laker67

At LOZ, this freezing is already occurring. Any areas protected from the wind, are skimming over at night. By the end of this coming week, I would expect to see ice 2 inches thick in these same areas.

Yeah right! That leaves a lot of room for debate. At least you were out there.

Glad you had a good start to the fishing year Buzz. I got out yesterday afternoon for my annual "catch the first crappie" of the new year. The crappie won this year, but I did hook up with a nice walleye. About 4 pounds and I lost him on top of water trying to land him.

Given the chance to choose any trout destination in the continental U.S., I would choose Missouri and Arkansas. You would be hard pressed to top what these two states have to offer. If you want size or just sheer numbers, they have it all.

I would be more than happy to catch any of these farmed out fish that you all don't care to fool with. To me, they would be a great addition to missouri. There would be no danger of cross breeding with any of "your" native fish. They might eat a few. As far as the record book classification, I don't know that I would care either way.

Man that's a bunch of fish! Glad you had a good trip Phil. Thanks for the report.

Hey! Quit going through that book! Out of the 5 that you are after, you probably picked the 2 that I have my sights set on. I hooked up with one last year, but he beat me fair and square. Good luck to you Micheal.

Between 05 and 07, all of the trout parks experienced reduced tag sales. It was so bad at bssp, that some of the local shops either closed, sold out, or considered selling out. Some like Larry's even cut back on hours of operation. Bssp had fewer and smaller fish in the creek. About this same time, taney recieved an influx of new fishermen. And they were not just the seasonal crowd, they were fishing year round. I know that alot of these new people were park fishermen because most still had park tags on their vests. Some say that it was based on the economy, but I say it had to do with the quality of fish available at the parks. Bssp has improved it's quality and quanity in the past two seasons probably out of necessity. This is a good topic. Thanks to everyone's response.

It would be interesting to know how they selected the survey people. The first time I heard of a limit reduction was around 03 or 04. At bssp they were requesting a voluntary reduced limit to aid in future stocking numbers. I was told that new hatchery additions were on the way, but it would be 07 before any increased production could start. This was told to me by Mike Mitchell at bssp. He said that voluntary limit reductions would allow them to continue stocking at the same rates. Well, we know that did not happen as well as no new hatchery renovations and additions. Somewhere around 04, the limits were reduced to four fish officially. If they surveyed anglers on the creek or by mail, I was not one either FW. As far as Meramec's declining trout tag sales, you're guess is probably the same as mine. It has never been a fly rod friendly stream. I think big numbers of fish were only released on holidays and derby days.

Having fished a few {i.e. trout streams} I think I'll stick with my methods.But thanks for the advice, your methods sound way too complicated for me.

Welcome to the forum. I once had the privilidge of being mentioned in one of your articles. It was a story about Howard's, "Uncle Joe". There are several great articles and pictures in the traveler.

Mistakes made by most people who want to learn to nymph fish is being too repetative. They have a tendency to fish the same six inch run of water over and over. The very most effective way to fish a nymph is to sight fish it. Fish where the fish are and watch for their reaction to your presentation. They will tell you if you have the correct fly or not. Mix it up in areas that you suspect hold fish, and do not make the same drift over and over. Start close and work your drifts out and down as you yourself change positions in the creek. Think of it like hunting, go to your target instead of waiting for it to come to you.

This pretty much says it all. Congrats T.J. I'm glad to hear that you caught a good one.

This is pretty much correct on any record certification, whether it be state, igfa, or national freshwater hall of fame. Weigh=in , length and girth has to be witnessed, and scales must go through a certification test. Plus a biologist has to determine the species. All of this certification also has to be notorized. The fish, especially an old fish, is pretty much dead meat after this lengthy process. As far as I am aware, no one recognizes a state or world record under C and R. They don't like to rely on the formula method. In the case of my fish, the formula was over 2 pounds off the actual weight.

I think at least one of you out there need a back up fly rod for christmas. Check the buy/sell/trade column for the sage xp that I listed.

Good report guys. The weather was off and on rain at loz as well. It makes for a tough day to spot fish.

Aw come on Drew. You just need some cold water therapy. Did you ever catch a 20 plus brown out of this fish tank? Whether it be by accident or on purpose, only a couple of handfuls of people have. Maybe it's not quite Argentina, but it's plenty challenging. Come on down, we'll give it a try.

That's exactly right Chief. This is the largest brown trout ever caught in missouri. Some respect should go with that title.

I was unable to locate anything related to the C and R. That would be a great asset for line class applications. Under the current requirements, your fish is pretty much a goner after weigh in and species ID from the biologist.

SOH aquarium at the hatchery visitors center.

Agreed!!! Alot of other states are jumping on the bandwagon. California, Michigan, New york just to name a few, and of course north of the border. Put some of those in the rivers, and they will be towing the drift boats upstream. I hope I see it in my lifetime.

It's like I mentioned to Bman a few months back concerning a huge smallmouth. It's not about the win/lost record. It's about the fair chase and how we play the game. You, ultimately were the winner.

I think I remember them trying to keep it alive. It is very difficult with an old fish. On the previous record, hatchery personel and a couple of others spent the best part of 5 hours trying to revive that fish. I'm sure alot of effort was put into trying to revive the current record. These record browns are near the end of their life cycle when they reach 25 to 30 pounds. I am alot happier to see an angler land a record fish, than to find it floating dead due to natural causes or the stress of the battle. Trout records are a big thing in missouri. Big browns are a big thing even if they are not records. Can you honestly say what you would do put in the same situation? This is a good topic for discussions.

Thank you Brian.

I asked a question earlier in this thread that I did not get an answer to. How many river miles in the BRTA ? Also looking at the 2009 population summary posted by Brian, it says browns have not been stocked in the BRTA since 94. My next question would be, do they continue to stock downriver in the red and white areas? Im talking about browns now, not rainbows.