Whack'emGood

BRBF, Yes, there are alot of trees and bushes dying all around the lake. You can really see them now as the water drops. I would say about 1/3 of the stuff that was/is in the water (that is not usually in it) appears to be dying or dead. It is kind of sad. Someone wrote an interesting post a few weeks after the water came up about which species of trees will make it and which will likely die. I can't remember in exactly which thread it was, but it was interesting and informative for sure. I think I will go back and look for it. The good news (I like it, anyway) is that they are dropping it pretty fast now. It is only about 7 1/3 feet over pool now, and dropping about 1/3 of a foot every day. My brushpiles will soon be fishable!! Whack'em

3.22lbs??? Really? Sounds like it was a hum-dinger. I guess it doesn't really surprise me for fishing before dark this time of year... We usually don't catch'em until after dark. Did guys catch fish and just no keepers, or did nobody catch fish period? How many boats did you have last week? Whack'em

I'm not convinced that color makes that much difference most of the time. They way I look at colors is this: there are dark colors/shades and there are lighter colors/shades. Depending on the clarity of the water you're fishing-- choose between the two. Other guys might believe different, but I don't. Also, the report of what they're catching them on just happens to be what they happen to be fishing with... Think about that for awhile, and see if you get my point..................... Could they be catching them on something else, or some other color? Probably-- they're just not fishing something else or another color. The point is... Bluewave-- if you are comfortable fishing with some "obsolete" lure or method, don't be afraid to give it a try. Just because "Nobody catches fish on those anymore..." doesn't mean they don't work. If nobody fishes them, of course they aren't gonna catch fish with them. Good luck! Whack'em

Yeah, I bet our pumps are plumbed differently. Either way, both livewells should do a dandy job-- as long as we do the other little things that we both do to help the fish. Thats a good question about the hydrogen peroxide GF. I have heard of that, but never tried it or saw it done. Hopefully someone who knows will enlighten us. By the way, I'm sure nobody minds about us "hijacking" the thread on this one... We are discussing ways to take better care of our fish and, I'm sure, nobody on here minds that kind of good constructive talk. Whack'em

My dad is my fishing partner and it is his boat we fish out of... It is a 2003 (i think) Nitro NX882. There are 3 settings for the valve-- Empty, Fill, Recirculate. His livewell is 2 sided with a permeable divider (they share virtually the same water). As far as I know, both pumps are the same-- just one on each side. Lets call the first one pump 1, and the other is already labeled "auxiliary" on the console so lets just call it that. Pump one on the console is labeled FILL/RECIRC and you can turn it to 3 positions OFF, AUTO, MANUAL. The auxiliary pump is labeled FILL/RECIRC and has the same 3 positions for the switch as the other. The pumps will both either pump in (and oxygenate at the same time) water from the lake, or they will just recirculate (and oxygenate) the water that you have already pumped into the live well. Which act they perform depends on which setting you have the valve on (FILL or RECIRC.). As I mentioned, there are two settings (besides off) for each pump-- AUTO or MANUAL. On manual, the pump keeps either filling/recirculating the whole time you have it on. On auto, it comes on every once in awhile and pumps for a minute or something-- i haven't timed the frequency or length that the pump works on this setting, but it works well. I generally use this AUTO setting on both pumps and let them work for me all night. It doesn't constantly pump, but it pumps plenty of oxygen into the water. It has worked well for me. So here is how I get the livewell going. 1. Turn the valve to FILL. 2. Turn both pumps on to MANUAL and fill the livewell to desired level. 3. Once you have the desired level of lake water in the box, switch the valve to RECIRCULATE. 4. Add Catch-n-Release chemical and a little ice to the livewell. 5. Switch both pumps to AUTO -- and with the valve on RECIRC., this will auto-recirculate the chemical/ice water. 6. Periodically check on your fish to make sure they are doing well and that your pumps are doing their jobs. I have never had a problem in dads boat, but I still check once in awhile (between catching fish) to make sure everything is working fine. Now, that is how this particular livewell works. I don't know anything about the Champions (other than they are nice boats). If you are not sure if you are running your pumps and such correct, you should talk to a Champion dealer, or call the company direct and ask questions. Whack'em P.S. Getfished... i guess the bottom line is (and like I said, I don't know anything about your Hydro-Air Pump), both of my pumps work the same. When the valve is on FILL, they both pump (and oxygenate) water in from the lake--- When the valve is on RECIRC., they both just recirculate and oxygenate the existing water in the livewell. Your pumps may well be 2 different kinds of pumps and don't work the same as mine. Someone who knows better than both of us may come on here and correct both of us.... but what I do with my pumps works well, regardless... I know that for sure. Good luck with your pumps and your fish!!

