Striped Bass

[Feathers and Fins]

Actually No they do not have grass to speak of, they are similar to the Ozark Lakes, as far as rocky shorelines. The big advantage they do have is shallow flats. Water fluctuation due to Metro Water District ( they are drinking water lakes in a desert ) can be destructive on spawning bass and often was.

They are also much smaller lakes than Ozark Lakes which biologic should not produce monster bass when stripers are in them as well, butthey do none the less. The striper problem lakes are more Silverwood and Skinner both which are fed by the aqueduct system delivering stripersconstantly. Unchecked they destroy the food sources in the lakes. This is not a problem here as we do not have anything dumping 100's of thousands of stripers in a lake yearly.

I should point out when I say much smaller, you can fit all four of the Monster Bass lakes 5times over in Bull Shoals.

Lake Castaic has a surface area of 2,230 acres

Pyramid lake has a surface area 1,297 acres

Lake Perris consists of 2,250 surface acres

Casitas Lake 2500 surface acres

Total combined of 8,277 surface acres

Then you have Bull Shoals of 45,000 acres

I have seen AGFC and CDFG management practices and to be honest they are both about the same, in reality they are both governed by the need for drinking water and power generation demands and not under direct control of the Game and Fish agency but under the control of supply and demand for the populations near them. It's a simple fact of life that those lakes were built for power and drinking water not for us fishermen.

That being said the recreational opportunities of them are a blessing to all of us. Bass anglers want their bass, Crappie anglers want their crappie and so on. Truth is those lakes are there for the entire public not the fishermen. Management thus becomes a very thin line the Agencies walk trying to make each group happy and also still trying to have a quality fishery for each species in the lake. I wouldn't want that job!

Stripers are a known Bang for Buck fish, easy to breed,grow big and draw crowds; I would not be surprised in time to see them in all lakes to some degree where they can be managed and if not them then certainly hybrids.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Lets add all the variables. BS never sees the same levels from spring to spring. I can't think of a worse lake in this area to try and use for an example. If the walleye don't change the equation, why would an open water feeder? BS will never be what it was, it's now the stilling basin for the White river lakes.

[Feathers and Fins]

Sounds to me like Bull should get more Hatchery Fish, I.E. Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbows, Walley and why not some Pike and Musky to go with Stripers and Hybrids. That would boost the economy as well as angler attention. If LMB do not do great why not give anglers a Lake with Multiple Species and of that make it a trophy lake with regs designed to make all those species Trophy size before allowing them to be harvested. I would certainly love to tie into a Giant Laker or Pike or Musky close to home

[Fishin Hodge]

Fins - wouldn't you agree that Beaver and Bull Shoals are extremely similar. Both flood some years and are dry others. Look at the Bass in Beaver and look at the bass in Bull. If you think the bass population and size are comparable then you are lying to yourself. Kentucky Bass and smallmouth too, wow the difference, same regulations. What do you attribute the difference to??

With all the factors against Bull it is still an awesome bass fishery. I fished a one man club tournament last Saturday and had 15.54, 5 fish. Not a shabby day in my book for January... I didn't draw a check. The place is a bass factory right now.

As for the rainbows, they use to stock the lake with them. Back in the 60's and 70's they actually stocked rainbows and stripers at the same time, but stopped stocking stripers because they were eating all the trout per the game and fish commision. Trout don't bother me at all, in fact I would be all for that they make good food from what I hear.

Thank you all for making me think and bringing up some arguements that I have not considered, but I remain convinced that stripers have a very real potential to be hazardous to black bass in Bull.

[mixermarkb]

I'm not sure what the MO and ARK guys can do about Bull. It sure seems to me like someone at the corps has changed the policy on how they handle lake levels. I know we had a couple of wet years, but full pool never in 50 years, then twice in a couple years like we have had, to me says less about the weather and more about what the corps has written in their water management policy. I'm thinking that power is worth a lot of money, and they have to have water to make the power all summer long. I think we will be seeing higher lake levels every year. It's up to mother nature when the rains come, and wether or not they flood nests and ruin a spawn, or provide cover and help fry.

