Monthly Archives: March 2016

Gun Control Propaganda Fails To Come True

Not long ago the gun banners were crowing that gun deaths now outnumbered traffic accident deaths for the first time, proving guns should be banned. They ignored a lot of facts like that gun deaths are mostly suicides and car deaths had recently dropped due to higher cost of gas, and gun deaths were on a long term downward trend. They used this change to push their gun ban agenda.

Their gun control propaganda fails to come true just a few months later.

Some rational folks predicted that car deaths would increase again if gas prices dropped and people drove more. A news article in the Griffin Daily News on page A-7 on Friday, February 19 proved them right. The headline: “2015 Motor vehicle deaths increased by largest percent in 50 years.”

Do you think the gun control folks will admit to this change? I won’t hold my breath.

In Georgia one of the biggest gun controversies this legislative session has been making it legal to for citizens in our state with a “Georgia Firearms License” to carry their gun on college campuses. Campuses are a free fire zone, also known as a gun free zone, right now.

There have been many robberies on college campuses, especially Georgia State. The new law would allow people like me, who have gone through a fingerprint background check and have no criminal history or mental problems and are 21 years old or older, to carry their legal gun on campus.

Those against it come up with all kinds of weird excuse why it would be dangerous. They claim youth should not be able to carry guns, ignoring the fact the law only applies to those over 21. And they say college students are not mature enough to carry a gun, totally missing the fact that many 18 year olds are in the military and carry dreaded “assault” weapons daily.

When I was in college a long time ago I had my Marlin 30-30 lever action assault weapon in my dorm room from the time I started at 18 years old. It never shot anyone. I know times have changed, but gun free college campuses do nothing but keep law-abiding students from protecting themselves.

Anyone thinking the current law keeps thugs from carrying a gun on campus ignore the armed robberies regularly in the news. And they ignore the fact that some states already allow students to carry guns and there has never been a problem caused by them.

What Are Missouri Paddlefish and When Does Season Open?

Missouri Paddlefish Season Opens March 15

Editor’s Note: Here’s an interesting look at a sport many of us have never tried, but it’s apparently one of the few ways to harvest the giant “spoonbills” that populate many of our big Midwestern rivers and lakes.

MDC makes paddlefish snagging possible through annual stockings of fingerlings.

tagging a mature paddlefish

tagging a mature paddlefish

Missouri DOC biologists tag a mature paddlefish. Thousands of fingerlings are stocked in larger state lakes and rivers each year. (Credit MDOC)

Missouri’s annual spring paddlefish snagging season is a popular pastime for thousands of anglers. The state’s major paddlefish snagging waters include Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake with the season running March 15 through April 30. The season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15.

Also known as “spoonbills” because of the shape of their snouts, paddlefish take seven or eight years to grow to legal size. The fish feed on plankton and other microscopic prey. These filter feeders therefore do not take bait from hooks and must be snagged using large hooks that catch in the mouth, gills or other areas of their bodies.

The success of paddlefish snagging is dependent on weather conditions, primarily water temperature and flow.

“The best snagging conditions occur when water temperature reaches 50 to 55 degrees and there is an increase in water flow,” MDC Fisheries Management Biologist Trish Yasger said. “This prompts them to move upstream to spawn. We don’t usually see a lot of big fish being caught on opening day. Harvest early in the season is typically dominated by local fish and small males with the occasional large female. As water temperature and flow increase, you will start seeing more of the larger females.”

Stocking Efforts

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) makes paddlefish snagging possible in the Show-Me State through annual stocking of up to 38,000 fingerlings raised at Blind Pony Hatchery near Sweet Springs. The fingerlings are released into Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and Table Rock Lake, plus the Black River. The annual stocking is necessary because dams and other barriers to spawning areas have eliminated sustainable natural reproduction in the lakes.

“Without annual stocking by MDC staff, this popular pastime and food source would go away,” said Yasger. “And we need help from snaggers to learn more about and to better manage this popular game fish.”

Yasger added that MDC released an especially large number of fingerlings into Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake in 2008. The more than 164,000 fingerlings released are now eight years old and should start providing good numbers of fish for snaggers to harvest.

