SLOT MACHINES
Another reason angling continues to get more exciting is imposition of a slot limit that began in 1990, calling for release of bass between 13 and 16 inches long. “Before the slot, bass fishermen were harvesting about half their catch. Whole year-classes were disappearing before they attained much size,” said Warnecke. “These size-limit restrictions are paying off with a rising catch-per-hour rate.”

With angler days continuing to increase and a lot of the day’s catch going home with fishermen, Game and Fish Department officials had determined that 75 percent of the harvested bass had measured between 10 and 13 inches long. Whole groups of largemouth were disappearing before they came anywhere near age four or close to 15 inches long.

Now those 15-inch fish get to stay in the water longer and grow even bigger. In fact, Game and Fish likes anglers to harvest bass outside the slot, especially those under 13 inches, to ensure ample food for spawning-aged bass within the slot limit.

“Thinning the herd” of abundant young bass helps manage population numbers and leaves more food, especially threadfin shad, for the larger bass. Biologists are in agreement that harvesting the pan-sized filleting fish will not damage bass production. Roosevelt spawns are typically robust, especially when water levels are up and food and cover are abundant.

Shortly before the slot-limit restrictions were imposed, the rate of bass caught per hour had declined from .30 to .16. State decision-makers were hoping the catch rate would increase to more than one fish per hour, once the effects of the slot limit kicked in.

They made the right call. “The restricted size-limit for bass continues to help the quality of the population, not only keeping our slot sizes fat and healthy, but moving them quicker through the slot due to the nutrient enhancement,” said Warnecke.

The slot has served the lake well in the past, especially in low-water years with limited bass populations. It has maintaining good catch-rates, and larger bass are now showing up regularly. Last year, several largemouths weighed on certified scales topped the 10-pound mark.

“I grew up in an era when biologists told us that largemouth bass were so prolific that each breeding-age female produced up to 75,000 offspring every year and it was impossible to ‘fish ‘em out’ with hook and line,” said former outdoor writer Bill Quimby in one of his 1990 newspaper columns. “Old fish had to be caught or die naturally so they could be replaced by fish moving up from lower levels. Each age-class had to have fewer fish than the one below it for the population to be healthy.”

And that’s why the state requests anglers to take some of their catch home for supper, to keep the production line orderly and some lunker bass awaiting your arrival.

TACTICS FOR SUCCESS
Tonto Creek feeds the lake on the west end and has more trees than a lumberjack could hope for. The Salt River enters the lake on the east above Schoolhouse Point. The Salt has more shallow flats and tapered points, while the Tonto side gives up more steep banks. And all roads lead to the midpoint near Steamboat Rock and Salome Cove. No matter whether you drop in the boat at Windy Hill or Cholla Bay, there are miles of shrub-filled shallow-water shoreline to cast to, and no specific right or wrong way to approach it. A Tucson old-timer once caught a state-record largemouth while trolling Windy Hill and fishing a tiny crappie jig on light line.