tgard27

A 3 wt?! MAn I think that I would break my pole on some of these carp that I see out here, but I can understand that a shorter rod would help for accurate casts. I've doing some looking and I think that I'm going to try the little blue river, I know that longview lake is full of carp and big ones, I landed a 17 pound one on a bass pole last year. Thanks for the info and I appreciate the info on the flies. Good luck and tight lines! Travis

I'm beginning a crazy habit, fly fishing for carp. It started last summer when we were catfishing and I hooked into a good sized carp on a medium action pole, it took me all of ten minutes and three runs to pull this fish in. I love to go trout fishing and being out on a stream, but the fact that these streams are at least 2:30 hours away leaves me little hope of getting out more than once or twice a month. Anyone know any good flies or spots in KC? And I would be happy to meet up with anyone else who is crazy enough to try landing a carp on the fly rod. Travis

I'm sorry guys, but Easter weekend is a hard one to switch with someone. I'll call the officer back on monday and say bring them here as long as they behave. My mom wants to come down for the next one, so put one more person on the head count. I wish you guys the best of luck and a happy easter. I will be there on the next one. Travis

Ok, I've got some bad news. I'm not going to be able to make the first meeting . Being Easter weekend I'm having a hard time swapping shifts with anyone, but I will be there at the second meeting no matter what. But I’ve had a proposition that a person has made to me that I think that the participating members of the stream team should vote on. An individual called me that has some juveniles that need community service time. I am going to call him back tomorrow and ask him the details of these kids and if there would supervision included. I doubt that these kids are real bad, probably hill toppers and kids getting busted with alcohol. Let me know what your initial thoughts are and I will get back to this forum tomorrow with more details. Travis

I'm trying to find the report that I read on Iowas trout stocking program, when I find it I'll post a link. You may not believe it, but more than 20-30 percent of trout fry survive the stocking and following years. However, I don't see White Ribbon rivers as being put and take fishing, that is what we have Bennett, Montauk, Meramec and Roaring River for. White ribbon areas are streams that have trout populations subsidized by stocking, not trout that are stocked with the sole purpose ofbeing tonites dinner. The only way to crack down on poaching is to have a fulltime ranger employed to each of these streams, and at 40,000 a year I doubt that this would happen. I think that you would be suprised if MDC would try this for a year or so on a stream similar to Capps. And i don't think that Iowa is the only state that uses a stocking form of this manner. One more thing, no one gave Crane a flying chance and it was stocked as an accident, this stream turned out to be one of the pride and joys of MDC. Travis

Well, I'm not from Iowa. I do fish at white ribbon streams, like capps and hickory. The idea that I was bringing up is not for the idea of creating a reproducing stream, but to eliminate the problem people who wait for hatchery trucks to pull up and dump out the fish. And its not one poacher, more like a whole bunch in some streams. Trout have no stream sense when they have been reared in a hatchery, so stocking fry and letting them grow into adults would create this sense of smarts. Yes, there are a few hold overs in our white ribbons, but the idea that 1200 fish last only a few weeks is a sign that more than one or two people are poaching illegally.

So I have a question: does anyone object to the way that MDC does thier trout stockings for white and red ribbon stream throughout Missouri? I personally am not fond of the way that MDC stocks these white and red ribbon streams. My reasons are two fold: one, they put full grown adult trout into these streams which leaves these trout vulnerable to poaching from trout baiters ( I have no problem with people who catch and keep with bait, just don't keep over 4!) and reason number two is that people in these towns almost seem to know when these stockings will occur in advance(take Roubidoux for example). So I have a suggestion, and I am open for debate on this subject. Iowa stocks trout fry into their streams, giving each year a "hacthing" and creating a hybridized wild trout. The trout grow up in this stream and never see the stocking tubes that our trout in Missouri see. This would keep the paoching to a minimum as these "wild" trout are as spooky as real wild trout are. And this would also make it pointless of asking when the stockings are or seeing if you're buddy will give you stocking info in advanced. This would also have to help cut back on the expenses, so maybe MDC wouldn't had to cut back on stockings in the trout parks. Travis

Didn't get out there today, my friend needed some help moving. So I'm going out tomarrow, should be there from 8:30 to 2. You'll know that i'm there if you see a red neon.

