FLW Lake Cumberland

[QUOTE=TimE;568188]Not a single “spawning smallmouth” were caught during this tournament. How do I know this? Because they are still not spawning. This thread was a rant about tournaments off a false premise. Seems like there is a lot of that these days.

Also this isn’t the only tournament that reduced size limits were allowed, including high school tournaments. Some of you should watch reading rainbow. “The more you know”[/QUOTE]

So the daily on the water flw report was a lie? Because their reading raunbow clearly stated the top producers were targeting spawning amd staging smallmouth. That is the very reason there is such an uproar, their words, not anyone elses.

[QUOTE=TimE;568188]Not a [U]single[/U] “spawning smallmouth” [U]were caught[/U] during this tournament. How do I know this? Because they are still not spawning. This thread was a rant about tournaments off a false premise. Seems like there is a lot of that these days.

Also this isn’t the only tournament that reduced size limits were allowed, including high school tournaments. Some of you should watch reading rainbow. “The more you know”[/QUOTE]

The fact that you can't even construct a sentence in English correctly makes me question your self-proclaimed superior intellect.

Just to be clear; you are claiming that this thread was started on a "false premise" simply because you don't believe that "the smallmouth" were/are not spawning yet. Would you care to explain how you can successfully surmise the current behavior of every fish in the lake? Do you not think that tournament fishing could be detrimental to pre or post spawning fish as well?

I'm not one to mince words much but when you come on here and start to put other people down from your all-knowing and superior (self-induced) perspective simply because their opinions do not align with your own you really shouldn't be surprised when they take offense.

And by the way, ive seen some giant smallmouth on the nest for 2 weeks now, and no i wont say where lol

[QUOTE=headbanger;568190]The fact that you can't even construct a sentence in English correctly makes me question your self-proclaimed superior intellect.

Just to be clear; you are claiming that this thread was started on a "false premise" simply because you don't believe that "the smallmouth" were/are not spawning yet. Would you care to explain how you can successfully surmise the current behavior of every fish in the lake? Do you not think that tournament fishing could be detrimental to pre or post spawning fish as well?

I'm not one to mince words much but when you come on here and start to put other people down from your all-knowing and superior (self-induced) perspective simply because their opinions do not align with your own you really shouldn't be surprised when they take offense.[/QUOTE]

Ok professor. Pre spawn fish are not spawning fish. Post spawn could be argued but since zero have spawned that is moot.

About the rest of your post? I haven’t put anyone down unless recommending them to research their thoughts before posting incorrect info.

[QUOTE=stripernut1;568191]And by the way, ive seen some giant smallmouth on the nest for 2 weeks now, and no i wont say where lol[/QUOTE]

That is impressive. How deep were they?

[QUOTE=TimE;568193]Post spawn could be argued but since zero have spawned that is moot.
[/QUOTE]

Again, how are you determining whether or not any of the fish in the lake have spawned? What kind of research have you undergone to determine that not one smallmouth in the entire lake has spawned yet?

[QUOTE=TimE;568194]That is impressive. How deep were they?[/QUOTE]

On the bottom.....

[QUOTE=mhall;568069]12 inches on all species what a **** joke. A trained Chimp could catch five 12 inchers on Cumberland in April...these guys are hacks[/QUOTE]

Well, a trained chimp would have out fished us Friday. Time for me to take up Frisbee Golf.

[QUOTE=Fishin_4_Fun;568237]Well, a trained chimp would have out fished us Friday. Time for me to take up Frisbee Golf.[/QUOTE]

Doubtful. (bananas on the boat, bad luck)

And i'm dead set against lowering it for anybody. I personally was told by a longtime pro that most would recognize the name of if I told it while at the event on Cumberland that if they hadn't gotten a smaller size limit they (FLW) wouldn't have came back. You tell me what happened to get this reduction & mortality study done on such perfect timing as the " best anglers in the world" according to flw being there. I personally wish they raise the size limit on largemouth to 18 too & 15 on spots.

[QUOTE=R19;568107]In reference to the results of the USA Bassin weights I spoke directly to the KDFW biologist about the health of bass in GRL. There is a direct effect to the reason why the bass populations is more healthy than it has ever been and to my surprise it is also the same reason white bass are struggling...Alwives...It seems that several years ago someone introduced alwives to Green River Lake. They are not native to the lake so it is speculated that someone who was live bait fishing introduced them. This is the exact reason why it is illegal to catch live bait from one body of water and use them in another body of water. This is also why stores who sell live bait can only buy bait from vendors who are registered and certified to sell only specific types of minnows.

