tjm

that doesn't seem like " far southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas" to me. So all three times the same string or are these different groups being launched?

Understood that but the fry would be the same size with the same capabilities and same nutritional needs. It's funny that I've seen tiny fish in quiet eddies of streams many times and never thought of "why?".

So, if the wild trout spawn in moderately fast flows, most of the young must be redistributed far downstream? and any survival at all is kind of a miracle ... yet by the fingerling stage they survive air drop stocking in alpine lakes, remarkable.

That is a lot less flow than I would have imagined for the fry, almost stagnant compared to waters where I've taken 3" trout on flies.

I would not have guessed a tail water could get that warm in winter months, even in summer months; but I have zero knowledge of them other than some fishing below Beaver and it seemed that then at least the water was always cool. I can't remember taking temp readings though. I can see though given that temperature in the fall that rainbow would have an advantage of end of winter cold spells.

If fry or fingerlings did escape from a hatchery, would they most likely travel upstream or downstream? and just as importantly, how far from such a source would we expect to find parr?

in that case it should be mandatory for all tourneys to require it.

So we're saying that Mo. waters are warmer than Ar, Va, etc.?

It is surprising that the fish haven't always run away from noise generators. Are there any studies showing that the sonar is not harming the fish nor interfering with their spawning?

In the feeder streams does not surprise me so much, I've caught parr in a few of the stocked creeks and we know that rainbow are naturalized in some other creeks. But the pond weed in the lake wouldn't be very important to fry up in a creek. Now I will be wondering what in our water the browns can't adapt to. They seem to adapt to most other places.

That is interesting Phil, where do they find suitable spawning areas? I had thought that they required stable flows in <4' of water? or are they using a feeder stream?

Surely the best fish is tinned salmon? wild caught and processed in AK by migrant workers? although those Polish sardines packed in water are close.

That would have had me backing out at the beginning. Although I know the roads in the west are better now than in the '70s, I still would have insisted on something with off road capability, based on memories of 70+ miles of rutted mud to feed cattle, and two hours off pavement to camp and fish for stockers. Something with two spare tires too. Maybe I'm an optimist but over all your adventure sounds about like I imagined it when you were planning it. A lot of territory in a short time. Plus unusual weather all year and they have new snow already in Ca.

Yeah, you said not 100%, and I can see them not listing one if it hasn't been reported, even if it's common, but I asked if they listed only reported species because they list a lot more species in this ditch than I was aware of, and it made me wonder how they got the list. Nice resource at any rate.

I was not aware of FishMap.org, do they list all possible species for a watershed by geography, or only those reported to there?

The other day when there was a problem uploading; links still worked. Must use a different set of gears or pulleys to lift the file right out of a machine.

I haven't been to any of the other parks to fish in a lot of years, hard to recall what Montauk was like 30 years ago, but I picture a natural stream in my memory. Been through BSSP a time or two more recently, maybe two years ago, didn't like the look of it. One fish per tag or twenty fish per past years tag, it would automatically get loaded up for every long weekend. Those weekends always sell more tags, so next year on that day they stock more fish. New stockers are mostly gone in the first hour, I think and any fish I catch after noon seems to have creek colors rather than raceway colors. I've only been there a few times this year and didn't fish hard those days, unlike past years, when I was there often enough that the locals seem to recognize me. Actually haven't fished it much in the past three years.

I wasn't aware they published the stocking numbers daily, but with the stockings continuous throughout the season based on tag sales there should always be about the same number of fish in the spring run. 100 fish seems low, that would indicate a past year's sale of only forty tags. But the week school starts is likely one of the slowest weeks for parks, and mid week that might not be unusual. Given the numbers of people I've seen there over the past 3-4 years, it's hard to believe they had a day with that few tags. That stream is different fishing than it was years ago and I blame that on dredging, The more canal like that they make it the less I like to fish it. Of course the canal will hold more fish the bare banks hold more "anglers" per foot. I'd pay double for tags if they let the creek go wild and plant the banks with overhanging bushes. trout like shade. I'd also like to see tag numbers there limited to about 200 on any single day, so that everyone has a space around them and the weeds can grow.

Any activity is work if you do it as a job. I have no doubt that fishing could be made tiresome. But, I have zero empathy for these guys, they set the rules up this way and they could easily change them to 4 hours per day or 6 hours per day, or what would be the right thing; to take the first 5 keepers and stop. Tough or Greedy? who forces them to play?

Sounds like they are overworked so the laws need to be changed for the anglers safety and the fishes, tournaments should be restricted to eight hour max days with enforced breaks. So that the anglers don't have to repeat the same work over and over they should follow the same regulations that real people have to and either release every fish immediately or count it toward their limit. As soon as the angler has kept a limit that angler should return to the weigh station and he will be related from that day's work upon completion of weigh in. Allow anglers to compete in another tourney only after they have had a minimum of three days rest and are cleared for work by a responsible person. Practice days should be limited to five hours on the water so that the angler does not become overtired or injure himself. Probably transportation between ponds and games should be provided for each angler so that they arrive safely and are not fatigued on game day. Don't these poor people have Union representatives??? Where is Jimmy Hoffa when he's needed?

I don't have any Brown Trout experience.

Never saw his videos, not sure that video even existed at the time (think that was the year PCs were first sold) and I've never watched any movies he might have stared in either, I read books. no offense to you. Actually in his case only one book. I was stupid enough though to buy into his mono rig nymphing, which didn't really take the world by storm at time, did conquer the world a few years later when Vlad took it to the competitions. I caught a lot of fish that way and didn't have a lot of fun doing it. I was being a bit facetious, because it used to be widely held that the larger browns fed mainly in the dark, and more often than not only on other fish. And of course like many other fish browns are opportunistic feeders at any time that any food presents itself. I've caught more big bass at might but an awful lot of them are taken days too. Obviously the OP images weren't at night and they did well. I've never really targeted them nor have I caught many of them, actually the few that I've seen caught were on some kind of bait. I think maybe the few browns they stock at RRSP or Capps Creek are probably the only places I've even been exposed to them. Oh and the Beaver tailwater, but I never saw any there in the few years I fished it regularly. You guys carry on.

I thought brown trout only ate at night? that was my biggest take away from "Trout Tactics" that and using Humphreys' own brand of flat mono in place of fly line. I've always wondered if he commissioned Cortland to make that stuff for him or if they paid him to sell it. Never really caught on I guess, who else used Cobra fly line?

2022, first phase was/is field investigations, surveying, flow monitoring, geotechnical investigations, locating utilities, and development of a groundwater test wells - that kind of work doesn't leave much sign. The construction phase begun this year is estimated to take two years to complete. and that will vary with the weather if it's like any construction I ever worked on. Rain, wind, snow, extremes of heat and cold are all delaying factors when digging and pouring concrete. And in my 45 years every project has had changes made half way through that typically extend the time. It should be operation in '25? Only time will tell.

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