Columbus Lake Loaded With Lunkers

PRESS RELEASE

JACKSON – The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) recently stocked 62,000 Florida-strain largemouth bass fingerlings into Columbus Lake on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (TTW).  “Florida-strain largemouth bass typically grow faster and larger than native bass,” says Tyler Stubbs, MDWFP Fisheries Biologist.  According to Stubbs, the goal of these stockings is to increase the number of trophy-sized bass.  A 14 inch minimum length limit also remains in effect on Columbus Lake to help increase the number of fish that reach larger sizes.  MDWFP has stocked approximately 700,000 Florida strain bass into Columbus Lake since 2004.

The fish were reared at MDWFP’s Turcotte Fish Hatchery near Canton.