Shearon Harris’s slot limit has made it a top trophy bass fishery

Regulations that require fishermen to release all bass between 16 and 20 inches, like this one, has helped build Shearon Harris Lake into one of the Southeast’s top trophy fisheries.

For most bass fisherman, the slot limit under which bass at Shearon Harris Lake are managed means little. They’re just  looking to get their line stretched and not keeping bass anyway, so it’s no big deal that you can’t put any bass between 16 and 20 inches in your livewell.

But to a tournament angler, the slot is everything. While regulations ensure plenty of 3- to 5-pound largemouths, many of these fish that would solidify a sack in tournaments on other lakes are ineligible at Harris.

While the slot may be the linchpin that makes Harris the gold standard of North Carolina bass fisheries, it has caused some grumbling, and a number of tournament trails no longer visit the lake.

Having to release slot-sized bass pushes anglers to target larger fish, aka “overs”, neglecting areas known for good fish and betting the farm on locations that give up trophies.

While a mammoth forage base and miles of aquatic vegetation certainly sustains a healthy population of large bass, these “overs” would likely not be as common if not for the slot, which protects them from harvest for a year or two. Like it or not, it’s a system that has put Shearon Harris on the map as having one of the highest concentrations of 7- and 8-pounders in the Southeast.

About Dusty Wilson 274 Articles
Dusty Wilson of Raleigh, N.C., is a lifelong outdoorsman. He is the manager of Tarheel Nursery in Angier and can be followed on his blog at InsideNCFishing.com.