Use of a Female-only Stocking Strategy to Establish a Trophy Largemouth Bass Fishery in a Georgia Small Impoundment
SEAFWA Journal Volume 3, March 2016
Anglers have become increasingly interested in pursuing trophy largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), but creating and maintaining such fisheries are often challenging. We used a low-density stocking of female-only largemouth bass in combination with forage species stocking and a catch-and-release regulation to create a trophy fishery in a 43-ha Georgia impoundment. Initial stocking of age-1 female largemouth bass occurred in spring 2005, and the population was dominated by fish ≥457 mm total length (TL) within four years. A total of 180 largemouth bass were collected in 2012; 34.4 %...