There is no doubt about it. Angling for smallmouth and largemouth bass is popular in the Empire State. According to one study conducted by the U.S. Department of Interior, nearly 400,000 anglers fish for black bass. Bass anglers spent more than 5 million days on the water, 48 percent more than was spent trout fishing!

Those figures do not include the angling effort for bass in Lake Ontario or Lake Erie. For example, in the Great Lakes, bass angling effort totaled 1.8 million days, 71 percent more than for trout. All totaled, it was estimated that 28 percent of all angling effort in New York State is directed toward smallmouth and largemouth bass!

That was back in 1991. No more recent surveys have been taken, but there is little doubt the numbers have grown.

And why wouldn't angling for these species be popular? Take the smallmouth bass, for example. The smallmouth is not native to the Adirondack region and there was a time when the species was not widespread in New York. Today, along with the largemouth, smallmouth bass are found in practically every major lake and river system in the state, making them one of the most available game fish we have.

Add in the acrobatic antics of a hooked smallmouth and the tenacity of a largemouth, the fact we don't have to travel far to find prime angling opportunities no matter where you live and you have a combination that is difficult to beat.

In fact, New York bass populations are in such good shape that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) doesn't have to stock them. It's also why anglers saw the most dramatic regulations changes in decades take effect just a couple of years ago.

The DEC has always been against off-season angling even on a catch-and-release basis, and the traditional statewide opening date in June was in place primarily to protect adult bass, especially young fry, on the spawning beds, but a 10-year study showed that was not the case.

Among other things, the research showed the spawning ritual was actually still in progress on many waters throughout the state even by the time the traditional third Saturday in June opener rolled around, so there was really nothing to protect, and late season or year-round catch-and-release angling really had little effect on the resource.

As a consequence, after extensive public input and comment that supported a change, the DEC kept the traditional statewide bass season that opens the third Saturday in June and closes Nov. 30, but opened up most waters in the state to bass fishing on a catch-and-release basis with artificial lures only between Dec. 1 and the Friday preceding the third Saturday in June. The regulatory change took effect in October 2006 and has proven popular with bass enthusiasts throughout the state.

It should be noted that certain areas of the state were exempted from the new rule change, specifically the waters in Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Hamilton counties, all in DEC's regions 5 and 6. Heavy predation of young bass in the St. Lawrence region, especially in the popular Thousand Islands area and eastern end of Lake Ontario, potential threats to bass fry from the round goby, and fears of depleted bass stocks in the smaller Adirondack lakes are the primary reasons why waters in these areas were not included.