Release more crappie with eggs!

[dtrs5kprs]

I am going to ask a question again, primarily for the guys that fish the Rock a lot. I kow on Truman, and Pomme especially in the fall the schools of young of the year shad are phenomenal, unbelievable large school after school of them. Is it that way on TR as well. Definitely no lake ever suffered from having some brood/raising cover added to the lake in the form of sunken cedars or whatever, if I had a dock on any lake, everyone would be afraid to swim around it due to the cover I would have place there. Also every lake, especially large ones will easily sustain an amount of harvest without any problems what so ever, unfortunately its not like the crab fishing shows where a quota is set and once you reach it all harvest stops. I do believe that the MDC tries very hard to not have any more of a variety of regs that differ from lake to lake than they really have to, it would be tough for normal fisherman to have to memorize and follow the differert rules and also make enforcement tough.

There are plenty of shad in TR. Last year was a little light due to the cold winter, but most years they are so thick they will black out your graph. Not at all unusual to drop a spoon or grub down on vertical fish, and feel it tick ticking off shad on the way down. In fact we found them that way up shallow a couple of weeks ago. Wife asked me what her Ned rig was thumping on the way down. Graph was solid with them at about ten feet.

The resistance to manage lakes differently is archaic as well. Some lakes simply are different than others, and they need to recognize that. On occasion they have (Pomme, for instance), which makes it even stranger that they otherwise resist the notion.

[J-Doc]

Oh boy. As if this thread needed more ammo to pit one side vs the other. Yikes.

Might as well bring politics into the discussion. Would fire up the hatred super fast.

And stripers are already in the lake anyway. Lol!

[dtrs5kprs]

I think even the folks that do keep bass etc are in complete agreement everything you just said. On this board anyway. It's the narrow minded extremist that say you can't keep any of "this" species because I like it more that have the bigger issue. That's how I see it anyway. Again c&r guy talking but I'm not one with a narrow mind on what is acceptable harvest and definitely don't want to chastise someone for exercising that right ESPECIALLY when the lake is in good shape. If table rock has a bass shortage in the future the guys filleting fish will not be a contributing factor. Moderation is great on both sides of the fence.

I'm good up until the last sentence. Those years after the kill were pretty bleak, and apparently folks have very short memories. Keeping and eating the remaining largemouth then could have been disastrous.

[mjk86]

In a thread that was largely about exercising decision making, moderation, and selective harvest. Shocking that it did not go over well.

Very shocking...I thought you guys would applaud cuz clearly that pike didnt practice selective harvest, and he paid the ultimate price for his poor choice!

[5bites]

I'm good up until the last sentence. Those years after the kill were pretty bleak, and apparently folks have very short memories. Keeping and eating the remaining largemouth then could have been disastrous.

It could if that was the norm but once more look at the current condition. The lake survived. Also the lmbv was to blame and was my point. My guess is the keep to release ratio was about what it is now. Maybe less considering the fewer lm numbers at that time. Nevertheless history up till now is what I'm resting my case on. It's hard to argue against the proof.

I'm not advocating anybody keep anything. I'm saying leave the ones that do keep alone even if it not what you or I practice. They obviously aren't hurting anything.

The crappie though I really dont know. They do get beat on pretty hard but again a one month window is hardly enough evidence to prove there's a problem.

[dtrs5kprs]

I'm not advocating anybody keep anything. I'm saying leave the ones that do keep alone even if it not what you or I practice. They obviously aren't hurting anything.

Not hurting anything except a bunch of folks who will see what they do, and potentially use that as their model of stewardship.

Pictures have power, more so now. Took a long time and lots of concerted efforts to overcome the stringer pic mentality of the 60's and 70's. Maybe as Denny suggested we need some reinforcement of the C and R model from the major organizations. They've been pretty busy pushing superstars and wrapped rigs the last decade or so.

[*T*]

Obsession

n. noun

• 1. Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.
• 2. A compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion.

[Champ188]

And stripers are already in the lake anyway. Lol!

Any stripers that are in TR are from Holiday Island up and will stay there. Why? Because of the trout. There is nothing a striper would rather eat than a rainbow trout. Period.

[5bites]

Not hurting anything except a bunch of folks who will see what they do, and potentially use that as their model of stewardship.

I agree but I think the pattern is established by now.

[MOPanfisher]

Good, I am glad to hear the food base is there. You mention about Pomme being managed differently, to what specifically are you referring, the LM length limit of 13"? Each lake normally does have a "trophy" species included, i.e. Pomme has Muskie, Truman has Hybrids, Stockton - Walleye, some lakes have more than one simply due to chance. Such as Truman, it has hybrids, big catfish, spoonbill, walleye etc.. Honestly I am surprised that MDC hasn't gone the route of adding an upper predator to TR, such as hybrids.