Spots on the bank

[Buoy-Master]

<font size="6">He thinks everyone is deaf like him...</font>

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Al, you dont have to yell if you put your message AFTER the last [/ quote] thingy. My ears are ringing now..

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MB..No harm done Bud. You are still a class act in my book! Thanks for all you do.

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[Fat Albert]

<font color="#6633ff" size="2">I was merely letting everyone know that the Madbomber is an upstanding guy with no bad habits and ain't never done that....plus ugly...FA   BTW, I was not shouting ...I just wrote it big...FA</font>

 

[Buoy-Master]

My bad Al. Hehehehe

 

[Jerry]

Thanks, 3391. I appreciate the information. I wasn't aware of this law and REALLY don't want a court appearance. But, ohh, I do love feeding the heron and there are sooo many spots and yellow bass.

 

[procraft]

well it is good to know that you are thought of so highlyemoWorthy emoWorthy emoHungry

 

[jason]

Sheesh, I feel like a big wuss

. I have no problem splattering the forest with bits of deer lung and bone...but I just can't kill a bass

.

 

[SpurHunter]

jason - 3/12/2008 2:51 PM Sheesh, I feel like a big wuss

. I have no problem splattering the forest with bits of deer lung and bone...but I just can't kill a bass

.

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Yup, you are a wus then. Dont worry Jason, after I get my boat back, we will go, and I will break you in on bass killing.....I might even bring a grill on the boat for a fresh meal! We are talking about spots right??

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[sprestwood]

I have never known if TWRA was asking for any species to be indiscriminantly killed, but that has been the attitude towards Gar for several fishermen I came across over the years. I have never harvested a bass below the 15 minimum on Chick regardless of black bass category. But I have chummed bluegill and skipjack when the fishing was slow.

 

[jim4596]

i commend the 3391 for saying that. i agree with him. i quit posting on here a lot last year cause i got tired of hearing everyone talking about killing spots. now i only read the for sale section and occasionally the general discussion. i love catching spots and i go to bama lakes to catch coosa river spots. ( last april i had two over or close to 4 lbs last yr and won a day and a half tourney with over 27 and a half lbs. all ten were spots). many times i have begged for a 12" spot in a tournament just so i would have a keeper. hope that u guys dont kill them all, especially since the SM seem to be thriving right now. I went the other day and did quite well with the SM. first fish of the day was a 5-1 smallie. even had some big spots that were released for one of u guys to kill one day i guess. oh well, u guys will come around one day when u see that spots are as good as a LM and a SM. u guys used to say that they dont get that big around here but andy morgan caught one over or close to 6 lbs last yr on chick. everyone is catching big smallies below the dam the last few yrs. so like i said i agree with 3391 and will now get back to work. c-ya on the water guys and hope no one is mad, i just wanted to express my opinion.

 

[Bprice]

Thanks for your opinion Jim. I don't think anyone here has advocated harvesting really good sized spots.  If you would have read the fishing reports, you would notice a lot of the fish that are harvested are in the 9 to 12 inch range.  Perhaps the increased pressure on little spots have had a positive effect on the smallmouth fishery below the dam as you mentioned.  Congrats on a nice smallmouth, and wish we could of seen it!  Being a Alabama boy I have a big heart for the spotted bass as well.  As you know though, we have a different strain down here on the Coosa though.

 

[jim4596]

well bprice, i dont read the fishing reports on here. i never read the reports. it just takes me out of my game. if i read a report i usually start trying to do what these other guys have done and i have never been able to catch anyone elses fish. so i just stay away from trying to hear what anyone else is doing. nothing personal, just does me more harm than good. I just got to do my own thing and that mindset has worked pretty good for me over the last few years. as for pics, its kinda hard to take pics by yourself. but i took them with my cell phone only to drop it into the lake during our tourney on saturday. just got my new phone shipped to me on Thursday. The good thing is i showed it to a few people so i have witnesses, lol. Nickajack is a good lake and has been a very consistent producer for me over the last few years. Before all this spot debate started i was catching big SM down there. Have several friends that have several SM over 6 and 7 lbs, all caught over the last three years. Also some 4 + spots from down there. So like i said i just hate to see everyone killing them, but as long as they are within their legal right nothing i can do about it. just dont agree with it. There are many things that are within peoples legal rights to do them, but not everyone has to agree with them.

 

[Nickajack Angler]

Jim thanks so very much for your posts. I've only been on here in the last 6 mos, but lurked for the 4 mos prior. I agree with much of what you are saying. But I am a social creature and enjoy the banter as much as the fishing probably.... I've caught some very nice smallies and spots in the same waters as you. I've never heard anyone that I've fished with complain about spots or even speak of killing them. I've caught a number of them over 4 and had a few in boated by me or others over 5lbs. I'm more enjoying your view point. Don't stop posting. We need your voice the same as we need ours. Thanks for posting.

