What Will People Do Now?

[Feathers and Fins]

I have been thinking about the new Oklahoma regulations on shad not being able to be brought from Grand Lake. This is going to force a lot of people to either break the law and go to Grand anyway hoping they do not get caught or switch tactics.

Threadfin are plentiful in Beaver but don’t stay well in a live well. Gizzards are more hearty but sometimes harder to come by and Bluegill are plentiful but do not work as well. This is an interesting situation as people come here for stripers and guides make a living off them and with the easy source gone it is going to require a change in how people fish.

I guess I am lucky in that many of the waters I grew up fishing for stripers were not bait friendly, they had threadfin, bluegill and trout but you were not allowed to use bluegill for bait and sure were not allowed to use trout, cast netting and snagging was illegal so the only way to get shad was with a dip net and that was far from productive, so we had to find other options.

In no particular order the options were frozen baits (anchovies and sardines) primarily, cut or whole. Swim baits any many shapes and sizes and finally flies. There were many ways to fish the frozen bait from drifting it to slow trolling and all were effective you may want to look up Mooching techniques for using them. Swim baits the big ones were developed on the west coast for giant Bass and Stripers and trolling them became an art form. People will need to learn how to use them and when to use them. I think we will start seeing a lot of people pulling the big 12 to 16 inch baits on Beaver. And finally the little white fly, There were two ways to fish it, Fly rod with sinking line or leadcore line.

But I find myself wondering what people will do now that the prized bait is going to be more difficult to come by?

[Bird Watcher]

There's still plenty of places to get them that fall outside the guidelines in the regulation.

They are professionals.** They do this for a living. They'll figure it out.

**ETA sort of. I haven't been real impressed with the striper guides (2) I've met from Beaver

[Feathers and Fins]

Guides might and probably will, they have the time to do it, but what about the weekend warrior?

[kjackson]

Man, I can't wait for the weather to break! I'm spending too much non-work time on the computer and thinking about fishing instead of doing...

If I were to get serious about chasing stripers in Beaver, I'd probably drag out the sabiki rig and spend a day or so catching shad. Then I'd brine the buggers to toughen them (and maybe dye some at the same time) and then freeze a year's worth. If that didn't work real well, I'd catch a bunch of small bluegill, scale them, fillet them and cut bait strips. Then I'd brine and freeze those as well.

The shad I'd fish whole, plug cut (as in salmon fishing) or with one of the helmets behind a flasher. The bluegill strips might get hit with one of the shad/herring scents and then fished in one of the Great Lakes meat rigs behind some kind of a flasher. Another possibility is to try a tuna ball on a lure like the Flatfish or Kwikfish.

Or I might avoid the whole bait thing and fish a Shimano Butterfly jig when I found fish on the depthfinder. I've caught so many predatory fish, both fresh and salt, on the Butterfly jig that it might be my go-to anyway.

I really need to get on the water...

[Feathers and Fins]

Butterfly is an awesome bait. I have met more than a few AJ's that made me sorry I tied it on and if a Hoo decides he likes it your arms will be soar for a month.

[bfishn]

I don't know any weekend warriors that drive to Grove, just the guides. Beaver's not the easiest place to catch gizzards, but it ain't the worst either. There have been very few times I couldn't get enough for myself in a lot less time than a round trip to Grove. Sometimes I was pretty thrown out, but that's how you learn. I fall in the weekend warrior class, so every hour chasing bait is an hour not fished. Over time I've developed several spots near various ramps that are pretty consistent. My spots are mostly early twilight producers, so I fish the night bite to coincide with when I can get bait. Mornings are a different story if you can't be out there a lot. You'll still be throwin' when the boils begin. That sucks. That's also why they make big redfins and woodchoppers.

None of the old original guides drove for bait. That's just come on in the last 15-20 years with the new guys. When you need a tankful at 6AM on a scheduled date though, you do what you gotta do. The locals could learn some tricks from the Quachita guides, many of whom maintain live storage facilities supplied by a dedicated bait boat and crew. When they pull out at 4AM, the bait tank's full of shad that's already done their post-capture slime-shed/pee/poop/nitrogen thing and are conditioned and calm. They usually make 2 runs a week to the Arkansas River, about the same distance for them as it is for us.

[kjackson]

I was running over a list of species I've caught on it: kingfish, AJs, grouper, reef sharks, halibut, king salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon, several species of rockfish, Pacific cod, ling cod...and I have a friend who swears by it for salmon and lake trout in the Great Lakes.

I'd love to hit the rigs off Venice and try tuna on the system. I may have to dig some out and play once the weather warms. One thing I've found is that in cold water, you need to work a slower stroke.

[Feathers and Fins]

My list goes, AJ's, Wahoo, Dolphin, Black and Gag's, Sailfish, White Marlin, Kingfish destroy them, Halibut and flounder, Snook, Redfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail ( Pacific) and Mangroves. Sure I missed a few and yes in colder they need to be slow. I do not see why stripers wouldn't eat them Probably need to work them about like you would for Kings or AJ's, might be worth a try hadn't thought about it.

[Guest]

I've seen striper guides pull into the Siloam Springs City Lake, catch a tub full of shad and head to Beaver.

[Champ188]

Too bad you can't use those rainbow minners they got down below the dam at Beaver. At least they'd be good for something.