Thanks
good times
ROSSI ( plz, call BILL 918-434-2916)

Not long ago I witnessed a weigin at Lake Murray, the “winner” weighed in a five bass limit weighing almost 12 pounds! That morning my 12 year old fishing partner and I had caught and released 9 bass over 5 pounds, with two being between 9 and 10 pounds each. Of course we also caught dozens of “tournament” type fish and released them unharmed also.

I do however agree that people need to deposit their trash in receptacles or carry it out with them if trash cans are not provided, which for some reason they aren’t at most lakes. I also agree that people should not be fishing from docks that are marked “no fishing.” I don’t care for trot lines, but unlike tabasco I can avoid them without any trouble. Perhaps if he learned how to cast he could avoid them also. If he would like casting lessons my 12 year old son could be available to teach him, as he can put most any bait within six inches of any target he wants under any conditions. Of course everyone should know that they should never dump invasive species from a “minnow” bucket, but most think for some reason they are feeding the fish and don’t realize they are hurting the fishery. If the wildlife department sees fit to stock stripers or hybrids in a lake there’s not much we can do about it, although in some instances it does hurt the bass population usually it is good for the overall fishery and provides different species for those inclined to target them.

Bank fisherman, catfisherman, trotliners, jugliners and most “real” fisherman are generally courteous and likeable people, these local tournament anglers are not. Buzzing up and down the lake from spot to spot at breakneck speed trying with all their might to land a few small fish, so that they can get their name in the paper, and generally ruining everyone else’s time on the water.

Why would I ever be jealous of a bunch of arrogant nimrods that can’t hold a candle to my fishing abilities, try to buy fish from me and generally make complete idiots of themselves every time they hit the water? Ban the tournaments or at least make these “clubs” pay huge fees to the state wildlife department to make up for all the harm they do to the fisheries as well as the all the decent people on the lakes. It is however usually hilarious to watch one their weighins. These idiots get so excited over a bunch of little bitty fish that most “real” fisherman would rather not have to catch in the first place.

I sincerly hope you someday get your name in the paper tabasco, and maybe even a picture with that huge stringer of itty bitty “tournament” fish.

I also think catfishermen should be banned. Not only do they mostly fish from the bank and leave their trash, but those with boats set out trot lines. Trot lines take up a fishing spot on a lake for 24/7 . They occupy that spot because I can’t cast my bait without getting caught up in their trot lines. And their trashy bottles from their jug lines litter up the lake and make it look trashy. They don’t own the lake, but they think its theirs to do what they wish.

Crappie fishermen should be banned from the lake. They also leave their trash on the bank, they dump their minnow buckets in the lake and spread invasive fish species, and when I go to launch my boat they are jig fishing from the courtesy dock, even though it says ” no fishing from dock ” . They get in my way, so thus, they should be banned from the lake.

Hybrid and stripers should not be stocked in our lakes cause they eat up all the baitfish. And many hybrid and striper fishermen fish from the bank and leave their trash behind. They think they own the lake and can put whatever specie of fish in the lake they want to fish for, they are arrogant, and for that alone, they should be banned from fishing.

I think walleye fishing should be allowed. I like walleyes, they are good to eat.

And if anyone reading this takes it seriously and doesn’t recognize the sarcasm in response to Pat’s post, then those people should be banned from fishing also. They not smart enough to be accountable with a fishing pole.

Methinks Pat is awful jealous of tournament fishermen.

The recent major BASS tournament on Dardenelle was won from an area that could be stocked by local fishermen. Get on Google Maps and find the area Mark Menendez was fishing and you will see that it’s a perfect area to transplant fish. Local fishermen catch fish and take them there to release. The egress for the fish is very limited and its most likely they will stay there and become permanent resident fish. I bet the local jackpot fishermen use that consistently.

I see partially inundated farm ponds barely connected to the main lake on many Oklahoma lakes. A local could take fish to those ponds during the week over a period of time and build his own private hole. Then it becomes part of the tournament data used to judge the quality of the fishing in the lake.

Again, I think ya take these results with a huge grain of salt.