Devan S.

Interesting........It's been years since I have been there. As I recall you rent the gun, bought ammo, and rented a shooting lane. You can swap basically any gun you want in the caliber you select to try as many as possible. https://sof-usa.com/rentals/ Looks like its actually in Ozark. Maybe their website is out of date but it says they have 100 plus options. Unfortunately with you health situation though your likely going to be around multiple people so probably not the best situation.

Its been a long time so I may be on the wrong shop but I think sounds of freedom in Nixa has a pretty large selection of handguns they will let you shoot in the on-site range.

Does anyone else on TR find fish under the docks like this? I know of one spot on a dock that has crappie and its likely because there is a big pile of brush under it. I just think if it works at LOZ is should at TR but I just haven't found the right docks yet I guess.

I guess I don't see it as hard enough to spend the money....yet. Slip off shoes, pull out laptop. Other than the phone and passport everything is in my carry on until I'm through security anyway. The only time I'm ever the hold up in the line is when I'm the only one in the line. My biggest pet peeve is the rat race to get on the airplane with assigned seating and the rat race to get off. I really think they should board from the back to the front just like you get off.

I didn't know that. Could be a serious benefit with a couple kids.....The bulk of my travels starts and ends in regional airports where security is pretty easy so I just haven't seen a huge need yet but likely will at some point.

I'm in the same boat.....no issues here. I've thought about doing the TSA pre check but not because security takes too long. Its because of the people that don't remove this or don't remove that like they are told to 20+ times in line. Then jam up the line because they left their change, pocket knife, belt, laptop, mtn dew bottle in their bag pocket ect and now they have to call people over to do the pat down.

I'm going to say less 1 mph or less generally but every ones mileage may vary. I THINK the only reason they long line that way is because its easier to manage when you get hung up which is going to happen as opposed to all the lines being directly under the boat and the resulting spin and tangle that happens but I don't know that for sure since I don't do it very often. Someone with more experience pushing and long lining would know better. Funny story...I think it was two years ago right around new years I was fishing for Crappie with my stepdad. It was blustery cold and to the point we were about to call it a day and we said fish out this last stretch of timber and call it a day. We hit a spot in that stretch that we both nearly had limits in less than probably 20 minutes and threw back anything that wasn't clearly over 10". We ended up losing count of fish and was tossing keepers in the floor. We got home and were both short 1 or 2 fish of a limit. The action was so fast and furious that we were getting swirls like a top water bite out of Crappie in the cold water. Just the coolest 15 or 20 minutes I've ever experienced crappie fishing. I randomly go back to that spot every now and then and have never caught any number of fish there since then.

Another method I haven't used but have seen done, is to pull jigs instead of push. Drop 3 or 4 lines out the back of the boat with minnows on them let them drop to your depth and slow troll them. Generally I see this done in an area where their may be a significant amount of timber along a long bank or brush piles and someone doesn't want to continually cast or drop shot. The goal being to get as close as possible to the standing timber of to just tick the top of the brush piles. Generally I am seeing this done in 20+ ft of water. I'm not sure if you can successfully push jigs that depth or not. Fishing in Mississippi it seemed like 8ft was "deep". What setup did you get for your rods/holder? I've always had this thought during the spring white bass run that if you didn't run 8 poles but instead 6 or 4 and pushed jigs on the areas where the whites stack up that a guy could load the boat but it may be a heck of a headache.

I have never spider rigged outside of Mississippi so not sure how that equates here but sounds like your doing the same thing. I'm not familiar with that area of Beaver though. This time of year for crappie my go to way is to cast jigs around timber. Go slow and pick apart every piece you can see above water and anything you can see below water. You may have to hit several spots to find fish but usually when I find a spot there will be multiples so a bite or a catch extends the amount of time I work the timber. I also try to stay as far away with the boat as I can.

This is what really cracks me up about the bass fishing industry. As far as I can tell there is really no reason for the bass to be anymore valued than any other fish. They aren't any better food than a crappie/walleye/catfish/panfish/white bass. They don't provide any advantage when it comes to a basic need. A smallmouth might have the claim to be a good fighter but the rest I cant tell much difference pound for pound(Carp probably get the nod here anyways). They aren't really any more prolific than crappie/panfish/catfish/walleye/white bass except to some geographic limitations. It seems like a heck of a marketing scheme to me.

Exactly. I don't have any negativity toward stocking at all if it can be proven its actually needed. I do have negativity toward spending money on something when you don't know where you are, don't know where your going, and the only reason you think you know how to get there is because other states do it. I fairly certain this is the exact same thought that the group that wants stocking say. They say that Missouri is one of the few state that doesn't stock and every other state does it so they wont listen and its not worth their time. If Bass fishing is as big of an economic driver as everyone claims it is then it shouldn't be a difficult thing to push for and accomplish. The fact of the matter is the masses don't give a rip about the fish in the least. They care about being able to brag about how good they are and all the fish they caught, the couple hundred dollar check they won, standing on stage holding their big bass, and once they put that fish back into the return tank they could care less if that fish lives or dies. If it were any other way there wouldn't be tournaments during the spawn, there wouldn't be any format in which fish are drug all over the lake, fishermen would hold each other accountable for delayed mortality at tournaments, and their wouldn't be guys sight fishing during the spawn. It's the definition of hypocrisy to tell the MDC you want things to be better when the collective group does darn near everything short of killing bass to damage the sustainability of the fishery.

