MoCarp

Here are the bobbers and style of hook, good pair of hemostats help on unhooking, if you gut hook a big big fish cutting the line and releasing is best

I grew up fishing those old cane poles , The pits around Pittsburg & Columbus Ks have produced State record class sunfish. Warmouth, Pumpkinseed, bulegill and Redear are ones I have landed over a pound in those waters, the harder the pit to get to the bigger the sunfish will be on average. wax worms and red worms on a long shank "bream hook" with a quality float ( thill brand or quill type) will make a huge difference for big fish, I would tell you to be very selective on harvest in these smaller pits..taking an ice chest out of 11+ inchers will set back the waters trophy potential for a decade (I know I have done it and learned from it) one pit I cause a hybrid sunfish almost 2-1/2 pounds and let it go, pound was tiny 1/3 acre at best, I had hoped to catch it again..never did . Float tubes and a 10 foot length of sturdy rope will help you crawl out of one pit to another, a real easy thing to type but very hard to do! some times a light set of waders are recommended for Poison Ivy control as its everywhere, usually in that pit you found! many weedy pits are full of shrimp, scuds and daphnia, the ones that do can grow monsters! I used a 9 foot ultra lite rod and a just above ultra lite reel spooled with green 4lbs line sometime 2lbs I always carried a extra spool or 4 ...lol all those extra pockets on a vest come in handy when you over a mile from your truck pumpkin seed and warmth pics attached

Chasing big panfish has been a hobby of mine, if you want monsters find waters full of small bass, seems they keep the populations down, I have read yellow perch waters have the same effect.....A bug zapper on a pond or lake dock makes a trophy gill zone I keep a few....... but I toss back those huge ones 11 inches or so.........I have a pound and a 1/2 one mounted.......I bet with the yellow perch getting common in Bull shoals a gill trip there might be worthy...never tried 'giling in BS...any one ever try?

The pits in SE Kansas have some of the biggest gils, shawnee trails at minden mines has some huge ones, lamar lake has good gill fishing they have a 8" limit and bag limit of 15.. but a wall hanger is available there I know of several over 1lbs and one almost 2lbs! monsters anywheres

any big ones? I have caught some dandy ones from Table rock, a blast on UL gear......and yeah you will be tired of cleaning fish ... Bluegill fillets with a side of shrimp sause is hard to beat..as a note boiled crawfish tails are good as well Home Made Shrimp sause 1 cup catsup. 1 -2 tablespoon horseradish (to your taste)( more = hotter) 1 tablespoon lemon juice. 1⁄2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. 1⁄4 teaspoon salt. 1 dash black pepper.

Former 'Swamp People' cast member facing host of Game violations https://www.ktbs.com/news/former-swamp-people-cast-member-facing-host-of-hunting-violations/article_2ea70908-149f-5f14-b9da-adadcb1ea42c.html

started a genetics thread

Coppernose strain.... they stocked some at stockton a few years back, bluff banks with crickets can land some whoppers I;d like to see the state put in red-ears

Wade in here people..does it matter if we keep the biggest fish? do fish pass on their traits in public fished waters? do slot limits work? should there be limits on keeping the largest fish?

would it not be cool to catch 30 bass to 8 pounds? nothing personal, but big fish are to valuable to catch just once IMHO.....selective harvest is just fine by me,

Well I can only go on the genetics classes I took going to University, Punnett Squares, possible allele combinations. perhaps a new thread on fish genetics? “There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.” - Theodore Roosevelt as Roy D Mercer used to say "how big a boy are you?

OLD fish don't always = BIG fish....fast growth, larger peak size faster......any biologist worth their salt knows this, selective breeding for traits have been the back bone of fisheries for a long long time..... if you kill off those big old carp you get many more small carp that case more issues.....walked into that one from By Joe Bonneau, Dennis Scarnecchia, and Emil Berard At Bowman-Haley Reservoir "In many nutrient-rich reservoirs, carp may at first reproduce successfully, resulting in one or two strong year classes in succession. Their long lifespan (up to 15 years or more) and potential to reach a large size (up to 20 pounds or more) allow fish from strong year classes to grow steadily, rapidly at first, but more slowly later on as they become large and exceed natural limits of their food supply.Eventually the reservoir is full of large, old carp whose reproductive success is poor, because the reservoir's carrying capacity for carp is reached. Growth and survival rates of young-of-the-year are low. Although few young carp are added to the population, the damage was done when the strong year classes were produced.The Old Carp Syndrome may persist for years until a die off reduces the dominant year classes. If the die off is sudden, the entire process can start over. This cycle explains why biologists have often removed large numbers of carp from waters, only to see survivors reproduce successfully and recreate the Old Carp Syndrome 10 years later.With fewer old carp, food for younger carp may be abundant. They can grow rapidly, and quickly reach a size too large for predation."

