nathanhooper

Nice. Looking at a mess of fish like that almost makes me want to start looking for them.

Guess I am not seeing anywhere that you can see fencerows or anything like that. I guess what I am saying is that the untimbered area's are generally reflected as a different color on topo maps correct?

So, the fields are marked as white right?

Yes, I don't look at it as a exact detail, but rather something to see where humps, underwater points, river bed, creek bed, road bed, and bluffs are. And you can get a good estimation from this map for sure. Use your sonar for the rest. I have used generic topos up till now and they give you a general (100ydx100yd) area of where things are, but this narrows it down to 25yds at least. I would like to know where you can get topos that show old fields and such. I have heard of them before.

Here is a link that you can at least look over before going out. May be able to print them out. http://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en

I look for you each time I'm out. I figure your gonna be hard to miss....unless I soup up my boat and start running tight turns.

Never tried fishing for them this way. Looks like fun.

lol yak, of course they are gonna think that someone crazy enough to troll on beaver lake in a yak has to be up to no good.... Glad you showed them otherwise

I see. I agree whole heartedly with you on that aspect. Law enforcement is good. Its needed. And it serves a great purpose for everyone. It does make you wonder why there are not more 'seasonal' officers hired to patrol the lakes and such. Would make sense to me. In fact, they could cut out a lot of foolishness even if they narrowed it down to the weekends.

Yea, if they are going to start enforcing the law, then it would not be hard to see where to start. No need in cruising around doing random checks. Just an open eye on the water will point them to all the checks they could stand in a day's time I am sure of. I think that we will start seeing more of it going on. Seems to be the nature of the beast. Something has to get to the point of being ridiculous before something is done about it, then we will suffer the outfall and frustration. People might be "ok" with being checked randomly, but I would venture to guess people will sing a different tune if you get checked randomly a lot and then mins later see idiots fly by you and pulling crazy stunts while not getting checked. There really is no need in randomly checking. I would not consider it randomly checking if the GW sat at the dock and checked each person who came in. Safety and game laws. That would be completely fine and would probably stop a portion of illegal activity. But if you want to stop the stupidity on the lake, just open eyes is all that's needed.

Yea, your right, while the technology they use is very good, its not that costly for them to produce. These are actually very simple pieces of equipment. They just demand a high price because we will pay for it. More competition would help that and get things at a reasonable level. It would also force them to start making better advances than they have been. But the "land" technology sector has way more customers than the "sea" based ones so they are the ones that get all the attention. Too bad. I would love to help develop some good sonar technology. I have a lot of idea's, but no brain to implement.

I think we leave to much up to law enforcement. This country was founded on all of us doing our part helping each other and keeping the peace. Let the law enforcement enforce the law, let us be good citizens and help each other by doing whatever it is necessary within the law. I am not a big fan of the snitch. But there is a time and a place for writing down and submitting evidence to the law enforcement to do their job. But pretty soon, if your not careful, you'll have the guy who knows more people than you making you out to be doing something wrong just because he wants your fishing hole.

I don't think "checking" on boats is the key. We really don't need that kind of enforcement when the stupidity is plain to see. I for one would not like to be checked if I am not doing anything wrong. With that kind of process, then we would start seeing people pulled over on the road just randomly. I see what your saying, but just a visual presence on the lake watching people is more than enough. They could even have someone sitting at some of the higher elevations, being able to watch a significant portion of the lake, watching and directing water crews to the perps. I have never been checked, and quite frankly don't ever think I should be unless it appears that I am doing something wrong. I'm all for the laws we have set up, but I also like my rights as an American.

That was the drunk redneck version.... This is the rich cocaine head version.... "Hey Stephan, what's that bright thing over there? Well Fredrick, that's what they put out to mark shallow water. Didn't the guy who sold you your boat said you could fly over 6" of water? Sure did, he said at 80mph it would be like floating on air."

How's the old saying go - you can't help stupid. Stupid people, which is in all reality what they are, are not going to recognize anything. Vest may help some of us, who actually look out where we are going, spot someone sooner. But it won't help the stupid people. Yak is right. It could pull them in like a bug light. "Hey George, what's that orange thang over there? I dunno Fred, speed up and get a little closer so we can get a better look" And so the story goes...

