maximum bass size limit

does anyone feel that a maximum bass size limit should be imposed. whereby, for example a fish over 60cm could not be taken because it is a breeding fish. as bass are so slow growing breeding fish take a long time to mature, so there arn't many of them around, surely that makes them important to their future and they should remain in the sea.

Fully agree with you on that Gazo. There are various opinions on this matter though. I keep the occasional bass and if I am taking one for the pot, I like them about the 3lb mark. Firstly, there is a taste issue with the younger fish tasting much nicer. Secondly, from a conservation point of view, a fish of 3lbs or so may not have made it to breeding status as yet and still has to run the gauntlet to get there. A fish of 5/6lb plus definitely has and is part of a breeding population so by taking it you are reducing the breeding stock. Just my opinion, that is all, as long as people are sensible about what they take then I dont think its too much of an issue, I dont like to see the bigger fish killed however.

Hear hear.
I have no intention of reopening a C&R debate :lol: but I think Gazo's would be a solid idea. It would have to be in addition to the current bag and minimum limits too though.
As an aside, does anyone fear that it won't be too long before there is pressure to repeal the bass ban to some extent? It would be catastrophic but the scale of bass catches has increased dramatically with the prevalence of juvenile fish particularly notable.

I think a maximum landing size is something that sould be considered. The argument seems sound. In terms of priorities though, I think I'd put the netting/poaching issue ahead of it. The scale of illegal netting is really shocking.

As an aside, does anyone fear that it won't be too long before there is pressure to repeal the bass ban to some extent? It would be catastrophic but the scale of bass catches has increased dramatically with the prevalence of juvenile fish particularly notable.

There were roumours that this might happen. It was supposed to come up in relation tot he NWWRAC.

I spoke recently with someone closely associated with the renewing of the Bass regulations and bye-laws and I was told that they had not heard anything to that effect. The fact that the regulations and bye-laws are now indefinite (don't need to be renewed annually) should be seen as a good thing.

As far as I know, there is no scientific evidence of a significant recovery. There is anecdotal evidence of increased catches by anglers, but my gut feeleing is that we have a very long way to go before we even get to the population levels of the 80s, never mind the 60s. Remember that a 10lb bass can be 20-25 years old. There is still no evidence of a strong year class in Ireland since 1989/1990. A strong year class can dominate catches for decades and catches from our last strong year class have greatly dimished.

The Marine Institute stock book has some useful information about this:

[url]http://www.marine.ie/NR/rdonlyres/E25DFC6F-FF93-45F8-8603-5DC58B793B6E/0/BassonAllCoasts06.pdf[/url]

Heard of this before. I think it makes a lof of sense. So, in your opinion, what should/would be the max size? See if we can find a consensus. I could then abide by it myself (when I finally manage to fish them), perhaps others too?

Heard of this before. I think it makes a lof of sense. So, in your opinion, what should/would be the max size?

60 cm ?

Hi guys
it might make more sense to release the fish from say 3 to 7 pounds on the basis that they are the primary breeding stock. Taking the bigger fish ( if we catch them!!) who have spawned several times and passed on their genes might not be as bad a thing as taking the smaller fish. Of course C and R is the best method by far

Can anyone locate a weight/length table. I think there might be one in the Mike Ladle book but I don't have a copy to hand ...

would it be worth looking at the stripped bass regulations in the us.i remember reading a peer reviewed scientific paper on the genetic make up of european and stripped bass and the were extremely similar, i know there is a well established length to weight chart for them, just cant find it..

Hey Jonathon
I have that hooked on bass book but I am pretty sure there is bnot one in it. Will have a look though

Bass Length to Weight Conversion
Centimetres Pounds Kilos

40.00 1.50 0.67
44.00 2.00 0.89
47.50 2.50 1.11
51.00 3.00 1.33
53.00 3.50 1.56
56.00 4.00 1.78
58.00 4.50 2.00
60.00 5.00 2.22
62.00 5.50 2.44
64.00 6.00 2.67
66.00 6.50 2.89
67.50 7.00 3.11
69.00 7.50 3.33
71.00 8.00 3.56
72.00 8.50 3.78
74.00 9.00 4.00
75.00 9.50 4.22
76.50 10.00 4.44
77.50 10.50 4.67
79.00 11.00 4.89
80.00 11.50 5.11
81.00 12.00 5.33
83.00 13.00 5.78
84.50 13.50 6.00
86.00 14.00 6.22
87.00 15.00 6.67

please dont asking for degrees of accuracy !!

these are Irish bass not our striped cousins -

I found this document some time ago, but don't remember where exactly. I think it's from the UK. I got the details on a thread in this forum.

Weight for length conversion chart
[NB - measurements taken from the snout to the fork in the tail]
Fork length (ins) Peter wt (lb) Dave wt (lb)
16 1.7 1.8
17 2.1 2.1
18 2.5 2.5
19 2.9 2.9
20 3.4 3.4
21 3.9 3.9
22 4.5 4.5
23 5.1 5.1
24 5.8 5.8
25 6.6 6.5
26 7.4 7.2
27 8.3 8.1
28 9.2 9.0
29 10.2 9.9
30 11.3 10.9
31 12.5 12.0
32 13.8 13.1
33 15.1 14.4
34 16.5 15.6
35 18.0 17.0
36 19.6 18.4

Weight for length conversion chart
[NB - measurements taken from the snout to end of flattened down tail]
Total length (cms) Wt (lb) Wt (kg)
36 1 lb 1 oz 0.487 kg
50 3 lb 1.348 kg
52 3 lb 6 oz 1.522 kg
54 3 lb 13 oz 1.71 kg
56 4 lb 4 oz 1.914 kg
58 4 lb 12 oz 2.134 kg
60 5 lb 4 oz 2.371 kg
62 5 lb 13 oz 2.624 kg
64 6 lb 7 oz 2.895 kg
66 7 lb 2 oz 3.185 kg
68 7 lb 12 oz 3.493 kg
70 8 lb 8 oz 3.821 kg
72 9 lb 5 oz 4.169 kg
74 10 lb 2 oz 4.539 kg
76 11 lb 4.929 kg
78 11 lb 14 oz 5.342 kg
80 12 lb 14 oz 5.777 kg
82 13 lb 14 oz 6.237 kg
84 15 lb 6.711 kg
86 16 lb 2 oz 7.228 kg
88 17 lb 5 oz 7.761 kg
90 18 lb 9 oz 8.321 kg

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All I know is that it's getting harder and harder to get a big bass. Most of the bass now don't get a chance to reach a big size. Any bass I get are bewteen 2 and 4lb, 5 years ago they were between 4 and 7lb.

I do alot of fishing in the Florida Keys, and if only the uk and irish fisheries ministers copied exactly what they have done for stock management we would have incredible fishing.
All of the sport species that are most important to the economy in florida have a minimum and maximum size limit, and also a bag limit.
if you are caught with a fish smaller, or bigger than the limits, or if you are caught with more than your bag limit the penalties are severe.
It's considered a felony and you can be jailed.
your fishing tackle will be confiscated, and this includes your boat, trailer, and car, and you will recieve a fine certainly in the 5 figure range.......
In relation to Bass, i killed and kept the first ever Bass I caught (5lb3oz) 20 years ago, and I have never killed one since, they are a magnificent fish, and i get so much pleasure in watching them return alive, and anyway there are many fish out there far more tasty than Bass to eat.
Dave