As for stripers?

I'm all for them. I haven't caught a big one yet, but I bet getting your Sammy or Redfin blasted by a 30+ pound fish has got to be a rush.

[Feathers and Fins]

Without Shocking data I cant really comment based on my fishing experiances on Beaver and Bull. Both I do well on, You are looking for Opinion and mine is they both have good days and bad but only by a scientific gather process can we know what each lake truly has to offer in real terms.

I got in this arguement years before the internet about the California lakes and when shocking was done on them people were SHOCKED at the size and numbers of the bass in lakes with and without striper. The simple truth is as a single fishermen we have bad days and good days and are inclined to be opinionated toward the species we want to pursue most. Im a General Fisherman I like catching them all. I do target stripers mostly now simply because I get giggles out of catching 30lbs fish on the lightest gear possible. I still go after all species depending on whats running best.

I look at the entire picture and scope of things and do so without my own wishes involved as that Biases me to possibly seeing the big picture truth. Truth may well be Both Beaver and Bull support an excellant population of bass but do to the size of those lakes people will never understand the population's true size.

I also look to what i see and hear people talk about catching and Both lakes I have heard have tough days and great days. I have caught 6 and even an 8lb LMB on beaver and a SMB to 4lbs in good enough numbers to make me beleive Beaver is healthy.

[Wayne SW/MO]

It's rare that BS isn't flooded now and often most of the summer. It's also the oldest and has certainly changed it's environment and none of it is black bass friendly.

It's hard to make a case against a fish that chases shad schools in open water as competitor against a hide and seek predator. The walleye would be a better suspect if one is needed.

I hope they dump a bunch in, the spring run money wouldn't hurt on this end of the lake.

Do some research, look at Texoma and Truman, maybe LOZ.

[Ham]

Bring it. I do not believe 22K would be enough fish to hurt anything and it would increase my chance at an accidental GIANT on a topwater.

[rangerman]

I agrree with the stocking, the number of fish they are talking, and taking into account the number that actually survive the stocking process, is literally a drop in the ocean. All the small surviving number would do is provide a little extra excitement while fishing other species.

I feel BS is about the only lake in this part of the state that has ALMOST as many walleye guys as bass guys.

I caught a few eyes last year that had bass fry in them. Should we eradicate them because they are eating bass?

There are alot of great bass lakes in the area, why not have a true multispecies lake to draw anglers of all sorts of breeds.

It would be great to see bass anglers, walleye anglers, and striper anglers in the same picture on the same lake.

Want to catch big stripers, I believe Mike Worley is about one of the best on BS, however, from the striper fishing I have done, I used baits that wear you out from throwing it all day, and big enough where the average bass would be frightened of it.

Its a dog eat dog world underwater, everything eats everything. Part of life.

[Mike Worley]

I have so far tried to stay neural on the question of stocking striped bass in Bull Shoals. The numbers that are proposed are quite small 22,000 2"ers every other year starting next year. The stripers that are in the lake now are nearing the end of their life span and are 30-50LB'ers. I believe the life expectancy is 10-15 years. The fact that stripers are about the only way to control the gizzard shad population which does need to be controlled is one of the considerations that makes this an option. The lake biologists from both states are far better educated persons than I am. I have heard many things about why this proposed stocking program would be bad for the lake but most of it would not seem to apply to the small numbers of fish that are being proposed. I'm quite sure the biologists did not just wake up one day and decide to stock striped bass into the lake for some unknown reason. These biologist have spent many years studying the Eco system of the lake and just the fact that they asked for input before stocking shows that they do care about the anglers who use the lake. I for one think they do a pretty good job of managing the lake and I don't think they are going to do anything that will damage the fishery.