Thats why you don't, you pound your own spots till the don't produce keepers anymore

Bass and walleyes can be scattered this time of year, water rising and falling can exacerbate trying to find fish, as a rule secondary points with the wind blowing in fish are turned on more...east wind usually has a negative effect on the fishing...When fishing is tough go light..spinning gear 6lbs line green mono, 1/8 jigs tipped with a minnow or 1/3 of a crawler. if you want smallies and walleyes, the 3rd of the lake near the dam is your best bet, largemouth, crappies the middle section, Crappie like to suspend near bluff banks around brush fish with the wind and it makes it easier to feel light bites, if the wind is ripping fish can be so shallow their backs can be out of the water, stick baits on spinning gear 8lbs test can be wild for big white bass and walleyes...for bigger largemouth/walleyes try half a sluggo/fluke like bait on a 1/4oz quality realistic jighead hopped around ledge rocks.... putting your rod tip into the water can help with bite detection in wind... in closing learn new spots every time you fish, keep a fishing log and you will see different patterns for time of year and weather...

the skill of people who made there own cloths prob wasn't that good...lol I bet if you saw a guy toss a 6 pound brown under a bush back in the day, because they ate all the trout (not that the anglers kept all the brookies to eat) you would understand the why, my comments are to caution those not to repeat the past "Bison are everywhere can't kill them all"

fishing gets poor because of this...its easy to blame Common Carp or Buffalo or gar who have been in the waters you fish LONG before dams, ANY fish can be fished down...we as most of us fish for fun..its ok to take some fish for dinner but only in moderation...some fish can be harvested more than others, Carp included.... but largest fish should go back to keep those better genes...if not we all will be catching the Gary Colemans of the fish world, Thats my Opinion

Its about HOW carp were stocked, in the mid 1800s, when fish were imported from Germany in 1877, the U.S. Fish Commission was stocking carp in lakes and rivers across the country to serve as a food source. "Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, a Democratic congressmen from New York's 4th Congressional District, originated the bill to create the U.S. Fish Commission in the United States House of Representatives. It was established by a joint resolution (16 Stat. 593) of the United States Congress on February 9, 1871,[1] as an independent commission with a mandate to investigate the causes for the decrease of commercial fish and other aquatic animals in the coastal and inland waters of the United States, to recommend remedies to the U.S. Congress and the states, and to oversee restoration efforts. the U.S. Fish Commission carried out extensive investigations of the fishes in the rivers, lakes, and marine waters of the United States. The National Fish Hatchery System (NFHS) was established by the U.S. Congress in 1871 through the creation of a U.S. Commissioner for Fish and Fisheries. President Ulysses S. Grant was chiefly responsible for the first official government action to conserve U.S. fishery resources for future generations. President Grant established the U.S. Fish Commission in 1871. The Commission was the forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Fisheries Program. By 1885, the U.S. Fish Commission was actively stocking lakes and rivers ....(source the National Biological Service, Environmental Management) Perhaps the Commission's greatest success, was the introduction of carp. A popular food fish over a great part of Europe, it was introduced because of a desire to provide a cheap source of high quality food for rural dwellers in the South and Midwest. In an effort to provide wide distribution of the fish, Baird even had rearing ponds constructed on the grounds of the Washington Monument and other nearby locations. Enthusiasm for the program soon developed and the carp were introduced into every imaginable stream or body of water. usually by rail car."

Pictures of early stocking of carp By the Feds

do you remember when tuna was so common they fish them like this?