It's just south east of the dam. Most old topos label it as such if you have access to one of those. I'll get a picture later.

Mmmmmmmmm Thanks for the bump, I will get this all wrote down. I made a chowder with some last year that was great. This will be its cousin in the recipe book. Just one thing, I got most of the ingredients, but where do you get the striper from.....can't seem to find any of that stuff....

Sorry to hear the traffic gets that bad. I have not been out in the morning for a long while and have to wonder if it would not be better than evening during the summer. Seems like not even the weekdays are quiet now, and can only imagine them getting worse as school time approaches and everyone is making the most of the free time. That, and I bet a lot of people get off work and hit the lake. If I thought I could get away with it I'd see if my boss would change my hours so I could come in around 9 and be able to fish a while in the morning. Hmmmmm...... Glad you were able to connect with some fish. That always helps when other frustrations abound.

I think a lot of people view it like I do hunting. I don't mind people knowing where I hunt, but when I am hunting I like to be alone. I think that a lot of people want to be alone while they are fishing, at least not have a lot of other boats around. I am finding the opposite to be true though. Seems like the more boats around the better a person does. To an extent at least. I am sure if a guy was sitting still on the water it would be a hindrance to have others constantly going by you. I think its like that with any public thing. And as bad as it kills me to say it, its only going to get worse as this area grows. Just pure averages will dictate that the more people who move into this area, the more people with boats and such will also. So its something we will have to live with. I was fishing an area yesterday that I would call "small" by most standards. However, I started thinking that I could spend hours in that area covering it and still feel like I had missed some spots of it. So the way I see it is the more people talk about what is going on in the lake the better. If other boats were in the area they could have picked apart some of it and we could all came to the conclusion that there were not any active fish. And if there was active fish, then we take turns catching them. I know of several people who troll together in separate boats and they make it work just fine. Plenty of lake for everyone. Just got to give the other guy some room, and if your going to follow anyone around make sure its F&F or Doc....

Yes, nice catch. I'm not much of a cat fisherman, but I'd say that is a pretty looking catfish and I'd for sure had taken him home to meet the family.

Well Robert Sir, I have a wonderful depth finder I'd trade you for your side imaging unit. I'd even take care of the install and vacuum your carpet too! I think that its like anything else, you have to just play/use it for a while before you start to get the hang of how it works and how it can work better for you.

hmmmmmm...... Yea, its hard for me to kick something till I have decided I have gotten it down. However, I will never disagree with someone else's advice and always file it away. My wife and I are going to have some time together on the lake next week. I think it will be the perfect time for us to grab some minners and try downlining. I will for sure be doing the fly thing in the future. One of the reasons for the big deck I put on the boat. Figure it will be best late fall/early spring?

Id be curious to know their length.

Yea, he did not bother me in the least. I found it humorous in fact. I just thought it interesting as I did not expect him to give any secretes away, but thought he would have been a tad more cordial. First run in with one except the one time I was on a friends boat and had one try to run us over getting out to a fishing spot once, then proceeded to try and drive over us when he saw us catching fish later on. Oh well. If I had to guess, guys that are like that are a little unconfident in their fishing ability. It is either that or there is truly a scarcity of striped bass in the lake.. I am not sure of the numbers myself, but I would venture to say there are plenty of striped bass swimming around in the lake right now. Its not rocket science. If I wanted to know where he was catching them I'd just follow them. Duh. But really, I think its a personality thing. No big deal. I bet aside from fishing he would be an ok guy to chat with. And I bet, from the sound of him interacting with his clients, that it would be an ok time on his boat. But I for sure aint gonna pay for it. lol. I do know a couple of guys who did go together and hired a guide years ago. They simply wanted to see how it was done and they took that info and started catching fish themselves. I can't say that if I was at my wits ends I would not do something like that. But thanks to those on here its really just a matter of trial and error to catching them now days. Years ago they did not have the info or the availability of others who were willing to help. I think I will make another trip out tonight. I am gonna see if my neighbor wants to go. But regardless I want try it again, I have a good feeling about it for some reason.