Bank Fishing Walleyes

[Jeff Olson]

I totally agree Ham, the wife & I have been here for 1 yr now and really like the area ! and a lot of very nice people ! poaching or illegal taking of fish & game is a real sore spot with me. I am only 51, but I have seen first hand how this activity can ruin a good ,even great body of water over the years ! hopefully there isn't enough of it going on down here to make much of an impact !

[Feathers and Fins]

WC and I hit Beaver this afternoon for a bit for a big SKUNK, Did find a massive ball of shad at the 12 bridge, but nothing near them, hit most my favorite walleye spots midlake region working 6fow to 25fow and nothing marking. Very strange day no marks anyplace and a giant shad ball with nothing but birds on it. Might need a few more weeks for Beaver Walley but shad in 0 to 14 ft and over 100 yards long and 20 yards wide and nothing on it had me perplexed

[Jeff Olson]

hey Scott, curious, did beaver get stained from the last rain to maybe give you those results. I was up long creek on the rock yesterday looking for crappie, it was pretty brown, and only caught 1 and lost 1, and didn't mark much for fish at all either, anywhere ?

[Feathers and Fins]

I was suprised how clear it was,5ft at 12 bridge and PC Launch, I went up in PC in the creek and it was crystal clear but as you got out vis went down to about 2fow Montne was stained but no worse than normal, Never could find a mudline either or much debris. Im not sure whats going on. Just nothing anyplace on the sidescan or up and down.

[Martin]

You're not far enough up Fins ...

[Bitethis]

Bill. Funny you should mention canned fish. Well made fish patties from traditional canned fish is nothing but good eats. The problem is making sure those who harvest by gig or spear actually process the fish.BTW, who else out there likes pickled fish?

I had pickled pike one time...like butter! Was very delicious, much to my surprise.

[Bitethis]

Giggers,grabbers and spear fishing always get a bad rap,but if the real TRUTH was known,its the regular pole and line fishermen who do the most damage as far as poaching.

Giggers blame the fishermen, fishermen blame the giggers....I would find it a safe bet that there is plenty of blame to go around. Just my 2c.

[powerdive]

As I recall from walleye club days and info from conservation agents, the biggest problems with walleye reproduction in these reservoirs are related not to spawning (they accomplish that just fine), but to recruitment--survival of the hatch. The eggs are viable--the biologist strip them and use them to grow their stockers every year. As Bill mentioned, predation without protection is a factor in the wild (although that can be said for all the non-sunfishes), but the biggest issue is fluctuating water levels/timing. Most years, the dropping water levels of late spring eliminate the primary food source (copepods? I forget) for walleye fry, and they either starve out or get eaten (often by larger walleyes) when they're forced to move out into the lake. However, sustained high water provides the feed they need to grow to an escapable size in the shallows.

All of the spring-spawning species flourish following high-water springs, and walleyes are no exception. (That might be where those newer statistics came from.) Note that there are a ton of 20-23 inch fish in Bull Shoals right now...

Anyway, the upshot is--most years in these manmade lakes, stocking provides virtually all the young fish. In high water years, the stocking is augmented by natural reproduction.

[Jeff Olson]

thanks for the post P-D, hopefully I will run into you again over there this year! ( hope your writing is going good! )

[Tightline]

Bitethis, let me get this straight, I am not a gigger and never have been,but do know some and have had relatives that use to gig. I do think there is alot of speculation,exaggeration and just flat out biased opinions when it comes to gigging and if its banned some day what will be next,grabbing? I do like to go grab a mess of suckers once or twice a year if I can and it is loads of fun.You are right there is plenty of blame in every category of the sport.

I could write so many stories about pole and line fishermen,overharvesting,keeping short fish,out of season,no license, and some stories being so incredible that no one would believe it anyway.

Of the total number of fishermen in the state how many do you think are giggers, 1%, 5% we all know its a very small amount compared to regular fishermen,plus they only get 4 months out of the year to do their thing ,the worst 4 months weather wise to fish. I just can't wrap my head around the idea that they the illegal giggers do more damage to our fisheries than the year around pole and line poachers do.

i would be willing to bet that JUST the catch and release mortality rate of all the Missouri bass tournements last year did way more damage than illegal giggers.

Maybe we should ban tournements.. Good replys all,,,keep em coming.