I'm all for slots on Tennessee rivers and lakes. I have fished tournaments on slot lakes. One in particular was Sardis in northern Mississippi. The slot was 14 to 18 and it hurt our feelings all day throwing back fish over 4 lbs that wouldn't measure 18. It was still one of my favorite tourneys ever cause of the number or good fish we caught!

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Wrong kind of slot! I'm wanting the ability to harvest maybe 14 to 17 inch smallies and let the big ones go.

I hate the Caney regs but that's a different convo haha

I am fine with a slot limit. I think it would help JPP out with the quality of bass. I am also fine with limits on all fish. Sign us up for a town hall meeting with TWRA so we can voice our opinions Jimmy. Rabble Rabble Rabble!

I guess I'm a bit of a contrarian on this. I personally think that all smallmouth should be released. There are way better fish to eat around here like crappie, walleyes, spots, and saugers. I have kept one in my life.

In general I am all for the slot on bass. Both small and and large mouth.

Right now they are trying to decide which way to go with Dale. Whether to remove the slot or to keep it and perhaps increase it.
The two camps appear to be tourney guys who want better weigh ins and regular fisherman, marinas etc who are in favor of the slot to create the chance of a trophy of a life time which bring people back over and over again.
I'm in the slot camp and would like to see it raised from 16 to 21 to 17 to 23 and 3 unders/ 1 over. The not so long result would be an increase in over all size.
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There is nothing wrong with that opinion. I certainly feel differently but most people are in your camp and want all Smallies released. You have to understand though that what you want won't happen. People eat them. I eat them. From my side of things, I don't understand why that fish is put on a pedestal but so be it. I'm willing to compromise and let the bigger ones go and harvest the smaller ones. 18 inches is a big smallie. I know people want them released but I will gladly harvest them because I like them. I'll also gladly let them go if the rules were changed to allow me to keep 14-17 inch fish and one over 20 if someone wants to mount or eat a trophy.

LOL, Sarcasm is the highest level of humor.
Actually, Bass are not nearly as tasty as Sauger, Walleye, Crappie and KatFish...IMHO

There arent many fish that dont taste good under the right circumstances. If i had a choice for example, i would catch/keep all my eaters in the winter months. The colder water seems to keep em nice and firm.
Ive had smoked carp out of chilly lake michigan that was pretty good. I say if thier is a legal size and quantity for it, and you like it and will eat it.....then by all means knock yourself out!
ive not had the opportunity to try it myself, but ive been told by a few people that musky can be good eating if you do it right. To each thier own i guess. Lol

I like to catch Gar and I know that people love to eat them..... not me. Anything that smells like ass and cat food I'm going to stay away from eating.

Let me tell you about gar. The only reason people don't eat them is they have no clue how good they are....and why do folks not have a clue about them? It is a lot of work to clean one. I had an older man show me how to do it when I lived in west TN. You freeze the whole fish....LOL. Then you saw it into pieces....then take a knife and cut around the inside of the skin and you have the whitest meat you have ever seen.....and it is good. But it is just too much work to clean those things...LOL.


Regards

I agree that spotted bass and smaller smallmouth in cool/cold water conditions can be tasty. I've eaten some larger smallmouth and I noticed a big difference in the taste.

Red Eye bass, if you can catch enough of them, are fine eating.

Every lake has a different biomass and fish population, so i'm all for the slot if that lake deems it necessary or if the goal is trophy management, which some lakes have better luck in than others.

I dont know if i want to know what you do with your catfood buddy but i think i got the jist of what you are saying....lmao! ;-)

We own about 1.5 - 2 miles of a smallmouth infested creek. I don't keep the jumbos but I'll tell you about the only fish on par eating wise is a crappie compared to a cold water smallmouth. I'll only keep them a couple trips a year but they certainly are mighty tasty! I Look forward to that meal every spring! If that bothers some folks so be it... We manage 5 square miles and there's no shortage of them or I might think different. I can catch 30+ in 4 hours on a good day and that's using big bait to try and wean out the pounders... To each their own but one shouldn't judge anybody acting within the game laws IMO.

Sweet. What do you charge for guide service lol.