I just deleted my previous post... It is pointless to talk about C&R really. Either you beleive in it and practice it, or you don't. I don't want to get into it-- I get tired of talking about it. Bottom line is-- I am a bass fisherman and I always practice C&R.

Ethics and morals should enter (in some degree-- be it big or small) into everything you do on this Earth. Thats just common sense. If you're making a decision to do "whatever you think is right" that is using ethics.

Its a good idea Trav. It may work with the big tourneys. Unfortunately, it will never work with local tourneys... too expensive to implement. Sounds good though, good luck! Whack'em

Tyler, So you were the @#$% guys holding up the blastoff.... Just kidding!!!! We fished Friday as well. We caught a bunch of keepers, but no really big-uns. We finished 6th. Its too bad that you had motor problems. Sorry to hear it. Nice job taking care of your fish, though. There were 10 boats that weighed in fish, I think. 7 limits, and 3 with 3 fish. 15 something won it, with a 5.5 toad for big bass. Not bad for a 4 fish limit (15lbs+). Once again, all of the guys took good care of their fish, and Joe, Terry, and the boys did a great job recessitating, caring for, and releasing them. We didn't even see one fish dead or struggling after they relased them all. As far as our methods, we used Catch-n-Relase chemical and ice... We also ran both aereators all night. They were in excellent shape and as lively as ever when they were weighed and then released. Whack'em P.S. Race Brothers Farm and Home donated 2 more 100 gallon stock tanks for us to use for fish care. Joe is filling them and putting ice blocks in them-- we use them to set our bags of fish in while we are in the weigh line. It works great. Once again, Joe and Terry and the boys do a great job. Many thanks to Race Brothers!

Someone may correct me, but I think crawdads spawn twice a year. Once in the spring when the water temp nears 50* and then again in the fall when it drops down close to 50* again. So that's not it. It's odd though, aint it? Does anyone have a theory? Whack'em

Thanks, as always, for the report Bill. Glad to hear you are gonna get some good quality time and fun fishin' with your son this weekend. Y'all have fun- catch a bunch, but please leave some for us amateurs!! My dad is my favorite fishing partner-- I wouldn't trade him for anyone. Whack'em

I think some guys would cheat doing the paper tourney thing even if it isn't big money. Some guys would cheat to win as little as $50. I think most guys are honest and pretty good guys overall, but it would only take one or two to ruin the fun of competing. My dad used to fish a local bass club circuit back in the 80s... The season was almost over (last tournament of the year) and he was in the lead for Angler of The Year in the club... The guy who measured and recorded the fish at the weigh in was the brother of the guy who was second in the points. I don't remember where they were fishing, but the fishing was really tough that night. Dad only had 3 keepers. The guy in 2nd had 5 keepers to weigh. Dad and a bunch of guys watched as the measuring guy (2nd place guy's brother) stretched and magically squeezed three 14 1/2 inch fish (the 2nd place points guy's fish, mind you) (dad and the rest of the guys watching said they still didn't make it to 15" on the ruler) into 15 inchers. He did this even though dad and all of the other guys watching were telling him that they didn't make 15" and he needs to deem them illegal and they can't be weighed. Dad was next to weigh his fish, and probably would have still won Angler of the Year for the club, but he said "this is BS" and walked over and put his fish back in the lake and went home (withough weighing them). Dad was right. It is no fun, even for just a little money or even for bragging rights, to fish with cheaters. Like I said, most guys are good guys and are not going to cheat... but I still wouldn't fish in a paper tournament (even if it was only for bragging rights) for this reason. I would just as soon just go out and fun fish than do that. Whack'em

20-25 feet has been the depth that I have been catching probably 80% of my fish after dark. I have caught a few fish a little shallower (12-15 feet), but they seem to be mostly smaller fish. I think that with the water temp in the mid 80s, the majority of the fish are not really moving up too far at all to feed. I think you need to stay really close to deep water too-- of course I have been catching mostly KY and SJ... some guys may be finding the LM, and the depths and locations may be a little different. Good luck! Whack'em

Thats great! Looks like she caught herself a nice one too.

