fishinwrench

Yeah I was a little jackass too. The difference is that I was out in the country being stupid instead of ripping around in the crowded cities. Oh....and we didn't have cell phones or Facebook statuses that had to be monitored every 5 minutes.

Just for the record....I fully understand the culling rule, but here's the reality of it: There ain't that much culling going on, especially during July and August, so their focus should be directed more towards things that actually matter, and that they CAN enforce.

So just don't put them in a "live well", drag them alongside the boat on a rope.

I like this part too How do WE go about heightening THEIR awareness concerning fish mortality ? All attempts seem to fail.

LOL, the exception is that YES You Can cull, if.....

It needs an asterisk because there ARE exceptions. And because there is a PERIOD at the end of the statement. The "live well" terminology is sketchy also. Can't release from a "live well", but a bucket is OK ? Yeah I get it....but not everyone that fishes knows what a livewell is, do they?

Cracks me up that they open up by saying.... "No angler"? I think that needed a * And you can only cull ONCE ? That one I did NOT know. Really ?

You can't teach them better either. Talk until you're blue in the face....in one ear/out the other. They've "got this"! I have a 16 y/o stepson that is the best driver EVER, and if you don't believe it just ask him. I'll give him 4 months before he crashes, and I just hope nobody gets hurt too bad. To him a vehicle is nothing more than something to put a "sub" in. They are out there.

Clear as mud.

This is true. I have followed their stuff for 18 years here on LO and it's insanely obvious that they "sample" areas that favor the best results, and when they have a very low sample they omit it from the study (claiming that conditions just didn't favor shocking that time). What the hell is to be learned from THAT? This lake has lost the last two years of white bass spawn because of Ameren's second drawdowns. Whites only live 4-6 years so loosing two year classes back to back is kind of a big deal. I mentioned it to an agent and he looked at me like I had just reported a UFO abduction. He had no clue, and really didn't seem to even care one little bit. So what good are they ?

Yeah that texting business is real important. Saw a gal walk right into a light pole in the middle of a parking lot once. She might as well had been stone blind drunk.

I know Greg Stoner and he is a good dude. I don't question how well he does "his job", but rather whether doing his job is sufficient to ensure a healthy fishery. Ask him how the White bass spawn has been the last two years, and then get back to me about how well he knows what's going on here. While your chatting with him see when was the last time he spent a day out here. You can't truly know how things are going in a body of water unless you are out there ON IT way more than 3 days a year. You also can't make an assessment about fish population just by shocking around PB2 for crying out loud.

Can't speak for TR, but on LO the MDC folk don't have a clue what's going on, and wouldn't listen to guys that are out there everyday that actually do know. They wouldn't listen because they truly don't give a crap. None of them even FISH! EVER. Probably don't even own a rod and a bag of Zoom's.

There is a fairly shallow 60 acre lake where I grew up that everyone considered "fished out". One Summer they knocked 2 tiers off the dam to drain it and it turned a 60 acre body of water into a 10 acre mud hole. The fish started dying and it was so freaking full of good sized bass and cats it was insane. We scooped up as many of the bass as we could that were still alive and tried to move them in coolers, trash cans and buckets to a strip pit 5 miles away but only a few made the trip alive (it was too hot out). After that I just always roll my eyes when someone talks about a lake getting fished out. I just don't think you can do it even if you tried. Especially a lake the size of TR where fish can hide in 30+ foot of water. So someone keeping a limit of fish really shouldn't freak anyone out, it just means more food and better conditions for the fish still in there.

Are y'all eventually gonna start a dessert thread ?

I think they admitted they were wrong. So I'll repeat THAT.

What information is on the license ? Just provide that and let them research it if they doubt its validity.

It wiggles and goes a little crazy when it bumps off of things, and bass hit them pretty good when in colored water. Otherwise there are no rules. A few things I've learned: A Rattle trap type crank is a good comeback bait when they miss or refuse the square bill, and just might be a better choice in the first place. I throw a Red eye shad if my partner is throwing a Square bill and I usually spank them with it. I think the soft (glass) rod theory that everyone accepts for crankbait fishing is baloney. I've never seen that help one bit over using a regular med.action graphite rod.

Whatever they make they aren't worth it IMO. Rick Clunnn agrees. https://youtu.be/AIrvKOPlFjo

So you know what they earn, but not what they have to say about the steadily declining angler success rate at MT ? BTW, You forgot to add in a fresh vehicle every other year and fuel/maintenance card with no limit, plus many other perks. They do way better than you make it sound.

Ha That's just what you hear about all the time, but those tactics only work 20% of the time. I actually was raised on MT and the Salt river and its tribs. It was an outstanding fishery, limits of 3-6lb.bass were normal and excellent crappie everywhere.....and then it just went sour.

Somebody is "on'em" bigtime. Spill it!

The bait that I absolutely have to throw before I determine there either isn't any fish here or if there is they will NOT bite....is a 4 3/4" piece of a Zoom finesse worm on a slider head. Drift it, swim it, or bump it along the bottom, they will eat it.

What do the highly paid biologists have to say about Mark Twain ? Surely they have a theory.

Fishing slow baits while adrift doesn't work that good, you gotta either pick your shots more precisely or get out and wade. Fish faster baits (spinners, cranks, topwater) while drifting and when you catch a few then you can anchor down or get out and wade to pick the stretch to death with jigs/worms.