I have one that must have a zillion small fish in it. One of the biggest management problems today for ponds and small lakes, Smith said, is too much reproduction and recruitment by the fishery s largemouth population. When I first started in this business in the 1960s and 70s, our biggest concern was whether we had enough fish, he said. There were higher limits, and people liked to catch bass to eat. Now that s changed.
People are more affluent, and they don t want to keep and clean bass.
They go out to restaurants to eat fish. All across the Southeast, we re seeing lakes with greater numbers of small bass because so many people just can t bring themselves to harvest. A few like Honaker, however, are learning that there can be another way. And you can almost share his excitement over the possibilities.