Nebraskaland

50 Nebraskaland • January-February 2025 Sampling in 2023 found just 3 percent of the bass topped 15 inches, with 60 percent measuring 8 to 12 inches and another 37 percent 12 to 15 inches. Angler Perspectives Marty Hughes can attest to that. The kayak fi shing guide and tournament angler moved to Auburn in 2017 and started fi shing Duck Creek as soon as it opened the following spring. "We had incredible days that fi rst and second year fi shing out here," he said. "It was really good. There were a lot of 15- to 17-inch bass." Hughes has organized adult and youth kayak fi shing leagues for several years, during which anglers measure every fi sh they catch. Those numbers show the same trend as the electrofi shing survey data. In 2024, 11 percent of fi sh caught during events were longer than 15 inches and 60 percent were in the 12- to 13-inch range. Hughes and anglers he fi shes with still catch an occasional 18- to 20-inch fi sh. But he believes there should be more and hopes the new regulation will help produce them. "I think it's a good idea because here you have this incredible fi shery with lots of little bass," he said. "I fi sh a lot of Nebraska lakes, and Duck Creek has the habitat to grow huge bass, and it's not happening." Blank thinks the slot limit will do just that, but noted managing waters with bass and panfi sh can be a balancing act as a lake can only support so many pounds of either type of fi sh; sometimes it's a choice of having big bass or big panfi sh. Big Bass or Big Panfi sh? The hordes of small bass commonly found in newly renovated lakes are good at thinning out the annual crop of bluegills and crappies. This leaves more food for and leads to faster growth of the panfi sh that survive the gauntlet. Imposing a 21-inch minimum length limit on these waters to help maintain higher bass densities has been the norm, providing anglers the chance to catch large panfi sh and high catch rates of bass, Blank said. Bass densities decline as lakes age, but the goal of fi sheries managers is to have 30 percent of the bass 15 inches or longer. In this scenario, however, a lake can end up with lots of small panfi sh due to the optimum foraging theory and propensity of big fi sh to eat big fi sh. "A 4-pounder has no problem eating an 8-inch bluegill," Blank said. "They're not going to eat a lot of age 1 bluegills. It doesn't make sense for them if they can get four times the food and nutrients with four times less eff ort." So while it is not the norm, Blank hopes they can maintain the already quality panfi sh populations in these lakes while also having bigger bass. "I think we can do both," he said. To Marty Hughes of Aurora measures a largemouth bass while fi shing from a kayak at Duck Creek Recreation Area in Nemaha County. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) caught at Flanagan Lake in Douglas County. JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND

• Cover