1/24/16 Big M

[mixermarkb]

Well, I'm glad he can't put up numbers like that in January then.

I watch folks come and fish where I keep my boat on Bull Shoals. Lots of them keep everything they catch. Thankfully, most of them don't have a clue and can't catch much, so it's almost like they are getting back at the lake for running a knife through the couple they catch.

My wife likes fish, I'll keep her some crappie or whites, and a Wally if I run on one. I've even kept a couple of 12" spots from time to time, because at one point it seemed like we had too many of those in Bull at the time. Keeping a fish or two is ok. All I really want is for possession limits to be observed. We don't have the resource to come and keep limits every day for a week to fill the freezer. It happens WAY too often. If a person wants to keep fish, go ahead, but obey the laws. ALL OF THEM, EVEN THE POSSESION LIMIT, WHICH IS NOT JUST *THE POSSESSION THAT YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE AT THE LAKE* LIMIT. It includes what's in the freezer at home, so if you haven't eaten what you kept last time, don't be greedy and keep what you catch this time! 

[abkeenan]

55 minutes ago, mjk86 said:

1.)  Sorry to the original poster, i imagine that reports from him will become few and far between, which is highly unfortunate cuz its clear he knows what hes doing.  Dead, alive, filleted, swimming, bleeding...it doesnt matter, most here are just griping because somebody killed "their" bass, and they cant put up numbers like that in the end of january.  For the record, cold water fish taste better, and those fish will be wonderful.  Those are some great bass!

2.)  About the tournament thing....personally i think they are the dumbest thing ever.  I think it totally would take the fun out of fishing and make it stressful, but i cant help but think....table rock is a thriving fishery, and bass are super prolific, adaptable and opportunistic.  So how exactly are all the tournaments causing trouble?  I dont do the whole LOZ nonsense...but i think the bass there still survive, and are doing ok despite being treated like sports equipment.  With all the complaining going on, can anyone actually point to evidence that it harms the fishery?   

I will disagree on both points. I don't think any of the C&R guys are jealous they "can't put up numbers like that in the end of January". We just don't like to see nice stringers of bass killed. No other way to slice it and we have rehashed this topic just about every winter since Ozark Anglers came online (at least since I've been here).

If you think fish are adaptable and "prolific" maybe you can have some answers to a few questions. Table Rock was dammed up in 1958 and if you speak with anyone that fished during the 60's,70's and even 80's they will tell you how insanely good it was. My family (Grandparents, father, uncles, aunts) started coming to Table Rock during those "golden years" and staying at the State Park camp grounds in tents. My grandparents bought a place in Beardsley Creek right on the water  with a dock in 1982 in which we still vacation and grandmother still lives 9 months out of the year. When I say "good" fishing, good as in having a 5lb+ average limit of fish in a day. Now that is absolutely unheard of to have a 25lb+ limit of fish. Why is that? Sure there was the LMBV (Largemouth Bass Virus) that killed off a huge amount of fish in the late 90's. That was over 15 years ago. Why haven't they recovered? Some argue that natural wood and structure is eroding/rotting away as the lake ages and thus provides less habitat for fish. That is a reasonable argument. One could conclude that would contribute to both lack of overall numbers and lack in larger average size of fish caught. But if they are adaptable they should be able to find elsewhere to inhabit and proliferate right? I am not entirely sold on the fishes habitat being altered that is the root cause of larger fish not being caught or seen although it may contribute to a degree. Bo has been fishing this pond for a long time and if you read his reports (which you should when he post them) he mentions every now and again how hard it is to be lucky enough to stumble upon a 5lb or larger fish. Babler would also be another person who can speak from experience of fishing this lake for 40+ years. To me the reason for the lack of numbers and size is the overall fishing pressure that the lake has seen within the last 20 years and increasing every single year. More boats + more fisherman = less places for fish to run and hide. More fish caught = more fish killed either naturally or for dinner. It's exponential growth on the fisherman's end and either a stagnant or regression on the fish population end. The lake can only support so many fish. This isn't a doomsday rant that Table Rock is a terrible fishery, it's not. It is still a very good lake but you can't tell me that taking fish like those, in the pics by the OP's (friend) of this thread, out of this lake doesn't hurt a fishery. This is a midwest or even northern lake in the fact that we have a cold season and not a full year growing season like southern lakes. We have northern strain largemouth's and it takes YEARS for them to get to the size of the fish in the pics. Years. I don't care what biologists say to the tune of "that fish will be replaced by one or two more fish". Hogwash. Gestating a fish to that size takes not only time, but survival from natural predation, disease, changing season conditions and of course the arsenal wielding angler. With each angler wetting a line it diminishes the chances of a fish growing to trophy size. If that angler happens to be a meat hunter then chances of trophies are reduced yet again. Plain and simple. More anglers + more fraying pan fisherman Frank's = less trophies. If you keep fish to fill your belly fine. That is your right well within the laws of the state. But don't piss down my leg and tell me it's raining and that taking fish like these doesn't do damage to the overall outlook of a fishery.