Alwives roam in open deep water. They have more protein than the shad that are already present in the lake. This is the reason why 15 years ago you rarely heard of multiple fish in a tournament over 6 pounds and 20 lb bags were only caught in a brief window in the spring. Now its not that rare to have multiple big bags and multiple big fish. It's not easy but it's not as rare as it was several years ago. Now as for the white bass their habits are totally different and the alwives effect them in a negative way. White bass make a run in the spring to find current to lay their eggs. They do not make a nest in calm water and have a male guard it like LM,SM or Spots. They lay in current and the male will fertilize the eggs as they turn over in current. Once the white bass spawn all the fingerlings migrate back to the main lake and here is where the alwives cause them problems. It is a two fold problem...large alwives will feed on fingerling white bass because they are occupying the same space in the water column. Fingerling alwives feed on the same plankton that fingerling white bass white bass feed on. This is why the white bass population on green has been so poor for the last several years. The white bass population actually got so low that KDFW stocked them 3 years in a row not long ago. It was within the last 5-6 years if my memory is correct.

Now that the biologist explained it to me and I reflect back I can see exactly what he was talking about. I remember in the 80's,90's and early 2000's having a huge white bass run. Then around 15 or so years ago it started to diminish and within the last 7-8 years it has really been slow. Also looking back I remember bass fishing in the late 90's and early 2000's and remember when just catching a limit would get you a check. I remember fishing the Green River Bass club early 2000's. The AOY was always won by someone who did not zero a tournament at green. Teams would have fish at Barren,Cumberland and Nolin but it was the team who did not blank at their home lake of green who won AOY. I don't recall the exact year but I am thinking 2002 ish I specifically remember Rodger and Dwight (the tournament directors at the time) saying this was the first year there were multiple anglers who weighed in fish every tournament. Now you had better have a limit and have 2-3 good fish and the others need to be solid fish on Green. The days of cashing a check with a small limit are just not there anymore. Anyways it was a few years after that green started to really improve with the bass catch and really started to decline with the white bass catch. This was all due to the introduction of alwives. If you're hesitant to believe this theory then name me a lake that has alwives and it also has a healthy population of white bass. They may have white bass but not large numbers. The KDFW biologists I spoke to was really a nice person and opened my eyes to how one thing can totally have different effects on two similar things. If your interested in learning about your local water I highly recommend talking to you local fishery biologist. He told me it's not often that he gets to interact directly with the fisherman so the conversation was welcomed buy him.

All lakes go in cycles for one reason or another. I remember when people would drive right by Green and go to Barren. Now Green puts out better numbers than Barren and you have a few people who have migrated over to fishing Green. Look at Cumberland for an example. The draw down for several years allowed the brush to grow on the bank and now we are seeing a better and more healthy population of bass. Mother nature and humans have a way of impacting things. We have to rely on the KDFW to regulate things to keep it in check. What happened at Cumberland was they sold out the fishery for tourism and mask it by saying it was for a mortality study. You will have a had time convincing me otherwise.[/QUOTE]
I can very plainly remember catching the sh*t out of white bass on cumberland in the 80s. It was claimed that striper were released that were a carrier of some virus that about wiped out the whites, but the striper were immune to. This was also the time of a lot bigger stripers on cumberland & also the time that striper fishermen were blamed for the alwives. Your post makes perfect sense to me.

[QUOTE=Fntsyfbgod;568169]Of course I dont see a problem with it. Dont get me wrong I don't think they should lower the size limit in every little tournament. But Im all for it in larger regional tournaments that bring in alot of money and exposure. And as a requirement you should have holding tanks and take the necessary steps in fish care. The positives of bringing in money to the local economy vs making a few locals cry is well worth it.

No worries buddy if you think my opinion is dumb the feelings mutual.[/QUOTE] I personally don't think cumberland needs anymore exposure. I had a pro at the cumberland event tell me the only ones pissed off about the reduced size limit were the ones that weren't getting any money out of it. I then told him that what a dumb*ss comment that was. I also think your comment about bringing in a lot of money & exposure isn't the greatest one i've ever heard either since the local government is trying it's best to exploit cumberland in every way possible simply for a buck. If the size limit hadn't been changed they would have still had a full field of boats & you can believe that. Cumberland is hammered all summer long with tourists & local pleasure boaters alike spending money on hotel rooms, gas, food, beer, campsites, launch fees etc. & it has way more 100 plus boat tournaments then you may believe too. There are a large amount of high school events held on cumberland & a lot have between 150 & to over 200 boats. There was 165 i think my buddy that fished it said in last weekends event & one last year had 265. As far as bass fishermen go most use livewell additives & lots take time to fizz there fish to if needed, but the vast majority believe it or not are strictly catch & release on the spot. Also about the locals crying believe it or not there are those of us that pretty much smallmouth fish only & dead set against a reduction in the size limit on them. They are above average size & extremely healthy like most local lakes like Laurel, Green & Dale Hollow & we'd like to keep them that way. I'd love to see largemouth 18" too on cumberland & there are some pretty healthy spots also so why not go to 14 anyway while they're at it. Don't get me wrong i like fishing tournaments from time to time & do, but i also think they should have to abide by the same rules as the every day local guys too. I also according to the pro i was talking about absoluitley believe the bit about a mortality study is pure horsesh*t. Flw claims they're " the best anglers in the world" now prove it with having the same size limit next year that the rest of us go by every day. By the way do you work for FLW or just fish their tournaments? Please let us know. LOL