Bass Fishing Quality (BAIT Reports) Bass Clubs in Alabama and neighboring states have submitted their tournament results to help us manage their resource. The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division appreciates this help from anglers!
INTRODUCTION
The printing of the Alabama 2010 B.A.I.T. Report marks the twenty-fifth year of the B.A.I.T. report program. The objective of the program since its inception has been to gather information on bass populations by combining the fishing efforts of bass club members and state fisheries biologists. The B.A.I.T. Report summarizes fishing catch data on reservoir bass populations that are collected and provided to us by participating clubs. This information is used by state fisheries biologists in combination with data from other sources as a basis for fisheries management decisions. Bass anglers use the report to establish future bass fishing tournament sites or to locate a reservoir that provides a particular type of bass fishing.
Through 2010, we have summarized 12,137 tournament reports. Anglers have spent 2,666,546 hours collecting data for this program. They have contributed data from 642,718 bass that weighed 1,117,424 pounds.
SUMMARY
Bass fishing in the State of Alabama has shown an overall trend of improvement during the past several years, and particularly during the last four. For the fourth consecutive year, Alabama's bass fishermen have caught more fish, larger fish, and weighed in heavier limits than during any of the previous 25 years of B.A.I.T. reporting.
The number of hours required to catch a five-pound bass has continued to improve since the impact of the largemouth bass virus (LMBV) reached its peak in 1999. Prior to LMBV, the average angler fished for 251 hours to catch a bass weighing over five pounds. In 2010, it took only 148 hours, which is the lowest total in the 25 year history of this monitoring progrm. This figure has dropped below 200 hours only once before (1990).
The fishing quality on Guntersville and Pickwick has shown drastic improvements since 2006, and both were phenomenal in 2010. Although Guntersville is generally regarded as the better of the two lakes, it is Pickwick that has shown the most improvement during the past several years. The following summary outlines the most important points from the 2010 B.A.I.T. Report.
- Pickwick was the top lake in the overall quality indicator rankings
- Pickwick, Guntersville, Lay, Aliceville, Eufaula, Mitchell, Warrior, Martin, Holt and the Mobile Delta all improved in the overall quality indicator rankings
- Pickwick, Warrior, Guntersville, Aliceville, and Eufaula were the top five lakes in the overall quality indicator rankings
- Guntersville, Eufaula, Aliceville, Holt,and Warrior were the top five big bass lakes in Alabama
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Statewide B.A.I.T. Statistics
3.70 – Number of bass caught per angler-day
7.64 – Pounds of bass caught per angler-day
2.07 – Average weight of bass caught
148 – Hours required to catch a 5-pound bass
11.58 – Weight of the largest bass caught
13– Number of bass 8 pounds and larger
473– Number of bass 5 pounds and larger
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Good luck fishing and do not forget to take a child with you and introduce him or her to your sport. Our children are our future anglers and stewards of Alabama’s resources. To obtain more information on Alabama’s fisheries resources or to submit your club's reports, contact Mr. Damon Abernethy, telephone (334) 242-3882, Fax (334) 242-2061, or email Damon.Abernethy@dcnr.alabama.gov. |
