Bit of a Lake Report

[Bill Babler]

First I’d like to thank both Shane Bush and Bill Anderson for spending some time with me. Shane spent about an hour today. ie our current biologist and our retired one. 

Cannot begin to tell you how good these two and their teams have been. 

In visiting with Shane about sampling it’s kind of eerie how close their sampling is to the day to day activity we see while guiding. 

Shane said their sampling shows black bass at an all time high number.  It also shows the fish are under tremendous fishing pressure. 

As with the guide fish. About 4-5 out of ten we catch have been caught and released. He said their sampling is showing the same thing. 

Both he and Bill agreed that if keeper size bass were kept with the frequency of white bass or crappie, the fishery could not tolerate it.   This is simply due to the amount of fishing pressure on the bass population. 

98% of all fishing on TR is for bass.  Take Lake O or Truman for example and both are about 50% panfish and 50% bass.

Both Truman and Lake O. have it up on us because both have larger densities of crappie and both have a kicker with blue catfish  

Knowing that bass are seldom consumed is part of their lake plan as far as creel limits on and of our larger lakes and especially on TR simply due to the volume of fishermen targeting them. 

With Shane right now more of a concern with the bass seems to be a lack the last several years of larger bass seen during their sampling. As I mentioned numbers are strong but size is a problem. Even with the majority of bass being released and high forage densities in the lake the bass are just not as big as what he feels they should be.  

He also said he is getting ready to do a very intensive age study so hang on for that information. 

In visiting he is also more and I won’t say concerned, but interested in crappie densities and also white bass densities.  They seem to both be edging downward.  Of course since the pandemic both have been under way more pressure. 

The lack of numbers of white bass seemed to be the most interesting to him, on both BS and TR. 

Crappie fishermen keep legal size crappie, With very few restrictions on white bass most that are caught are kept.  Modification may be necessary in creel limits for both crappie and white bass  

Both Bill and Shane spoke of the pressure on the resource and Bill mentioned that consumption is a big part of conservation, but filling the freezer with white bass and crappie is pretty much a thing of the past if you want to continue with a healthy ecosystem.  

Saving more than your position limit of crappie or white bass after multiple daily fishing trips for that yearly fish fry is not only not legal, it really puts a bind on the fishery. 

It was mentioned that the daily limit should be and may be in the future your position limit. 

The amount and the number of big bluegill was also mentioned in both BS and TR.  I forgot  to ask about the goggle eye. 

I mentioned the walleye and how well that fishery has become but did not get any response. Probably get a lot better answer from the Arkansas guys that are doing that work. 

All for now, Good Luck














 

[Dutch]

Some pretty good information there.  How far down is the white bass population?  In 2002 there was a major die off of whites on Bull Shoals and at Pomme de Terre in 2008.  I’ve been wanting to hear about it on the Rock.

[Phil Lilley]

I'm surprised they didn't say anything about the walleye - you guys said the numbers last summer were incredible, catching them well into August. 

What about food?  Threadfin shad?  With the cold blast last winter, that might have killed off a bunch.  We usually see shad come over the spill gates here on Taney but last year and this year we see very few.  Seems like all indicators point to lack of threadfins.

[Bill Babler]

I really should have asked a bit more about the walleye, but I think on the Rock Arkansas is responsible for that aspect of the improvement. 

I also should have asked about goggle eye as it has been mentioned that they are just flat not showing up to speak of where in past years you could be extremely successful using a Ned, small tube or small swim bait. Really scarce this year. 

As far as the Shad most guides reported seeing massive schools this Winter at times covering acres in the backs of the major creeks. I don’t know how much Shane would know about that forage base with their shallow fish sampling.  

I’m very interested in his upcoming age study. I think that  perhaps in the future it could alter some length restrictions.  It will also provide information on the forage base in letting the scientists know if the fish are receiving adequate amounts of forage for age growth.

I asked Shane about the Shad last year also when we were having a kill and he responded that extreme rises in surface temp will also quickly kill the Shad as it did last year. 