[mjk86]

4 minutes ago, abkeenan said:

I will disagree on both points. I don't think any of the C&R guys are jealous they "can't put up numbers like that in the end of January". We just don't like to see nice stringers of bass killed. No other way to slice it and we have rehashed this topic just about every winter since Ozark Anglers came online (at least since I've been here).

If you think fish are adaptable and "prolific" maybe you can have some answers to a few questions. Table Rock was dammed up in 1958 and if you speak with anyone that fished during the 60's,70's and even 80's they will tell you how insanely good it was. My family (Grandparents, father, uncles, aunts) started coming to Table Rock during those "golden years" and staying at the State Park camp grounds in tents. My grandparents bought a place in Beardsley Creek right on the water  with a dock in 1982 in which we still vacation and grandmother still lives 9 months out of the year. When I say "good" fishing, good as in having a 5lb+ average limit of fish in a day. Now that is absolutely unheard of to have a 25lb+ limit of fish. Why is that? Sure there was the LMBV (Largemouth Bass Virus) that killed off a huge amount of fish in the late 90's. That was over 15 years ago. Why haven't they recovered? Some argue that natural wood and structure is eroding/rotting away as the lake ages and thus provides less habitat for fish. That is a reasonable argument. One could conclude that would contribute to both lack of overall numbers and lack in larger average size of fish caught. But if they are adaptable they should be able to find elsewhere to inhabit and proliferate right? I am not entirely sold on the fishes habitat being altered that is the root cause of larger fish not being caught or seen although it may contribute to a degree. Bo has been fishing this pond for a long time and if you read his reports (which you should when he post them) he mentions every now and again how hard it is to be lucky enough to stumble upon a 5lb or larger fish. Babler would also be another person who can speak from experience of fishing this lake for 40+ years. To me the reason for the lack of numbers and size is the overall fishing pressure that the lake has seen within the last 20 years and increasing every single year. More boats + more fisherman = less places for fish to run and hide. More fish caught = more fish killed either naturally or for dinner. It's exponential growth on the fisherman's end and either a stagnant or regression on the fish population end. The lake can only support so many fish. This isn't a doomsday rant that Table Rock is a terrible fishery, it's not. It is still a very good lake but you can't tell me that taking fish like those, in the pics by the OP's (friend) of this thread, out of this lake doesn't hurt a fishery. This is a midwest or even northern lake in the fact that we have a cold season and not a full year growing season like southern lakes. We have northern strain largemouth's and it takes YEARS for them to get to the size of the fish in the pics. Years. I don't care what biologists say to the tune of "that fish will be replaced by one or two more fish". Hogwash. Gestating a fish to that size takes not only time, but survival from natural predation, disease, changing season conditions and of course the arsenal wielding angler. With each angler wetting a line it diminishes the chances of a fish growing to trophy size. If that angler happens to be a meat hunter then chances of trophies are reduced yet again. Plain and simple. More anglers + more fraying pan fisherman Frank's = less trophies. If you keep fish to fill your belly fine. That is your right well within the laws of the state. But don't piss down my leg and tell me it's raining and that taking fish like these doesn't do damage to the overall outlook of a fishery.

You answered your question about table rock when it was first dammed up.  New lake, new growth, less competition, no carrying capacities or equilibriums had been established.  Things were good for top predators....also these large bass were foraging near the shoreline where they were accessible by fisherman, and these fish had never seen lures before.  I think that table rock probably has just as many large fish as it ever has had, but many of those fish are simply uncatchable since they are rarely associated with bank structure, or even offshore structure that everyone targets.  Bait in table rock is often time out in the middle of nowhere, not related to the bank structure. I think table rock has lots of large bass that simply follow shad schools around all the time and arent concerned with shoreline structure or artificial presentations.  If your not puting 7-9 inch live gizzard shad in front of them they are simply not that intersted. 

An example of this is Lake 33 at BW in st louis.  The deepest part of the lake is 12ft  (so shocking is effective).  The conservation department shocks up 30% of bass over 18inches, and several over 7#.  Thats a small lake loaded with huge bass...yet most folks never catch em, yes a few will.  A few more are good at it...but when I go, i may catch 10-15 bass in a morning and the biggest one is maybe 17inches long if im having a good day.  My catch rates would indicate most of the fish being 13-14inches, but its been proven there are lots of large ones, my guess is that a 100 acre lake that gets that sort of fishing pressure doesnt hurt the fish any, but conditions them to be more selective and less opportunistic. 

[abkeenan]

4 minutes ago, mjk86 said:

You answered your question about table rock when it was first dammed up.  New lake, new growth, less competition, no carrying capacities or equilibriums had been established.  Things were good for top predators....also these large bass were foraging near the shoreline where they were accessible by fisherman, and these fish had never seen lures before.  I think that table rock probably has just as many large fish as it ever has had, but many of those fish are simply uncatchable since they are rarely associated with bank structure, or even offshore structure that everyone targets.  Bait in table rock is often time out in the middle of nowhere, not related to the bank structure. I think table rock has lots of large bass that simply follow shad schools around all the time and arent concerned with shoreline structure or artificial presentations.  If your not puting 7-9 inch live gizzard shad in front of them they are simply not that intersted. 

