Great job guys......what do you mean by keepers? Only one fish over 14 inches may be retained. Keepers to me are anything under 12 inches...they taste best and dont hurt the spawn. Have a good one.

Ditto that Toad water but that only pertains to the SM. You can't keep ANY LM until July 1st. That would be 0 Lm allowed to be kept. I saw a guy with 5 pounder on a string over the side of his boat last weekend. I didn't have the heart to turn him in and I' sure it was an honest mistake but it would be considered poaching.

Desertcreek: I have been seeing a lot worse than that.......I saw a stringer of 10 fish, all 2-4lb smallies and 3 monster LM's a few weeks ago. What a shame. I live next to the water and have 3 kids that love to fish. I hope our fishery survives for them to enjoy. But in the grand scheme of things, if that is my biggest problem life is pretty good! Hey, I would bet you 50 bucks sticknhook doesn't post the pictures now! LOL Remember to eat the small fish to protect our fisheries! They also have the lowest content of toxins. Long Lake does have a consumption advisory due to high Mercury content and polutants......BASS eater BEWARE!

The next time I see poaching I will definitely turn the folks in. I finally put the poachers hotline number in my cell phone so I won't have an excuse.

I think people need to just catch and release. Bass arn't the best fish to eat anyways, I can't remember the last time I kept a Bass

Toad and Desertcreek, I fish Long Lake pretty regularly and I am unaware of a rule not allowing LM bass to be kept till after July 1. Here is what I have copied and pasted from the wdfw website as far as posession limits go for bass, LM amd SM.

SPECIES ADDITIONAL RULES
LARGEMOUTH BASS
(See DOH advisory, next page)
No min. size. Only BASS less than 12" may be retained, except 1 over 17" may be retained. Daily limit
5. Bass may be caught, retained, and released alive from a livewell until a daily limit is in possession.
SMALLMOUTH BASS
(See DOH advisory, next page)
No min. size. Only 1 BASS over 14" may be retained. Daily limit 10. Bass may be caught, retained,
and released alive from a livewell until a daily limit is in possession.

It looks to me like No bass from 12 to 17 may be kept. If you guys have read something diffrent, can you please post it? I would hate to blow it on the length rules. I don't keep very many of any size. Take a photo and let em go is my theory.
Happy Fishing

the restriction on keeping largemouth before July 1 has been removed. I noticed it wasn't in the regs anymore last year. A shame really.

To set the record straight, all the fish caught were smallies and the keepers were lawful males. We caught one keeper female and put her back in the drink, (I also want to see a strong spawn). Hey Desertcreek I also dislike poaching and have the exact same number in my phone. I believe our state holds some of the finest fisheries in the U.S and I wouldnt do anything to mess up my chances of being proud angler here. Sorry about the nonspacifics in my report (wont happen again). I really do appreciate all your comments. Good luck this season guys!

I am glad to see that others double checked the regulations as did I. It shames all who call people down for things that they have not done wrong. In fact, those of you that have not read the regulations, like Desertcreek apparently has not done, should take time to read them now. Having said that, I am not suggesting that we should all go out and catch and keep spawning bass, but the state spends a great deal of our tax money to determine what is healthy for our fisheries. But, page 31 tells you the specific possession limits and after you are done there, check for specific Long or Spokane lakes for special regulations (none in this case). Garrett123, perhaps carp is more to your taste? Properly prepared, Bass taste good, I eat a few each year. For your sake, perhaps I'll go out and kill a limit this week.

Wow , what did I start here? Well I think good healthy dialouge is awesome and it is nice to see every person that posted a message enjoys and agrees with conservation. Lord Bless and enjoy the spring fishing!

Also when a bass fisherman says "keepers", they mean a tournament weigh-able fish, that is usually a bass over 12 inches. At least that's what i would think of. I know when I go out my first goal is to put together a limit of 5 "keepers", though i release all my fish. Great report by the way, good detail.

Nik, I always wonder what others mean by keepers as well. Personally, I find that most fishermen really don't know the general tournament rules, so they don't know the 12" keeper lingo. On the other hand, calling a sub 12" fish a keeper goes against my grain as well. So, 3 keepers could mean one LMB over 17" and 2 under 12". It could also be one SMB over 14" and two others just under. Oh well, Bass do taste good, but I remembered last night when I got home from Elokia why I don't like to keep fish - Why ruin a good day cleaning fish at midnight? LOL