Anglers can now keep up to four largemouth bass caught in most Manitoba fishing spots, because the invasive species is being illegally introduced to some areas.

Largemouth bass, which had a possession limit of zero, are not native to Manitoba but were introduced to some areas because of their popularity among recreational anglers, a provincial spokesperson told CBC News.

The fish can now be kept in Manitoba, but they must be no larger than 45 centimetres in most places, and some bodies of water are off limits or under specific restrictions, Manitoba’s 2026 angling guide says.

The province said the species is rapidly growing in Manitoba due to climate change and illegal stocking, which is when people move fish between bodies of water without permission.

Largemouth bass can pose a serious risk to existing native species in fisheries where they’ve been illegally introduced, the spokesperson said.

The change to the possession limit this year aims to balance the value of largemouth bass as a recreational catch “against its risk as an invasive species,” the spokesperson said.

However, anglers cannot keep any largemouth bass caught in south-central Manitoba’s Mary Jane Reservoir, as the province stocked the species there to give people a chance to catch them for sport, the spokesperson said.

A possession limit of two largemouth bass under 40 centimetres has been set at Reynolds Ponds, about 65 kilometres east of Winnipeg in the rural municipality of Reynolds, the angling guide says.

There’s no possession limit or size restriction for largemouth bass caught in Hunt Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park, where the species was recently illegally introduced, the province said.

Largemouth bass could put the southeastern Manitoba lake’s popular trout fishery at risk, and could also spread through the highly connected region, the spokesperson said.

‘Good idea’

Dave Abbott, a fishing guide with Shield Outfitters based in Whiteshell Provincial Park, says he thinks the province’s possession limit boost and restrictions are reasonable.

Allowing anglers to keep largemouth bass from Reynolds Ponds could attract people who want to fish but don’t have access to a boat, he said.

“Having a reduced limit there for largemouth bass and the few lakes that have them would be a good idea, because it provides a lot of pleasure opportunit[ies] for families to enjoy fishing,” Abbott told CBC News.

“This is a great place for them to go.”

He suspects anglers travelling from fishing trips in northwestern Ontario, where they occur naturally, may be behind the introduction of largemouth bass in Hunt Lake.

The invasive fish are likely to compete with native species for food, and are even known to hunt down other species like pike, he said.

“It’s a huge concern.”

As an avid angler of both largemouth and smallmouth bass, Abbott said he’s never eaten a largemouth bass, and only eaten smallmouth bass once.

There are tastier fish to eat in Manitoba, and most people only catch largemouth bass to check the species off their list, he said.

As a guide, Abbott helps people fish for “pretty much every species that swims in the park,” he said.

He knows a couple of spots to take clients to find largemouth bass.

“My caveat there is, if you want to catch fish for sure, let’s take one of the other dozen species we chase, because largemouth bass are not here in sufficient numbers to guarantee a catch.”

‘Probably wouldn’t keep’ largemouth

Don Lamont, editor of Hooked Magazine based in Winnipeg, says he thinks boosting the possession limit is a smart and proactive measure, and an example of biologists “keeping their ear to the ground and understanding the dynamics of what’s happening with the fishery.”

“Obviously, there’s been a problem … where people decide they’re going to establish a different species in a certain lake, and what ends up happening is it can be devastating for the fisheries that are already established there,” he said.

“I think people have to understand the consequences of illegal stocking, and moving largemouth bass into Hunt Lake is not the best idea, that’s for sure, because it’s a quality stocked trout fishery.”

However, Lamont doesn’t think the move will popularize largemouth bass fishing in Manitoba.

“I think most Manitobans probably wouldn’t keep a largemouth anyway, even if they caught one.”