Bob Lusk video that explains OA debates

[Ketchup]

Came across this video of Bob Lusk. If your not familiar with his work, he is a very knowledgeable guy when it comes to fish behavior.

In this video, he explains most of what i see on this forum being debated about C&R, how long it takes a fish to grow to trophy size, does harvesting affect size and numbers, etc.

Do yourself a favor and watch it. At minute 18 he explains the C&R debate.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/bass-fishing-fish-biology.html

[cart7]

He gave that presentation at the Bass Resource.com road trip at KY lake back in 2009. I attended that road trip and was present in that room when he gave that presentation.

Very knowledgeable guy. If you wanted to build a farm pond he'd be the guy to plan it and school you on managing it after it's completed.

[Quillback]

Interesting. I caught the part where he says "Catch and release for public lakes is good". Then he adds, except for small public lakes.

He also mentions that slot limits are the way to go (I have always thought this). Release the big ones.

But all that being said, it seems what he says is mainly focused on largemouth and private lakes. Hard to apply that to a large body of water like Table Rock that has 3 species of bass.

One thing I picked up that I did not know, was that a large female bass can lay eggs at multiple times during the spawn. Always thought it was a one and done deal. But it appears they only lay the eggs that reach maturity while still carrying eggs that are developing that are layed later.

Another point he makes is that public lakes are managed according to politics and enforcement.

[MOPanfisher]

Everything that is done management wise on large and or public waters is a compromise. Between biology, enforcement, publics ability to understand and follow, user needs (fishing vs. Recreational boaters), politics, $ etc.

[cart7]

A lot of his ideas are based upon the scope of the lakes he has the most experience with. Obviously you can manage a 50 acre public/private lake a lot easier than say a reservoir like Table Rock which emcompasses over 40,000 acres.

We got a chance to talk with him after the presentation. He has a wealth of knowledge on bass behavior. Knowledge that would hold true regardless of how large the body of water. Unfortunately, a lot of his idea's on management in order to build or rebuild a successful fish population on a lake just won't work on public bodies of water. Politics would be the biggest stumbling block in getting ideas into action.

How many remember the very strong opposition to the 15" size limits place on bass on lakes like LOZ and Table Rock in the late 70's. There was near full scale outrage, mostly from lake business owners fearing the size limits would run fishermen (business) off. It didn't take long before the results of those size limits starting reaping rewards for bass anglers on those lakes.

It would be nice to have a single body of water in this state that would be managed for trophy fishing but I'm afraid that single purpose smacks in the face of what the Mo. Conservation Dept. is about.

[ruthead]

A lot of his ideas are based upon the scope of the lakes he has the most experience with. Obviously you can manage a 50 acre public/private lake a lot easier than say a reservoir like Table Rock which emcompasses over 40,000 acres.

We got a chance to talk with him after the presentation. He has a wealth of knowledge on bass behavior. Knowledge that would hold true regardless of how large the body of water. Unfortunately, a lot of his idea's on management in order to build or rebuild a successful fish population on a lake just won't work on public bodies of water. Politics would be the biggest stumbling block in getting ideas into action.

How many remember the very strong opposition to the 15" size limits place on bass on lakes like LOZ and Table Rock in the late 70's. There was near full scale outrage, mostly from lake business owners fearing the size limits would run fishermen (business) off. It didn't take long before the results of those size limits starting reaping rewards for bass anglers on those lakes.

It would be nice to have a single body of water in this state that would be managed for trophy fishing but I'm afraid that single purpose smacks in the face of what the Mo. Conservation Dept. is about.

Correct last statement here. MDOC has absolutely no intentions of satisfying what seems to the desires of any minority group. Just look at all the true trophy trout managed areas in the state! Few and far between and some would say none.

[cart7]

If it was up to me I'd select Little Dixie as the trophy bass lake. 10 miles east of Columbia. It's an older lake that has a history of holding large bass. I remember the lake record there is right around 11lbs and was caught back in the late 70's.

The lake has changed a lot since then. The upper end has silted in somewhat and a lot of the standing timber has long since rotted and fallen over. As little as 6 years ago a group of friends went there for a little friendly tournament and an 8 1/2 was caught and I caught a 5 1/2 so the big fish are there and the lake is very capable of producing large fish.

Alas though, when your conservation dept. is funded by a state tax that everyone pays it becomes beholden to all taxpayers to make everything they manage user friendly to everyone vs. catering to the needs of a smaller niche.