Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) officials requested swift Commission action after discovering an error in the upcoming 2027 regulations.
In response, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved a declaration of emergency (DOE) and a Notice of Intent (NOI) at its Nov. 5 meeting to adjust bass fishing regulations at the Bussey Brake Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
Robby Maxwell, an Inland Fisheries biologist, explained to commissioners that the June 2026 hunting regulations inadvertently reverted the bass regulation back to a 16-inch maximum limit.
“Because Bussey Brake is a WMA, it got swept up in all WMA rules,” Maxwell said. “While we were reviewing all the regulations for the 2027 pamphlet, we discovered this discrepancy. It was kind of a jaw-dropping moment. I had never experienced that, but we figured it out.”
The administrative process required the NOI. Public comment for the NOI will be open through Dec. 28.
Protecting future record bass
The old rule had a 16-inch maximum length with a five-fish total, allowing an angler one fish over 16 inches. The new rule, passed in 2025, raised the maximum length to 18 inches with a five-fish total and allowed one fish over 22 inches. A 22-inch fish has to be taken alive to a certified scale, and all fishing must stop on that boat as long as an angler has the large fish in their possession.
“We really want to get that fish out of the water, weighed, and back in the water so if it doesn’t beat that record, hopefully it will go on to beat the record,” Maxwell explained.
In August 2025, the commissioners passed a rule, according to Maxwell, that they hoped would lead to catching record bass.
“It was overwhelmingly popular with anglers,” Maxwell said. “We got positive comments officially and in person. It was well received all around.”
Bussey Brake is located approximately 5 miles northwest of Bastrop in Morehouse Parish. It was built in the late 1950s in a forested area as an emergency water supply for an International Paper (IP) mill in Bastrop. IP closed the mill in 2010 and donated the 2,600-acre property to the LDWF in 2013.
The LDWF drained the lake, removed unwanted fish, built boat lanes, added a fishing pier and docks, and let natural woody and herbaceous vegetation grow on the dry lakebed. Stocked with largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and redear sunfish starting in 2017, the lake reopened to the public in July 2020.
“In the past few years, it has produced some notable bass,” Maxwell said. “Two of the top 10 bass in the state have come out of Bussey Brake—the No. 4 and No. 9.”
Spotted seatrout
Meanwhile, commissioners heard from Jason Adriance, a marine fisheries biologist, who provided an overview of the regulatory process and management changes related to spotted seatrout and red drum.
Back in 2019, LDWF officials provided an assessment indicating the spotted seatrout stock was overfished and undergoing overfishing. Officials advised the LWFC that recommendations were forthcoming.
LDWF officials first gave those recommendations in January 2020, calling for a minimum of a 20 percent reduction in harvest to allow a five-year stock recovery. Prior to action, there were eight statewide public meetings with 670 total attendees. Officials also conducted an email survey sent to 11,000 license holders.
In December 2021, LDWF presented an NOI to commissioners to modify size and bag limits. The NOI proposed a 13.5-inch minimum size limit with a 15-fish bag limit statewide. Commissioners delayed the NOI for a year while LDWF officials provided quarterly updates on spotted sea trout data.
After the updates, the Finfish Task Force recommended the 13.5-inch minimum size limit with a 15-fish bag limit. In October 2022, commissioners moved to adopt the NOI. In August 2023, the commissioners amended the NOI, which included a 12-inch to 19-inch slot and a 15-fish bag limit per person with two fish allowed over the slot. The amendment also removed captain and crew limits from guided trips, mandated a stock assessment in April 2027 and set a sunset date for the new size and bag limit regulations on Jan. 1, 2028.
LDWF officials published the final rule in November 2023.
Currently, LDWF officials plan to present a new stock assessment at the April 2027 LWFC meeting.
Red drum
As far as the red drum is concerned, LDWF officials presented their assessment in December 2022. The assessment indicated the stock was not overfished but was undergoing overfishing. At that time, officials recommended a 35 percent reduction in yield.
In May 2023, LDWF officials sent surveys to nearly 11,000 randomly selected resident saltwater license holders and received 1,346 responses. They also conducted a web-based survey, which resulted in nearly 4,000 responses.
According to LDWF officials, there was general support for a smaller bag and smaller minimum size, as well as a wider slot with a smaller bag. There was also lean support for not keeping an oversized fish in favor of a larger bag.
During this time, Senate Concurrent Resolution 46 urged and requested a prohibition on harvesting red drum over 27 inches in June 2023.
LDWF introduced an NOI in July 2023 to modify size and bag limits. It suggested a 35 percent reduction in harvest in order to rebuild the escapement rate to 30 percent. The NOI also proposed to adjust the slot from 18 inches to 27 inches with no fish over 27 inches. It also modified the bag limit to four fish per person per day and eliminated captain and crew limits.
The LWFC moved forward an NOI for an 18-inch to 24-inch slot, a three-fish bag limit and no fish over 24 inches. Later in December 2023, the LWFC amended the NOI to an 18-inch to 27-inch slot with a three-fish bag. In March 2024, a motion was passed for an 18-inch to 27-inch slot and a four-fish bag.
In July 2023, LDWF brought forward an NOI to establish a bowfishing permit, but it was deemed unacceptable by an 8-2 vote of the House Committee during an oversight hearing.
“In those years prior to the regulation change, we were getting close to 20 to 22 percent of the harvest over 27 inches,” Adriance said. “Even though the average we used for the regulation was 13 percent, in those later years we discovered it was 20 to 22 percent. This size did go down. Obviously, that is potentially a result of the prohibition of fish over 27 inches bringing that mean size down at the dock.”
