Uncle Zeek is right. Read it, Read it again and search your soul. Articulate and on point. Thanx!

Cool photo.

I have read and lurked without posting mainly because what I would post echos what most have already posted. I think the obvious majority of folks that support some limitations being added to protect the larger trophy fish.

The dissenters will probably not jump into the fray, they will simply keep quite to let the movement die and continue to profit from the current regs.

The guys in Austin do read these threads and pay attention, but more so to their own lake survey results rather than popular sentiment. But they are aware.

I took a couple of years off and fished almost every day for a year. I got to know a couple of commercial cat-fishermen that worked a couple of lakes that are not known for the trophies. I ran into one at the boat ramp one time when he was really drunk and talkative. He was trying to explain to me how to "work" the lines without getting caught. My ensuing conversation with the game warden did not fall on deaf ears but he did say that the poacher was right, they could not prove anything.

They typically worked their lines with very heavy, extremely sharp hooks bent so to snag the larger fish rather than lip hook. They ran tight lines in the shallows to keep the lines just off the bottoms and chummed like crazy. I can guarantee that these guys will continue to ignore any regs we get passed just as they do the laws we have now.

It is not the trot-lines, jugs or any other particular method that is the problem, it is the individuals that will cheat with any method they can get away with. They can all be used fairly and be a lot of fun just like rods and reels.

Just like the changed regs last year about the white jugs, sooner or later, Austin keeps drifting in the direction of good sense.

Thanks for all the input. Good to know I am not alone.

Yes Sir!
Will Said.
Man. If you want to fill the freezer? Do It.
Want to turn those Big-Blues back, after a stressing rod and reel catch.
Do it.
Want to post; show Pics of that BIG-Blue, Bass, Channel. Hanging or swimming away.
Outstanding.
Feel the need to go to AUSTIN; with an AMENDMENT. Too; the current-law. For the;
Benefit of your business?
Will. LMAO/ Good-Luck.
TPWD. Knows -WAY-More. Than any of us here.
Bottem line.
Do not pass judgement. On folks.


By the way. I do turn all Blues. Back over 15lbs. All Channels; over 4lbs. back in the water. Too tough.
All Legal-Yellar-CATS. From 25-70lbs. Goes into the Horse-Trough.
GodBless.

I'm with you. My boys grew up running jugs with me and the look on their faces when one went under for a couple of minutes is priceless. We turned back big ones unless the freeze was empty. But as long as you are following the law no one has the right to. Complain.

Kroger fish taste like ----. I like staying with my jugs to watch the fish hit them. I do agree, sometimes the lake gets a little crowded with jugs. But it sure is fun.

Having grown up fishing lake tawakoni, I find this topic rather amusing. People have been doing this for decades, with little to no impact on the fish population. Matter of fact, there are more large fish caught now then I can remember ever seeing. What I find funny is the person that started this topic profits from catching these large fish. It's extremely hard for me to believe that you actually care about the welfare of the lake as opposed to your income.

Perhaps the bigger problem is people,like guides,exploiting a resource for their personal gain.

Just my opinion.

So,Does anyone know what the bag limit for catfish was 20 years ago? I mean before the internet,and before these Forums had educated thousands and thousands of new fishermen each year on how to catch more and bigger fish? Seems to me like if the limits have been adjusted over the years to compensate for the increasing number of educated (and practicing)fisherman on our lakes,and the limit is now 25,Then in 1995 it must have been around 200.

I don't feel that taking people fishing and releasing the larger fish is exploiting the resource. As a person that has never taken a guided trip my opinion is that they are providing a much needed service to their customers. If they weren't needed, then they would be broke in a hurry. I would love to get paid to go fishing and to give others their best days on the water.

As to your question on bag & possession limit, the standard 25 bag/50 poss. for BC/CC mix & 5 bag/10 poss. for YC goes back into the 1970s (at least 1978/1979). I have the TPWD fishing regulation guides, as well as our newspapers Lake Reports from back then.

However, some lakes have been classified under a certain designation, such as no trotlines, juglines, and throwline, only R-n-R & poles. Fort Parker Lake is one such lake like that.

And some now have a little twist, such as a slot that you can take only or nort take.

The Big Blues & Yellows can literally deplete a lake easily if not controlled. They themselves, even with not being fished out, can basically eat themselves up out of existence. This why TPWD realizes in some cases, it takes all types of fishermen & fisherwomen to keep it balanced. But yes, the main focus of these lakes is watershed, not recreation nor fishing. That is just a bonus when there is plenty of water.

Some species will compensate if man tries to reduce their numbers. One good example is the coyote. Here in Texas, they decided to knock their numbers down. Only problem was the coyote adjusted to compensate by having much, much more in their litters. Meaning they reproduced at a phenomenal rate, enough so that their numbers actually increased more than before.

Recently we had some serious droughts going on back in 2011. Lake Limestone was down 10 feet that Thanksgiving. The Game Wardens & Lake Rangers were having to use a tractor to take their boats and trailers out into the lake near the dam, in order to launch. Some lakes lost many fish due to that year's drought. One example of yellowcats dying was shared as one on the TFF here noted he was grabbing & shuttling them to another portion of the lake so they would survive.

The recent droughts were just a warning for what is ahead- it will be much, much worse.

lol y'all are girls. This makes no sense.. A 50-60lb blue isn't going to live much longer than that weight, obviously because the lake record is 89. If you say otherwise show me how many 70-80lb fish are caught a year. So therefore you're actually in the wrong for taking the 15" blues out of the mix, they are the future of the lake.

The 15" ones sure do taste better though!

that aint no lie

There are confirmed reports of catfish weighing over 200 pounds (probably blues) from the 1800's, and an unconfirmed report of a 315 pound catfish landed in 1866 in Portland, Missouri.

If we conserve our big catfish now, there's no telling HOW big they could get.