Walcrabass

Lifes2short, Hey !!!!!!!!!!!! That's MY spot !!!!!!! How did you find out about it??? I am going to have to talk to my fishing buddy and see if he spilled the beans !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Walcrabass

Dutch, Yes, I would definitely eat them. Immediately !!!! So I could catch some more and rid the lake of their pestilence. Understand that when I ask for an 11" Length limit on them I want it to be IN ADDITION to other Bass length/creel limits. I would actually prefer that they take the daily limit off of them ENTIRELY !!!!!!!!! Wally

OK, So I am seeing 1 or 2 out of a 100..................................... Please lower the length limit to about 11 inches.................... please...................please................... please........................... Wally

Fishndoug and Flysmallie, Now that it has been confirmed that they have been there a good while.......................... what percentage of the Kentuckies that you catch in Stockton are over 15"? Wally

Skeeter, Nice job on the fishing................ I assume the trifecta means Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Kentucky ?? Funny how just a few years ago on this forum people were saying that there were no Kentuckies in Stockton. Now I see reports of them ( assuming yours had some Kentuckies in it ) more and more often. It will be very interesting to see how many are being caught in 5 years. Even more interesting will be how many are 15" or longer. Walcrabass

Dutch, At this point I have to say that the only experience I have with making plastic baits is my experience in asking questions to you..... Wally

Dutch, I assume the ones you are making are 1.5" ? I am also thinking that 5 gallons would make around 1 billion of them?? Wally

Dutch, Very nice, I like people that are industrious. Can you send the model number of the mold? Also would like to have information concerning where to get the plastic for the mold, dyes, colors, it looks very interesting. You can send as a PM if you like. Wally

Dutch, THanks for the pictures. Are the plastic bodies home made or is it just that you have rigged them with the nylon weed guard Jig Heads?? Wally

Dutch, Please send pictures of your stingers. Wally

Paul42, Opened the site. Cranks and Jigs look nice. Noticed the Jigs were put together with the traditional " Rubber Band". That type is not up my alley................. $9 per is not either................ Walcrabass

To All, Concerning the Jerk Baits............. they all work............... suspending is suspending..... and floating is floating.............. Your line type and lure type combo has a lot to do with it......... Fluoro./ Mono etc. .... I have a pretty big selection of Jerk Baits, but no Megabass. I have consistently out-fished my partners with the cheaper ones. Concerning the 40 degree water............ fish are cold blooded............. they get REALLY LETHARGIC when the water is really cold. Try to find them on ledges and drop offs instead of suspended in the tree tops.......... and then go after them with a Jig. If you find a good group of them you will catch them all winter. Watermelon Red Craws when the water is clear............... drab browns and drab greens when it is not so clear. Take it from an old guy that winter fishes extensively...... and don't expect to feel much of a bite on those really cold water days. Walcrabass

Bill T, Thanks for the info. Looks like Bull Shoals, Lake of the Ozarks, and Norfork Lake are more intelligent waters to fish..... 12" limit on the Spots. The only 2 things that would make it better would be an 11" Length limit and no possession or daily limit. Walcrabass

To all, Now I will tell you how I found out about using RED when the water was hot.............. I was fishing Stockton a long time back. Surface temp was almost 90. A friend of mine and I were fishing in his awesome "catch fish all the time" Bass boat. We were not catching ANYTHING !!!!!!!! A "grandpa" pulled in behind us in a big Jon Boat and had about 4 of his grandkids in the boat. They started fishing in water we had just fished. As I watched them I told my buddy they were catching the crap out of the bass. We watched them catch one after another. Remember....... these were little kids.......... When we were leaving we went by their boat and I said something looks like you guys are doing well............. the Grandpa replied yes we caught a bunch. I asked what they were using. These things right here was the reply. They were red lizards. I asked if he used them quite a bit. His reply was " No I just picked them up at a bait shop when we were bringing the kids fishing". So............... not being entirely stupid................... I started using Red Stuff when the water was hot.......... sure glad I ran into those people that day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Walcrabass Just one other thing............... I wasn't kidding a bit about the Red Bass Jigs and Spinnerbaits............... Killers .................

Just a word about fishing with "hot" water temps. Use Red. Red worms, Red Crankbaits, Red Spinnerbaits, Red Jigs..................Red Trailers............ I don't know what the high water temps do to their eyesight but being as they are cold blooded it definitely makes a change in things...... I have fished when the surface temps were 88/ 90 and still managed to catch fish.............. on Red .................. Take it from an Old Guy. Walcrabass

Guys, I remember the surveys very well. I also remember writing to someone saying that if the fishermen cannot tell a spot from a largemouth then how are we expected to tell a smallmouth from a largemouth????? This length limit thing on the Spots needs to be addressed immediately. Do a little bit of math on the spawn of a species that is not harvested and then take a deep (gasping) breath at what you find. NOT GOOD.................. Wally

Redshad, You are correct. Use the bigger baits and catch the bigger fish....................... until of course there are more small fish in the lake ( Kentuckies ) than there are big fish ( Largemouth and truly mature Smallmouth ) like the situation is at Table Rock. The funny thing about it is that other states have already figured this out and are doing something about it in their Species/Length limits concerning the Kentuckies. I am deeply concerned for Stockton. Just a few years ago Bass Fishermen were saying that they didn't even believe they existed in Stockton. Now they are saying something completely different............................. Concerned, Walcrabass