 

[MadBomber]

Hey Jim4596, welcome back. 

 

[Carl Guffey]

The whole spot thing is not about wanton destruction. It is about selective harvest for the benefit of the fishery. The whole mindset about catch and release has seen it's better days. When tournaments and other anglers could catch 10 fish per man and or meat hunting anglers kept coolers of fish, catch and release brought our fisheries back. With the lowering of tournament creels and everyone releasing, small spots are taking over. In a healthy fishery a percentage of black bass will be of an age for group 6-18 months, the majority should be 18 mos. to 3 yrs., and a percentage close to the first group, will contain the larger elders of the group. The proliferation of spots is skewing those numbers, the largest numbers of spots is in the first age group. These are also the same black bass(spots) that predate the smaller fry (largemouth and smallmouth)cousins.

In lakes with large spawning flats and vegetation black bass other than spots have a place to seperate nests and protect fry. In the river sections of the same reservoirs there is no place to hide. These are the areas where spots over populate and hybridize the other black bass. River sections are one area where selective harvest must be used to benefit the fishery.

 

[jim4596]

but the whole thing to me is simple. if there is such a thing as tournament mortality, then does that not weed out a large portion of the fish? also, there are more bank beaters on that section of the river than anywhere else around here, and i can promise u that the large majority of them keep everything they catch. i have personally given at least ten or more huge drums away down there and they all made it to the frying pan. so with bank fishermen keeping them, tournaments killing them, trophy hunters keeping the big fish, tournament anglers catching them and then locking through to weigh them, fish swallowing lures and dying, etc is that not enough to keep the population in check? with the fish that me and my family and friends catch down there, i would say that there is not a problem and has not been a problem down there (over the last three or four years). but this is only my opinion and u told me your opinion, and like i said as long as everyone is within their legal limits, nothing i can do. many things are legal, but there are many things that i disagree with that are within the laws. no spots for dinner for me or my family or friends. nothing like hooking a big 4+ lb spot. meaner than any smallmouth or largemouth out there without a doubt.

 

[MrWiskers]

Jim, lets go fishing. My treat.

 

[jim4596]

why do u say that Mr whiskers? is it cause i mentioned catching a huge drum? i can tell u right now that u will not outfish me when it comes to the big freshwater flounder that we have around here. i cant go to nickajack without catching a huge 20+ nearly everytime i go. im lauging, but im actually serious that i can catch those darn things. last tournament i caught a 16 or 17 lb stripe on a rattletrap in two feet of water. but anyway, message me and we will go, but i work out of town all the time. my next time in town is next monday and then on wednesday im going to Logan Martin for our clubs classic. going to try and catch some huge spots like we did last year.

 

[Carl Guffey]

Jim, you make some valid points: tournament mortality, usually relates to bigger smallmouth and largemouth quite simply because they weigh more and have more value at weigh in. For every 2 lb or bigger smallmouth or largemouth that is moved or dies, minature spots will replace it in the river system. With all of the bank fishermen that keep everything they catch, quite simply it is a numbers game. Spots can reproduce greater numbers in bad or difficult spawning conditions verses their black bass cousins. I agree with you that it truly is a personal choice, but I heard the same personal choice reasoning when catch and release was first introduced to tournament fishing. I am not getting personal by any means, talk to biologists, wildlife agents, fisheries and hatchery personel, this is where my information is coming from, not just my opinion.

 

[Guest]

I LIKE THE NEW TOOTH PATCH RULE ON SMALLMOUTH, WOW YOU CAN CATCH 15 SMALLMOUTH BELOW THE DAM AS LONG AS THEY HAVE THAT LITTLE SPOT ON THE TOUNGE. GONE TO BE LOTS OF GOLDEN BROWN FRIED SMALLMOUTH THIS YEAR, MY BUDDY JUST BROUGHT BACK 9 BETWEEN 10 IN AND 5 LBS, THEY LOOKED JUST LIKE SMALLMOUTH BUT THEY HAD THE SPOT, LOOKS LIKE ANY SIZE SMALLMOUTH JUST GOT LEGAL !!! THEY ARE A LOT BETTER EATING THAN A LITTLE SPOT. THANKS GUYS FOR THE 15 LIMIT DOWN THERE. OH YEA ITS ALSO AGAINST THE LAW TO WASTE ANY GAME FISH THAT AS BEEN TAKEN FROM TN. WATERS.

 

[SpurHunter]

TW, if they really do have the tongue patch, then its probably a hybrid as far as the information from biologists. Taking them out of the river will only help to keep more smallies pure-bred. Please thank your buddy for doing his part to help hundreds of trophy bassers on the river!

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