Crowed Lake High Sky

[JoeSki]

You think BPS would have a vested interest in keeping TR a thriving fishery. I wonder if they could be lobbied to help fund stocking and general research on the rock? Well probably not, they are propably too short sited to see any long term benefit, its all about the bottom line.

[zander]

They put up a lot of money just last year I believe to help with habitat improvement, I think the flood might have helped more but they are doing some things.

[JoeSki]

They put up a lot of money just last year I believe to help with habitat improvement, I think the flood might have helped more but they are doing some things.

What do you mean by the flood might have helped?

[zander]

MDC were sinking a bunch of trees, I figured the rivers brought plenty of trees on down as well.

[Mike3004]

One compromise that could be reached is to post one cove or creek arm that provides good spawning habitat off limits to fisherman around the lake during a specified time period each spring. For example, in the James River Arm pick one spawning area and make it off limits. The same with other areas of the lake as well. Tournaments would be required to specify these areas and tournament anglers would be required to know where these areas are and how to tell from the bouys or markers that an area is off limits.

Areas could be rotated if desired from year to year.

[dtrs5kprs]

Going to straight C&R a week before thru a week after the full moon in April might work as well as any other idea. Awful lot of fish doing the deed then, in an average year.

[Jeremy Rasnick]

Talk about a good spot to pick up chicks or should I say "Fat Sows" if youre a male bass............I bet the local bass in the Ahoys cove mouths were watering as all of the new ladies came down the water slide fish pipe. Im sure some of those studs took those ladies under their fins and found a willow tree on some pea gravel.

All jokes aside, I agree with Bill. Even comming from a guy that LOVES to fish tournaments.....an April Off Limits would be Amazing and I would be all for it.

[Ham]

For better or worse, MDC has better data to base their decisions on rather than random anecdotal events and your "feelings". We really need to leave fisheries decisions to the biologist and not our emotions.

If it would be better for the lake(s) to close the fisheries during some segment of the spring, then MDC should make that call.

I really believe that the bass spawn is quite drawn out. There will be another wave in May and even a few in June. Success rates for the late spawners will drop off later in the year as active predators increase and the fry have less time to grow before cold weather sets in for the year.

I did some checking online. TWPD site shows the stocking numbers for Toledo Bend. You can check other lakes numbers also. No other state is as good at growing lots and lots of fish as Texas.

Toledo Bend got the following 2000: 321,974 2001: 508,505 2002: 740,373 2003: 961,015 2004: 492,536 2005 849,436 2006: NONE (this might be an error or the data was lost) and 2007: 502,918 so they put a bunch of bass in there but never a million in any of the last few years from Texas only. NOW Louisiana may have stocked some also BUT I could not find their numbers and given their stocking policy (which you can find at the LWF site) I would bet a lot of fish have been going to restore hurricaine damaged fisheries and not TB. Also private groups may have been doing some stocking.

From what I have read, you get about 5% of the fry reaching adult size. That's right 5 per hundred.

IMO, The stockings are not done to supplement the natural population BUT RATHER to increase the amount of Florida bass. Everybody wants to catch that big ole toad and FLA bass just get bigger.

TB grows plenty of its on fish. Maybe that's part of why they dropped the minimum length limit on spotted bass (which are not stock at all by anybody in TB) in an effort to reduce the overall numbers of spots in TB.

I think Fla bass in TR would not work to well since Fla bass get so turned off by cooler water. They seem to semi shut down.

TR has tons of pressure. Guide boats are certainly part of that number. I'm really not sure why so many people fish TR since it is so unrewarding most of the time. Tell me again how TR got the rep as being one of America's "BEST" bass lakes.

[gonefishin]

We need to let these fish be during the spawn. Would not rock my boat if Table Rock was off limits, no bass fishing in April.

The biologist tell us that one spawing female will repopulate an entire section of lake. If so, think how good it would be with a thousand. We have the forage.

Just wish the locals and the everyday fisherman could get on a bank if they wanted to without, the tournament boy's Rock-in and a Roll-in on our junk.

Me Bad, I guess they have a fishing Lic, and can do what they want.

I have always hated the tournaments during the spawning season. To disruptive and way to many floaters after a tourney.

As to the one female repopulating a section of the lake, I think they are off mark on that. I think under favorable circumstance one female can indeed restock an entire section if enough of her eggs hatch and enough of the fry reach sufficient size. The problem is there are so many predators after the eggs and fry that I doubt enough of the eggs/fry reach maturity to do so.

JMHO

[dtrs5kprs]

TR has tons of pressure. Guide boats are certainly part of that number. I'm really not sure why so many people fish TR since it is so unrewarding most of the time. Tell me again how TR got the rep as being one of America's "BEST" bass lakes.

Because it is an absolute bass factory. Just a humbling one at times. Lots of bass, lots of big (for MO) fish of all three species. When it is right this lake is amazing as any other.