Here is basically how long they say a year class last......
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Here is basically how long they say a year class last......
This should be a good indication of expected fishing the next few years.
That is exactly what I'm seeing at Enid. The fish are 4 to 6" or 13 1/2" (give or take 1/2"). After the cranking season and the fall fishing season, the keeper fish are going to be few and far between for a couple of years. Grenada may be in the same boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Handicrappie
Handi, did their predictions hold true? Was 2012 "an excellent spring"?
don't think that's a maybe, if you think Enid is tuff run on down to Nader. I caught more keepers in a week at Enid than I did in a month at Nader.Quote:
Originally Posted by stormcloud
These lakes cycle, just the way it is. On good years we catch a lot of fish, on bad years we don't. Being flood control has way more to do with any of it than what goes out the gates, how many are caught, limits, number of poles. No one knows what the water level will be next spring, high years are good for the crappie, low years not so much. Play the hand we are dealt and on bad years cherish the memories of good years.
Great information guys, good work.
Firebug, I can't remember 2012, maybe Handi can.
But with the information yall have found it seems the anglers do have a significant impact on the population.
That was what I was wondering, not trying to beat a dead horse guys, just looking for answers to some questions that I have wondered for a while.
The only thing I will say is I wish all the lakes had the same rules, but I'm all for what is best for the fishery.
The spring and summer of 2012 you could literally go catch 100 plus fish every trip u went but most of those fish were right at or just under 12. By the fall of 2012 those fish had grown up and from there thru 2013 the number of keepable fish was excellent so yes it held true for the 2009 class.Quote:
Originally Posted by Firebug2006
I totally agree. If a high percentage was going out the gates the lower lake would be running over with fish. Also, when I fish the upper lake near the spillway, I don't see any higher concentration of fish there than I see anywhere else on the lake.Quote:
Originally Posted by clfarms1
In the fall of 2012 we would catch 20 to 25 and go in because we had all the fish we needed. Came in one morning at 9:30. I try to get out there by daylight. I try to let it get light enough to not have to put the running lights on my boat. I told my wife we might never see fishing that good again. The big four are super fisheries and I for one am glad I was able to experience them. It's a good thing we have professional people managing them. If they let us make those decisions, we would destroy them in a few short years. The only time we are really brilliant is in hind site.
The majority of the fish going out the spillway is in the colder months, the colder the more seem to go out, not sure why but that is what the snagging numbers below the dam shows. When fish are in a running river so thick that you can literally throw 2 nekid jig heads out about 30 feet, let them sink a little and snag a crappie there has to be a huge number of them in there.Quote:
Originally Posted by spindle
Exactly Rees, what I have heard is when the lakes are in winter pool, the current in them is stronger when the outlet channel is running and lake fish aren't used to current and don't or won't fight the current and there goes our fish.
we have had the same gates since the beginning . the biggest change that we have had is the increase of crappie fishermen and (remember when most older men cat fished and the rest were bass catchers) The habitat has declined to a fraction of what it once was . Add this to losing water depth by filling in with silt and lowering water levels it is no way the fishing would remain constant .fifty percent (just a guess ) of the spawning grounds are dry year after year as compared to the sixties . Will post some old pictures of bean creek(Enid ) when it was solid trees and getting through it was difficult . we now have people skiing and pulling tubes in the same area . Deal with it . Technology has played a part in the harvest as well and no one is ready to give that up what they have lol . I applaud the D.W.F.P for what they have done to keep the lakes as well as they have . Sure they could do more but the state/federal legislature is not throwing a lot of dollars at the problems . jmo .:twocents
Your right coachQuote:
Originally Posted by eagle 1
are the fish thick below the dam from going through or are they thick from running upriver and getting stopped by the dam?
coming out I would say, I think some do come back up stream sometimes but not near what comes out. This past winter is a good example of that at Grenada, very little water coming through the gates during the winter because of an early drawdown. Know some guys that are dang good snaggers, know every rock and eddy in the spillway, and they caught (snagged) very few this past winter. Another example is the lower lake at Sardis, the fishing in it is good in the cold weather and the gates are open pretty good. Is because there is current, don't think so, think its because the supply of fish has increased due to them coming through the gates.
don't think going up river is the caseQuote:
Originally Posted by Gomer Snerd
G, lots of great points. Can for sure agree with more fishermen and technology.
I love these boards, they have great information, but when people put picture after picture of limits and huge crappie up, where is the internet fishermen going to go? Mississippi
I applaud the guys that will help an out of state guy get in the ball park, that's what it's about.
But when our own guys get on here with every picture of every fish they catch and post it for the world to see it just draws more and more people to our lakes. I have noticed many have figured this out and are not posting as many.
Hey dodge man, I originally came to this site to see pictures of crappie and hear about there success story. I admit some post sting but that's kinda what this place is all about.
Now who won?
You and thousands of others that see all the fish and then we can't find a parking place at the boat ramp and more and more of our fish are going to other states and less for us to catch.Quote:
Originally Posted by bird down
I come here to learn more about techniques, yea it's cool to see fish, but I had rather look at the ones I caught just sayin.
But to each his own.
Joe, I don't think there are any winners in this deal. Looks like more fishermen, more rules, more restrictions, more more more, and less fish.
Oh I got it, the corp won, "these lakes are for flood control, the fishing is a bonus". Game set and match.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodgeman
Exactly. I never kiss and tell
Am I wrong or are the fish in the Corp lakes just as much mine as yours. You are welcome to come to Illinois anytime you want to our Corp lakes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodgeman
You aren't wrong at all, I never have understood the jealously of visitors from another state coming here to fish. Out of state folks pay higher fishing license fees, spend money while they are here and hopefully catch a mess of fesh or two.Quote:
Originally Posted by clfarms1
I am curious if the Corps is uniform in its management and regulation across the country. E.g., there are new regulations in effect making helmets mandatory when riding ATVs on Corps lands around the Big Four. Have they put those regulations into effect everywhere? And are the boat ramp restrooms as likely to be locked at other Corps lakes as they are around here?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodgeman
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firebug2006
Just out run em
Your fish are too small.Quote:
Originally Posted by clfarms1
:popcorn
districts do different things and lake managers do different things, water levels and flood control probably being the only thing cross the board.Quote:
Originally Posted by Firebug2006
First off yes the corp lakes are everyones.Quote:
Originally Posted by clfarms1
Second I never said a word about out of staters, heck I am one, I just said more fishermen, even the new ones coming that live in Mississippi.
Now about these deer you want me to come shoot, I would like some more information on that?
come kill all the deer in Illinois that you want, we have big deer you have big crappie, heck when I was at Nadar for camp I saw your deer, we got rabbits up here that big.
:Rofl
I almost decided to not join this discussion, but I caved.
Going with the dichotomy you created, it is a guarantee that you are wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by clfarms1
Life is full of uncertainties, but I have one for you. No buddy of mine will be hunting or fishing in Illinois. Do you think Mississippi is out of deer. We have plenty.Quote:
Originally Posted by RipLip46
All of your nationalistic garble means nothing. Mississippians have a greater claim to the fish residing within Mississippi's borders, and it is nonsense to argue otherwise. The very fact that an out-of-state license costs more than an in-state license proves that we citizens do have a greater claim than you foreigners. There is no other way to look at it. If in-state and out-of-state fishermen had equal claim, the license would be (should be) the same.
I generally get along well enough with most out-of-state guys, but this is my state. I suspect foolishness from anyone who fails to understand that, but it goes a long way to explain the world in which I live. My God, my family, my state, and my country. I respect no other order.
Sounds good, I will need directions to your house. How many acres do you have we will be hunting?Quote:
Originally Posted by clfarms1
Being the nice out of stater that I am, I would be willing to trade a week fishing trip for a week deer hunting trip.
Deal deal, I'll be there about October 25, that is when the deer start spawning up there, right?
Hey guys......lets keep it cool here. The good Lord is the one that provides the fish and the game for all of us....lets just abide by man's law and enjoy fishing for them. Good fishing to ya wherever it is.