It Is Time

[rps]

2 hours ago, FishnDave said:

Are you thinking of Striped Bass spawning requirements in freshwater?  Walleyes have been successfully spawning in many lakes without major triubutaries since time immemorial, right?

True for striped bass, yes.

Lakes with limited tributaries and walleye reproduction, like Oolagah and Canton here in Oklahoma, have a strange combination of wind/shallows/rocks and dams that keep the eggs suspended until they hatch. The Great Lakes, with tides and vast bodies of water moved by wind, are another example. Walleye were native to the White River before they dammed it. The Black River supports a good population, or did before if was so heavily fished. According to what I have read from AGFC, Tablerock and Beaver have only limited natural reproduction. AFGC considers them put and take lakes for walleye.

By way of another example, sauger were native to Tablerock before the dam went in. In over 15 years of walleye fishing on Tablerock, I caught one sauger. The change to the river severely restricts their spawning success.

[Champ188]

17 hours ago, Ketchup said:

Good point, as it wasn’t my point to do so. With that said i am pretty confident in saying that every guide, including Bill, catches deep fish, and fish that are deep hooked that don’t survive, several outings a year. I know it’s the name of the game but in my original comment i was just doing math in my head of the fish taken out of a fishery in a years time by a single guide and his paid supporters. Now multiply that by how many trips they do a year, and multiply that by the amount of guides on the water daily and WOW. 

Excellent point and no doubt on the money. I'm sure everyone kills a fish now and then, including myself. Deep-hooked fish can certainly be a problem when guiding, as I've done my share of trying to coach inexperienced clients when to set the hook, usually to no avail. The real issue comes with some of these so-called "guides" who blatantly kill everything they and their clients catch, including our brown fish. Just stupid to cut your own throat like that when you make your living finding and catching fish. And the old crap about "I can't tell clients what to do with a fish they catch" is BS. It's very easy ... you tell them that if they are gonna fish with you, they're gonna release their bass. If they don't like it, let em go with one of the bass butchers. I don't want to share my hard-earned know-how with someone like that anyway.

[Bill Babler]

Thanks James. Last bass I kept on a guide trip was 1999. Catch and release the last 22 years of my guide service prior to retiring last May. 

Deep fish were never a problem to release. Caught 1000’s really without any harm except a stab in the lip.  If deep fish are returned immediately to the water they are fine if you educate your clients and don’t horse them up. 
 

Dock has caught as many or more than I have and will attest.

Really just about zero mortality on deep fish or live bait drop shot fish. You are just in contact with those baits and catch them as they bite. 

Biggest fish killer and I have taken flack on here for years is the C-rig, I simply would never allow a client to fish it. Especially with a Fish Dr.  

They will get a centipede down, but nothing like a Fish Dr.  Bob Tindle won  thousands of dollars on the Rock using a Zoom Fish Dr.
His motto was let-em-eat-it.  Said you should never miss a single fish on one.  He was pretty right as if you give them a minute they’ll swallowed it to their small intestine.

The next 2 baits you really have to watch are spoons, both flutter and jigging. Jigging spoons unless you are following it with your rod tip they snatch it on the fall and just get the durn thing down. 

If they are really worming they’re not tasting it, they’re swallowing it. 

Flutter spoon, same deal. You have to watch the line or let it fall on a tight string. They just get that big sucker down quick. 

About 15 years ago son and I were just hammering them on a flutter spoon. Whites, LM, K’s and even catfish were chasing in front of Wolf Pen.

We would be there at daylight most every morning for a week. One day for the like of us we could not no matter what we did keep them from swallowing it. After about the 4th. one in a row Steve had swallow it he put his rod down. He said Dad, “I’m not killing another fish today, it’s turning my stomach.”  I told him we can swim a Chompers C-tail but he said nope. They would swallow that too. 

I’ve had days like that, but not often. Son had the better judgement. I’ll never forget it. 






 

[Champ188]

You obviously raised your boy to have great respect for the creatures that bring us so much joy (and cost us so much ^&$*^&^ money).