It’s been good to be a young bass fisherman lately, and lots of high school and junior anglers showed just how good when they showed up en masse at windswept Toledo Bend last weekend for the Louisiana High School/Junior North and West divisions qualifier.
Yes, 216 teams from across the state, and none showed up at the scales with a bigger smile than Josiah Shockley, the Livingston Parish Bassmaster’s high schooler who wowed the weigh-in with a 10.36-pound lunker.
Earlier this month, the Catholic High-Baton Rouge team of Max Himmel and Tyler Morris finished seventh (14 pounds, 4 ounces) in the near 200-team Strike King Bassmaster High School Series held on Lay Lake in Alabama.
Then, how about recent Junior Southwest Bassmasters grad Alex Heintze showing off in the St. Croix Bassmaster Open held on Alabama’s Lake Eufaula. He won money with his 7-7 largemouth, the heaviest bass on the tournament’s opening round.
Amberjack
Just so offshore fishermen know, federal fisheries managers did not open the greater amberjack season this month, a move meaning the amberjack season will open for only three months (Aug. 1-Oct. 31) this year.
Redfish survey
Wildlife and Fisheries’ Marine Fisheries Section is asking coastal anglers to take an online web-based survey on redfish management options.
The survey is a companion to the email survey sent to approximately “10,000 randomly selected resident saltwater license-holders prior to this survey being made available online.”
Late last year, LDWF biologists voiced concerns about declining redfish numbers.
The staff’s current redfish assessment read, “while the spawning stock is still above limits, too few fish are surviving to join the offshore spawning population and that requires management changes.”
The process of moving to the offshore spawning stock is called “escapement,” and the accepted escapement rate is 30% and the most recent data showed an escapement rate near 20%.
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