Dennis, I agree. I think 6 hours is plenty long to fish a tournament anyway. The series I fish is 7:30pm-1:30am... 6 hours. There is really no need to stretch it out longer than that-- especially at the expense of health of the fish. Whack'em

You may be right about the big tournaments Bigredbirdfan... but in the tourney series I fish in-- probably half of the guys in the tournament have boats that they paid under $20,000 for (there are more than a few that I would call clunkers too!), 90% don't have sponsors, and there aren't any sponsor signs or spectators at the weigh-in. Its just a bunch of guys that love to fish, and love the competition and the camaraderie between them and the other guys. The bottom line is (and I think we all agree on this) that we don't want to see anymore dead bass floating in the lake. Nobody would dispute that for sure. Something needs to be done to improve the situation, thats for sure. Whack'em

100 tournaments x 30 dead fish per tournament...... It doesn't work like that. You can't look at it that way. Most tournaments have a very small percentage, if any, casualties. Usually the dead fish brought in to the weigh-in were gut or gill hooked and were going to die if they were released immediately anyway. Even if you catch and release all fish immediately, once in awhile, a fish will die because it is gut hooked or something. Also, you say that these tournaments are a waste of alot of resources? I guess so is fishing in general, or a baseball, football, baskeball game, or golf. It is recreation/sport. Its what people do for fun, not a waste. I don't know how Branson could benefit from a local tourney. Most of these tourneys are local and aren't fished for the money. If they were, in 95% of tourneys, everybody would go broke. Local tourneys don't pay enough to fish "for the money". It is about the competition. It is fun to compete. It is like any of the aforementioned sports. If you don't like competition, fine-- that is your deal. Don't get me wrong-- any tournament that is blatantly neglecting to take care of their fish should be outlawed-- nobody can argue against that. But outlawing all tournaments because there are a few bad apples is not the solution. I don't want anyone to take me wrong... Those of you that have read my posts in the past know that I am adamant about catch-n-release bass fishing. I am adamant about taking extra good care of the fish and the fishery. I just think, to be credible, we have to look at this (and deal with it) rationally. We need to do something about the group that Bill posted about that fished out of Aunts Creek the other night (and any other groups that are committing similar atrocities). Everybody can't make a broad generalization about tournament fishing because of this though. Shoot, even Bill fishes in tournaments-- and I look up to him greatly (as a model, really) for his conservation beliefs and practices. We all need to do something, but we also need to use our heads on this one. Whack'em

Yeah, we all definitely need to keep and ear out. When we find out who runs it, we should definitely post it on here-- and then try our best to take action against the culprits.

That won't work for me... I fish alot of buddy tournaments with my Dad. I would rather just go fishing with my Dad than fish in a tournament with somebody else.

Well, what are we gonna do? I guess we should ban all bass fishing for two months during the spring spawn (as we discussed earlier this year), and then ban all bass fishing during June, July, and August because the water is too hot. That doesn't sound like much fun to me. What do we have left? The month of May (alot of bass are still spawning in May, too) , then a little bit of Fall fishing, and then all of the crappy Winter months when you can't catch them if you tried. If we do that, then we might as well just quit fishing and take up golf or something. Its like I said, we can't just ban everything... We just have to do the best we can to take care of the fish when we catch them. For me, Summer night fishing is the best time of year. I wouldn't want to give that up, thats for sure. I am a conservationist, and I make it a priority to protect the fish and the fishery-- but if I can't fish for the bass, then what are they worth to me. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't get much enjoyment out of knowing that the fishery is healthy and that big uns are swimming around all over the lake, if I can't fish for them. Catching fish, and the enjoyment I get out of it, is the reason I am a fisherman. I always do my best to take care of the fish and the fishery so I can catch fish both now and in the future. Thats the bottom line. Everyone needs to remember that. Whack'em

I do exactly what you do Chris. I have a quality pair of wire cutters that I never fish without. I try to cut as much of the hook out that I can without causing any undue stress to the fish while I cut it. I try to leave as little of the hook in there as I can. I have even had the rest of the hook pop right out of the stomach after I cut the hook. Everyone should have a quality pair of wire cutters in their boat. It works great and can really make a difference sometimes. Whack'em

