Humpbacked Smallies

[powerdive]

Awesome info. Thank you!

[Cindyjo]

Great info. Thanks for taking the time.

[merc1997 Bo]

True, there are times when we don't release some of the fish. The main reason in D-2 that we don't release some of the fish is for age and growth purposes. That is not an annual thing and when we keep fish it is usually less than 10% (likely closer to 6-8%) of the yearly sample. The walleye question did come up on this thread in the Beaver Lake page (). Also, the AGFC stocks Table Rock with walleye. We have stocked close to 70,000 walleye fingerlings per year for the last 10 years. Stockings have occurred at Cricket Creek or Romp Hole.

Here is the D-1 biologist response that over sees those two AGFC projects that merc1997 mentioned. We also have started helping the MDC with their walleye project below the Powersite Dam on Bull Shoals Lake.

Questions: At the end of the write-up there was a short paragraph that stated the following: "We completed the walleye spawning project on the Kings River and Beaver Tailwater this spring". Does this mean that AGFC collected brood fish from these areas for the hatchery?

Answer: We collect adult walleye from the Kings River just above Table Rock Lake. We normally put in at the Romp Hole Access and motor downstream to collect a few bigger fish for spawning. We also work on Beaver Tailwater around the Highway 62 bridge, if water levels are right. We normally need about 20-30 females and around 30 males to complete the spawning project. Fish are spawned on the bank, if the females are free flowing eggs. If the fish are not free flowing, we take them back to the hatchery and Charlie Craig Hatchery personnel monitor them 24 hours a day until they can be spawned. Once the fish have spawned, the hatchery takes the brood fish back to the Kings River and Beaver Tailwater. The eggs hatch and the hatchery raises them to fingerlings. The fingerlings are then stocked back into Arkansas waters, including Beaver Lake.

if these walleye are truly released back, then why is it that the number of walleye coming up the kings, for example, never seem to show up. i know several walleye chasers that really target that early spring time run, and they all complain there are just not anywhere near the numbers there used to be. i also have heard the same story from a few that ply white river up close to beaver dam. these people are night fisherman that in feb. and march when the spawning run is taking place.

now, if table rock is truly stocked as fervently as beaver and bull shoals, it sure seems that there is a difference in survival rate. could it be that there just are not as many chasing walleye on table rock than on bull and beaver?? i am not sure if that is the case or not. but, it does seem that more walleye accidently end up on ones line at beaver or bull than occurs at table rock.

i think walleye are a great sport fish, and i am glad there are some stocking programs to help them really boom in our ozark lakes, but i do wish, that arkansas and missouri both would consider some stocking programs for bass.

bo

[mojorig]

Merc1997,

Those are great questions!! In D-2, we are just responsible for the portion of Cricket Creek in Arkansas (2,000 acres). I cant answer the questions about the upper end for you. Plus, I want to make sure you get the correct information from the people in the area. Jon Stein is the AGFC biologist in D-1 over the upper portion of Table Rock in Arkansas. His email is Jonathan.Stein@agfc.ar.gov. Feel free to contact Jon with your questions about that.

You will have to contact Shane Bush with the MDC to get information about their walleye sampling and stocking efforts in Table Rock.

Again, I know I didn't really answer your questions but I want you to get the correct information. This is why I gave you the contacts that I have. AGFC and MDC personnel do meet every year to discuss what we saw during our annual sampling for that year of the border lakes.

[merc1997 Bo]

thanks mojo. those will be good places to start.

here is another interesting fact about stocking numbers. in falcon lake alone, the texas fish and game stocked 1.7 million florida stain fingerlings this year alone. kind of makes those 70,000 look like a spit in the bucket. i know it is not you, but since you put out the numbers it is a good time for everyone to see that in other states, they do a much better job of making better fishing. here in mo. the mdc gets 1/8 of a cent in sales taxes, but it is never spent on improving fishing. case in point was when we had the big fish kill several years back. that has been close to 15 years that we have suffered along with below average fishing because no stocking programs. texas got busy right off the bat, and restocked their lakes. the mdc really does nothing to really promote not just bass fishing, but crappie and catfish as well. texas has proved stocking works.

thanks again for the info.

bo

[Quillback]

I think Bo that they are stocking those FL strain in Texas (and Oklahoma) mainly to have pure strain FL bass that can grow larger than the bass that are currently in those lakes, I don't believe they do it to increase overall numbers.

There seems to me to be plenty of bass in the White river channel, at least below Eagle Rock, people were catching 40-50 bass per day this spring. What I am not seeing are good numbers of larger bass, those that are over 3 lbs. Just don't seem to be many of them up in the White river channel.

But you've got much more experience in that area than I do - were there more bass in the past up there? Bigger average size?

[merc1997 Bo]

I think Bo that they are stocking those FL strain in Texas (and Oklahoma) mainly to have pure strain FL bass that can grow larger than the bass that are currently in those lakes, I don't believe they do it to increase overall numbers.

There seems to me to be plenty of bass in the White river channel, at least below Eagle Rock, people were catching 40-50 bass per day this spring. What I am not seeing are good numbers of larger bass, those that are over 3 lbs. Just don't seem to be many of them up in the White river channel.

But you've got much more experience in that area than I do - were there more bass in the past up there? Bigger average size?

they not only do it for the florida strain, but also to increase the numbers of bass in the lakes. falcon has been struggling from pressure, low water, and alligator gar. right after the lmb virus wiped out their lakes, they were right in there immediately restocking everything. they had good fishing again in less than 3 years.

as for above eagle rock, in "yesteryear" there was a tremendous fishery in that area of the lake. lots of numbers and size. that is including crappie also. once beaver went in, and especially when they stocked trout down below the dam, the upper end fishery has been on a downhill decline. table rock as a whole has and is still struggling not only number wise, but size wise.

sure you are pointing out some spring numbers, but lets look at it from a different view point. if we take it back to 70's and 80's electronics, would those same fisherman even catch anything??? and especially after spawn and the bass move deeper. no. i wish i had saved all of my paper from the graph from back when we did have a lot of fish in the lake. what you are seeing on your electronics looks like the desert by comparison. sure, after 15 years, we have some bass back in the lake, but not even close to what we did have before the kill.

texas has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt how effective stocking programs are. our mdc needs to do more than raise a few trout. crappie fisherman out spend the trouters by a long ways.

bo

[powerdive]

Oh, come on. Everything around here is bass this, bass that. You can't fish for other species without catching bass, and you usually catch more bass than what you're targeting. That's not enough bass for you??????

In 1980, the lake was just over 20 years old. Now it's pushing 60 and there have been a heckuva lot of changes in lake makeup, technology, and lake usage. The old guard can grumble about the glory days all they want, but the truth is that despite all the changes, Table Rock is still regarded as one of the best bass lakes in the country.

[rangerman]

I generally fish the kings in the spring for walleye. I have to say it seems the catch rate has dropped. However, there are other things to take into account. It seems the kings the last few years had not had the flow rate in the spring as it used to have. The combination of the right flow, water temp etc, has been less than optimal to say the least. When the moons align so to speak, there can be an unreal bite there. It is generally the place I go to get my crankbait cast and retrieve bite for walleye.

It also doesn't help when you see the nighttime bank fisherman up there with a limit of fish in between 8-13 pounds, which I have personally seen. All females spewing eggs when they lifted the stringer. But it is legal and I am not criticizing anyone for it.

Thanks mojo for the info!

[Quillback]

They must have moved over to the White, it's been, by what I've heard and seen, a good spring for walleye.