Feathers and Fins

I volunteer myself to go catch them. Only stipulation is I get to eat them not turn them over to the MDC Biologist.... Now i need to call my buddy and get some more gatortail shipped up to me. stupid thread made me hungry.

Time to go buy a 16'' Cast Iron i see nothing but benifits to that fish

Montne Chicken house YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA BABY.

Ron I have fished these tourneys before and I was like you at the start, but quickly came to understand they actually add to the enjoyment of the sport and actually got people out more. I never saw an attitude develope in them as they were NOT "Elitest" style but more toward just the average person. To prevent guides an unfair advantage I have seen a rule inplace they were not allowed to submit on days they guided with client or after. In other words it had to be their off day. I was actually more concerned about the retired people who had 30 days of fishing they could do winning vs the guides.

I keep reading this on the forum about Missouri not being a world class fishery! Guys im not sure how many of you have been around the country and fished other areas, But I can say I have fished 32 states and what I see in Missouri is far better than most the other places I have fished. If you are basing your thoughts on the "world class" by name recognition or notariaty, STOP! I dreamed of places where I could go to and catch 20 or 30 smallmouth a day and fish over 18 inches. I can here in Missouri. The streams here are much nicer then other places the lakes far cleaner and the air you dont see when you breath it. NO PLACE is perfect if you look for whats wrong! Even the most wild sections of the Yellowstone and Creeks around Jackson hole on private land I have seen trash and land distruction. Yes Missouri water can be made better! But the deffinition of "world class" really needs to be put in check and not worry about what the "World" thinks or rates it but what can we do to make it even better wiht the goal of trying.

Al, for me the definition of a quality fishery is not judged by numbers or size, but by the water quality, the health of the water the fauna surrounding it and the creatures living in it and around it. I love to catch fish as do all of us here or we wouldn’t be here. But to that end there is far more to fishing than merely going out and casting a line in the water and hooking a fish! How boring would that be to go out ever time and catch a fish each cast? I have been blessed to fish so many places from the Oceans surrounding this country to the smallest little mountain creeks, to catch fish from large Marlin and Sharks to tiny little smallmouth and trout. I have been happy each time to be on the water but what tears at my heart is when I see trash floating by or seeing a stream tore up by people. Quality to me is being able to see pristine water and all the wildlife in and around it. I guess I have gotten older where I more long for the serenity of fishing than the numbers. My camera never leaves my side when I am on the water, I want to try and capture the moments in time and have them. A goose flying a heron fishing a frog waiting on a bug a dogwood in bloom or a red sky just before the twilight to me are all part of the tapestry of nature and all fall into the quality of the trip and place.

Hmmm maybe not Great Whites but Bulls would survive Now if you want absurd. MAKO... When a 5 to 800 pound barrel comes flying 20ft out of water its better than the 4th of july.

OTF, I think our lakes could handle it. Like i said earlier socals are much smaller only a couple thousand surface acres and Socal's population alone was like 18million. I dont think AR and MO as states have half that kind of populations. I think last i looked combined they only has about 9million people.

Nice mount who did it?

Im not sure is she is the "past innapropriate relationship" everyones speaking about or if it was in his early career. I will hold off judgement untill more facts are known. I just find it strange such a high profile person in this area would be having one in such public places as he said they were on that day. Sounds more like friends went out and the Media is starving for something and are making this more than it is. But we will see

I would have to say yes on the O2 as the stripers who need similar O2 were present as well. I know CalDFG did some O2 samplings in September at 40 ft that showed a DO of 8.5 to 9.7ppm anf those lakes have far less creeks and streams and wind chop to stir it. So I beleive these lakes would better suit them. Finacial gain I think would be high to the state and local economy. Think of all the revenu possiblilities of a chance to catch Browns and Bows upward of 15 to 20 pounds and stipers over 40 with 20+ being very common. Fishermen gravitate to possible trophy lakes. When the Socal lakes started pumping out double digits frequnetly they became a zoo, My estimate would be 200% or more increase in anglers and not just instate but OOS. It would be a very interesting experimental project and the least.

