bass

Crappie fishermen at one of Mississippi’s best perch-jerking holes would be able to take home a higher percentage of the crappie they catch, but they won’t be able to take home as many each day under a regulation change proposed last week by state wildlife officials.

The size limit at Sardis Reservoir will drop from a 12-inch minimum to a 10-inch minimum, but the daily limit will be reduced from 20 per person per day to 15 per person. The boat limit, with three or more anglers, will fall from 50 per day to 40 per day. […]

When he caught a 17.34-pound bass Jan. 4 at Davis Lake, Jeff Foster did more than simply post the second-largest largemouth ever reported in Mississippi. He showed conclusively that Anthony Denny’s state record of 18.15 pounds is vulnerable.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that whatsoever,” said Ron Garavelli, the chief of fisheries for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “That fish right there could have — no, make that would have — broken the record had it been caught a couple of months later when it was full of eggs.

“We’re only talking about .8 of a pound difference between 17.34 and 18.15, so yeah, fully loaded with eggs it would have been the record.” […]

When I pick a place to fish, it’s because I know where the bass in that lake will be holding at this time of the year, and the lures and techniques that will make them bite. […]