This is why we're setting up a stream team. This is a beautiful park and needs extra protection from poachers and city trash. Travis.

Not trying to pirate this post but I like the idea of stocking fry instead of full grown fish. Iowa has had ver good results in thier streams, anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the fry living at least one year. This would cut down on the poaching and give the added appeal of a hybrid wild trout. I think that I'm going to post this on conservation issue. I'm planning to go tomarrow to Capps, hope that the roads aren't too slick there. Travis

I like the way that Iowa stocks their trout and I think that if MDC would pick this up it would cut down on the poaching, and maybe the cost. Each year Iowa stocks fry into thier stream, the surviving fry have the smarts of wild trout and aren't fooled easily by worms and cheese. Not only would this cut down on poaching, but it might cut down on the cost to raise the fish as well. Just thought that I would bring this up as I am tired of poachers as well. Travis

I was wondering if anyone thinks that Missouri will ever acquire new land for trout streams? I know that some guys were speculating that there was a possiblity for MDC to purchase land on Crane Creek. I was just wondering if anyone knows of any rumors. Travis

I think that we have to remember that there are going to be bad years at trout parks and for us to expect these parks to be at their best despite the rough economy and bad weather from last year is ridiculous. I suggest that we either enjoy what we have or find a new hobby. Remember, you're there for the pleasure of being away from work, or in some situations the nagging wife, so enjoy it!

Rich, I never said that I actually would want the MDC to change Bennett. I just said that I wonder what that stream would be like under different circumstances. Yes, catching fish is fun, regardless of what or how (as long as its legal). I think that the economy, not to mention gas prices which keep people from commuting for a nights stay. I have a hard time imagining that Bennet will somehow fall off; there is too much money to be made and too much already sunk into it. And there have been some floods which aren't good for raising trout. No, there aren't any native trout in Missouri, but there are streams that have housed wild resident trout for 100+ years. I was trying to state that taking away the urban program isn't the route to take, they have already cut back on this years stocking. This is a down year, these things happen. There are bad years for stocks, bad years for wine and bad years for raising trout. Tight lines and lots of smiles. Travis

Well hold on. My tax money goes into put and take fisheries and I live in KC. Yes, at times it seems to be pointless to put a fish in an environment that has no possibility to sustain life, but you have to realize that fishing is recreation, whether the fish is stocked in KC or Taneycomo. Also that my tax dollars goes to the MDC as well as anyone else, regardless of where they live. I could make the same argument for reducing spending in the trout parks, what's the point of having a bait and wait area? I know that the bottom line is money, but more people in the wild streams=more people marching thru the redds and less wild trout. Or for Roubidoux and Hickory, why are we stocking these streams when the residents poach the population to obliteration? Here's the deal, it's a down year. So what? The economy will come back and those who are upset at the down-sized stocking can get over it. What is writing MDC going to do? They are going to tell you that last years attendance was down and that they are basing their stocking total from last years figure. Not every tax dollar that goes into MDC has to go to the trout parks.

Crane is a one fish limit and the fish must be over 18". I urge you not to keep any fish our of Crane as this fish already has a hard time and Crane's a wild stream, no stocking trucks coming by. Capps is a little different, a daily limit of four, and only one can be a Brown, not to mention that the Brown has to be 15' to keep. No size limit on rainbows. Good luck, I think that you'll find more and bigger fish at Capps than Crane, you just have to discover the holes. Travis

I was there not more than a week ago and didn't notice too small of a number of fish. I've seen more fish at bennet, but I saw a ton of bows when we were in zone 1 by the handicap ramps. I have never really been a trout park fan because the large quantity of fish seems to take something away from the experience and the only time that I go is when my friend wants to get out on the stream. I'm not trying to rip trout parks by any means; they are fun and can lead to some interesting days on the water. But I have always had a curiosity as to what Bennet would be like if they stopped the trout park theme and tried to turn it into a wild stream. I don't even know if rainbows could reproduce in that stream, but I've always thought that would be cool as hell if they could. Travis.

