Stewardship Tip Dec 7th, 2010 – Slot Limits
In 1990, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources implemented experimental smallmouth bass regulations on the Mississippi River from Clearwater to Elk River. The regulations instituted a 12 to 20 inch protected slot limit and allowed for a three fish daily bag limit with one fish over 20 inches. The goal of these regulations were to improve the size structure of the smallmouth bass population and protect the fishery from over-harvest.
In a study published in 2009, Joseph Stewig noted that, based on elecrofishing data, “it appears that the special smallmouth bass regulation is having a positive effect on the smallmouth bass population in the Mississippi River.”
This is significant. The Upper Mississippi sits in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI Combined Statistical Area. According to the US Census, this area had approximately 3.5 million people in 2006 and was the 13th largest area in the United States. With so many people nearby, the upper Mississippi receives a great deal of fishing pressure.
Fisheries managers use slot limits to remove certain sized fish in a population and to select for, hopefully stewarding, the population of fish that are within the slot. In essence, the goal is to engineer a population with bigger fish.
It is important to know slot limits before you go so check with your local DNR for any regulations on the body of water where you will be fishing. It is also important to honor those limits and remove fish that are outside the slot.
This may be a difficult task for those who are catch and release anglers (and I will admit that I walk forth with the members of this family). Removing the smaller fish, though, especially where fisheries managers have applied slot limits, can help the larger fish thrive. It can certainly make it worthwhile living outside of one’s comfort zone.
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We hope that you can join us for the Okoboji Hardwater Open on January 9 or the Big Creek Hardwater Open on January 30 (or both). These tournaments will be held in Iowa.
If you can’t join us in Iowa, join us for the AMI Hardwater Open! In this tournament, you fish when you want, where you want, for what you want, and win!
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