Bird Watcher

It's all good. I can tell your a good guy, or at least you play one on the internet. Cheers.

Thanks Ham, that's helpful

How ironic would it be if mjk86 took a ned rig to TR lake and loaded his cooler 15" with bass for fry? It almost made me feel like Rust Cole when the thought hit me. Amiright?

That is crazy!. Awesome fish. Please pass along congrats from the Birdwatcher to Micah if you see him again.

doesn't lake Conway have an alligator?

No, no, not at all. No point in me debating your conjecture with my conjecture. I just thought maybe you'd seen a study somewhere. Cheers.

Care to cite your source?

http://thecabin.net/news/local/2014-12-20/joes-column-court-ruling-license-checks-upsetting#.VYG1LY1RFoJ The news item had to be significant for the statewide newspaper to put it on the front page, right up there with the biggie about Cuba relations. An Arkansas appeals court said it was illegal for game wardens to randomly check hunters in the field. “Game warden” is the old and most common term for enforcement people with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. “Wildlife officer” is the official and correct term. In a 2013 incident in Craighead County, three duck hunters were checked by officers. Anyone who hunts or fishes knows the procedure. A wildlife officer comes up, says, “May I see your license,” and the hunter or fisherman pulls out the license and shows it to the officer. In this case, two of the hunters were found to be in violation of firearms and ammunition rules. They had unplugged shotguns and lead shot shells. Federal and state regulations say a shotgun used for hunting migratory birds like ducks, geese and doves cannot hold more than three shells, including on in the chamber. Federal and state regulations also say that only non-toxic shot can be used on waterfowl. The third hunter was OK with his shotgun but told officers he left his license in his truck. “What is your name,” they asked. Then they did a quick radio check and found that he was a convicted felon. Felons cannot use firearms in Arkansas. In this case, the officers watched the three hunters shooting ducks then followed them back to their camp and asked for licenses. You can imagine the consternation among wildlife officers when this appellate court ruling was issued. Field checks, the practice is called. It means asking a hunter or fisherman to show a license. The appellate court said the officers did not have probable cause for doing this. To some folks, it compares to a policemen on traffic duty stopping a motorist and asking for a license. Did the policemen have a reason for making that stop? Commonly, traffic stops are made for speeding, improper turns, non-functioning taillights and such. Seldom is a drive pulled over for no apparent violation. The scary scenes of police stopping people and saying, “show me your papers” doesn’t occur in our nation, supposedly.This duck hunting case will go to the Arkansas Supreme Court. If the appellate court ruling is upheld there, then all of us need to be worried about the long-range effect it will have on Arkansas wildlife and conservation, not just on hunting and fishing. History tell us that the Arkansas legislature passed laws about hunting and fishing in the 1870s, but they had no effect. There was no means of enforcement. It took 40 or so years for this to change with the creation of the Game and Fish Commission in 1915. By then, wildlife was in bad shape in Arkansas and over much of the nation. The wide picture began changing with the passing of the federal Migratory Bird Act in 1913, which brought an end to market hunting. Many states created wildlife agencies before Arkansas did. All required hunters to have licenses, and the changes started. Restoration of wildlife was a direct result of money generated by license sales. Wildlife officers will tell you that almost all Arkansas hunters and fishermen follow the rules and don’t hesitate to show licenses when asked. There will always be some who fudge on the rules or break them deliberately and gamble than an officer won’t catch them. Not check licenses in the field? That is scary too.

After they close them, the locals will be down there fist fighting over the stranded spoonbill and catfish. It becomes a free for all melee

Hmm. Sound interesting. I wish there was somewhere I could find more information for this fish catcher. Anyone have a website I can go to?

Someone care to enlighten me? What is "Ned"?

Nothing in life ever lives up to the hype.

Let's open up the betting on this. I'd like some action. I'll take the bass to cover.

Just saw this on Bassmaster. Edwin Evers fishing Grand live on Thursday for three hours. Might give you some ideas. http://www.bassmaster.com/news/watch-evers-fish-grand-lake-live-thursday

Here's a link to a youtube video of Jason Christie catching 80lbs out of the flooded willows I circled above in 2013 during an FLW tournament. It might give you some ideas about how the lake fishes during high water. https://youtu.be/XtfMYERXcZs

redundant discussions on this site are very redundant. I wish he would have caught it on a Ned rig.

Go put in at Iron horse and flip the flooded island right in front of it. Jason Christie won and FLW doing just that a couple years ago with high water.

I went yesterday. Lake was like the Mississippi river above aspen wall/bee creek but was backed up below that. Not as much flow as I would have guessed. I looks like they are holding some back. Probably can't release due to the mess at Texoma dumping into the Arkansas. Caught a few blues, they weren't biting like I thought they would be, or I was in the wrong spot. I really think they might have been up in the flooded vegetation or closer to it. I was fishing the submerged islands out in the middle of the channel around the port Arthur area. I would bet the flipping bite for Largemouth is hot right now.

I'll come clean. Those aren't me. I came across those on this VRBO listing. http://www.vrbo.com/607860 It made me puke in my mouth a little bit too. More so because I was imagining what those smallies would taste like.

I will say this: It does seem weird that a hunting guide can't operate on public land in Missouri but a fishing guide can. Seems like it should be the same for both

I'll hire a river guide every once in awhile. Mainly because I don't want to clean and cook the fish at the end of the trip. I'm usually too drunk and tired by then to mess with it. We've been using an outstanding guy the last couple years down on the Elk River watershed. PM me if you want his info..

It's mostly a behavioral trait of Yankees. Folks from KC and the Lou are my guesses. Either that or Kansans and Iowans.

Weird, They've taken the website down since yesterday. The tab you see called "maps" in the screenshot above showed a list of lakes they had identified as possible tourney sites. Mostly all the big striper lakes in the SE.

From the wildlife code. 2015 version.