Fish care during the spawn

[OldMillRoad]

MDC already does this on Ozark streams. http://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/regulations/black-bass-stream-restrictions

[merc1997 Bo]

3 hours ago, abkeenan said:

This isn't true and it can, and is, done on Northern lakes. You can have a season for anything that is able to be harvested just like deer, turkey, etc. I wouldn't mind a restricted season on Table Rock, say mid April til mid/late May where no bass are to be harvested. Sure you can fish for them but they should be released immediately. Before that time period and after that time period would be just as it is now in the current MDC regulations. Why would you not be able to do it for a specific species? Would be simple to do so.

i have harped on this subject for eons with the mdc.  since they refuse to ever think about stocking bass, i have suggested that they could divide the lake into three sections and have a closed cove policy, or designate a certain time period to be catch and release only for bass.  i know that does not ring well for the tournament fisherman, but even two or three years would yield a big increase in the lake wide population.  i know there are many that live for catching bass off of beds (sight fishing) every year.  but, i have never seen how that is helping with spawning success.

i have always had better success to hunt for pre-spawn bass, and follow that pattern out to the main lake, and by the time it is over on the main lake go to areas that bass spawned first, and those bass are usually ready to begin eating again.

but, as long as anyone is within the mdc regulations, they are entitled to fish as they wish, and i am happy for the bass they catch and many happy days on the water they get to enjoy.

you know, this discussion would not ever come up if the mdc would take a look at the success stocking has in the state of texas and other places, and start doing some stocking programs in table rock.  just my opinion.

bo

 

 

[dan hufferd]

Pretty hot topic for sure. I have fish coves after a tournament where the fish were released. I have often wondered what happens to all those beds, and hey how come no one puts walleye back ? That's what I am talking about ! Now I have my left up ! (Fred Sanford reference}    

[Champ188]

I believe both abkeenan and bo have solid suggestions for additional protection of our spawning bass. Frankly, anything would be an improvement over letting tournament and recreational fishermen alike have the run of the lake during the spawn. And with tournament anglers, the argument that they are only catching five is invalid because those who are successfully targeting beds will continue to cull all day long, so they are relocating no telling how many fish during the course of a day away from their beds.

I keep hearing that the TR bass fishery is doing fine and that we're seeking problems to fit a solution, but how do we what it COULD be if we never attempt to rise aboefore bve the status quo? Why not TRY some protective measures for our spawning fish? Why not TRY some supplemental stocking, especially for the less-aggressive LM species (as opposed to brown and spotted bass)? It certainly would seem to the layman's eye that the forage base is adequate to support a greater population of bass.

And Dan, take heart ... I dearly love to eat walleye but I do release them during their spawning season. I know it's not a common practice but it would be nice if it was. For that matter, they could be given the same sort of seasonal "immediate release" protection as we're discussing for bass. Considering how much Arkansas and Missouri fish and game departments have spent stocking them, I'm a bit surprised they don't protect them more.

[Hammer time]

CPR all bass!!!! I never have or ever will eat a bass! And have never bed fished! I catch one put in live well take photo and release right away!

[176champion]

I feel deep down something has to be done, thats why i posted what i did, it may not have been the answer but abkeenan and bo have come up some good ideas.

[merc1997 Bo]

13 hours ago, Champ188 said:

I believe both abkeenan and bo have solid suggestions for additional protection of our spawning bass. Frankly, anything would be an improvement over letting tournament and recreational fishermen alike have the run of the lake during the spawn. And with tournament anglers, the argument that they are only catching five is invalid because those who are successfully targeting beds will continue to cull all day long, so they are relocating no telling how many fish during the course of a day away from their beds.

I keep hearing that the TR bass fishery is doing fine and that we're seeking problems to fit a solution, but how do we what it COULD be if we never attempt to rise aboefore bve the status quo? Why not TRY some protective measures for our spawning fish? Why not TRY some supplemental stocking, especially for the less-aggressive LM species (as opposed to brown and spotted bass)? It certainly would seem to the layman's eye that the forage base is adequate to support a greater population of bass.

And Dan, take heart ... I dearly love to eat walleye but I do release them during their spawning season. I know it's not a common practice but it would be nice if it was. For that matter, they could be given the same sort of seasonal "immediate release" protection as we're discussing for bass. Considering how much Arkansas and Missouri fish and game departments have spent stocking them, I'm a bit surprised they don't protect them more.

champ

you are certainly right in that the food bass of table rock will support many more bass than it has.  not just bass, but crappie and whites as well.  think about how fishing pressure would be taken off of bass if whites were busting shad all over the lake during the summer, as they used to be.  there used to be many times back in the old days that we would go chase the whites all evening instead of largemouth.  plus, whites as well as crappie are great to eat.

stocking bass does work.  how does the mdc think lake fork keeps producing bass the way it does?  that is right, from stocking programs.  there are many more fisherman on the lake than back in the 60's and 70's, and just like roaring river state park, there are many more bass taken from the lake each day.  take a look at how many more tax dollars are generated by have the lake full of fisherman, but that will end when there is not much there to catch.  a prime example is how many of the bassers around beaver lake come to table rock because the bass fishing is better.  that generates tax dollars here.

while i am on my box about the mdc, i can tell that this years white spawn could very well be very diminished.  the mdc was up in ark. in the kings shocking for walleye.  the whites were up there attempting to spawn, and the shocking turned the water white with the males sperm.  whites are a very fragile fish, and i would doubt that very many of them survived the shocking much less spawned successfully.

bo

[Flysmallie]

35 minutes ago, merc1997 said:

stocking bass does work.  how does the mdc think lake fork keeps producing bass the way it does?  that is right, from stocking programs.

While I would never say that their stocking program doesn't work, I think more of their success comes from the slot limit. The majority of the fish caught fall within that 16" to 24" slot. Plus the fact that most of the fisherman on that lake are C&R minded folks.

But I wouldn't mind doing what ever it takes to make Table Rock that type of fishery.

[merc1997 Bo]

24 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

While I would never say that their stocking program doesn't work, I think more of their success comes from the slot limit. The majority of the fish caught fall within that 16" to 24" slot. Plus the fact that most of the fisherman on that lake are C&R minded folks.

But I wouldn't mind doing what ever it takes to make Table Rock that type of fishery.

that slot limit does not pertain to all texas lakes, and texas has great fishing in all of their lakes because of the stocking programs.  texas only took about 4 years to have bass back in their lakes after the lmb virus kill that they also experienced.  table rock is just now begging to have a decent bass population.  still not the best in the world, but compared to what we have suffered through since the kill back in the late 90's, it is better.  i can tell you that for many years after the fish kill, boat ramps were pretty much empty.  how many tax dollars to you suppose were not generated in all those years of empty boat ramps????  way more that the cost of stocking bass.  it could be that a slot limit might help with increasing spawning success.  but, we still have people that can not tell the difference in a kentucky and a largemouth.  so, a slot limit presents a problem.

bo

[176champion]

No matter what is put into place for regulation, your always going to have that % of ignorant people taking illegal fish, but still something has to be done. Fish grow faster in Texas and Florida also due to the warmer climate year around.