Snag A Tag – Get A Reward

MDC is beginning its second year in a five-year tagging project to help monitor paddlefish numbers and improve species management. Department staff are placing metal jaw tags on up to 6,000 paddlefish netted in Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake and up to 1,000 netted from the Mississippi River. Yasger encourages all snaggers to help out by reporting tagged paddlefish and to NOT remove tags from undersized paddlefish.

“We will send a special ‘I caught a Missouri paddlefish!’ t-shirt to each snagger who returns or reports their first tag on a legal-sized fish,” Yasger explained. “All returned and reported tags will be placed into an annual drawing for cash prizes with a grand prize of $500.”

Tags or photos of tags from harvested paddlefish must be submitted for rewards. Snaggers must include the following information with each tag:

Date caught
Location of catch including reservoir or river, mile marker, and county
Tag number
Fish length from eye to fork of the tail
Snagger’s name and complete address

Report tags by calling MDC at 573-579-6825 with the information, or mail the information with the flattened tag to: Missouri Department of Conservation, 3815 East Jackson Blvd., Jackson, MO 63755. Learn more about the tagging project from MDC online at http://on.mo.gov/1VA1E6B.

Report Transmitters

MDC biologists are also implanting ultrasonic transmitters in adult paddlefish at Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, and the Mississippi River to track their movements and gain other important information. MDC asks that all snaggers who harvest fish with a transmitter to report it by calling 573-579-6825 or by e-mailing Trish Yasger at Trish.Yasger@mdc.mo.gov. It is important to return transmitters so they can be implanted in other fish.

Help smaller fish survive

Yasger reminds snaggers to help undersized snagged fish survive to grow larger.

“Do not land paddlefish with gaffs. This can fatally injure sublegal fish. Use large landing nets,” she said. “Remove hooks carefully and get sublegal fish back into the water as quickly as possible. Wet your hands before handling fish and avoid excessive handling. Do not pass them around for photos and hold fish firmly to avoid dropping them. Never put fingers in the gills or eyes.”

Regulation Requirements

Paddlefish snagging

Paddlefish snagging

The state’s major paddlefish snagging waters include Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake with the season running March 15 through April 30. The season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15.

Unless exempt, anglers must have a current fishing permit to snag or to operate a boat for snaggers. The daily limit is two paddlefish and snaggers must stop snagging after obtaining the daily limit on Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Lake and their tributaries, and the Osage River below Bagnell Dam. The minimum legal body length for paddlefish at Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, Table Rock Lake, and their tributaries is 34 inches, measured from the eye to the fork of the tail. The minimum legal body length is 24 inches on the Osage River below Bagnell Dam and in other Missouri waters. All paddlefish under the legal minimum length must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught.

The Wildlife Code of Missouri requires the head, tail, and skin to remain attached to all paddlefish while on the water so paddlefish should not be cleaned until off of the water. Also, extracted paddlefish eggs may not be possessed while on waters of the state or adjacent banks and may not be transported. Paddlefish eggs may not be bought, sold or offered for sale. Additionally, paddlefish or their parts, including eggs, may not be used for bait.

Learn more about Missouri’s official aquatic animal, regulations, snagging reports, and more at http://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/paddlefish.

A Bad Tournament Day Gets Worse

I hate it when a bad fishing day gets worse, like it did for me last Sunday when a bad tournament day gets worse near the end.. In the Spalding County Sportsman Club tournament at West Point 14 members and guests fished for eight hours to land 41 keepers weighing about 75 pounds. There were three five-fish limits and one person didn’t have a keeper. There were 14 largemouth and the rest were spotted bass.

Jay Gerson won with five weighing 8.78 pounds, Sam Smith was second with two at 8.52 pounds and his 5.64 pound largemouth was big fish, third was Raymond English with five weighing 7.54 pounds and Kwong Yu placed fourth with three at 7.32 pounds.

Jordan McDonald fished with me and I caught a keeper spot on one of my first few casts with a DT 6 crankbait, then Jordan caught three keepers on a Shadrap in the first hour. We thought it was going to be a good day but we fished a lot of places and patterns for the next six hours and I got one keeper spot on a Carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog.

With an hour left to fish I pitched a jig and pig to a shallow brush top and felt a thump. When I set the hook there was a big flash in the water as the bass headed to deeper water. I yelled for the net and Jordan grabbed it. Then the bass jumped and threw my jig ten feet into the air.

