reckon I need to do something about that),,,,,,,but their justification makes sense to me,,,,,unless it's BS,,,,,,,,

Justification: Populations of White Bass across the state, including Lake Tillery, B. Everett Jordan Reservoir, and Falls of the Neuse Reservoir, have declined over the past decade. Recent data from these reservoirs have indicated that White Bass populations are mostly comprised of younger fish and that the potential for overharvest of these younger fish exists. Male White Bass typically are able to reproduce at age 1, while female White Bass are able to reproduce by age 2. The proposed change will allow White Bass the opportunity to spawn at least once before becoming vulnerable to harvest by anglers.

We purposefully use white bass for fish aging exercises in their classes because they are really easy to age using scale reading methods. Then we use those same fish to give the students practice removing otoliths (ear bone) and general physiology of the fish. So we open them up and look at'em from the rooter to the tooter. I have personally aged and verified many more students age guesses on female white bass that were ~1year old. Now maybe they are the exception because we only get about 30-40 for the class and all these are wild fish we collected from the river. Also maybe their egg output is not as great with them being first year spawners.

Woodmoose, I ain't calling you out by no means cause you don't fish for'em. Just stating what I have witnessed.
 
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woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
We purposefully use white bass for fish aging exercises in their classes because they are really easy to age using scale reading methods. Then we use those same fish to give the students practice removing otoliths (ear bone) and general physiology of the fish. So we open them up and look at'em from the rooter to the tooter. I have personally aged and verified many more students age guesses on female white bass that were ~1year old. Now maybe they are the exception because we only get about 30-40 for the class and all these are wild fish we collected from the river. Also maybe their egg output is not as great with them being first year spawners.

Woodmoose, I ain't calling you out by no means cause you don't fish for'em. Just stating what I have witnessed.

now that bold part made me chuckle,,,,,,you aint calling me out at all as I am not a biologist, don't pretend to be one, and don't really care what the rules are on most any fish (I fish to fish,,,eat some but not mandatory) - and since the info I posted was from the NC Wildlife folks,,,,,,,posted right there in the info for proposed 2017-2018 rule changes,,,,,how the heck would you think I was to be called out,,,,,,

I just said "it makes sense",,,,,to me as a layman,,,,to you as someone in the field maybe it's BS,,,,

but since it was announced for all to see,,,,and from the looks most were caught off guard,,,,speaks to the need to monitor these proposed rule changes a little more closely,,,,,,,

http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Regs/Documents/NCWRC-Public-Hearing-Book-2017-2018.pdf
 

Boojum

Ten Pointer
That's stupid. Pretty much all about control. Blueback herring have wiped out the white bass, not anglers. I wonder if they're gonna write tickets to big flatheads for eating undersized ones? Maybe we can get a size limit on bream next.
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
An 8" size limit is reasonable on crappie. A 14" limit on white bass, not as much.

No size limit is reasonable on crappie.

They can overpopulate a lake or pond easy.

If too many crappie are being harvested, just lower the bag limits.
 
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