BINGO! That's what needs to be flooded into the MDC's email box. Ask the questions, shoot holes in their science and methods, and make measurable suggestions. Don't just spam them with Fishing sucks compared to years ago, we want stocking because this is the biggest tax base and every other state does it. That's all anecdotal evidence and the equivalent argument is there is more tournaments than ever, more people out fishing then ever, more people at the boat ramps then ever on Table Rock so fishing must not be that bad. Would it really be that crowded with fishermen if it was completely devoid of fish?

It's the Missouri Department of Conservation not the department of revenue or the collectors office. The concept that it should be run as a business is about the worst possible outcome for the average joe. The concept that bass tournaments and bass fishing is the biggest tax impact so they should get what they want is basically saying MDC should focus 100% of their efforts on deer hunting and bass fishing and to heck with everything else regardless. The fact that other states see a positive result from stocking doesn't mean its the best method. It also isn't a good reason to say we need to stock here. Its the exact same logic MoCarp uses for why we need trophy carp regulations.....Well CT does it and they are successful. Its not anti-tournament at all. There is a 2 month period when what I would guess millions(or more) of opportunities for bass eggs to be laid naturally. This amounts to a free opportunity for the resource to sustain itself instead of relying on outside help or intervention. The fact is those opportunities don't happen with fish being carted all over the lake for those time periods. What do you think will happen when 600+ anglers fish for the Big Bass in early April? If half of the entrants only move 1 fish each how does that correlate to the opportunity lost for those larger fish to have a successful spawn? Is it a years worth of stocked fry? Multiply that by how many tournaments in March through May and how many bass moved all over? Those numbers are astronomical when you consider a bass is going to lay more than 2,000 eggs. Sure they wont all live but neither do stocked fry. Why spend the money when you already have the free opportunity? Imagine if the Crappie fishermen wanted Crappie stocked. What a ruckus...why would we spend money stocking Crappie instead of Bass when Crappie fishermen are generally catch and keep and they spawn prolifically? The shoe literally fits on both feet the only difference is the opportunity cost is blatantly obvious under catch and keep. It's a little more hidden when you catch, contain, and release later. At the end of the day the economic impact point is mute, most of those business can make enough off the pleasure crowd to sustain. The ones that are primarily focused on fisherman won't exist if TRL is as bad its often laid out to be on here because there wont be tournaments/destination fisherman to sustain them when they go to better locations. I realize there is a group of individuals on here that see that opportunity cost and have personally changed their ways but the fact of the matter is as a collective group those individuals are the minority. Unfortunately MDC is resource limited, so why not implement some free measures that may help? Instead we want to spend a bunch of money collecting, hatching, raising fish that already naturally spawn in TRL. I understand it would ruffle some feather but cutting budget in other areas to raise bass is going to ruffle feathers too. It isn't about profit, taxes, or economic impacts. It should be about conservation and there is absolutely no reason to not attempt to let bass try and sustain themselves and restrict your own actions before you claim they need help and throw money at it. If the response is well business wont make it, or cheaters will cheat, or you can't stop people from fishing the spawn, or what happens if you cancel Johnny's Big Bass Bash then for its not actually about the bass its about personal satisfaction. Those people that are only concerned about personal satisfaction are going to find something that torques them whether MDC stocks a billion fish or they stock zero. I agree with Basfis....It cant be that bad....Heck Bo literally catches 10+ keepers every time his boat gets wet whether they bite for anyone else or not.

So it seems to some degree its not a localized trend. It appears fishing as a sport(or the economy) has grown to the point that most have access and desire to part take in the sport fairly often. Doesn't that absolutely lend itself to protecting the resource in a way that allows it to attempt to sustain itself instead of stocking? If it cant or wont then maybe stocking is the answer? Should we begin to stock all fish in all bodies of water that they have a reasonable chance of survival?

Sure it plays a part. A significant part in tourist season and for families coming in for a yearly vacation. Would be interesting to know the split between those numbers of people coming just to fish or tournament anglers. I could certainly see from April to September being a high traffic for the vacationer with the available accommodations. Obviously there is a large number of people on this board that don't live right on Table Rock and those people often pass up some of those other lakes or are equal distance from the other lakes so what motivates those people to come to Table Rock instead of Bull or Beaver or Stockton? For some of you guys that have the ability to fish say Grand, Toledo bend, Fork, Sam Rayburn, Guntersville or any other popular destination bass fishery frequently. Is there the same explosion in pressure happening on those locations? Those lakes that come up when I google "best bass fishing" or in the Bassmaster top 10 consistently are they seeing the same pressure?

