From the link posted by ChuChu re: the last Twok survey, there is only one fact that can be taken... There were damn few trophy blues in Twok back then as compared to the overall population. Lots 17"-21", however. Nice eating size IMO. During the winter the proportions seem out of whack, because the monsters have put on the feed bag.

NO, it means TP&W only netted or shocked a few. Try to understand the TP&W survey is ONLY A SAMPLE.

I understand very well what a survey of this type conveys, but you can't have it both ways. Either it is of value, or it is not.

Take it up with TP&W.

Well, that's not what the original petition and subject of this thread is about. Have you read the original petition yet? I'd like to read your view on it, thx.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/protect-lake-tawkonis-trophy-blue-catfish/

I have stated my views many times, how about reading more than the last post?
But as a final post....
1. I do not think guides are a part of the problem, however they are a part of the solution.
2. I do not fish for large catfish, I target 2 to 3 pound fish.
3. I do not support banning trot lines or jugs.
4. I do not support lowering the possession limit for catfish.
5. I will not sign any petition concerning catfish.
6. One I haven't stated...I trust TP&W's management of our fish and wildlife. They are the experts.

This is untrue. Some of us that are on the lake regularly are keeping our own records with pictures and videos. One day in the future it will all come out. Remember folks, things are not always as they seem.

TPW just needs to cut the limit back some on all the fish. Texas is growing fast and theres more pressure on all the lakes

I just ran the numbers on what a guide boat could possibly harvest from a lake. And I was amazed at the sheer numbers. Seems like that may be a good place to start some kind of restrictions on quantity. they did the same thing on the coast with several species before putting the limit on redfish limiting the commercial fisherman catch. Here's what I came up with:

1 guide boat with 3 clients @ 25 per client= 75 fish per day = 27,375 fish per year
10 guide boats with 3 clients @25 per client= 750 fish per day= 273,750 fish per year

Now I know those numbers are just what is possible, you can see the tremendous harvest by Guide boats. I don't know how many guides there are on Lake Tawakoni but I would hazard to guess there are more than 10. Out of that many fish how many would have the possibility to grow to trophy size? I realize so many fish per acre need to be harvested to keep a lake viable but over harvesting is just as bad as pulling out the big spawners. So lets look at all the possibilities before making a rash decision.

Do you have some pictures to prove it? You talk like you do but i have yet to see them. If you have pics or videos to prove that guides are taking trophy fish OUT of the lake lets see them. After all we are talking about keeping records of the fish that are caught. And remember folks pics dont lie and the only pics i have seen of trophy fish from michael were released

The problem is there are those uneducated. And no amount of education will change their archaic unfounded beliefs.
Even with lowered limits or slots they are still going to do whatever they've been doing and their daddy and grand daddy did whether it's good for the environment or pollutes the world for themselves and everyone else! "It's what my daddy did, it's what his daddy did, my family this or that and it's my right, blah blah blah!" With no care or concern for their children, anyone else's children, or any other person on the planet!! They think they're entitled. When they've never done anything to be entitled to anything and just take take take from everyone and thing!
Just the greed of people!

I could not have said it better myself. I do hope the trained scientists, i.e. biologists read this and take notice. I too believe in scientific studies and I don't consider the guides data are independent and free of self serving ulterior motives.

K, I will try again.

First let me clarify the Alabama regulations, it's one blue cat over 34 inch person per day and unlimited number of fish 34 inch or shorter, so could catch 100 fish a day if you want to in Alabama. Don't know if that was the intended goal or not but it clearly is very successful in producing their state records of blue catfish in the short term. Weather this good for long term of blue catfish in general, I don't know. Would this be good for Texas, not sure because the last time I checked Texas issue commercial license for freshwater catfish fishermen, with unlimited bag of box fish they could clean out Texas lakes one by one. I am aware of that and I have not said I like Alabama regulations, yet.

To answer your questions, no what you proposed was not a slot but what you said in the rest of your paragraph did riled me up a bit... don't want to get into that again, so I am going put it in a different way, so here we go..


The current regulations allow a total of 25 fish 12 inch and up. For most people for all practical purposes it simply 25 box fish max. For some, myself included, it means if the fishing are slow, and if we get lucky a pod of big blue come by and take down our poles, we get to bring some fish steaks home instead of filets. Personally I kept fish up to 15 lb and let go the bigger one, the exception would be I would keep one fish over 30 lb and up to 6 fish in 10 to 15 lb range in the winter. Your proposal would restrict me to just one fish as small as 10 lb a day on some day when no box fish was caught, and all of a sudden these big game fish become just pests to me.


I wish there is a way to explain to your camp so you can understand that all of us who oppose new regulations are not against preserving big blue catfish population, but the blue catfish are already the predominant fish in tawakoni, and there is a good possibility that there are just too many of these monsters in water that might interrupt the balance at lake Tawakoni which provides excellent fisheries for many many people for decades. Fyi, crappie anglers comprises only 12% at tawakoni but my guesstimate is that there are more crappie anglers than your group of cpr trophy blue catfish anglers because the great majority of catfish anglers fish for fish fries.

You may wanna cool your jets there bud. I'm referring to the claim that "ALL" guides are putting back anything over 10#. To answer your question, yes, there are pictures. Video too. As stated before, they will be released when the time is right: