Sallysue...Look at Fayette County Res. There are, by net samples and actual catches, fewer catfish in the lake now than two years ago, and each lake survey back to 1982 the number catfish have gone down while the size has increased. There are no trotlines or jug lines allowed. Only rod and reel. How do you explain that?

Well thats my option to like it or not plus I like catching them on a rod and reel

I would rather rod and reel fish. I do believe that some not all over do it ON the jug fishing,it hurt Belton and Limestone.I don't think Belton will ever come back like it was, just my thoughts on it.

I R&r fish too, haven't done jugs or trotlines in years. But they do no more to a lake than R&R. I would support a limit similar to Tennessee. Only one blue cat over 30" per day. I personally don't keep any catfish over 2 to 3 pounds. That's what I like and that's what I target.

I've tried to tell the game wardens the same thing, whether I bait or not I can't kill but 15 dove! You can't talk sense with some people.

Trotlines. Jugs. ?
Shooting Whitetails.
100 Hks.
150gr. 30-06. Knocking down Does?
Its the Limit. Along with how one uses that BLESSING.

I�m still relatively new to bluecat fishing so I can�t speak for how the fishing was on Belton years ago. I do know the fishing has taken a run down hill. However I don�t think it�s too late for the bluecats to make a comeback in Belton.

Believe it or not, there�s actually a decent amount of blues in Belton, and there is a fair amount of big blues come out of Belton every year. Just this past year the All Tackle record was broken with a fish just over 70 lbs. I think it was the previous year that a group came up and caught 3 fish that would have beaten the previous record. I also know there are a large amount of 30 to 40+ lb fish that come out of Belton and I even saw a 50+ leaving the ramp last year on the tailgate of a truck with a trotline leader and hook still in its mouth. All these fish have 2 things in common.

#1 The most recent 70+ was caught on a trotline. The previous 3 potential records were caught on jugs. The most recent 50+ was caught on a trotline. Every time I see a big fish at the ramp I ask information about how it was caught and the answer is always jug or trotline.

#2 Earlier I mentioned �there is a fair amount of big blues come out of Belton every year�. That�s the problem. They come out, and never go back in. They end up leaving the lake on the tailgate of a truck, headed to someones fish cleaning station, and probably eventually hanging on someones fence post.










The average guy that dosent know Belton will say "if Belton is breaking records, then the fishing must be great there. NOT TRUE. The amount of pressure being put on the lake is unbelievable. If you don't believe me just try driving from 36 bridge down to owl creek any weekend from spring break through July. Thats maybe a mile run and good luck dodging the jugs!

Let's just say there's an average of 4-6 groups of people running lines on Belton each weekend. And each group of people is running an average of 50 hooks a weekend, every weekend for 4-5 months out of the year. Thats going to add up to a LOT of fish pulled from the lake. Someone is going to eventually run into a big fish and it's going to be pulled from the lake too. I think the number of hooks I just estimated will be on the low end just about any weekend through the months I mentioned, and it seems to be getting worse each year.

Bottom line, if someone wants to set a few jugs while they go crappie fishing, and then pick them up when they go home, have at it. Lets just back off the number of hooks they can use and the amount of time they can leave them in the water. And most importantly back off a bunch on what anyone can take home, wheather it be caught on lines or R&R.

Big 10 since you are relatively new to fishing, and obviously can't see the forest for the trees let me say what's already been said. The limit is 25 a day per person. How you get to up to 25 is up to the fisherman and HIS preference, I put his in capital letters because I really don't think you and others are getting that part. With that being said laws are put into place and keep honest people honest. And the last thing we need is more laws that only restrict the people that abide them. I hit belton at least 8 or 9 times a year prefishing and on tournaments. I have noticed jugs on the upper end but have never had to dodge them zig zagging my way down. Now one more time. 25 a day any legal way, now get out there catch'm however you desire and have fun. P.S. I hope the photos were your friends or family and were put there to show the quality of fish belton has to offer fellow anglers.

Lambcotx, did you even read my entire post?? Did you not understand the last paragraph? What tournaments have you been fishing and pre-fishing for on Belton? I'm only aware of 2-3 tournament held on Belton each year.

P.S. The people that caught those fish are not my friends or family. However, I do have permission to post them. They were sent to my by one of the guys that caught them, so I could post them on this forum, to represent the quality fish that were in Belton.

I started fishing for blues on Belton when I was about 14 years old. Im 24 now and have been after them for about 10. I consider myself still relatively new to it compared to the guys like sallysue, leonriver, and freeman clark. Correct me if im wrong guys but I think these 3 guys have been fishing for catfish on Belton longer than I have been alive. They dont post much on this forum, but when they do I listen. They been doing it long enough I figure they got a pretty good idea.

I think we all know the limit is 25 per person, no matter how they were caught (OR HOW BIG). I think that's the main reason this thread was created.

Are the guides that take 2 to 5 people a day and catching (and keeping) 50 to 125 fish not hurting? I know one guide that his clients catch about 6000 fish a year. Is that the problem? So do we ban guides?

The 6000 number is just about annual the spawn of one fish.
TP&W are the best managers, let them do their job.

Blows my mind that as of today you can keep 25 - 50lb fish, per person....per day.


I call BS. Show me proof that a person has taken 25 fifty pound fish in one day.

With all this talk about how many are kept, and taken home, it got me to thinking. I wonder how often this happens? Dead fish floating hung up on a trotline. I do know iv never reeled a dead one in on rod and reel.





PS I do have permission to post these pictures. I took them myself, with my phone, from my boat.

The original post that started this thread had a picture of about 20 fish that averaged close to 40 lbs laid across the deck of a big aluminum flatbottom boat. That's pretty close to what you just asked for. If we had a picture of that 1 time, I wonder how many times it has happened that we don't have a picture of.

PS I would post that picture again for you but I dont have permission.