Your right its the simple answer and the easy one and it may fix the problem in the short term. Ask yourself this....If the bass fishing is so bad and pressure is so bad why is this place continually pounded like it is? Stockton 2 hours north, Bull is 30 minutes east, Grand is 2 hours west, and Beaver is 30 minutes SW. One could argue that everyone of them roughly on par or better than TRL for bass fishing so why do all these people pass up those lakes to come to TRL to fish if they are better lakes and/or less crowded? Do you all really think supplemental stocking if it had a measured impact is going to do ANYTHING other than increase the pressure and publicity? What happens if it gets so good that......GASP MLF or BASS(not so much a concern now) held their biggest event of the year out of long creek and it was televised all the 5+ pound fish caught? Everyone wants to go back to the catch rates and results of the 80's or 90's and sure the lake can certainly support the predator population but its not going to support the increase in pressure/publicity that will come as a result. What do you do then? Stock more? Throwing money and fish at it is the easy answer. You know whats hard? Telling people no tournaments during the spawn(or closed seasons completely during the spawn), limiting tournaments throughout the year, holding tournaments accountable for dead fish, and stopping summertime tournaments where delayed fish kills can and do happen, and forcing smaller tournaments which outnumber the big names by 100's to 1 to adopt different scoring systems.. Then when all the surrounding small business owners crow about a loss in business not caving in. There will likely be 600+ people fish the BIG BASS tourney right in the ball park of the spawn. They likely have at this time the best format available. Imagine if 100 spawning fish are weighed in and their spawn is disrupted to the point their recruitment is 0 vs an opportunity of 2,000 eggs minimum per fish. Imagine that impact scaled throughout a 1 to 2 month window of tournaments and ask yourself how much stocking would have to take place to make that impact alone. Stocking likely has its place in times of poor recruitment and after an event like the LMBV but don't think for a second that dumping fish into TRL like they do Taney isn't going to create a bunch of other problems.

There tons of acres between Cassville and Eagle Rock off 86 highway. Mark Twain...I drive through several times a week and outside of rifle season and a nice weekend day(four wheelers) I don't think you will run into too many others. I don't know if its legal but just outside of roaring river off F highway coming toward Eagle Rock there were vehicles in the pull offs the last 2 weeks so I would assume they were rifle hunting for deer. Never see anyone but anglers and people during rifle season so bow would probably be easy.

I have the 7' , 6'6", and 6' models. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't buy the 6'6" model at all. It just feels funny and out of balance to me. I would lean toward the 7' model across the board. I don't have any major complaint on the 6' model but when I fish them side by side I can tell the 7' has a much stronger back bone.

So your basically using the float to control your depth within a few feet.....never looked at it that away....I've always resorted to a float when I couldn't swim the bobby garlands through the trees without losing a bunch. Then I would just put on a float/minnow and cast out near the tree instead of in it and let the minnow work for me.

Are you guys using minnows with the float or artificial like a bobby garland? I've never had luck with the artificial and a float but have with minnows. I used the clip on weights like Seth...primarily because using slip bobber is a lot of setup on something I break off all to often.

I think the stocking of the lower river takes place in one or two spots generally and very infrequently and those spots are easily accessed and cleaned out within a few days from being stocked. I'm in and around the area enough that I carry a rod and drop by and hit it here or there and last year must have stumbled upon it the day of or after stocking. There was a lot decent fish within spitting distance of one of the bridges so I tormented them for awhile. Went upstream a little ways and found a little deeper hole with what looked to be a pretty healthy brown. Tried to get him but never could get him to commit. Next day he was gone and the water was low so I figured he got jerked out the next day as the number of fish had dwindled significantly in less than 24 hours.

Best I can tell is that its the last year in that format readily available. Now it appears their report is listed on the mdc website under the fishing reports. It however drops all the data results and only outputs generalized statements of the current state and outlook.

I don't think they do public meetings but there is a report. https://www.ozarkswaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MDC-Report-on-TABLE-ROCK-LAKE-2014.pdf This was 2014. There's probably more recent reports available but I haven't found them. I still haven't seen anyone that beats the stocking bible consistently answer the questions of: How many fish would need stocked and at what frequency and size? OR What measurable results would quantify if the program was a success?

Or maybe its older and weaker and its vision is bad though......

I'm saying that outside of the fact that his hand is on the scale itself, one could put a large spoonbill sinker in the fishes mouth to increase the weight and you would never tell in that picture. You could do the same thing with an alligator clip with weight on the back side of the fish hanging off the gill plate. Good I thought that was the case. It may have been MDC I witnessed returning fish at Eagle Rock. All the fish I saw returned appeared to be in very good condition.