During the 1800's, many animals and fish were harvested nearly into extinction. Bison and beaver was almost wiped out. Once plentiful elk, deer, and pronghorn had been reduced to a fraction of their original number. The game fish that where plentiful........ now where hard to come by, bass, crappie and catfish in the south, Trout (Brook) and Atlantic salmon in the east.. To conserve wildlife for future generations to enjoy, wildlife management laws were passed, Did you know that in the fish markets of St Louis Blue catfish where common over 150 lbs? Did you know Carp and brown trout were introduced then to help meet the food needs ? The first introduction of the brown trout into the United States was by the US Fish Commission in 1883 in Michigan. The common carp came to the U.S. in 1831 it was stocked widely throughout the United States by the United States Fish Commission as a food fish to help the depleted fish stocks now our near shore fishes (salt water) and commercial fisheries are going through what fresh water went through in the 1880's habitats are degraded and harvest is maximized.... as a boy I grew up fishing the waters around Mobile, Dauphin Island and Gulf Shore was my family stomping grounds, we fished for "Green Trout" and Bream at Flint Creek and Big Creek lake, Dog River, and Paul B Johnson state park...we commonly caught Croakers, they ran from 15-16 inches long to over 20 and 4-5 pounds today 10" is about as big as it gets...why? the boney fish was tasty but with so many others like flounder and specks where numerous.....things have changed..before the tougher regs Reds where almost wiped out..... Like it or not Regs will be getting tougher, Harvest more restricted, because of game hogs it only takes a few to ruin a water I have seen it in my life, in Jasper co, the newly american used to subsist living have been hard on our streams, I wade fished many of our small streams, once great fishing is hard to come by, the county now makes it almost impossible to get to streams with the way they grade the roads to eliminate stream side parking and concentration camp style fence to make walking to the water a great escape event. increasing pressure on the areas with access.... I worry about the next generation not fishing at all, because it takes a lot more work to go fishing...all this because of Game Hogging

I agree it only takes one or 2 bad apples to crush a stream, I don't agree, I used to trap mink on spring creeks, saw many a wade gigger in streams hard to float a tube much less a boat! they used a wheat light spot light, never saw any bass gigged though by the guys I saw, but then again I heard of guys whoopsing

I can tell you WAY more in fact get poached, any means that make it easy to quickly harvest lots of fish poundage is ripe for harvest...from bow fished game fish sold in KC fish shops to gill nets in the fall for spoonbill, its why some waters seem dead...because hey are.....even if people stay in limits, if they take those limits every few days, places get fished down..its why I don't share fishing spots with just anyone any more ....even for carp.. nothing is more disheartening than to chum up an easy access bank on Stockton Lake for two weeks and invite people to fish with kids. Only to have no -one catch a fish. and hear from the guy selling snacks at the marina, that several bow fishing boats pounded the area...we found some fish with arrow holes tossed on the bank to send those carp huggers a message Even had a couple guys walleye fishing found a floater walleye that had been arrowed caught one that was wounded from a near miss half alive on the surface, both fish over 4 pounds...they turned it into the game warden. A walleye is easy to see at night their eyes glow like reflectors on a country driveway at night... I HAD a spot that averaged carp in the teens, bow fishing group took out a full dumpster, now you can catch twice the fish just none over 3-5 pounds... drinks by carp standards. I have zero tolerance for game hogs ZERO...

I used to fish those tail waters often..crowds can be crazy! people can be... well rude and nasty there.... for what ever reason, was there once during the high water releases of the great floods of the 90's guys were bow fishing below the dam from the bank! shoot a fish and drop it in the rip rap never to see the light of day. not just them ether... people would toss the gar, buffalo, quill backs etc in the rocks the stink was incredable.......broken off line from guys using surf gear and 80# power pro made fishing interesting in the least....talked to a guy who roamed the rocks in low water conditions for old lead and then remelt it and cast new sinkers to sell on the bank..he was making a good bit that day! we used steel head casting rods 10 foot, abu 6500c rocket reels with 15# berkley big game line,leave the braid at home guys... tossing 1oz- 3oz shad head jigs and slap spoons (we cast our own) with half a sluggo for the tail..We caught everything.... my avatar is a 40 pound buff caught there, I have landed a 70# spoon bill on the same gear! talk about a work out in that current. sometimes you can get spooled! we brought lots of extra line! its a great place to fish..during the week! got to make you own lures or you can spend a fortune, we would sell a few to pay our gas Blue (white cat) channels and flatheads, hybrid stripers, white bass and crappie, huge buffalo..and at the right time of year spoon bill and walleyes.....by rule you release all spoonbill there...we always would get a spoon or 3 on trips when they were running, they would test you tackle..shelled out many a lesser reel till we stuck with 6500s a 30-40 pound buff, or a 15# hybrid will bust a reel seat on a less well made rod as well. when its right you can get your string stretched that only salt water fishing can rival PS used to always get a giant burger at cowpatties, wonder if it still there??? back in those days was not many placed to get "fast food"

I think that is being disingenuous, climate change has been going on "warming" for the last 12,900 years the end of the last ice age. The debate is whether man with our use of carbon based energy are having an impact on the warming going on, To freak out over the current admin on climate change when the earths history was FAR warmer than today. I saw computer models that show cooler wetter weather in the midwest, I saw the first snow in my life in May in Carthage a couple years ago, http://sacredgeometryinternational.com/category/climate-change-3

Just had tennis ball size hail in Carthage, and a ton of rain