Slot limit, chickamuga or nickajack?

[flip1up]

Hate to tell ya Carl, he was responding to your own hijacking of your thread.

 

[Carl Guffey]

Sorry got off base with FF. But that is why I requested a move for grass. Should have done it sooner.....

 

[flip1up]

Do you think that the state will go to a 3 bass limit in the next couple years? Or do you think they are leaning more towards a slot? Or no change?

 

[Carl Guffey]

As long as the state ( business and chambes of commerce) want to attract big money tournaments to our region I doubt it. Truthfully, I personally don't see the need at this point in time. Don't let me dissuade you from doing it with dogfights or local events. The federation club I belong to will only weigh three fish per person per event and that works fine for us.

I have a strong belief that if we can get a median slot, and all anglers will fish it, even the tournaments, we can make a difference in our largemouth resource.
(small hijack) But this also will have to be worked in conjunction with spot harvest and native aquatic vegetation......Habitat.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Actually Carl I was just commenting on something RR had said. I didn't realize we had dedicated threads here.emoScratch

 

[Carl Guffey]

You are right FF, there are no dedicated threads that I know of. I started this thread asking for opinions on possible slot limits. What we have now isn't working and I am working on a solution. It makes it a lot easier when I set down with the powers that be to say look at this sight, these anglers are genuinely interested about this topic. I can't say that if the thread bounces all over the place. It would make my job a lot easier if we can stay mostly on topic. Thanks

 

[Fishin Fool]

I totally understand. Not a problem. I just like the free flow of ideas relating to fishery management, even if it does get a little off course.emoSorry

 

[jeb]

I have fished at nick from no length limit. The first 15in that was going to be for 5 yrs. and was took off at 3 or 4 yrs because they said it was not working.it hurt my fishing. The lake was getting back to where it was so they put a 14in linit for a couple of yrs and took the size and number back down. now a 15in limit and it gets worse for me. So i say the slot may be good. Good luck on getting anyone to listen i can't.

 

[jim4596]

carl, a few questions. first, when u say your club went to a three fish limit do u mean per person or per boat? our club weighs five fish per boat. it is a team tourney, rather than fishing against your partner. also most of the local tourneys are five per boat (CBAs, shriners, free press, etc) and im thinking your club does three per person and was wondering which one u meant.
as for milfoil, im wondering something. when u say that total milfoil take over was bad, did that mean 100% milfoil and no hydrilla. guntersville and nickajack are mostly mixed. i would say that guntersville actually has more hydrilla than milfoil. as for my personal experiences i always catch more and better fish out of milfoil. i dont know why, but i do. in my mind i cant convince myself that milfoil is bad, especially with some of the fish i have caught out of it. so im trying to grasp that idea.
when u talk about slots and u say that current limits are not working, what are u referring to? im just trying to understand what u are trying to improve. not trying to cause any debates or anything of that nature, just not sure if this is to improve size, quantity, spawning, etc. if you are saying that slots will help the size of the fish on the lake THEN I AM ALL FOR IT, but i dont think there is anything to terribly wrong with the current limits. it regularly takes 20lbs to win a cba. not that i can catch 20 lbs, but there is always a couple of guys that can do it. it usually takes over 13lbs or 14lbs to get in the top ten. the last time i remember reading one of those TN river neighbors magazines that TVA puts out, nickajack was the top reservoir on the entire TVA chain in relation to hours of angling to catch a 5lb bass. i cant remember the number, but it required the lowest number of angling hours to catch a 5lb bass. and nickajack is loaded with milfoil too.
i think that the amount of anglers that are fishing is hurting the lakes. every night on chick there is a dogfight. every weekend there is a small tourney. at least twice a month there is a large tourney (80 or more boats). then on top of that there is a minimal amount of good fish structure. everyday more and more stumps decay. the poor fish are beat to death and if tournament mortality is true then that is definitely hurting the fishing.

once again im going to clearly state that i am not trying to start an argument, just stating my opinion and asking a couple of questions. i seem to have gotten a bad rep the last discussion i was in.

 

[flip1up]

Jim I have never known you to get something started, either on purpose or on accident emoPoke

Just playing man emoTongue

 

[Carl Guffey]

Jim, my personal club only weighs 3 fish per member per event for club weight and points. At any one time a boat could have six fish in it and taken to weigh in. This seldom happens. As to aquatic vegetation I am going to start a new thread and will try to answer some of your grass questions there.

 

[Carl Guffey]

Addenum:Jim4595

I have been just sitting, thinking about ways we can improve fisheries. None of this is set in stone, just a way to get the thought process started. I have spent the last three or four years going to confrences all over the country and talking to some of bass fishing's best and brightest minds. No one has proposed anything along these lines. Most slots are managed for trophies. I believe we can use a medium slot, maintain good brood stock, decrease the large numbers of short fish, and produce better quality fish through out a given bass fishery. I don't want to see 15 pounders, just better quality in the three to four pound range with increased numbers of larger fish.

 

[SNUFFY]

AHHHEEEMMM.....I`D LOVE TO SEE A 15 POUNDER MYSELF....BUT THATS JUST ME !!

 

[Carl Guffey]

emoAngel

 

[Carl Guffey]

The sign said, go south young man...... and those that could read, did.emoPoke emoEvil

 

[Carl Guffey]

I found this paper written by Dr. Mike Allen of the Univ. of Florida. It contains good information concerning several of the topics we have been covering lately.


REMOVED on a request of copyright owner.

 

[Carl Guffey]

Just wanted to move this back to the top, making sure everyone had a chance to read the exerpts from Dr. Allen.

 

[MadBomber]

Another thought on this topic is the difference between reservoirs and tailwaters. Of course, I'm referring to Chickamauga lake and tailwater. Our Region Biologist told me that the population of Spotted Bass has actually declined in the Lake and my personal observation backs that up. Ten or so years ago, I could go to Soddy Creek and catch 25 to 50 spots in an afternoon. The last few years, it has been more like 10 or less. Usually less. It coincides with the loss of milfoil in the lake. That's the main reason my focus shifted to the tailwaters. Even then, I still had a "catch & release" mindset. I never realized the importance of harvesting small fish. I'm hoping the electroshocking studies give us some insight into how to best manage our fishery. Especially for Smallmouth.

 

[whenwegoin]

I don't know if slot limits will be that effective if it requires harvesting smaller fish. The tournament "catch and release" mindset is etched way too far in the minds of all the tournament anglers.

 

[Carl Guffey]

funny thing about that, once there was no catch and release!