Saturday at Tims Ford

[aero320]

I have been fishing all Spring for those undersized crappie at Woods and decided to try Tims Ford for some hybrids. A lot of people were fishing and it seems most were catching hybrids. Lots of bird activity with fish under the bait. Most of the hybrids were 6-7 pounds. The largest I caught was 8 pounds. Also found a school of Stripers in the same area but not mixed in with the hybrids. Stripers in the school were averaging 10-12 pounds. The largest I caught was 14 pounds.

The introduction of hybrids into Tims Ford has really created a great fishery. We should thank TWRA for providing excellent hunting and fishing is our state. That is about the only government agency that seems to work!

[MNfisher]

Nice work! Tim's Ford is currently one of my favorite lakes to fish. The hybrid, striper, and walleye fishery is amazing!

Congrats on a great day!

[creeksmallie]

Great Job, Tims is producing some awesome smallies also.
Mike

[nofish]

Congratulations

[Alphahawk]

Glad you had a good day.



Regards

[StriperFan]

Couldn't go this weekend, but reading this was the next best thing.

[chaseasl]

I have never caught a hybrid, its on my list

[BMelton]

I know i'm from Ky, so my opinion doesnt matter, but i wish they had never stocked hybrid or stripe in our waters. Seems to me that they just make it that much harder on the crappie and largemouth to find adequate forage. Its redicoulous the amount of food they consume.

[MNfisher]

My opinion is to put them in all the waters!! Best fighting fish out there, most aggressive and I personally think they taste absolutely great! My favorite fish to pursue and catch!

[StriperFan]

Originally Posted by BMelton

I know i'm from Ky, so my opinion doesnt matter, but i wish they had never stocked hybrid or stripe in our waters. Seems to me that they just make it that much harder on the crappie and largemouth to find adequate forage. Its redicoulous the amount of food they consume.

I have studied extensively on this subject, and this is my opinion. Hybrids and Stripers feed on baitfish that is too big for all but the biggest bass. And many times they corral the bait in open water and push it up against structure where other fish join in on the haul. Also, it has been proven that over population of shad, which can happen in some waters, is more detrimental to crappie and bass because the fry out compete crappie and bass fry. This is one of the main reasons that hybrids and stripers were stocked, to control shad populations. Look at some of the Williamsport Blue cat lake reports. This is a 64 acre lake, Alphahawk has 100 crappie days on it and shell cracker and bluegill are abundant as well, and this is a fairly heavily fished spot. There are large schools of hybrids in there as well, many in the 8-12# range and many more in the smaller classes. The LM bass I posted a pic of was caught this year from there, check out their facebook page. Many trophy LM bass are coming from there, which may be a clue to the real problem. But if Hybrids were a problem, Williamsport would be a no-go destination. It is exactly the opposite. Many large catfish come from there as well. Anyway, take a good long look at the bass in the photo attached, and ask yourself "is he hurting for forage".

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by StriperFan

I have studied extensively on this subject, and this is my opinion. Hybrids and Stripers feed on baitfish that is too big for all but the biggest bass. And many times they corral the bait in open water and push it up against structure where other fish join in on the haul. Also, it has been proven that over population of shad, which can happen in some waters, is more detrimental to crappie and bass because the fry out compete crappie and bass fry. This is one of the main reasons that hybrids and stripers were stocked, to control shad populations. Look at some of the Williamsport Blue cat lake reports. This is a 64 acre lake, Alphahawk has 100 crappie days on it and shell cracker and bluegill are abundant as well, and this is a fairly heavily fished spot. There are large schools of hybrids in there as well, many in the 8-12# range and many more in the smaller classes. The LM bass I posted a pic of was caught this year from there, check out their facebook page. Many trophy LM bass are coming from there, which may be a clue to the real problem. But if Hybrids were a problem, Williamsport would be a no-go destination. It is exactly the opposite. Many large catfish come from there as well. Anyway, take a good long look at the bass in the photo attached, and ask yourself "is he hurting for forage".

I also have researched this since 2001. Bottom line is stripers and hybrids do not affect the other sport fish. They have done studies of every body of water in the USA that have these fish. They catch so many stripers...cut open the stomach and see what they are eating. While they did find the occasional other specie in them the overwhelming majority of their food intake was not other sport fish. I fish many bodies of water that have stripers...hybrids. I hear this story a lot about how good the crappie fishing was before the stripers were put in...or the bass fishing has gone bad....or some other specie being decimated by stripers. It is just not true. At Pickwick I hear this a lot from sauger....crappie fisherman...and on Kentucky Lake also. My reply to them is "I regularly catch my limit of crappie here...how much better can it be"? When I first read the statement about stripers Williamsport came to mind. The lakes there have 10's of thousand's of crappie....which are now getting some good size to them...it has a healthy Gill population of 7 and 8 inch Gills......and even though I don't fish for them the large mouth in there are huge....and quite prolific.....not to mention the catfish. My fishing confirms just what the biologist reports say....the stripers are hurting no other sport fish and are providing a great fighting fish to pursue.



Regards

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by StriperFan

Also, it has been proven that over population of shad, which can happen in some waters, is more detrimental to crappie and bass because the fry out compete crappie and bass fry. This is one of the main reasons that hybrids and stripers were stocked, to control shad populations.

Some think there is an issue with overpopulation of shad (alewives) in Dale Hollow contributing to the lower number of big smallies. The alewives were put in to give a food base for either the lake trout (which are now gone) or maybe walleye's but they out compete threadfin for food and reside too deep to be on the menu for all predators.

Striper would get huge in that lake but it would never happen. They'd have shad, alewives and trout to eat!

[agelesssone]

HARRUMPH!

WELL!

I guess that's one TROPHY largemouth that didn't get returned to the lake!

[j19bill]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

HARRUMPH!

WELL!

I guess that's one TROPHY largemouth that didn't get returned to the lake!

WAIT!!!!

I have to get some popcorn before this round begins...

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[agelesssone]

Originally Posted by j19bill

WAIT!!!!

I have to get some popcorn before this round begins...

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

Get two bags, it's gonna be a goodern!