cats and bass at the nuke 9/22

[m17glock]

what an interesting day it was today at the nuke! when we pulled in to the ramp we talked with with a man who
was waiting for some of his friends to show up to check the jugs they set out for catfish. he told us a couple of places
to start at across the lake for cats but we tried around ramp for a bit first with no luck.
as we started our first drift they were having a wild time bringing a big blue in their boat that weighed in at 60lbs!(1st pic)
2nd drift jr got a 2lb blue on a Berkley pb blood link. 3rd drift the other guys were moving on to other jugs when one
they put back in came zipping towards our boat!! yes zipping !! I yelled at em and they yelled back to get if I could.
well we got it . jr started pulling on the string and the more he pulled the more it pulled back and the bigger
jr's eyes got! well it didn't take long to get to the side of the boat since the string on the jug was only 10ft long.
after 3 attempts to get it in the boat 1 of which I managed to get the scales on it we decided there just wasn't
enough room in our little boat for both of us and a 48lb cat ! we tied it along side and fished until a Tstorm forced
us back to the ramp. jr boated 2 more 1-2lb LM on a pumpkinseed zoom trick worm with no weight before
the Tstorm hit. met the jug fishers at the ramp and let them have the big cat to go with the others they had.
they ended up with 6 cats from 45 -60 lbs and a handful of 10-15 pounders.
didn't catch a lot of fish but that big cat made for an exciting morning. plus some good fellowship
with the jug fishers.I would have had more pics but the camera died after the 3rd pic.
and all the big cats where taken on chicken breast.

for reference in the second pic the rail on the boat beside the fish is 1-1/2 inch wide

 

[Fishin Fool]

I hope the jug fishers weren't keeping all the big cats and understand the creel limit and size limit on big cats in the Chick. Sounds like they might not.

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the report Glock M17glock - Sounds like you all had a blast!

FishnFool makes a great point. I hope those big cats were released. I think protecting and releasing the larger cats is one of the primary reasons we have a trophy fishery in this area - plus it helps me to catch more

For those who may not know, the limit is one fish per angler over 34" according to this article:
http://www.tennesseesportsmanmag.com/fishing/catfish-fishing/TN_0606_02/

 

[m17glock]

there were 6 in the bunch fishin in 2 diff boats and i did see them throw back a lot of pretty large
fish

 

[Fishin Fool]

Dhaun I think we are going to have to be more agressive as CFFers about calling TWRA when we see stuff that violates the law. I was up a the skull early one morning to put in and saw a guy with 14 cats that would top the size limits. He was loading them on ice in the back of an old car. He had caught them at the Nuke plant and said that he took more than that the week before. I told him that he might want to think about catch and release and he got really pissed as did his buddies. He said they were going to use the fish as food and he didn't care anything for TWRA regs. I didn't have TWRA;s number but I carry it now. I'm dropping a dime on folks like that the next time I see it. I'm not a big fan of TWRA but I think we could sure use some enforcement in these areas. These may be the same guys I saw this past weekend in an old tri hull fishing jugs around the Skull.

 

[DHaun]

I agree FishnFool. If the TWRA policy is to report violations via telephone then I'm all for it. Sitting at the reamp saying they don't care anything about TWRA regs with 14 cats potentially over 34" should be reported. They are taking trophy catches from law abiding anglers, who probably released those fish to begin with and are partially responsible through their conservational efforts for the great day the poachers had on the jugs in the first place - There are plenty smaller cats to eat!

Maybe that's a question for "Ask The Game Warden" on the www.chattanoogan.com Rsimms outdoor section. I'm sending an email now asking Mr. Majors the best way to report blatant violations of creel limits like you decribed at the ramp to ensure the quickest response and what info to record.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Good deal David, I'm all for it. Please post the info so we can get an idea of what to do, tag number, boat number (although in this case the boat was a flat bottom and didn't display an number) and a number to call. The last time I called I got the office in Crossville of all places and was told that they was really nothing they could do as they had no officer in the area. Let us know David.

 

[DHaun]

It may be a while before he responds as I bet he may have a backlog of questions...plus I did not check the TWRA site for this info... I may be asking something already posted on the web. Anyway, I will keep an eye on RSimms site for a response.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/outdoors/

 

[shsimons]

I can honestly think of a lot better things to eat than a 40 or 50 lb catfish. Crappie and bluegill being one example that comes to mind. I don't even see the reason for keeping one of them over 34 inches. The little eaters are better anyway right? I don't buy the excuse about "I need this so I have food to eat" I just hope they put the big ones back, those are really old fish.

 

[Guest]

Guys the big cats are some of the finest eating available when properly cleaned. I used to keep everything I caught untill I found out just how long it takes for a cat to reach trophy size. They are too much fun and it takes them too long to reach that size to kill them. I now release all fish over about 12 pounds or so. My favorites to eat are the 5 to 10 pound range. I would use the cell phone to turn in someone violating game and fish laws.

Cheez

 

[TN_Explorer]

You know, this might be an opportunity for CFF. I don't know how much of a pain it would be to add a forum, but how about a forum topic dedicated to rules, conservation, how to properly catch & release, etc? Maybe it could include some sticky links to the official sites to help folks easily get info.

(Like any good idea, it usually involves more work for somebody else) :-0

 

[foodsaver]

Its a shame there are people out there who will keep that many big cats that is awful. Fishinfool what is that number for TWRA I would like to put in my cell phone so I can report poaching as well.

