High Growth rates alone doesn't mean you will definitely have good fisheries, nor do low growth rates equal a bad fishery, no matter what the species. Typically slot limits are put in place to protect a size class that is most vulnerable, but other factors need to be considered as well.

I believe one of the main paramaters that the DEP looks at is the number of years for a fish to reach quality size (30 cm I think). There is a scale from fast to slow and all kinds of things between. Above average quality size is anywhere from 3 to 3.3 years. Looking at the published DEP numbers for lakes and rivers in CT, many of your lakes are right in that range, some lower, some higher.

There could be so many other thing influencing the fish in the lakes. A creel limit of 1 may have no more impact than a creel limit of 10 if the limiting factor in the lake isn't related to mortality at all.

Personally, I'm interested to see the results of the 2005 data from the bass management lakes. I'm assuming (we all know what happens) that along with the 2005 data and initial conclusions the DEP will also present data all the other factors influencing the LMB. Also, changing too many regulations at once (slots, seasons, creel) can blur the results.