That broke me down. I hate losing fish, much less a big one like that. Jordan said he thought it was bigger than Sam’s fish and I think it was close. So a tough day got much tougher and disappointing at that point.

We fished for the rest of the time left and I got a keeper largemouth, again on the DT 6, and Jordan caught three more keeper spots on his Shadrap. He culled down to five and had 6.74 pounds for fifth place. My three at 5.57 pounds put me in eighth place.

The water was about 50 degrees and heavily stained. Many people caught fish in shallow water. The cold weather last week will probably slow things down, and the lake rose three feet and got even more stained from the rain last week.

Everywhere we went there were a lot of people trolling for crappie. We counted 12 boats near the second shoal marker in Whitewater Creek. On the depthfinder there were schools of crappie everywhere out over the deeper water in the cannels, and a lot of baitfish there, too.

If you want to fill up your freezer, head to West Point with some Hal Flies and troll them along the channel edges. Most of the crappie were down about ten feet deep. If you have a good depthfinder you can see the fish and know how deep to run your baits. If not troll different depths until the fish show you how deep they are feeding.

What Is Giant Salvinia?

A Weed Over Troubled Water

Editor’s Note: As we wind up National Invasive Species Awareness Week, here’s a look at one of the worst, the giant salvinia that is creating problems across much of the south these days.
from The Fishing Wire
endangers fishing and boating waters and destroys habitat for aquatic plants and animals.

Craig Springer, USFWS

Giant Salvinia chokes waters

Giant Salvinia chokes waters

The plant’s scientific name is your first clue that it is something that you do not want. Botanists know it as Salvinia molesta. It’s commonly known as giant salvinia. Native to South America, the floating fern made its way to the United States via the ornamental plant industry. It’s pretty, but the beauty belies serious economic and ecological harm that usually follow when it is accidentally or purposely released into the wild.

John Naugle would know. He’s a fisheries biological technician at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Arizona Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, in Parker, Arizona. Naugle is fully immersed in controlling the spread of the nasty plant from a waterway of great importance to the regional economy of Arizona and California. Giant salvinia showed up in the United States in 1995, and four years later it had a hold in the Palo Verde Irrigation District Drain that parallels the Colorado River. The irrigation drain delivers water downstream for agriculture. Since 2004, it has fallen on Naugle and colleagues to put a staunch on the spread.

He’s pretty much “Mr. Salvinia.” As long as the weather is conducive for plant growth, Naugle is out combatting the plant in the waterway. “For seven months of the year, I am on the water up to seven hours a day,” said Naugle. “It’s survey and treat, survey and treat—it’s a near-continuous effort.” That treatment is spraying an herbicide that knocks back the mats of the lime-green floating fern.

“Knock back” is often the best that can be done, according to the Service’s Southwest Region invasive species biologist, Dr. David Britton. Britton says that complete eradication of giant salvinia is nearly impossible given how the plant survives.

“It’s remarkable,” said Britton, “you can break off a tiny piece of plant and it will start a new population.” Britton notes that the plant easily gets carried by boats unintentionally, underscoring the need to be careful and inspect watercraft and trailers. “It grows fast, too, and will quickly cover the water surface, shading out all light.”

Giant Salvinia up close

Giant Salvinia up close

The plant’s dangerous growth habitat is spoken in its scientific name. The floating plant does best in slow-moving canals, backwaters or ponds. It can double the amount of surface area it covers in a week’s time and create a deep carpet—a shroud three feet thick. That’s troublesome for boating, fishing, waterfowl hunting, not to mention the value of private property associated with infested waters.

Then there’s water delivery associated with public works, part of the reason Naugle performs his labor. Downstream of Palo Verde Irrigation District Drain are dams and water intake structures. Giant salvinia has accumulated and clogged structures in the past. But not so much anymore; Naugle has been successful at controlling the plant. He continues to keep a watch out, and herbicidal treatments are fewer and fewer because of his diligence.

“Once giant salvinia gets established,” says Britton, “it will likely never be eradicated entirely. Prevention is the first measure—and it’s cheaper than what it takes to control the plant.” To learn more, visit www.fws.gov/southwest