NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

November 23, 1999

CONTACT: Charlie Mesing (850) 487-1644

PUBLIC INVITED TO FORT BRADEN SCHOOL TO COMMENT ON BASS REGULATION CHANGE

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking public comments on a proposal to change the minimum size limit for largemouth bass on Lake Talquin from 14 to 18 inches.

FWC freshwater fisheries biologists will be on hand at the Fort Braden Elementary School on Highway 20 on Dec. 1 from 5 - 8 p.m. (EST) to discuss the proposal and receive public comments. Bass bag limits will remain unchanged.

"The reason we're proposing this 18-inch minimum size limit is to protect a stronger than average 1998 year class and previous weaker year classes of bass through the time they're four and five years old rather than through age three with the 14-inch size limit," said Charlie Mesing, a freshwater fisheries biologist. "If it's approved it will provide anglers more bass and larger fish than exist with the current minimum size limit."

Mesing said the existing 14-inch largemouth bass size limit for Talquin was adopted by the then Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission in 1991. Except on Lake Jackson where there is a 15-19-inch size slot limit for bass, legal-sized bass only have to be 12 inches in length elsewhere in the panhandle.

"People who attend this meeting can speak one-on-one with a staff member and then leave. This will not be a formal presentation to an audience," he said. For those who cannot attend the meeting, they can contact the Commission's Joe Budd Fisheries Field Office at (850) 487-1644, or via email to obtain a packet and provide their comments.

Mesing said FWC commissioners will consider staff recommendations and public input as they decide whether or not to change the bass size limit on Talquin. The earliest it could be changed is July 1, 2000.