Slot limit proposed for Alabama’s Coosa River lakes

By Ron McDonald, Editor & Publisher, Southern Fishing News

 

 

A proposal by the Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries to impose a slot limit for bass caught in tournaments in the Coosa River chain of lakes has caught the attention of the fishing public, tournament organizations and cities close to the impoundments.

 

 

The slot limit of 14 to 20 inches for bass would apply only to those harvested during tournaments on those lakes and not to pleasure bass fishermen. Some in the fishing public have referred to the proposed slot limit as a difference of opinion between pleasure bass anglers and anglers fishing for cash on the Cossa River impoundments of Lake Jordan, Lake Mitchell, Lay Lake, Lake Logan Martin, Weiss Lake and Lake Neely Henry. According to Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries small reservoirs are key to the research and consideration for imposing a slot limit.

 

I asked if only the big professional tournaments were impacted by this proposal. Damon Abernethy, Assistant Chief of Fisheries, Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries, responded, “Our recommendation is for this to apply to all tournaments, no matter the size, because the cumulative effect of many small tournaments is about the same as having a few large one. Time of year is also a factor, and the smaller club and wildcat tournaments are typically held throughout the year, even in the mid-summer when mortality is highest. Night tournaments are also very popular on the Coosa and those occur almost exclusively during hot months.

Abernethy said, ” Negative feedback [regarding the proposal] has been from tournament anglers, tournament organizations and those who fear it may affect them economically. Recreational anglers, lake residents, and other resource users have been very supportive.”

 

 

What is the proposal’s specific background? I talked with Mr. Abernethy to get some insight into the slot limit proposal’s background and research.

 

The Assistant Chief of Fisheries provided some detailed information prompting the proposal. He explained the research behind the slot limit proposal—

 

“1. Our proposal is to impose a 14″ to 20” slot limit for all black bass being weighed in during live release tournaments on all six Coosa River reservoirs.

2. It [the slot limit] is being proposed to improve bass size structure and create better quality fisheries for all bass anglers.

3. Research has shown that anglers are basically catching all the fish in the reservoir in a year’s time (80% for largemouth and 120% for spots). About 40% of those are being caught during tournament competitions. Forty-five percent of them are not surviving the livewell rides and weigh-in process. Because tournament anglers are size-selective, this mortality is primarily affecting the faster growing fish and larger females.

4. We expect to see a 35 to 40% increase in abundance of largemouth over 20 inches in length. For spots, that increase would be about 60 to 70%.”

 

He added some explanations for how the research was done as well as some additional insights—

 

Some bass were tagged with high reward tags. Others were implanted with radio transmitters. Some had both. They were all released throughout the lake, so all anglers had the same opportunity to catch them, release them, weigh them in tournaments, or to harvest them. That’s how we determined the capture rates, harvest rates, percentage weighed in tournaments, mortality rates, etc.

 

The 120% number for spots means that 20% of the spots are caught twice or more in a calendar year This percentage was estimated using statistical modeling based upon the reward tag return rates. Essentially all spots are being caught once, and some more than once. These are population-level estimates. It really doesn’t have anything to do with individual fish..

 

 

Regarding the 45% tournament mortality rate. Tournament mortality rates were primarily determined from the radio-tagged fish. Each transmitter had a mercury motion sensor. If it went through a weigh-in and then died, the transmitter gave a different tone indicating that it was dead.

 

The estimates of population increase were determined by statistically modeling changes in the fishery in response to the increasing survival of tournament-caught fish. It will take approximately 4 years for bass to grow from 14” to 20”, so that is when the greatest improvements will be noticed. However, bass do live much longer than that, so I would expect it to continue to show improvements beyond 4 years.

 

 

The 80% [largemouth] and 120% [spotted bass] estimated were for all anglers, recreational and tournament anglers. Those percentages were based primarily on the reward tag returns from anglers. Estimates were that 40% of those bass were being caught during tournament competitions. From the radio tags, it was further estimated that 45% of that 40% were suffering from tournament mortality. That’s why the capture rates are so important. 

 

Our mortality estimates were similar to other studies. The most influential metric was actually the capture rate, which was high because of the small reservoir size. Guntersville also has very high tournament activity, but because of its large size, the capture rates were only about half what we saw on Neely Henry.

 

Abernethy continued to provide more insight into the decision to impose the slot limit on the Coosa River lakes, “There are really only two ways to address this problem. It can be done by reducing mortality within the tournaments, which is what the slot limit is designed to do, or, we can do it by reducing the number of tournaments and capping the field size.”

 

 

We chose the slot limit because it will have the least amount of impact on those who oppose the rule. The latter option would obviously have significant economic impacts and prevent many tournament anglers from being able to participate in the sport. 

 

The Assistant Chief of Fisheries said, “Many folks are calling for a compromise, but our initial proposal IS a compromise. Modifying the slot limit as they have suggested will not result in noticeable improvements to the fisheries. Their problem is with the upper end of the slot, but that is necessary to protect the larger, older, females. Dropping it to 16″ would expose those fish to the exact same level of mortality they’re experiencing, now.”

 

Abernethy provided a summary regarding the slot limit proposal—

“I think it’s important for tournament anglers to understand that this isn’t an attack. It may feel like it to some of them, but I can assure you we are trying to protect their interests as well. We aren’t opposed to tournaments, but the time has come for their impacts to be managed. Failing to do so isn’t fair to the other 90% of anglers.” 

 

They may not realize it, but tournament anglers are in a pretty significant minority. There are more recreational anglers wanting to cut back or eliminate tournaments than there are tournament anglers opposing the slot limit. 

 

Catch-weigh-release (CWR) is the best option for our fisheries, but the slot will protect them even if tournaments don’t voluntarily move towards CWR. The slot is the least intrusive regulation that will address the problem. The only other viable solutions involve various forms of regulating and limiting participation in tournaments.

 

The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in East Alabama and West Georgia. The river is about 280 miles long winding by:

Gadsden, Alabama – between Weiss and H. Neely Henry lakes

Rainbow City, Alabama – on the Coosa due south of Gadsden

Childersburg, Alabama – near Lay Lake

Rome, Georgia – headwaters

Southside, Alabama – on the Coosa due south of Rainbow City

Wetumpka, Alabama – near the confluence with Tallapoosa River forming the Alabama River

Pell City, Alabama – on Coosa River at Logan Martin Lake

 

As a current recreational bass fisherman and a former tournament angler (not professional), I see both points of view of the proposal—each has their selling points.  What your opinion is probably rests on which side of the fishing coin you fish.

 

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