According to the study, smallmouth bass in the early 1970s averaged about 4.5 years old. Gilliland is the national conservation director of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, or BASS, which works to preserve bass fishing and organize tournaments. In Lake St. Clair, that same percentage is voluntarily thrown back into the water, said Dan Kimmel, the conservation director of the Michigan Bass Federation and the Michigan Bass Fishing Coalition – groups mainly for bass tournament fishers. In 1995, the minimum size limit to keep a smallmouth bass in Michigan increased from 12 inches to 14. Jan-Michael Hessenauer of the Department of Natural Resources tags a smallmouth bass at a 2023 tournament on Lake St. Clair.