100 lb paddlefish in Grand Lake

[Seth]

15 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

I was at seminar once when a dude from MDC spouted off a figure of what the MDC spends on Spoonbill.....and it set me off like a bottle rocket.    

Why????!!!!  Spoonbill snaggers bring very little to the table, and half of what they produce ends up feeding coons along the bank.   They do nothing to curb the shad population......which is what they tout as being their most beneficial purpose.   

Personally, I could do without the invasive bastards, and I'd love to see that money spent on Smallmouth or something else native.   But whatever 🙄 The MDC operates like my daughter's at a clothing store.  

 

 

I don't think you can really call them "invasive" since they were native to the Osage River system and naturally reproduced prior to the construction of the dams. Regardless, they really aren't much different than say a trout stocked in Taneycomo at this point. As for controlling the shad populations, that just seems like a far fetched argument. Hybrids do that job better than about anything that swims and I'd rather catch and eat those over a paddlefish.

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Seth said:

I don't think you can really call them "invasive" since they were native to the Osage River system and naturally reproduced prior to the construction of the dams. Regardless, they really aren't much different than say a trout stocked in Taneycomo at this point. As for controlling the shad populations, that just seems like a far fetched argument. Hybrids do that job better than about anything that swims and I'd rather catch and eat those over a paddlefish.

Once again biologists couldn't resist tinkering around.   The true American paddlefish didn't become sexually mature for 10+ years.  Biologists in the 1940's-50's wanted to speed up that process so they tinkered with blending the gene pool of the Chinese paddlefish and created a species that can reproduce sooner in life......and this is what we have today.    True "American paddlefish" are nearly extinct, and so are the true Chinese paddlefish.   

Biologists claim this as a victory because they "saved a species"......but did they ?   Call it "native" if it makes you feel good.....who cares.  

[Gavin]

I went halibut fishing once. I'd do it again because the fish you get is fantastic, and you get allot of it. It does not sound like spoonbill are worth the effort.

[fishinwrench]

If we are going to pretend to be concerned about contaminants in fish flesh (Mercury, ect.) then long lived species like paddlefish should be the LAST THING you'd wanna put in your mouth.   

Species such as White Bass are likely the safest......for now......but biologists can't resist their incessant tinkering.   Somebody needs to kick them square in the nutts !   

[Johnsfolly]

2 hours ago, Seth said:

I don't think you can really call them "invasive" since they were native to the Osage River system and naturally reproduced prior to the construction of the dams.

This is the only surviving species of paddlefish in the world and they have been in those rivers for 100K's of years. This is the biggest reason that paddlefish are stocked in the rivers and lakes. The MDC is obligated to do what they can to keep an extant population going especially since man made structures like dams are impeding the natural reproduction in MO and many other states along the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, rivers.

Now why they have not implemented a snagging permit to generate funds to support the stocking efforts is a mystery to me.

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

The MDC is obligated to do what they can to keep an extant population going especially since man made structures like dams are impeding the natural reproduction in MO and many other states along the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, rivers

So the ACOE are the ones building dams, but the MDC is the ones automatically "OBLIGATED" to protect any species harmed or effected, hu?    

The ACOE were the ones supposedly held responsible for the massive Walleye back-pumping incident at Truman back in the late 70's early '80's.  How did MDC escape their obligations then, I wonder. 🤔

[Johnsfolly]

It's in the MDC mission statement.

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

My neighbor went down under Springfield Lake dam and he said lots of people were down there snagging and lots of people had fish, and lots of gut piles where people had cleaned them.  Do you guys think those already swam up from the lake or just leftovers from last year?

[fishinwrench]

15 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

It's in the MDC mission statement.

A mission statement doesn't typically obligate anyone to anything.....or maybe it does, I dunno.   I have no mission statement. 😁

[bfishn]

20 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

...  I have no mission statement. 😁

I'll write you one for a hundo.