communicating with the mdc

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Flysmallie said:

Southern lakes have a whole lot more going for them than Florida Bass. You aren’t ever going to duplicate that in Missouri. 

Yeah, if you think cold fronts make fishing tough here in MO/AR,...  just try to catch a fish in SC, FL, GA, AL when a northerly wind is blowing.  You might as well stay home and wash the boat.

[Devan S.]

Let's say hypothetically Missouri began stocking bass in TRL today. We began to see major benefits in 2-4 years(limits of these 5+ lbers like the old days that's always discussed here).

Ya'll are already complaining too many boats, tournaments, pressure, ect. What happens when it becomes a premier top notch bass fishery rivaling the lakes discussed? Then what? Does the influx of fishermen/tournaments double? triple? quadruple? Does it get to the point that even during the deep winter you complain about boats like we do in the summer? Is the hope we run the lake so full of bass boats the wave runners and wake boats cant even launch?

You guys make it sound like the old pond is so bad the average joe cant catch a fish yet the lake gets pounded for 9-10 months out the year by fishermen. Could it be better? Sure....but don't think some aggressive stocking plan isn't going to come with a myriad of other problems. 

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

1 hour ago, Devan S. said:

Let's say hypothetically Missouri began stocking bass in TRL today. We began to see major benefits in 2-4 years(limits of these 5+ lbers like the old days that's always discussed here).

Ya'll are already complaining too many boats, tournaments, pressure, ect. What happens when it becomes a premier top notch bass fishery rivaling the lakes discussed? Then what? Does the influx of fishermen/tournaments double? triple? quadruple? Does it get to the point that even during the deep winter you complain about boats like we do in the summer? Is the hope we run the lake so full of bass boats the wave runners and wake boats cant even launch?

You guys make it sound like the old pond is so bad the average joe cant catch a fish yet the lake gets pounded for 9-10 months out the year by fishermen. Could it be better? Sure....but don't think some aggressive stocking plan isn't going to come with a myriad of other problems. 

i think this is this best post on this thread. 

[bluebasser86]

17 hours ago, skeeter said:

OK, here goes, let the slings and arrows commence, I can handle it and to each their own.  TWO big changes in regulations are badly needed to increase the numbers of Bass in not just TR but other Missouri Lakes 

1. Extend the Springtime Bass fishing regulations for Streams to Reservoirs across the State.  Catch and release at boat-side only during the Spawn. 
2. End the Fish Transportation to weigh-ins.  Measure, photograph and release where caught.  MLF has just changed to doing it and kudos to the Shell Knob area Bass club that has been doing it. 

Our little club in NE KS has been doing MLF (except only tracking the biggest 5), style tournaments for 3 years now. Reduces stress on the fish, especially during the hotter months, eliminates the worry of caring for fish in the livewell all day, "weigh in" times are dramatically reduced, fish that would not normally be keepers can count towards a total (most local lakes are 18" lakes), boats with small or no livewells are able to participate in tournaments, and the list goes on. 

Obviously it opens the door for potential cheaters since we don't have marshals like MLF, but cheaters will cheat no matter what format you put them under. Requiring pictures of the fish on the scale and on a ruler helps to prevent it. You could go as far as requiring the weighing of fish to be videoed for verification. 

We haven't had any instances where anyone was suspected of cheating, and we don't kill anymore bass than we all would as regular recreational fishermen. I'm not sure how it would work on a larger scale, but for small clubs I don't think it's really that difficult to do. 

We just had our end of the year fish off, this is how we did pictures after the fish were weighed and before they were released so we had a time stamped picture of each fish. Everyone has the same scales (which are cheap but crazy accurate and consistent). 

It's not a perfect system, but when we sat down and talked about it, we're fishing for 100, maybe 200 bucks on a good night, nothing worth killing fish over and not enough (we hope), for someone to risk being caught cheating. I field a lot of request to join the group, so it's a popular idea for local guys anyways. 

[Jerry Rapp]

42 minutes ago, bluebasser86 said:

 (most local lakes are 18" lakes),

 

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

[Rodmaker]

11 hours ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

i think this is this best post on this thread. 

"if you build it, they will come" 

[Champ188]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 4:20 PM, merc1997 said:

then why is texas and other states constantly stocking bass in their lakes?  there are way more bass and other species leaving the lake than one would think.

bo

Exactly … shoot, even ARKANSAS stocks bass in their lakes. Guess MDC can't keep pace with its barefoot, backward neighbors to the south. 😆

[fishinwrench]

7 hours ago, bluebasser86 said:

We haven't had any instances where anyone was suspected of cheating, 

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.

[tjm]

Has AR stocked their part of Table Rock?

 

[Quillback]

4 hours ago, tjm said:

Has AR stocked their part of Table Rock?

 

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.