Deadline Upcoming to Submit Comments on Proposed Douglas Lake Smallmouth Amendment

NASHVILLE --- The Dec. 1 deadline is approaching to submit comments on an amendment to the proclamation in regard to smallmouth bass fishing on Douglas Lake in East Tennessee.

At its October meeting, the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission postponed decisions on the state’s 2015-16 sport fish proclamation until the commission’s Dec. 5 meeting in Nashville.

This TFWC action allowed time for the public to comment on a recently proposed amendment to the proclamation. The amendment would change the harvest regulations for smallmouth bass on Douglas Lake.  

Under the current regulations, anglers can harvest one smallmouth bass per day with a 20-inch minimum length limit. The new proposal would impose a 16-inch minimum length limit on smallmouth bass and allow harvest of up to five smallmouth bass per day (in combination with largemouth and spotted bass). The current regulation is protecting larger fish in the population.  

Smallmouth bass between 16 and 20 inches represented 23 percent of the fish collected in the last survey. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wanted to gauge the public interest in a lower length limit and an increased creel limit to allow more fish to be harvested. 

The TWRA and the TFWC seek public comments on the proposed change by Dec. 1.  Comments may be emailed by clicking here or by mail to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Fisheries Division, PO Box 40747, Nashville, TN 37204.  

---TWRA---