What About Thoughts-in Put On A"slot Limit

[Larry A.]

Having read with interest from the various anglers on the Rock, it seems the old familiar gripe is the tournaments.

Having been to Lake Fork in Texas the past 6 years on a yearly fishing trip with buddies, the slot limit seems to be a very good choice of promoting larger and more fish. The slot works like this, no fish can be kept between 15 in to 26 in. Your allowed to keep one fish over 26 inches, the other 4 - 15 inches. This promotes a way to keep down the pulling of the female bass off their beds and let them do what is natural. Plus how many 26 inch bass have you seen are heard of the past 10 years on Table Rock Lake. Try it for a couple of years, let them grow and reproduce. Weigh in some 15 inch bass, it will make it more competive, and you watch the Big bass return to the lake like it once was 15 or 20 years ago. When you read or hear about tournament results, ask or let someone tell you, how big was the biggest bass ? Its usually 4 to 5 lbs,max. Just a thought,lets have some input.

[drs]

Larry - you sound like a guy I know with a great potato salad recipe. Is that you? And, I like the slot idea.

[tunchi]

The slot has worked great in Texas. Depending on the lake and fish population they decide what the slot will be for that lake. When I lived there the slot for Fork was 16" to 24". Others were 14" to 20" and yet others just had a minimum lenth, some 16" others 18". Some folks won't fish tourneys on a slot lake like Fork because they can't weigh in half (or more) the fish they catch. Thats where paper tournaments come in. My club fished them all the time. If we caught them over or under the slot we could bring them in otherwise they had to be on paper and verified by the non-boater. It worked great.

[Trav]

Slots dont mean crap to me. I let everything go.

[Whack'emGood]

I agree with you Trav. Its one thing to keep fish for a weigh-in... even then though, I will turn a fish that I think is spawning, or on the brink of spawning, back to the water right away... nothing says you have to keep her for the Tourney just because you caught her (I don't fish spring tourneys for that very reason)... To me, its more important to preserve the spawn than win the tourney... Of course, I don't fish Tourneys for a living either. Nobody should ever keep a bass for eating though... There are too many other species of fish that are easy to catch that are better to eat anyway. I will never accept any argument that people should be keeping keeper-sized bass to eat. To me, that is a big reason why we don't have very many bass over 15-16"... there is always some moron, that is fishing with live bait or something, that accidentally catches a keeper or two and eats them. And with the fishing pressure at TR, multiply that guy by several thousand every year. Then there are guys who know what their doing that catch and eat bass (no excuse for that... they oughta be shot). Multiply those guys by a few thousand... No wonder why we dont have more keeper sized fish.

Also, a 5 fish limit is too many. They should make it 3. Tourneys would be more interesting for everybody involved (better chance to be in the money for guys that don't catch 5 keepers). Also, even the idiot who is keeping bass to eat wouldn't be able to kill that extra 2 fish every trip.

[Champ188]

Seems to me the 15-inch minimum length limit is working as advertised. Where else in the country can a guy catch spots the size of those at Table Rock, plus great smallmouths and largemouths, too? I fished last Sunday on a not-too-great weather day and had a 5-pound largemouth, 4-pound spot and 3 1/2-pound smallmouth. Just my opinion, but I don't know why you'd want the MDC to jack around with the regulations for Table Rock. It's been a winning formula for a long, long time.

I, too, disdain the idea of jerking bass off beds — males or females — during tournaments. I'll be fishing Central Pro-Am next weekend and do not intend to bed fish or even look for beds. A guy can waste way too much practice and competition time doing so. I'd be fine with the idea of not holding tournaments during the spawn, but I believe some folks would still be out there yanking fish off the beds.

As for paper tournaments, those may be fine at the club level. But I'm not spending $1,200 and up on entry fee, fuel and oil, lodging, eats, etc. to fish a tournament where weights are guesstimated with a formula.

[MOBass]

Prior to last year I did fish beds during tourmaments. For whatever reason I didn't see as many beds last spring and started fishing differently. I started looking for areas where the fish were moving to or from the spawning areas. It was pretty amazing to me how many more fish I caught compared to bed fishing. Now I am sure I still catch some incidental fish off a bed but I would say the majority are moving to or from their spawning area. Unless something changes drastically I won't be looking for beds at all this year.

I have to trust in the MDC and their biologist. They know more about the eco system and fish than I do. If someone wants to keep a fish that is legal I am good with that. If I can catch fish at Table Rock it must be pretty good because I sure as heck am not that good a fisherman. Could it be better? Possibly, but I am of the mind if it isn't broke don't try fixing it.

I still am not sure why anyone would keep a bass unless is was mortally injured. My taste is more for crappie, white bass, stripers, cats, trout, and walleye. I do work with some walleye guys that would howl about nice tasty pieces of fried walleye. Sorry guys but they just taste too good.

[Ham]

Seems to me the 15-inch minimum length limit is working as advertised. Where else in the country can a guy catch spots the size of those at Table Rock, plus great smallmouths and largemouths, too?

Several lakes in Alabama produce huge spots and massive LMB. I don't know if they have samllies also though.

[Gone Fishing]

I know this will make alot of people mad but here goes. I do not target bed fish either but with the lake produceing record weights with tons of fish in the latest tourneys and people catching fish off beds in years past whats it hurting. Is it not the same thing catching a fish out staging to spawn as it is off the nest.

Again not trying to make any one mad but fishing just seems to be getting better.

[Whack'emGood]

Its not the same. To me... if you take a fish off the bed, the eggs have no chance. If she is staging... she still has a good chance to spawn when released.