Ham

Sorry Man, I was just having a little fun. I'm sorry if it didn't come across that way.

Lots of very interesting thoughts come to mind looking through this thread. In regards to crappie management, what I have read is that they are very difficult to manage. Crappie have a lot of natural predation from other fish and animals. So even without the impacts from man, their populations numbers are going to wax and wane. Add in that they have widely varying success at spawning, their are good years and poor years at every lake that has crappie. Not every lake is equal in crappie production and some lakes also don't fish very easy for crappie. It may be that lots of the Table Rock crappie roam offshore and suspend and are not easily targeted. The lack of good spawning locations may very well hinder recruitment. Could artificial habitat be added? 10 inch minimum seems about right. 10 fish limit ought to be plenty. 15 is more than plenty. Anything more than 15 just seems excessive to me. Bull has been super tough for crappie this year. I hope next year will be better.

A body of water can stand a certain amount of harvest to be sure. I do not believe that Table Rock or any other place would fish the same if every angler kept every fish he legally was allowed to keep. How many fish would it add up to be if Mr Babbler and his clients kept all their legal limits every time out. A very large pile indeed. And those fish with their future spawns are gone. Or Capt Don? Or any of the other very knowledgable guides and anglers that spend 100's of days on the water. Small sample error to say your family does this and the lake is fine so the behavior is without potential for harm.

There is a ton of truth in this. I guess I live in a blissful ignorance telling myself that ALL the fish I release survived. Part of me knows that this is not true, but I'm happy that I don't know how many actually die.

I think he got a phone call from Capt Obvious

Look, I've fished Bistineau enough to know that is NOT that great. It isn't in the top 10 in Louisiana. Shallow. Difficult to navigate. Water quality issues. Some large fish. Some spotted Bass. Lots of rough fish. Smelly. Hot, muggy nasty from May thru September. Just say no. Without serious Payola, How does it make the list at all?

So how does it taste?

all part of the "selection" process.

I'm a sucker for those kind of lists, BUT.... Lake Bistineau at #27 ??? and Where the heck is is Tenkiller on the list? Of course, I'm pretty happy with their selection for #1. The fish in my avatar came from Toledo Bend.

I bet Super Dave's Ned Head is pretty close. It is made with a steelhead hook after all. I think I could make the 1/8 oz work.

It would take ONE 29 incher on a flyrod to make it worth the trip.

Try the Smokey Bling color.

I have a buddy that is able to get to Alaska every few years. He is completely done with Salmon and goes just for the BIG Rainbows.

A pretty nice little trip to Norfork. It was partly cloudy and completely HOT. Water temps were 82 increasing to 84 as the day wore on. The lake was fairly quiet early, but got stupid with pleasure boaters later. Anyone with any sense would have wrapped things up before 12 noon AND It would have been much better to be there at the first hint of daylight. I did not do either of those things. On water by 7 am and I came off the water about 315 PM. I hated to leave, but I had some MUST DO items. I stumbled onto a surface bite early. It was a mix of Whites and LMB. I had a Super Spook Jr on, but it was hard for the Whites to hook up on it. I added a Zara Puppy to the mix and caught fish better on it. I aslo got one on a grub. Cloud cover extended that deal for me a little bit. I imagine that is happening at first light in the right places. I got lucky. After that, it was a Ned fest. I tried really hard to make ANorfork fish like Bull Shoals Nope. Tube got whacked, but never by the right fish. I did throw a variety of surface lures in a lot of different places. NOPE. I also broke out the UL stuff to try an catch a Red Ear. I got a LOT of Long Ear Sunfish and exactly ONE Pumpkinseed. First Pumpkinseed of the year. All my bass after first light were smallies. I was fishing a mid lake area and that is NOT the part of the lake where I expect smallies to dominate. The Ned catches Errrrbody, but smallies seem really prone to biting it.

Oh Geez now I feel guilty, I think I had a 15 minute trailer to the ramp I used this morning. Fish were blowing up within sight of the boat ramp. I eased over with trolling motor and caught 7 (a mix of white bass and LMB) mostly on topwater baits. Those were the last largemouth I caught all day. The rest of my bass were smallies. I moved around a lot tried 15-30 FOW. Never found the better fish I was looking for today. I would have on Bull.

She's standing in a good spot.

Feeling kinda grumpy down here on the big flooded pond. I'm gonna have to fish Norfork today.

Nice Redear!

Summertime and a good breeze makes for a good hopper bite NOT flow level.

For me, The Buffalo starts at Ponca. I work for a living. This is a bucket list deal for me, but it has to wait a while.

They make a fish soup out of drum in Louisiana. If done correctly, I have heard it is very good. I'm total catch and release on Gaspergoo as well as smallies. They are a fun fish to catch.

THIS ! I absolutely hate that the HBO stuff is going to pass up the books. It is as annoying as anything in the world and there's nothing that can be done about it. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I agree that I think he can keep his versions of reality seperate, but still.

I tweaked it a little, but this is what I think is hard for a lot of us. To me, the obvious think is to make Smallmouth total catch and release everywhere, but that's not based on science nor does it take into account the desires of any other user group. It's just something I really want.

Really a 48 inch. I thought you had gotten a deal on a big hull which I described as fishing no different from a 48 inch, Lol. No wonder it felt the same as a 48 inch.

Rick, I love your boat. Is it 60 inches wide or 54 inches? I will be buying larger than a 42 inch next time around, bnut would a 42 inch boat been easier to skinny thru those spots or no?