Might have set it a littel too hard on two, it didn't seem to be too big and thats one of my bad habits. Tippets only a few months old and all the others happened after i had set the hook and started playing them out. I know that one was a good sized one, was pulling the drag on my 5wt like crazy and finally got me hung up some rocks. The other thing that I notice is that I always have some difficulty tying in the cold due to poor circulation in my hands. I was fishing big streamers, big for me at least, most of the afternoon to see if I could get into a lunker. Travis.

5x and 6x.

Went out to Bennett yesterday with my friend, we left KC at 9:00 and got on the stream at 11:50. Very cold and slow when we first started. Caught my first one on a tan scud up in zone one below the dam. The second one came on a size 10 white wooly bugger, a nice rainbow that easily measured 18'. Caught my first brownie at Bennett, nothing special but still a nice 14'-15' brown. Things got slow then until about two o'clock when a bwo started and I caught two more small rainbows on a size 18 bwo parachute. My friend had great success late in the evening on a copper john that he fished about four to six feet under an indicator. My friend and I both caught seven a piece, fun day with almost no one out there. The lady in the park shop was telling us that she was concerned that this might be another down year for attendance, I guess only time will tell on that one. I had a bunch of hook up's that ended in broken tippets, looking back I should've used a heavier tippet with the water being a little green. Good luck and tight lines, Travis

I agree. I think that you might be witnessing two things happenning at once: people overharvesting trout and the hatcheries having a rough year. I know that the winter stocking in Kansas City has been very weird this year. The first stocking was roughly 4,000 brownies in the James A Reed ponds, the second stocking happened a few weeks ago and I don't think that there is too many left. Its been a rough year for the hatcheries and this problem will continue to happen at Hickory until people start practicing a more reasonable harvest limit. Travis

Good grief Ollie. My question now is where are we going to put all of this debris and how are we going to get this stuff out of the stream? I'm sorry for not posting in a while, sometimes life gets a little too busy. I'm going to try to get the 11th off. Is there a landfill in the Neosho area? And if there is, do you think that they would allow us to put this stuff in their fill? Again, I'm not a Neosho nor Southwest MO resident so I'm not too familiar with the area. But this amount of garbage looks to be a challenge. Travis

That is great ollie. I know that thi will be time well spent and that our efforts will pay off. Great stuff, I can't explain how much this excites me. I know that I said I would go down to Hickory last thurs and take pictures but I caught a cold and couldn't make it. Looks like I'm heading down tomarrow, should be there by noon. If you see a red neon that is covered in dirt, it would be me. If anyone is interested in hooking up, pm me. I think that Hickory Creek Stream Team is a nice choice, simple and to the point. Ollie, I can't thank you enough for the help. Travis

Hey, I have a question since we are talking about crane and maps. The MDC has a map that shows the creek as being continously managed by the conservation department from the upper access at wire road to the lower access at grisham ford road. But, when I was at the creek a few weeks ago, there was a sign that said end of public use on the west side of Grisham Ford Road. This has me wondering why the MDC puts out such crummy maps, and makes me wonder where the stream is open for public use and where its privately owned?

You're right Chief; I haven't been down there since the week after the 4th of July. I was pissed about all the trash and the obvious signs of poaching, so I decided that I would rather drive an extra twenty minutes to get to Capps. Looking back on it, I think that I made a mistake by doing that, I feel that I abandoned the creek for a while. But this place is still special to me; it was the first place that I caught a trout on a fly rod. I'm going down there on Thursday, planning on walking just about the whole darn thing. The economy thing is tough, so maybe we can put that sponsorship thing on hold. I guess that puts us down to scheduling, I agree with Buzz in that we need to set a date right after the 4th of July. Other than that, I think we can schedule any other time that we feel would be prudent. One last question, does anyone else want to be a contact for the flyer?