Chief Grey Bear

I applaud you Champ for posting this. This is very sound advice that should be practiced by all of us that fish. It is a great idea for those of us that are C&R to keep a bleeding fish, if not for ourselves then for someone that will use it. I understand that tourny guy's will not want to do this as it could knock them out of the money but, they will just have to decide which is more important and what is best for the resource.

Thanks for the update.

Still have a seat left. We can put is name on it.

I was there with my son and my uncle during the youth turkey season this spring. It was my first time fishing there so I can't relate as to how it is now but, we but in the boat and we up past the powerlines. The fist riffle we had to get out to get over was right at the powerlines. We fished on up to the next riffle but didn't go any futher. We caught a lot of good sized White Bass, and some nice river crappie. I was impressed with the area. I am sure we will hit again next year. If the weather is good.

This is just a friendly reminder that the Spring Float & Fish , or what ever we are calling it this week, is this Saturday. I just wanted to get a final roll call of who all is coming and if we need to make any changes. I will edit this post as people sign in. Chief and Dylan

I don't know, I think it supports it rather well. Pictures and reports speak volumns. As one reads through all of the quotes I posted, other than you, could they pick out the one trip that was from the 1980's? I highly doubt it. And that was one of the points of the post.

Hey I finally got my first NO vote!!! YaaaaaHOOOOOOO! Now lets see, was it Phil? Bill? Zip? Bman? JD? Big Bird? Ham? Al? Naw, even though Al and I don't agree on a few items, I think he might still fish with me. Champ? focused fishing? Oh well, I can't please everyone all the time, and hardly anyone any of the time. Keep the votes coming. Almost 200 views and only 17 votes.

So anyone that does not agree with your point of view is odd and incorrect?

Now don't be shy! You can post a reply of any sorts if you want to. But you don't have to. I won't get my feelings hurt if you don't want to fish with me, so go ahead and vote no. I fully understand I won't be getting many yes votes from the eastern side of the state . Nor will I get any from the T-Rock guy's. So lets have a little fun. Vote early and vote often!

Right on Sam! That very thing was discussed here about a year or so ago. It really sound like the best option to develop. I would really like to see something like this come to fuitition.

I have been saying that for like a year now. It just don't sink in it seems. Oh, OTF, that oil ain't gonna get the Ozarks!

Silence is acceptance. And since you have accepted the high mortality rates and are comfortable with them, I see no reason to raise a ruckus over someone keeping a few nice bass. If you love the sport of tourament fishing, take a leadership roll and improve upon it. Don't simply be a follower and continue with the status quo. I am having visions of the MSA here.

"What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don't like it any more than you men."

It just doesn't seem as if gigging is as bad as it is made out to be.

Great. Looks like I need to update. Sorry about that.

I already have that task assignment to Stinger160. How about the buns? I plan on bringing about 40 dogs. I figure everone will eat at least two and we have about 15 coming. If you can do that it would be great!

I really need to just let this topic gasp its last breath but........ I still have not heard anything from those tourney men about this. What improvements have been made since this study was conducted? Shouldn't we be discussing what inovations can be implemented to reduce mortality rates instead of bantering back and forth about what the mortality rate is? Can't we have softer liners in the livewells to reduce the blunt trauma that these fish experience? Lets develope a solution. Or at least work towards a solution.

Do you have a link for that information? I would be very interested in reading that. It just doesn't seam to be inline with all the other research that is currently available. Are culled bass included in this?

I am sure you do. But if you will keep a steady retrieve and not a stop and go or bouncing off of the bottom type retrieve, you will greatly reduce your chances of catching a nesting brownie. Or you can just hold out until after the prime spawning time before you use a spinner bait. Of course the best thing to do is, when you locate one of these "bedroom areas", simply move on. Skip over it and move on.

One thing that I would like to add for those of you that want to lessen you chances of catching a nesting brownie, toss a crankbait or spinnerbait in the spring. Stay away from your slow, bottom bouncing baits like jigs and such. If you are fishing a with, say a jig with craw trailer, or any such type biat or plastic worm, these will be precieved by the bass as a nest raider and attacked as such. But your cranks or other fast swimming bait will not get much more than a second glance from a bass guarding a nest. It will not chase your bait. Its no secret to those that fish with me that I am a fan of the crankbait on creeks and rivers. And even more so in the spring. I like fishing a jig with craw trailer and I love a 6" plastic worm on smaller creeks. But I won't fish them in the spring just for this reason. But come late June, watch out!

Yeah, I am hoping things are somewhat back to near normal on the creek for this. I am sure it will be. It looks like we are going to have in the neighborhood of 10 boats. I am bringing my trailer that can a haul 6. I thought someone else that is coming also had a trailer to haul 6 or so. I am hoping that we only need to take about 3 vehicles to Allen Bridge. And like you are saying, we will leave all the food and stuff at Lime Kiln.

Ahh, that is an easy fix Randall, after you shoot them, just let them rot! Obviously the local law ain't coming out to your place.

Very, VERY, nice! Some day, like closer to retirement, I really want build some boats like that. Keep it up! That is some really awesome work!

I feel your pain. I was watching the water myself. Though it was not dropping fast, it was starting to somewhat clear up. I was hoping by Sunday something might be floatable. Not likely now. Curse you rain.

Great work Ducky. You seem to have put a lot of time and effort into this. I am glad you did. In you very last statement: "Seems growth rates are all over the board too. Anywhere from 1/2 pound per year to 2 1/2 pounds per year. MDC stated that Table Rock Lake had a high growth rate. What does that really mean? Longevity seems to be all over the place too. Who do we believe. These scientist and biologist cant even agree." Longevity and growth rates can differ greatly and are dictated by the waterway in which the individual fish lives in. Forage, habitate, and fishing pressure are just some of the key elements that determine both. There will be great differences in impounded waters vs. flowing water. There will even be differences from lake to lake or pond to pond and also from river to river. All though most are relitively close in nature, there are noticable differences. It really can just depend on where the reported data came from.