Aunts Creek

[m&m]

I vote we discontinue using the word "keeper" to describe bass over 15"!

There are better words like "legal" or "qualifier" or "good un".

"Keeper" should only be used to describe a spouse who either enjoys fishing with you or allows you to fish whenever you want?

Or, for those of you whose wives threaten to divorce you for fishing too much, you are allowed to use the universal motto of

"Cheaper to keeper"!

isn't that a tournament word? lol I think that this series shows how passionate fishermen are about the sport they love. the things we know are that everyone is entitled to their opinion and there is room for all types of fishermen at TR. does anyone know if there is a current bass tagging program at TR? I would be interested in seeing some data about fish caught more than once.

Mike

[bjovan]

While I don't keep keeper bass, if a guy wants to eat a few it's not going to hurt in my opinion. Mdc has length and creel limits for such a reason. Would everyone be making such a fuss if he had not said they still had eggs? Not sure. If you are gonna keep them please don't keep any over 3lbs. Table rock grows big gills that are one of my favorites for the hot grease release. Hope everyone enjoys the lake and stay safe I about got toss out of the champion by a wake boat last Sunday

[basser6760]

I do not want to add fuel to the fire on this subject but would like to make some comments. I grew up in a Midwest area where bass fishing water were limited but have witnessed what effect "Meat Fishing" can have on the bass population. I think it is great to keep a couple to eat. I live across the cove from a resort and I witness bass being cleaned & packaged all summer. These folks are normally very nice and I do appreciate the money they spend here but I would hope I would respect the future bass fishing in there home areas (normally Kansas) if I visited. I have some ideas on what I would like to see done on the lake but I know due to monetary concerns they will never happen: Bring down tournament limits to 3 fish per boat, make paper tournaments or use of cameras electronic devices etc... the norm rather than unusual. I would like to see a local big bass tournament trail. It would get "hackers" like me a chance for a day of fame (Ha!!) Bed fishing sucks but I know there are tournament fisherman and others who are good at this. I am not convinced if you move a spawning female from her nest & haul her around in a livewell that she will successfully spawn. I really the enjoy the opinions expressed on this site and the passion each of you have for this great lake. These are just the views of a simple man. Thanks for letting me share my opinion.

[MOPanfisher]

I don't remember if I have seen it on this forum or others, but several times I have seen folks wanting to reduce the length limit on Spots/Kentuckies to 12", on the basis that they are overpopulating and crowing out the LM, which grow faster and bigger. The only reason to reduce it to 12" is so more could be kept. All the lakes are very cyclic in that from year to year it varies a lot on how the population and fishing is for different species. The water level, timing of level changes and how it affects the spawn, how much cover/habitat is available in the lake, and what and how robust is the prey base have a lot more to do with it that folks keeping fish to eat.

[tv tom]

no excuse for keeping bass unless you don't like to fish

[Champ188]

I would feel differently about keeping spots if we knew for a fact they were overpopulating (electrofishing surveys have not shown that to be true), if the length limit was reduced to 12" (not killing a fish that is 5-6 years old) and MOST IMPORTANTLY if bass were being restocked in the lake. Because there is no stocking program and no plans (immediate or long range) to establish one, I hate to see any bass taken out of the lake for any reason.

This lake is getting pounded day in and day out by an ever-growing number of residents, tourists and tournament anglers. It's publicized nationally as one of the best bass lakes in the country, which only draws more pressure. So my OPINION is that we need to give these fish all of the help and respect that we can, including not running a knife through them. You can say that you paid for your license, boat, etc. and have the right to do as you wish within the law. That is correct. But I also buy a license and spend a pile of money fishing, so I have the right to my opinion and to express it.

Dave (dtrs5kprs) hit it on the head when he said the icing on the cake was the old-school photo of the fish strung up on a piece of rope. RickF, you had to have known that wouldn't be widely embraced.

Bottom line: You can catch and keep whatever you want within the limits, if that's how you roll. But you can't post a pic on ANY public fishing forum in this day and age and not expect some backlash.

