CAGI

[MoCarp]

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BULL SHOALS on The White River !

Missouri CAGI on June 23th

Come to Missouri and get your Lumps on June 23rd

a night time event starts at 9pm!

This swim is a cool to cold water swim, where water temps run a constant 59-65 degrees it is a wide riverine Environment that can be still like a lake, or a river with ample current depending on water releases. Usually most swims 5 oz of lead will hold in this mostly gravel and chunk rock bottom even with heavy flow.

Small boilies and corn are the baits of choice --method mix and pack baits work here as well

Bank access is good, as most swims can be driven almost to the waters edge, lending itself well to anglers who are less mobile. this will be a evening till morning event to avoid the heat and more fish are caught at night than in daylight in this very clear water venue.

a 42 + pound lump (confermed by Local conservation agent) was taken at this locaton in late Febuary 06... so very large fish are possable, the swims where only discoverd by carpers summer 05 and to our knowledge the 1st serious attemps to catch carp here WITH EURO GEAR

Accommodations are plenty in Forsyth as well as greater Branson with rates for any budget.

Branson is where many family friendly things to do are available, shows, silver-dollar city and surrounding Tourist Attractions.

Great carp swims are available in addition to the CAGI location... so come early and or stay after

Forsyth is close to Arkansas boarder as well as a reasonable drive from Kansas and Oklahoma

If you have questions please contact me

Cheers

Mo

[Sam]

Might as well fish for carp.

That's about all Upper Bull Shoals amounts to this year.

[MoCarp]

USALLY a newbee gets those 1st few SCREAMING runs and gets hooked on carp fishing eurostyle--I know I did---most folks who catch one on accedent while fishing for something else usally thinks they have the next world record--only to land a common carp of average size....imagin I get the fight of a lifetime on every fish I catch....just somthing about a drag going zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...man I love it!!! on those hot dog days carping is usally at its peak--try it sometime

cheers

Mo

[Sam]

Aw, I know. I don't mean to knock your sport. Carp are trash fish to me because I like to put filets in the freezer. It's pretty frustrating to see upper Bull Shoals full of carp and gar now, but carp do put up a good fight and I'm glad to see someone getting some fun out of the situation.

Enjoy. I just wish you all could catch so many you'd exterminate the things.

[Grandpa Tom]

...It's pretty frustrating to see upper Bull Shoals full of carp and gar now...

I suspect it's more the seemingly lack of other species rather than "full of carp and gar now". I can remember as a kid visiting Powersite dam in the mid 50's when the water level was so high Powersite looked like a 6 ft. riffle. Water was backed up in the stairwell on the north side and it was literally full of huge gar sufacing periodically like submarines blowing their tanks. There were several guys bow fishing and some gar looked to be as much as 6 ft. long laying on the shore. As for carp, there were probably a lot of them around back then, too. It's all relative.

[gonefishin]

With the lack of people catching and keeping them I am sure there is an abundance of so called trash fish in Bull Shoals. Why should it be different than all the other lakes around here. Maybe some bow-fishing or gigging tournaments would be a good thing.

[Wayne SW/MO]

GF most competition between species is based on food, not space. Gars compete some because they feed on minnows in open water, about the same areas that Whites do, but the lake with the biggest Gar population that I know of is Grand, and it has a good White population.

As far as Bull Shoals goes, the Carp and gar were in it when the fishing was great, when it was mediocre, and when it was poor.

Gar moving toward the dam probably means a lot of shad, and a lot of food, not only for them but for other species as well.

[gonefishin]

GF most competition between species is based on food, not space. Gars compete some because they feed on minnows in open water, about the same areas that Whites do, but the lake with the biggest Gar population that I know of is Grand, and it has a good White population.

As far as Bull Shoals goes, the Carp and gar were in it when the fishing was great, when it was mediocre, and when it was poor.

Gar moving toward the dam probably means a lot of shad, and a lot of food, not only for them but for other species as well.

No doubt there is some truth to what you are saying but so called sport species of fish have pressure on them where rough fish are mostly left to propagate unchecked. I have seen small lakes get over taken by rough fish. Why should large lakes be different?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I have seen small lakes get over taken by rough fish. Why should large lakes be different?

My guess would be that they are physically very different, and that is the biggest reason. Most large lakes have an opportunity to balance out if something throws them out of kelter. Small lakes and ponds are generally micro managed, and often poorly, so that they have little or no chance to recover from, say a poor spawn by one of the species.

[Sam]

I'm thinking that nature will always fill a vacuum. A certain cubic volume of lake water, depending on its nutrient content, will support a certain weight of living things - always.

Those nutrients and the water's ability to support life will be utilized by something at all times.

Now, that same amount of living things in a given volume of lake water is the total of algae, mud turtles, shad, trash fish, game fish - everything. If a lake is "in balance" from our point of view, it's supporting mostly the species we want there.

If the lake gets "out of kilter" from our point of view, it's supporting mostly species that we don't want - and upper Bull Shoals is certainly doing that for some reason.