I hope the subject of the rising Kentucky Bass population on Stockton is mentioned on the broadcast. I spoke to a friend today that fished a tournament last weekend at night. They caught a boat load of short Kentuckies. I do not want to see Stockton turn into Table Rock part 2. Redshad maybe you can mention this to "Scott" when you speak to him. Walcrabass

MoCarp, I have to agree with Straw hat. Brings back great memories. The anti-fur stuff really put a cramp on things. The other thing is that people don't keep chickens anymore. When I was a kid anything that could eat/kill/molest a chicken was dead meat. Trappers were welcome for this reason. Walcrabass

Ketchup, Speaking of the underspins can you guys post pictures of your favorite types? Also your favorite Swim Baits? Walcrabass

OK, I Back !!!! Waterpossum, 1 fish weigh-ins, this would help tremendously.................... Fishingwrench, I know you are right about the percentage of fish that get caught in a lake is BIG !!! I have personally looked at my graph while I watched every fish in a school disappear from the screen as I caught them. Only makes sense that it happens to others too. TJM, Most fish sink when they die....................... Unimog, Money, Correct, always........................ Mhyde, Bottom Line, the driving force from the manufacturers is to sell equipment and tackle, Tournaments really boost this big time........ Hey look !!!!!!! I got a new boat, new fish finders, new rods, and $2,000 dollars worth of $30 Crank Baits. Now I can catch fish just like the pros!!!!!!!!!!!! One more thing................. Why is it legal for the tournament guys to Cull fish and not the everyday angler??? Because there is tens of thousands of everyday anglers !!!!! AND WHEN YOU HAUL THEM AROUND THEY DIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The End, Walcrabass

OK, I am really glad the "Crappie being taken out of the Lake" thing came up. Just recently a friend of mine and I were looking on the internet to find the amount of eggs that Black Crappie and White Crappie spawn. Oddly enough the Black Crappie out spawn the Whites considerably. I am thinking up to 60,000 for the Blacks and only more like 20,000 + for the Whites. So now let's consider something. If for example they had the same number of anglers fishing Crappie tournaments as we do Bass Tournaments don't you think the Crappie population would be smaller?? I mean if all the guys hauled 14 Crappie around all day and then released them it only stands to reason that it would be hard on them. Now let's consider something else. How many eggs does a Largemouth Bass spawn? I did not find this one on the internet but I am sure someone can do better than I. I am thinking I have seen it to be a considerably smaller number than the 60,000. So it is back to the numbers/survival/volume of anglers going after them thing. We all know that the good Old Bass is suffering from pressure. I would also like to make one more comment. When the word gets out, I mean REALLY gets out, Stockton will get hit with fishing pressure like it has never seen before. It is coming guys, prepare yourselves. So let's say that Stockton would have a thousand anglers on it in the same day that were tournament fishing for Bass. Believe me Table Rock goes through this............ think it would make a difference in the fishing/ population of the Bass ?? If you don't.................... well....................... my heart goes out to you............ you are headed for counseling at some point in your life. So, gear your thinking up to modern times. People don't stick their hand in the water to tell the temperature anymore. They don't line the boat up with a certain tree on the bank to find the brushpile. They don't have 5 or 6 lures in their tackle box. Fishing on the bank is almost a thing of the past................................ We have boats, fast boats. We have Fish finders, good ones. We have more tackle in a single boat than many fishing departments had in small stores 40 years ago. We don't keep changing fishing lures on the same rod because we have twenty of them in the boat all rigged up different. On top of all this.................. we have a LOT OF TOURNAMENTS just like Fishing Wrench said. So just remember this one thing.............. as the lakes age..................... and the equipment gets better.................. and the number of fishermen gets larger.......................... and the number of tournaments keeps increasing............................. just remember that we continued to pound the Quail even when we KNEW they were in trouble...................... PLEASE DON"T REPEAT THE SAME THING FOR THE BASS !!!!!! GET ON TOP OF IT EARLY !!!!! OK, Wally is done again for awhile.

To All, Yes I know that 40 years ago lots of the fish were put on stringers. 100% kill rate no doubt. The 40% is something I have read but don't know where to find the article. Personally I think if we are going to continue to weigh in then go to a one fish weigh in. Why not ?? You would still have a winner and the other four fish would probably make it do to less boat travel and maybe absolutely no time in the livewell depending on when your "Big Fish" was caught. Walcrabass

To All, My perspective on the tournament thing is just this................................. we are killing the heck out of the fish because of the weigh ins. I have personally witnessed the weigh ins and seen the fish floating after being "released to fight another day". I have read in the many of those ( 40%) that "do not float " die within two weeks due to stress and other physical damage. One of those damages is being slammed around in the live wells. Of course there is money involved and we all know this is far more important than the fish themselves. Why is it that we are so dishonest that we cannot take a picture of the fish on the digital scales and then release it? Well, because there would be many who would find a way to cheat................. It is sad, very sad, and I don't know exactly how to get it changed. But, it definitely needs to change. The percentage of people with boats and the percentage of people who "tournament fish " is huge compared to what it was 30 or 40 years ago. This calculates into many, many more bass that die as a result. And while I am at it...................... there are lures that are being used today............................ that the Bass swallow......................... and die from. I have heard all the people that use these lures say how you just need " to stay in contact with the bait" and they won't swallow it. OK, I guess they are much better than the other 98% of the people I talk to that say they kill 20 to 30 % of the Bass they catch on them. My two cents. Walcrabass

To All, Nice to see the rule about not fishing in the commercial coves/ commercial docks. I have known/heard of more than one tournament being won from catching fish in illegal dock areas. Good luck to all !! Walcrabass