[5bites]

I don't remember if I have seen it on this forum or others, but several times I have seen folks wanting to reduce the length limit on Spots/Kentuckies to 12", on the basis that they are overpopulating and crowing out the LM, which grow faster and bigger. The only reason to reduce it to 12" is so more could be kept. All the lakes are very cyclic in that from year to year it varies a lot on how the population and fishing is for different species. The water level, timing of level changes and how it affects the spawn, how much cover/habitat is available in the lake, and what and how robust is the prey base have a lot more to do with it that folks keeping fish to eat.

Exactly everything this man just said. I personally am not for the limit change because it won't do squat anyway.

I say we sell our stuff donate the proceeds to peta and start hugging trees. That is the only way to not be a hypocrite in this deal and have room to criticize anyone who wets their boat.

[5bites]

I'll tell you what. I'll keep a 15" Kentucky and then keep a couple white bass and fix them as I do. I'll blindfold you and have 2 plates one with the white bass and one with the black bass and I'll bet you a pre-rapala wiggle wart that you couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Mister I will take you up on this bet. To be extra sure you better make it four plates. Let's throw in some walleye and crappie since we are seeing how good my taste buds are.

While I am showing off catch two striper. One out of beaver and one out of Texoma. I can tell the difference there too. The Texoma one is better. So far anyway.

I don't mind bringing taters, beans, cornbread, hush puppies, slaw, or whatever else to this contest. You could say I'm pretty familiar with eating fish and very very familiar and picky about preparing it and freezing it. My wife takes care of the burning it part. 50lbs of overweight can't be wrong. I like my fish.

In fact we fed a family of 9 (!!!) Saturday. That was a mess of fish.

[5bites]

We make it to Table Rock once a year for a week. We do keep some fish for a family fish fry at the end of the week. We do not keep and clean every legal fish we catch. Almost all of them are K's. Any fish well over the 15" range is tossed back, usually after a pic.

I have even brought frozen bass from Texas on our trip just so we don't feel the need to keep as many. We do keep and clean whites and the occasional eye or cat we happen onto.

While we do like to post our daily success or failure on the forum, I would not post a pic such as the one above. However, their smiling faces do show how much fun they had that day.

Also, from the dock at the resort where we stay, we have seen guides stop and have their clients clean their fish. Which is also within their rights. Sometimes the guides drop the clients off there, other times they get back into their boat to go elsewhere.

I think 5bites summed it up pretty well in post #31...

Guides don't clean fish on table rock. They won't even joke about cleaning fish on table rock. Just ask one. (Sarcasm)

[abkeenan]

Exactly everything this man just said. I personally am not for the limit change because it won't do squat anyway.

I say we sell our stuff donate the proceeds to peta and start hugging trees. That is the only way to not be a hypocrite in this deal and have room to criticize anyone who wets their boat.

You can't make an assumption like that without science, facts or numbers to back up those claims. I don't know if a "slot" for bass or a reduced length limit on Kentuckies would do anything to the overall health of Table Rock as a fishery or not. Again I am not a biologist and don't have a background or degree in conservation of natural resources. Also, this is FAR FROM PETA and the crazies in that way of thinking. Harvesting of anything just needs special attention from corn, to oil to fish....any resource has to be regulated as to not harm that resource for both short and long term. I think that is all anyone is saying here. In the end we all love to fish which is what brought us Ozark Anglers in the first place. I think we would all agree that nobody wants to see the fish population dwindle or make the lake less than what it could be (or is). This is only MY opinion and every is welcome to their own which is why we live in America. I just feel like we need to keep every 15"+ fish swimming to reproduce or to give someone else a tug on their line down the road. I just feel like black/brown bass are the most sought after and pressured fish in Table Rock by a LANDSLIDE which makes them more of a precious commodity and more of a rarity. In my OPINION there are just better options in Table Rock for meat harvesting such as catfish, white bass and panfish/bluegill. They taste better and are more readily available to catch a boatload of them. Just my 2 cents.