This year we were cool for the most part and really as the Shad moved into the upper water column had no really significant temp falls or raises.  I’m just spitballing on that, but from what he said last year I’m going with it. 



 

[Bill Babler]

Just got some more info from Shane and I was correct on the Shad in the tail race. No temperature spikes that would have killed them with their location in the water column. 

No one is stocking walleye currently but there has been great natural recruitment in the Kings, White and James River these past few years. 

Shane said Bill Anderson is responsible for the James.   Really good work by both states. 

On the crappie front there was not so much an overall population decrease but keeper size crappie are being harvested pretty much as soon as they are keepers. 

Lots of pressure  

According to current information at a rate of 99% of 10” crappie and above. 

Shane said they grow extremely quickly to the keeper plateau, but that sounds like folks are working on them to me. 

On the Goggle Eye front he said, very similar to Smallmouth, in the fact that they are very hard to sample and not enough data to really say anything about populations. See, I did remember. 

Hope this clears a little murky water. 







 

[Phil Lilley]

I was referring to spill gates on the shad, not turbines.  We haven't had them come through the turbines in years, even last year during the maga freeze.

[Ron Burgundy]

2 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

Just got some more info from Shane and I was correct on the Shad in the tail race. No temperature spikes that would have killed them with their location in the water column. 

No one is stocking walleye currently but there has been great natural recruitment in the Kings, White and James River these past few years. 

Shane said Bill Anderson is responsible for the James.   Really good work by both states. 

On the crappie front there was not so much an overall population decrease but keeper size crappie are being harvested pretty much as soon as they are keepers. 

Lots of pressure  

According to current information at a rate of 99% of 10” crappie and above. 

Shane said they grow extremely quickly to the keeper plateau, but that sounds like folks are working on them to me. 

On the Goggle Eye front he said, very similar to Smallmouth, in the fact that they are very hard to sample and not enough data to really say anything about populations. See, I did remember. 

Hope this clears a little murky water. 







 

Walleye numbers won’t last with the way people keep the females that are full of eggs up the kings and beaver tail waters , they absolutely slaughter them. 

[Bill Babler]

Might have had another durn good recruitment year with the Kings and James being very hard to fish due to the high muddy water. 

I think they like lots of water going over their redds and it kept anglers from catching many females. 

Goes back to what Anderson, said keep 1, keep 2, eat them fresh, but don’t try and fill a freezer. 

The procession limit is really outdated and antiquated. Procession and daily should be the same according to Bill. 


 

[m&m]

Bill, lots of interesting information in your posts. Thank you

Mike

[dtrs5kprs]

18 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

I really should have asked a bit more about the walleye, but I think on the Rock Arkansas is responsible for that aspect of the improvement. 

I also should have asked about goggle eye as it has been mentioned that they are just flat not showing up to speak of where in past years you could be extremely successful using a Ned, small tube or small swim bait. Really scarce this year. 

As far as the Shad most guides reported seeing massive schools this Winter at times covering acres in the backs of the major creeks. I don’t know how much Shane would know about that forage base with their shallow fish sampling.  

I’m very interested in his upcoming age study. I think that  perhaps in the future it could alter some length restrictions.  It will also provide information on the forage base in letting the scientists know if the fish are receiving adequate amounts of forage for age growth.

I asked Shane about the Shad last year also when we were having a kill and he responded that extreme rises in surface temp will also quickly kill the Shad as it did last year. 

This year we were cool for the most part and really as the Shad moved into the upper water column had no really significant temp falls or raises.  I’m just spitballing on that, but from what he said last year I’m going with it. 



 

This matches what I saw. Usually catch a bunch of gogs on brown fish places. Simply didn't this year, just caught a couple.

Also have some pretty gog specific places they normally set up on. They weren't there, but some K's were. Little unusual.

I joke about how I would treat a legal walleye, but only sort of. I have to wonder if their increase isn't moving some of the other fish around, cutting into numbers... panfish, young bass, etc.