An example of this is Lake 33 at BW in st louis.  The deepest part of the lake is 12ft  (so shocking is effective).  The conservation department shocks up 30% of bass over 18inches, and several over 7#.  Thats a small lake loaded with huge bass...yet most folks never catch em, yes a few will.  A few more are good at it...but when I go, i may catch 10-15 bass in a morning and the biggest one is maybe 17inches long if im having a good day.  My catch rates would indicate most of the fish being 13-14inches, but its been proven there are lots of large ones, my guess is that a 100 acre lake that gets that sort of fishing pressure doesnt hurt the fish any, but conditions them to be more selective and less opportunistic. 

We're just not going to see eye to eye. And that's fine.

[mjk86]

1 hour ago, Champ188 said:

Mixermarkb, just for reference, mjk86 once boasted that his family has killed every keeper bass they've caught out of Table Rock for all the years they've been visiting here on vacation. Then he goes on another current thread and makes a supposedly humorous comment about how far down a hill a 10-pound bass can flop.

Nuff said.

oh cmon that was pretty funny!!  Your just a sour puss over bass, if i said that about any other fish or animal, or hell even a person probably you couldnt care less.  Do you snuggle your bass to sleep everynight too? 

48 minutes ago, mixermarkb said:

Well, I'm glad he can't put up numbers like that in January then.

I watch folks come and fish where I keep my boat on Bull Shoals. Lots of them keep everything they catch. Thankfully, most of them don't have a clue and can't catch much, so it's almost like they are getting back at the lake for running a knife through the couple they catch.

My wife likes fish, I'll keep her some crappie or whites, and a Wally if I run on one. I've even kept a couple of 12" spots from time to time, because at one point it seemed like we had too many of those in Bull at the time. Keeping a fish or two is ok. All I really want is for possession limits to be observed. We don't have the resource to come and keep limits every day for a week to fill the freezer. It happens WAY too often. If a person wants to keep fish, go ahead, but obey the laws. ALL OF THEM, EVEN THE POSSESION LIMIT, WHICH IS NOT JUST *THE POSSESSION THAT YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE AT THE LAKE* LIMIT. It includes what's in the freezer at home, so if you haven't eaten what you kept last time, don't be greedy and keep what you catch this time! 

Never tried in january, but we do alright in august.  Im really surpised there are even any bass in table rock anymore.  I think its all fished out...

[Alex Heitman]

You are exactly why fishing reports are few and far between on this forum. There were just starting to come back but looks like they won't be for a while and I don't blame people. Why you try and piss people off on here I don't understand. 

[Alex Heitman]

Busch wildlife lakes are stocked too you moron.

[mjk86]

1 minute ago, Alex Heitman said:

Busch wildlife lakes are stocked too you moron.

Lol so bass dont reproduce?  Moron?  Why do people call me names on here?  Also that wasnt the point i was making...the point i was making is that the fish are conditioned differently.  The typical uneducated response is to call people names when another argument cant be made...You most vote republican hahahahahaha.  Lol didnt i sell you old wiggle warts?  I ripped you off, you paid 10 dollars for crappy old lures...your the moron, also arent you in chiropractor school?  and your calling me dumb?  Mommy and daddy sure bought you a nice truck and boat, very nice.

[mixermarkb]

I feel like Jackie Gleason in the smokey and the bandit movie where he had that stress monitor that beeped..

 

I know you are just trolling, and I'm falling for it, but jeez dude, sorry about whatever it is that makes you act like this. Teeny weenie, mom didn't hug you as a kid, the other kids were meanies to you in daycare, idk. Maybe it's just genetics, since it seems to be a family tradition to pillage the resource to its full capacity, but I'm thankful you go to TR and not Bull Shoals.  

You clearly aren't ignorant, so I don't have any explanation for the greedy, butt headed attitude here in this thread, and total lack of common sense and care for the resource. I wish I did. 

 

[mjk86]

7 minutes ago, Alex Heitman said:

You are exactly why fishing reports are few and far between on this forum. There were just starting to come back but looks like they won't be for a while and I don't blame people. Why you try and piss people off on here I don't understand. 

Its funny that im the one that pisses people off, when other people make the most retarded comments and all i do is call them out.  Guess the truth kinda stings a little bit.  I post reports all the time, and I post pics of fish on a board....all the time...yet the only forum that girls cry about it is here on this one.  If posting fish pics on a fishing website upsets you that much, find another hobby....how can you justify torturing that poor creature by shoving barbed steel through its precious mouth?  THen pulling it from its habitat only to snap a picture and throw it back....seems kinda degrading.  Do you torture your pets at home like that?  The hypocrisy knows no bounds.