Thanks for the info ifish. This is what I've been looking for. I still have a couple of questions. (1) When you do the netting, how deep are you and is the water clarity taken into consideration? (2) Also, are the weather patterns and lake levels taken into consideration, i.e. did the level just drop or rise a great deal in the past few days..did a cold front or storm just pass through? I'm not doubting your information, just trying to get a handle on how its taken.
What brought all this on is that I too thought something was happening to the fish. I was not catching fish in the same places or with the same technique that had worked so well for me in the past. So I started talking around to some more experienced fisherman and looking through my log book to see if I could figure it out what was going on. They told me I was gonna have to change some things if I still wanted catch fish. They said the lake is changing and I'm gonna have to change. So I did and my catches have improved but I'm having to fish a lot different and in different places that I used to. Much like when I was a kid and my Dad used to take me. We always hit the buck brush and button bushes but those days are long gone. The shore line changed and the back of the bays started filling in so we had to change our styles. Ah, the good ole days!
I will agree that the North end of Ky lake has taken a beating over the years. Improved electronics and more fishing pressure has really put a dent in the population. And I am glad to see that KDFW has decided to put some time and money into the study of the crappie population. I'm just concerned that maybe some of the proposed solutions may be premature before we have taken everything into consideration. For one example, the consideration of closing off the back of the bays during spring. Man, that would really hurt the tourist industry and the income of the resorts and guides. Please don't get me wrong. I'm all for saving the crappie population but maybe we need to take some other things into consideration before laying down some new rules. Again, thank you so much for the info. Keep up the good work.