Wayne the same way the they do in Cali. The lakes are deep enough and cold enough to support them just as they do stripers. I posted a thread on going after trout in TR later this summer because I know there are trout in the lake. Perris ,Skinner and Diamond Valley in SoCal all support summer holdover and are much smaller than any of our lakes, heck you can fit most of the SoCal lakes in any of ours and still have room left over. But they are deep enough to maintain the cold water and Disolved O2 needed. Stripers prefer water temp between 55 and 68 Trout preffer water between 55 and 60 So there isnt much differance in preffered water temps. I have found those temps in Beaver and TR even in last summers scorcher. I have no doubt they would survive well and promote a very healthy trophy fishery. I say trophy because it will increase striper size and only the largest of trout will survive against them giving us trout in the lakes that would be from 6pnds and better.

Yup I can imagine it. Landed several on streamers this year and they were more in the high teen's. Duckys dang FOF flies are awesome for doing just that. Oh and thsoe Bass guys probably got shut down by the mountain of research showing how wrong they were. I dont know how Taneys Gizzard shad population is but I can say one thing. The trout guys whould be correct if they said the stripers were eating the trout Ive seen them do it! I opened up a 30lb striper out of Lake Silverwood back in the 80's with 4 trout in it "FRESH" and it still ate my 16'' trout swim bait. Ive watched stripers line up at the stocking location when Cal DGF stocked just waiting for the tasty free meal. DFG never did get the hint you stock every tuesday afternoon and they would learn this wierd pattern. Only took the bass and striper guys about 3 stocking to figure out the pattern though lol.

Drive 30 miles north to Taneycomo. That should put him on some fish to make you smile and hook him on fishing.

LOL, You dont need to preach to this choir boy about how good the fishing can be and the size of fish where trout are stocked and large predators live. I grew up with it. Im just saying the BASS guys would scream bloody murder and the trout guys would scream they are destroying the fishery. You cannot get anglers to ever see the benifits of a multy-species fishery beyound their own wants. Funy how I grew up listneing to it and then when guys started catching double digit bass and monster stripers they started to understand how valuable it was yet still complained about it.

I think most our big lakes would sustain trout and would be nice to see them in the lakes. Now stripers, Can you imagine the uproar if they got into Taney? I would love it myself as I would bet within 10 years you could see 80lb stripers in there. If managed as a trophy only lake with limited stocking that could be a good thing. But man the screaming would be insane.

CPR Tourneys have been around longer than given credit. They were a big deal in FL and were great, last tourneys I fished were CPR. It gave everyone in the 2 day to 1 month tourneys down there a chance at a win. Had divisions for all ages. FL did them on Redfish a break off of the Spots and Dots tourneys. I enjoyed them as they were a no pressure no attitutude tourney and had no eltieness to them. Overall winner in one was a 14 year old girl with 73 spots. Just flat out fun.

It would Quill. Long sloping points lots of logs and some great flats. Oh i forgot I would love to see steel head too.

More for the taste on my part Al. Peacocks arnt as big a deal IMO as people think Ive caught many of them in the FL canals. But i do beleive swepco could hold them with its warm water.

May he catch his Blues now

Just for fun as we know MDC and AGFC wprobably would never do it but. I would love to see Beaver and Tablerock get some Lake trout and Kokanne salmon and Musky. I think with proper trophy management the lakes would become a major destination for people seeking them out.

Pay attention to the fish! My buddy and I were out last week in a wide open White and Hybrid bite. I decided to get silly and try for multiple hooked fish and tied on an A-rig. 20minutes later and no fish while he had boats atleast 20 I switched back. The fish were targeting single baits broke off from the schools. They didnt even look at the A-rig. Same exact bait on the A-rig but ran by itself and I was landing fish. When I target fish I pay more attention to what they are after and how they are after it. The walleye I was terring up were on the South side ( down current ) of the structure. Throw to the wrong side and you would have done better in a swimming pool. Throw to the right side and you were hooked up. All the fancy high dollar rigs and electronics in the world wont help you catch a fish if you do not pay attention to the fish, is the mentality I go with when targeting fish. Doesnt matter if its a Pelagic or a bedded down bass.

Lordy talk about opening mouth and inserting both feet. How about before shooting off about inferring someone is a poacher you simply ask how many the person kept! So 9lb whatch catching them on and what depth were they in. Im curious as I have been finding them on Beaver in 8 to 12 feet of water stacked up pretty good. I hope to target them this weekedn if my leg is feeling better.

Dinning in the district is going on right now, Some of the places are having specials durring this week so worth going. Im telling everyone Hit the RAIL. but save room for desert that apple pie creation is out of this world.

How did I forget SUZIE Q's man my bad