Your Fastest Derby Limit

[Golf Pro]

Boys, I would guess he is just starting trouble. He is getting exactly what he wanted. Let's move on and this rascal will quit making these comments on our boards. My fastest limit came at the Rock on a split shot in about 30 minutes around the dam. They weren't big, but sure makes the rest of your tournament day go easier.

[focused fishing]

my father and i were not fishing a derby but the last sat night before we came home to stl on a trip last year we each caught 5 keepers in a 30 minute span. we were keeping those fish that year for a fish fry. when we got in to the dock we weighed them all and had about 50lbs of fish, 5lb avg. amazingly stupid thing was they were caught on the point in aunts creek where little aunts and big aunts meet, in the middle of a torrential down pour, at 11:30 at night and on salt craws no less. essentialy, we each made about 5-7 casts. my dad had a 6.5 LM and i had a 5.11 SM to boot.

Really??????? 50lbs of bass for a fish fry???????? During the spawn.......

"amazingly stupid thing was they were caught on the point in aunts creek where little aunts and big aunts meet, in the middle of a torrential down pour, at 11:30 at night and on salt craws no less."

No the amaingly stupid things is how many were full of eggs with the genetics to get to that size in the midwest.

Shear genius. Before you come back down from STL, let us know and we'll chip in to feed your family, pizza or steak or catfish......

Really hoping this guy is just another Troll....

EP

[Sam]

cutting the sides out of trophy Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass on this lake

Bill, I understand how you feel - but just think about how well this lake is managed, and how the rules are set up so the fishery can stand the very few fishermen who'll legally keep trophy bass on the very few trips where they're able to do it. That just doesn't happen very often - it can't.

I wouldn't have kept those fish either, but you know better than anyone how long bass live and how fast they grow in Tablerock. Those big'uns would have been turtle food anyway before too much longer.

That lake I fished recently for crappie in SW Arkansas really made me appreciate how wise our limit and length limit laws are here, and how good they've kept the fishing in these lakes. The first cast I made down there I caught a 13" largemouth and put it back, no big deal I thought. We were eating twice a day at the local cafe, and I mentioned to folks there that I'd caught a fish with my very first cast in that lake. When I said what it was, they said "Man, that was a big one - why'd you put it back?". THEN - a guy came up to me in town saying "I heard you caught a big bass the other day". No kidding!

Big catch limits, no length limits, and a catch-and-eat mentality have pretty much made that lake lifeless, and I'm sure glad we've done better than that here. With the limits we've got in place, and if the number of fishermen doesn't increase too much, I don't think any legal fishing that goes on here will hurt, for now.

[focused fishing]

Back to the orignial topic...

Fast limit I've had in a derby was spring of '07 in a Heartland, pulled up on a point accross from Baxter and had three on one cast with a spook & front runner. Got those three in the boat and in the livewell, threw back in and caught two more keepers. Never seen anything like it they were all 16" - 17" KYs suspended over tree tops in about 30' of water. Probably took about 15 minutes to acually catch them with untangling the bait after the first three. Within 30 minutes it was over, the sun came over the trees and they quit. My co-angler had three keepers at the same time, the action was so fast we were throwing the net back and forth while fighting fish. Freakin Blast

EP

[Gary Lange]

That has only happened to me once! It was on Grand Lake in my club tourney and we hit the first point as the fish where on Crankbaits on points and had three keepers in the first 20 min. We ended up with 25.91 pounds backed up by a 6.96lb. Spotted Bass that I caught. Haven't been able to do that since. I guess God gave me once and that will be it.

[snakem]

May 1 of this year fished a tournament. Had 5 keepers in the first 40 mins. all on the spook. took 2nd. place. What a blast. Oh had 3 more in the next hour.

Snakem out.

[arsenal1477]

Just so everyone understands, in my 28 years of fishing on Table Rock Lake I have taken bass home...TWICE. That was the second time. Now, what you didnt know, as you were jumping to conclusions, is there was a BENEFIT FISH FRY back here in STL for people with SPECIAL NEEDS at our local church. Every last one of those bass that we kept DID NOT HAVE EGGS IN THEM! Now, the only reason why we were comfortable taking those was because the last 2 years the lake has been up 20 feet and we knew TR was having the best spawn years of its history(hence, the amazing fishing now). Before you judge, how about you ask why. I understand this is a forum full of guides and you guys have helped me with fishing, but understand this, we kept those for a good cause and not to just slaughter. I truely didnt understand the fishermen that I emersed myself around down at TR as I have now found out. I didnt mean to 'stir' anything up, it was a simply reply to a message. There are thousands of amazing lakes in the U.S., ill save you all the 'worry and trouble' and just find a new one. If those 50lbs out of thousands of tons of fish in that lake cost you a tournement or lost you a customer then you may want to re-think your line of work. Absolutely amazing the way 'you people' have reacted to this. This is the last I will be visting this site as im sure you are all happy to read.

[duckydoty]

Hmm????

A couple of things come to mind.....There are laws that protect hunters and fishermen from the harrassment of legally taking and persuing game, including fish. These laws might have been violated in black and white , written as public knowlege on this forum????? That is kind of scarry. Education in a polite and respectful manner might have been more appropriate. This forum is used to educate others on where and how to catch fish with opinions, facts and reports. Maybe some more reasonable opinions, facts and reports on the benifits of catch and release could help change the mind sets of others that catch and release is the way to fish. It is a very touchy subject but those that practice other than you yourself believe will never listen by being hit with insults and shunned.

Does the fact that the fish were used in a benifit help at all???? Maybe to some but probably not to others, it is all just a matter of opinion. We have laws that govern when we can keep bass in the rivers in Missouri. I am sure this is to protect the spawn. Should we push this law to cover the lakes? In Alaska, you can not even fish in certain rivers till the trout spawn is over. Should we push to close all fishing in lakes and rivers till the spawn is over to protect them???? What are the actual percentage of catch and release fishing vs. catch and keep? Does anyone have these numbers?

I understand getting upset when you feel like something has been taken. I hate seeing big browns being kept at Taney. I am doing no good by attacking the person that keeps the fish in a confrontational manner. After all they have every right to keep the fish. It is a shame that someone well within thier rights of the law is made to feel like a criminal. Change the law, and make it a crime. Then it is ok to make them feel like a criminal.

[duckydoty]

Oh, and by the way....This post looked like it was going to be a lot of fun and that was a great story Bill. I dont think it can be topped. I was originally thinking 20 or 30 minutes. 1 minute just blows my mind.

[Gary Lange]

Duckydoty, You have presented a very interesting perspective. The fact it that it is so very true. We hate that someone keeps Bass for food because we love to pursue them so much forgetting that they have every right to keep a limit of Bass. I would have thought some other species would be better eating but they were Bass fishing.

Love you slant on this Duckydoty.