"The goal is to get more fish to the quality size of 12 inches, protect them a year or two to maintain reproduction up through the 15-inch range, and then have a decent number of really nice quality fish in the population above 15 inches," he said.

"In this kind of scenario, though, if anglers are releasing all the 9- to 11-inch bass they catch, it doesn't help us achieve the goal as quickly. And that's when total catch-and-release sort of hurts our chances of improving quality fishing, rather than augment it."

Crosby says many bass anglers sort of shudder at the idea of keeping any bass at all, except maybe a trophy fish of a lifetime. When overcrowding occurs, though, he says it's much like what sometimes happens with deer. Hunters can relate easier to the idea that when there are too many deer in a given area, more does need to be taken out in order to improve the health and quality of the rest.

The standard 12-inch minimum size limit, which has been widely used by for largemouth and smallmouth bass management since the 1970s, often is the right choice to shape bass populations into a good fishery. The 12-inch minimum is used primarily when both decent reproduction and growth rates are the norm. Lakes such as Herrington, where reproduction is stable, forage is available in all size ranges, and bass grow to the 12-inch mark or so by their third year aren't in need of a higher limit for more protection.

"In this case, bass are moving through the system at a suitable rate, not getting stacked up just under the size limit, and reproduction is not a problem to re-supply the numbers," said Crosby.

"We see a good number of bass in the larger size ranges in Herrington. Though we could follow suit here as has happened on many other Kentucky reservoirs and go to a 15-inch limit, it would only marginally, if at all, make much noticeable difference in how many 15-inch-plus fish anglers would catch," said Crosby.

"This is an example of a lake where if the 15-inch limit were implemented, it would be largely because of angler desire by a majority of the fishing public. It wouldn't have a negative impact on the fishery, nor change the dynamics of the population all that much.

"Some anglers just think a 15-inch limit on bass is better than a 12-inch, but in today's world of so much catch-and-release, most bass under 15 are being put back anyway in Herrington," Crosby said.

Every lake has its own identity, a different level of fishing pressure, forage base, habitat and water quality. Likewise, every individual bass reacts differently to its environment. Some are aggressive, some grow slower, some tolerate heat or cold better and some outlive and outcompete other fish of their own kind.

"Lakes like Herrington don't require a lot of special management because it just happens to be well suited for largemouths. On the other hand, lakes like Taylorsville need more intensive management, tighter regulations and supplemental stocking to keep the fishing as good as we can," said Crosby.

"We try to design it based on reproduction, growth, forage, fishing pressure and angler input as best we can, and hope that the environmental factors and weather trends don't go too extreme from what usually occurs.