 

[Fishin Fool]

The number I came up with is 1-800-262-6704. I called it for about 20 minutes this morning without any one answering. In the FAQ section they had this information posted regarding reporting violations or getting in touch with the local officer:

"How do I get in touch with my county wildlife officer?
During regular business hours (8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. local time), contact the nearest of TWRA's four regional offices and ask that the officer, assigned to your particular county, give you a call. After hours (from 12 midnight - 7:00 a.m. local time), you may leave a message. Give your name, phone number, and nature of your call. Someone will get back to you."

I have encountered this problem time and time again with no one answering the phone at the TWRA office. How are we supposed to report a violation if no one is answering the phone and we don't have a local number???? Rsimms you might want to ask Matt Majors if there is a LOCAL contact number for him. That way if we do see a violation we can speak directly to the person that should handle it. I encountered this same issue when I had the Jet ski guy try and run over my boat. Called at the time of the incident and no answer, not even an answering machine. I called the Sheriff's office and they gave me the 800 number above. I FINALLY spoke with someone the NEXT day in Crossville about the incident and they had Matt Majors call me back in a couple of hours.

 

[smalljawz]

The phone number for the Region 4 (east TN) office is 800 332 0900.

 

[Fishin Fool]

We are in region 3 not region 4. The number I gave is the correct one for the region. Thanks for the help though!

 

[DHaun]

Understanding that TWRA has limited resources and a huge area to cover I would not expect a rapid response, but it would be nice to connect with a human on the telephone to report violations and registration numbers. I know very little about enforcement efforts but I would think having information from anglers witnessing violations could help them in identifying areas to focus more patrols...like Skull Island ramp and below Chick/Nick Dams, where creel limit violations have been reported on CFF.

Once I learn of the official best method to report violations I will create a dedicated thread for CFF members to refer to in the future. I have also thought about creating an area on CFF for anglers to report violations. Over time I think this could prove to be some useful data for someone, but over the lifetime of CFF I have only seen a handful of posts where potential violations were mentioned. When I see more being posted then I'll try to take time to create a dedicated area.

I also think that part of CFF's contribution to conservation should be educating other anglers about efforts to protect certain species. I have learned a lot from posts made on CFF - Like cheez stated above, I had no idea myself that it could take decades for big blues to reach trophy size...I have never kept cats of any size in the past so I never paid attention to the limit. I just learned of the specifics of the 34" limit this year.

 

[Guest]

The Skull Isl. ramp definitely needs more patrolling. Last winter while putting in there to crappie fish we counted 9 doe carcasses that had been stripped of the meat and tossed out. Some still had the ropes around their necks. A buddy of mine had his truck broke into, well they smashed his driver window with a soccer ball sized rock and stole 3 gospel cd's, while we were fishing a crappie tx. in April of 2005. I was checked by DNR 5 times last year(o.k. on all checks) but none this year. Maybe if we have any "DNR LURKERS" on here then hopefully they can take care of some of these catfish creel issues. It seems those guys are going out during the week so as to maybe avoid the ''eyes'' of the honest anglers. I agree with DHaun on the problems below the Chick/Nick Dams also, especially on the unlawful keeping of too many hybrid stripers. This should be addressed also because those 2 Dams do not have a regular restocking schedule like Watts Bar. I'm done ... .02cents

 

[rsimms]

There is also a "Poaching Hotline" : Individuals with information about poachers or poaching activities can contact the TWRA by calling one of the regional offices from 7:00 a.m. until 12:00 midnight, seven days a week. Telephone numbers for reporting poachers are as follows: Cumberland Plateau ( Region III )- 1-800-241-0767

But I have found that they will answer either this number, or 1-800-262-6704.

I have called at some odd hours and never had anyone fail to answer, but maybe I was just lucky. I don't really know if they have dispatchers 24-7 or not. Fishin Fool... EXACTLY what time did you call Sat. AM? I'm e-mailing Matt Majors and suggesting that he read/comment on this thread. I know he pops in on CFF every now and then. I don't know if he wants his telephone number public or not, but ANYBODY can e-mail him and ask. He posts his e-mail in his weekly "Ask the Game Warden" column on Chattanoogan.com. It is [email protected] Matt is a HARD worker and an excellent officer.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Rsimms,
I agree that Matt is a hard worker. As a matter of fact, he is the only person that I have gotten a solid response from in the past. I called about 12 noon our time which would have been around 11 am their time. I also saw the post about the deer carcases out there. I haven't seen that in the past couple of years but I did see it about 3 years ago. Some one had thrown 3 doe deer heads and remains out in the woods about 100 yeards from the ramp. The other day when I was up there and saw the jug fishermen (never saw any fish in this incident) they had a small bass boat that could hold 3 people max, with 5 guys ridding in it. I would assume that is the same crew that glock posted about, because the driver looked that big. Thanks for the help Rsimms

 

[Fishin Fool]

I just went back and looked at the posted pic. I assume they are of the jug fishermen. They have a 30 gallon garbage can sitting on deck! I also saw that glock said they ended up "with 6 cats from 45 -60 lbs and a handful of 10-15 pounders"! Does anyone know how long it takes a cat to reach 45 lbs, let alone 60! TWRA needs to get on this in a hurry or we won't be bragging about how big the cat was we landed at nuke plant......there won't be any big ones to land