YOU TALK ABOUT PRESSURE ON A LAKE!

[magicwormman]

I just glanced at the Regatta on Missouri's Highway Patrol site and see that 142 permits for tournaments were issued for April / May. In the early 70's, I wouldn't see 142 boats on the water in a two month period.

[Champ188]

And all of this pressure is on a lake that doesn't receive supplemental stockings of bass.

Allowing that I'm no biologist, I do wonder what effect the sudden rise in water level will have on the spawn. A certain amount of light is required for the eggs to hatch, so if the beds built on the deeper limit of the light requirement now have 6 more feet of water over them, are they ruined?

There were definitely a lot of fish on beds when that big rain hit last week.

[Old plug]

Well that os what it has come to. Everywhere fishing is being pushed along with the higher prices for doing it. Fishing has become big  business.  Those you are fishing for human fish are finding it very easy to hook a limit all the time. 

[Ketchup]

One of those is our open buddy bass tourney out of Aunts Creek a week from Sat. May 6 so come join in on the fun. Plenty of fish for everyone. 

[vernon]

Wow. And I thought I was just getting paranoid in my old age.

 

[skeeter]

1 hour ago, magicwormman said:

I just glanced at the Regatta on Missouri's Highway Patrol site and see that 142 permits for tournaments were issued for April / May. In the early 70's, I wouldn't see 142 boats on the water in a two month period.

Correct, and despite this incredible pressure, the bigwigs aren't satisfied and are seeking and planning more.  Here's an excerpt from State Rep. Don Phillip's most recent newsletter about more to come :   

Strategic Meeting

On Friday afternoon, I attended a meeting in Springfield that included stakeholders from our bass fishing industry as well as Table Rock Chamber of Commerce C.E.O., Sheila Thomas and Aaron Jeffries, the Deputy Director of the MO Dept. of Conservation. We discussed plans for expansion of lake access on Table Rock Lake to attract large fishing tournaments and to make the lake access more accessible to the public. The MO Dept. of Conservation has done an excellent job with our wildlife and fisheries management and their partnership with the Conservation Federation of Missouri is an asset for managing our state’s natural resources.

[Old plug]

15 minutes ago, Champ188 said:

And all of this pressure is on a lake that doesn't receive supplemental stockings of bass.

Allowing that I'm no biologist, I do wonder what effect the sudden rise in water level will have on the spawn. A certain amount of light is required for the eggs to hatch, so if the beds built on the deeper limit of the light requirement now have 6 more feet of water over them, are they ruined?

There were definitely a lot of fish on beds when that big rain hit last week.

I have a notion bass improvise and adapt way past what we think. I got to think the lights greatest value is raising the temperature in the selected spawing site. Bass on LOZ will spawn in near total darkness under docks, They will spawn in odd places at odd times as well. When I had a home on North Shore there was a somewhat regular spawing site on what appeared to be a round metal plate about 5ft deep along the side of my dock. There is a lot of truth about bass spawing where and when. But it certainly is not the whole truth.

[Hojo]

I'm fishing the Tyson tourney out of KC, it will be 250+ boats, there's an Ozark Mtn Team Trail event right across at Mill Creek, a USA Bassin at Campbell Pt, Shriners tourney at Shell Knob...I don't know how many boats these others draw, but there will be a lot of traffic on the water this Saturday.  That, coupled with the potential debris, it could make the lake fish pretty small and dangerous.

[Notropis]

Kind of out of my usual territory here since I usually stick to the Beaver Lake forum but I might be able to answer a few of your questions. 

The high water should be a boon for the spawn due to increased nutrient input for zooplankton production (essential for fish larvae survival) and available nursery habitat that will provide a lot of cover for the larvae to utilize.  I'm not sure about eggs requiring sunlight to hatch, I think hatching is affected primarily by temperature and clean substrate (not silted in).  As far as the water level changing the depth of the nests, unless they are so deep that the water temp remains too cool for good hatching success, I don't think it will be a problem.  Another factor is that fish are fairly adaptable when spawning in changing water levels.  If a nest becomes too deep due to rising water levels, the fish will often abandon it and adjust there efforts to shallower water.   

These are generalizations but usually hold true under these circumstances. Typically these types of high water years produce the strongest spawns with better chances of recruitment (surviving the first year) of the fingerlings.

Hope this was helpful

  

[merc1997 Bo]

1 hour ago, skeeter said:

Correct, and despite this incredible pressure, the bigwigs aren't satisfied and are seeking and planning more.  Here's an excerpt from State Rep. Don Phillip's most recent newsletter about more to come :   

Strategic Meeting

On Friday afternoon, I attended a meeting in Springfield that included stakeholders from our bass fishing industry as well as Table Rock Chamber of Commerce C.E.O., Sheila Thomas and Aaron Jeffries, the Deputy Director of the MO Dept. of Conservation. We discussed plans for expansion of lake access on Table Rock Lake to attract large fishing tournaments and to make the lake access more accessible to the public. The MO Dept. of Conservation has done an excellent job with our wildlife and fisheries management and their partnership with the Conservation Federation of Missouri is an asset for managing our state’s natural resources.

i would like to debate him on his viewpoint of the how well the mdc is managing the fishery on table rock.  does not doing anything qualify as managing the fish population of a lake?

bo