communicating with the mdc

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Quillback said:

With walleye.  Not a lot of the Rock lies in AR, makes sense to stock walleye in the upper White and Kings, but dunno if it would do any good to stock bass up there.  

actually, i do not think ar. stocks any walleye in table rock, but they do shock our walleye that run up the kings and white to spawn and keep them.

bo

[olbasser]

First I think most available information indicates that Tablerock as a fisherie is on a negative trend.  20 yrs ago when you set the hook you had that feeling that you could hook a 5 lb fish or bigger.  Nowadays ( as most posts on this forum indicate) you brag about how many keeper fish you caught in a day.  Even our little tourney hasn't squeeked out a 5# fish;  tournament bag weights are smaller;  COE survey in 2010 ( newest I could find) of a million plus people coming to Tablerock, of which 20% came for fishing,  indicated that fishermen were more negative than positive about fishing trends.

 Second, what kind of fisherie do you want Tablerock to be?   A lot of smaller fish;  bigger fish at the expense of numbers: largemout, smallies, kentuckies.  I would assume that stocking, forage and regulations would have an effect.  I'm no expert ( obviously) but stocking forage ( a few ton of crawdads) rather than fish.

Lastly, I agree with bo about communication but I think communication with the Conservation commision is the way to go.  MDC is funded thru a 1/8 cent tax thru a Missouri constitution amendment.  The Conservation commission controls the allocation of funds and regulation. Their mandate ( see the Commission website) says they will talk to the public and manage harvestable fish and wildlife at biological and socially acceptable levels.  Seems to me that we have at least a social argument.

[Hughesy]

1 hour ago, merc1997 said:

actually, i do not think ar. stocks any walleye in table rock, but they do shock our walleye that run up the kings and white to spawn and keep them.

bo

The Arkansas fish and game  stocked 60,200 walleye in Cricket Creek.

https://www.ozarkswaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MDC-Report-on-TABLE-ROCK-LAKE-2014.pdf

[bluebasser86]

23 hours ago, Jerry Rapp said:

about how many "under" fish do you catch in an average day on these lakes?

Depends on the lake. We do a rotation of lakes instead of fishing just one lake. Some of the lakes, it can be a real struggle to get your 5 "keepers" (fish over 1 pound). Some of the other lakes, it's not unusual to cull through a couple dozen fish in an evening looking for a few bigger fish. The lakes we fish are very poor in comparison to the Ozark lakes, rarely producing fish over 4 pounds, a 10lb limit is almost a guaranteed win on most of the lakes, and it often doesn't take that much, so we have to protect what few fish we have. The largest bags weighed this year were 15.69 and 15.72, both the same night in 2.5 hours of fishing which included the biggest fish of the year that weighed 5.80 pounds. 

 

16 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Exactly.  And I think if all clubs/circuits would just try it they would feel likewise.  

If pics or scoring is sketchy at all, or if there are any valid disputes among the field, then simply refuse to accept it.  It is each anglers responsibility to make sure that every fish scored is indisputable.  That is NOT hard to do. Matter of fact, it is easier to do than babysitting and culling fish all day long.

That is another nice thing, everyone gets to see your fish in the picture so there's several sets of seasoned eyeballs examining the pictures for anything fishy. If something is up, it's going to get spotted and brought to attention. We had one instance where 2 teams showed up late and at weigh in it was discovered they hadn't used the required scales, so their weights weren't allowed, simple as that. They weren't attempting to cheat at all, just failed to follow all the rules and equipment requirements. 

[Quillback]

7 hours ago, merc1997 said:

actually, i do not think ar. stocks any walleye in table rock, but they do shock our walleye that run up the kings and white to spawn and keep them.

bo

They've been stocking them for a while, AGFC used to publish the numbers every year, but when they went to a newly designed website they stopped showing those numbers.  It was something in the neighborhood of 50,000 walleye fingerlings per year.  OA member Mojo rig works for AGFC, pm him and I'm sure he can find numbers and location for the walleye stocking.  @mojo rig

[Devan S.]

For the group that is in favor of stocking:

What level of stocking is needed(i.e. what number of fish stocked, and size of fish stocked)?

What key indicators would you use to determine if stocking was successful or not(Tournament weights up to what level, catch frequency levels)?

[Lvn2Fish]

I honestly think Table Rock has plenty of fish . I believe with the decomposition of the standing timber the fish have started to use open water more . Making fishing a little more tough. Every lake that has ever been impounded has a surge in fish populations the first 10-20 years after being flooded . Until all the new cover starts to decay. We know there is plenty of forage fish in Table Rock . We know most of the fish live deep and follow bait . Look at some of bills posts about magnum spotted bass that he feels have never seen a lure . You can’t go down the bank throwing a ned rig and expect to catch multiple 5 pounders . The big ones are still there , but maybe just maybe they have wised up to the same old tricks . 

[Lvn2Fish]

On 11/4/2018 at 2:08 AM, bluebasser86 said:

 

Everyone says it’s not that hard to do a catch weigh photo release deal .But this picture right here shows just the cluster that would ensue. You can’t have an accurate measurement when your hand is hanging onto the scale . Not saying any pressure is being applied but I wouldn’t accept this entry .

[snagged in outlet 3]

23 minutes ago, Lvn2Fish said:

 You can’t have an accurate measurement when your hand is hanging onto the scale . Not saying any pressure is being applied but I wouldn’t accept this entry .

I was going to say same thing

[mojorig]

On the Arkansas side of TR, we (AGFC) have stocked the following since 1983:

Channel Catfish (Catchable and Yearlings): 157,776 fish (Years stocked: 1988, 91, 99, 2000, 02 - 15)

Black Crappie finglerings: 48,500 fish (Year stocked: 2003)

Walleye finglerings: 849,264 fish (Years stocked: 2003 - 16)