Sometimes, no matter what you do, even catching and immediately releasing a bass causes them to die (gut or gill hooked, water too hot, etc.). This is extremely frustrating. Sometimes, when this happens, I wonder if it is even worth catching 15-20 fish to have one of them die on you. But if you give up fishing to protect the fish and miss out on catching them, then they are of no value to you. Sometimes its just a catch-22 situation... If you catch a bunch of bass (either catch and release immediately, or carry them to the weigh in), no matter what you do to take care of them, you may still end up losing a few. None of us are perfect, or even close. We just have to do the best we can to take care of our fisheries, but still enjoy catching the fish that we love to catch. Everybody needs to put out 110% toward the cause-- thats all we can do. Anyone that doesn't do all that can be done, and give 110% toward taking care of the fish that they catch, should be flogged repeatedly on the head. Whack'em

Ha ha!! Good one S&M!! That sounds about right. Seriously, though. 1. The law says you have to keep your running lights on... even while you're fishing but... nobody does it. The water patrol doesn't enforce it, as a courtesy. Obviously, you need to use them anytime the big motor is on. When you are fishing you should turn them off, but make sure to keep an eye out for passers-by-- be ready to flip them on if anyone gets even remotely close or comes toward you-- it is obviously dangerous not to because they can't see you sitting in the dark. I also keep a big spotlight handy, just in case they keep coming even after I flip the lights on. 2. A GPS is very handy. Before GPS came along, we fished all of the time at night and made it just fine-- but... at night it is easy to get turned around without a GPS, even when you are in an area that you have fished 1,000 times. 3. On LOZ, I love the Grand Glaize arm. The PB2 (public beach #2) ramp in Osage Beach is a very nice facility and it puts you right in the middle of good waters. Fish bluff ends, points, and main lake pockets that the river channel comes close to to catch'em. There are some HUGE bass in that area! Hang on to your rod! 4. Use jigs (I prefer big ones) and big worms (8-10") and crawdad imitation plastics-- all in dark colors (black, blue, purple). 5. Watch out for drunk idiots out there!! Good luck! Whack'em

Those are some pretty good ideas Sam!! I may suggest these ideas to the tournament director in the series I fish in-- although, like I said, we get very few (if any, some nights) dead fish because we all do our best to do things right. I like the floating weigh station thing. Maybe even do a mid-tourney required weigh in or something. And give bonus lbs to weigh fish at the early weigh in. This would make sure guys don't skip the early weigh in and say they had no fish-- just because they were busy fishing and didn't want to take a time out for it. This would help by not having fish in the livewell for too long. Whack'em

You are right on Eric. It is rediculous. There are a few things that I forgot to add about the Friday Night Mill Creek Series that I fish. It is a weigh and release only tourney... unless a fish is dead (then it must be taken home by someone and eaten) it must be cared for carefully, recessitated in the tank, fizzed, and returned to the lake. After fish are weighed, they become "property" (so to speak) of the tournament director and his staff. They then take great care to release it unharmed. I have heard of some tourneys where you can actually opt to keep your fish (alive) and take them home and eat them. This, to me, is almost as bad as mishandling them. Our tournament director (Joe Gettle) always stresses and reminds us to do all of the things necessary to keep your fish healthy, as I said before. He has also implemented a new rule that will be in effect thru July and August... he has limited us to a 4 fish limit. This is a great rule. I wouldn't mind even going to a 3 fish limit, but a 4 fish limit certainly does well to reduce the chances of killing fish. Also, our tourneys are only 6 hours long (7:30-1:30)... this, like Eric was saying, reduces the time that a fish stays in the livewell. We caught a nice smallmouth on Friday night only 10 minutes into the tourney-- we took all the precautions with it and, when it was released after the weigh in, she (and our other 3 fish) was as lively and healthy as when she was hooked and pulled out of the lake to begin with. Not only does our tourney director stress it, but there is an overwhelming attitude among all of the competitors that it is very important to make sure we take care of our fish and the fishery. It is a great bunch of guys that do a great job of it too. It is a shame that alot of the other tourneys aren't managed the way this one is... Like I said-- I am not a tournament first fisherman. If I didn't beleive in the way it was run, I wouldn't fish in it. I would never participate in a fish slaughter tournament that cause atrocities like the one Bill ran onto Sunday morning. Eric, you apologized about the "rant"... No need to apologize, we should all be ranting about this one!!! Whack'em