Alabama State Senator for District 10 Andrew Jones announced on Thursday, that a push for a slot limit on bass would not be put into effect.

A 14-20 inch limit had been proposed for six lakes in Alabama by The Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division, including Weis Lake, for tournament fish. Proponents of the rule, claim that it was based on science, and that bass caught in tournaments had a higher rate of being killed, than they did with recreational fishermen. The findings came from a study conducted on Neely Henry Lake by Auburn University that was funded by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The proposed slot limit would apply to all six lakes on the Coosa River system: Neely Henry Reservoir, Weiss Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lay Lake, Mitchell Lake, and Jordan Lake. The thinking behind the study was that such a limit would greatly improve bass mortality rates, and improve the overall population of large bass across Alabama.

The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division stated in a social media post:

Many local governments opposed the rule, stating that it would hurt the economy in the area for lake towns who depend greatly on revenue generated by these fishing tournaments. It was also met with great resistance from many tournament anglers. The belief was that the restrictions were entirely too strict and drastic, and would reduce the number of people who participated in tournaments. This would also lead to decreased revenue in cities and towns that depend on that revenue coming in. The town of Leesburg passed a resolution in opposition to the proposed limit: https://weisradio.com/2025/01/06/leesburg-town-council-opposes-slot-limit-on-bass-during-tournaments/

The belief is that out of state anglers would be less likely to travel and stay in and around towns, and therefore spend less money. There is big money not just in the fishing industry for these tournaments, but in lodging, food, fuel, and local tackle shops.

Some compromises were suggested, such as limits that were not as extreme. Many bass fishing organizations such as Major League Fishing have changed the way fish are weighed in. Instead of transporting bass to an onshore weigh in location, where crowds gather to see the fish weighed, they weigh the fish in the boat under the supervision of a marshal or tournament official, and immediately release the fish.

According to Andrew Jones, the proposal was killed in its discussion phase, and will not make it to vote, and is therefore at this time dead.

Jones Posted the following:

“I’M PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE that the proposed slot limit on bass in the Coosa River will not be implemented! I’ve heard from many fishermen, elected officials, tournament hosts, tourism professionals, and others over the past few months about the negative impact this limit would have had. I was glad to work with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to share these concerns from across District 10.

Here is a portion of the statement from DCNR Commissioner Blankenship:

“After taking into consideration all of the fisheries data collected by our staff, various scientific studies and feedback from tournament and local fishermen as well as many city and county government entities, I have determined that the short-term economic impacts of a 14-20 inch slot limit outweigh the long-term benefits of a larger size structure of the bass population on the Coosa River reservoirs. At this time, no changes for the Coosa River fishery will be presented to the Conservation Advisory Board for consideration.”