drew03cmc

GloryDaze, every time someone posts a picture of a big trout that was kept or killed, this topic comes up, so the regulars are tired of the debate of catch and keep vs catch and release. I, frankly, have no problem with keeping a trout in Missouri from a stocked stream. They are not native, cannot reproduce and are of little ecological value. In the few streams, in Missouri, where trout are entirely self-sustaining, they deserve to be released to spawn. Taneycomo isn't a stream where trout can subsist on their own, and as such, the trout are little more than lobsters waiting to be boiled in a restaurant. You even get to pick your dinner like in the fancy restaurants.

We are gonna have to set that up!

Chief, them darn rainbow chubs will keep you busier than trout oftentimes.

How do you get close enough to the musk oxen to cut their testicle hairs? That is a dangerous ordeal.

Congrats Dylan. Them Pecker Gnats are lethal on wild trout, eh? Nice fish!

I cannot follow that Chief. Taney has been labeled as imperiled, and I am almost certain that is for the lack of sustainability that the salmonids have. The state continues to spend all this money on an imperiled stream and it baffles me.

Your original post used the word indefinitely, and that is incorrect, however, I see your point.

They cannot survive indefinitely without reproduction. Death is pretty definite.

Eric1978, you mentioned that trout can survive indefinitely in Taney. Is there any reliable record of successful spawning in Taney? No. Therefore, trout can survive only until the last silver bullet croaks or gets caught and fried. After that happens, no more trout. Take James A Reed in KC for example. I have caught rainbows, brown and bass on the same day. Those trout were almost sickly looking and definitely malnourished. That is neither good, nor endearing for that fishery. These fisheries are stocked, warm-water fisheries, that tolerate coldwater fish for six months of the year. In my opinion, any National Sportfish funds should be spent on native species in native habitats, so the answer to the title question is NO. There is no question about it; wasting these funds on artificial fisheries for the sole purpose of attracting tourists and the like to the state is just preposterous. There is nothing on Taney to attract anyone other than the prospect of catching someone's pet trout? That's right, the geniuses behind stocking the trout at absurd levels years ago didn't place any consideration on the fact that the trout, in the upper half of the lake, would outcompete and outpopulate the natives, thus causing their numbers to dwindle to their current state. Someone in this thread mentioned that brown trout aren't even from this continent, which is true, but in waters where no native species are being displaced and they can sustain themselves, I feel they are occupying a space in the food chain that was previously vacant. I am all for turning fish loose in a waterway and seeing if they can survive on their own, without repeated stockings. Take the Crane rainbows, they haven't been stocked in decades. Turn trout loose, and if they die, call it a loss and move on. Please, MDC, CONSERVE our native species of fish.

Why would one be angry about the MDC using SFR money on an artificially sustained fishery (albeit a cash cow), instead of improving degrading habitat on streams like the Bourbeuse, James, etc? Trout haven't historically been found in Missouri and are only able to subsist on their own in extremely small numbers. The added habitat will not improve the spawning success of Taneycomo trout. You have to remember you are fishing in a lake, a lake, whose water levels are affected by power demands as well as by water levels on Table Rock. Just keep that in mind, and know that adding habitat may improve holding areas for this truck load as Chief said, but in the future, in the absence of stocking, there is no fishery.

That looks like fun!

Smallmouth live in the park all year long. They can be found in many of the deeper pools in the lower park all year.

Okay, I will fall in line, Taney is God's gift to the Ozarks I would have just assumed that the NFWF would rather contribute to a native species or a native habitat restoration than something of this nature. That is my fault, nobody else's. On with the thread. I will watch from the sidelines on this one.

Phil, in my original post, I commented on that the spending of that money on this fishery, could be better allocated, but that was, of course, taken as me slamming the Taneycomo fishery. That was not my intention, but, it was taken that way.

Smallmouth have in the past, and still do use the spring branches of our trout parks, due to either warmer or cooler water through times in the year. Missouri had native walleye in the White River, where Taney is now. The population in Taneycomo has gone to the toilet, along with the smallmouth population. Those are two species that have been displaced from their natural homes, yet, the state, does not manage or stock them. I guess it all depends upon what you want to fish for and where you wish to do it.

You speak before you know anything. I am from Missouri, born and bred, will be moving back. I still pay personal property tax in Missouri, buy tackle in Missouri, buy licenses in Missouri, yet, my tax dollars mean dung to you? Tough. Taneycomo is a farce. It is a hatchery sustained trout fishery with little to no natural reproduction, not much different than a trout park. This comparison is warranted due to crowds, density of stocking, average size of fish and darn near size of fish. The parks all hold fish over ten pounds, and as has been displayed, Bennett and Roaring River hold fish over 15. It is a glorified fish tank with hatchery fish in it. I know it fishes well, however, it does not get as much national press as the White River tailwaters in Arkansas, which do have self sustaining brown trout, the San Juan in New Mexico, which holds some naturally reproducing trout or even the Dream Stream in Colorado. Why is this? It is an artificially sustained fishery. Any sportsman worth their salty craws appreciates self sustaining quarry more than something artificial. Is hunting stocked quail like hunting the native, wild quail? It appears that the state of Missouri, has blinded you to the value of native species and natural settings. Go chase a creek born smallmouth and tell me that trout are the more sporting species.

That meanmouth was a bad A looking fish. Nice catch!

This post will probably be met with angst from some from the Taneycomo area, but here it goes. Instead of adding "habitat" to a lake that is overstocked with trout that are incapable of sustaining themselves, why doesn't the MDC spend their sportfish restoration funds on helping native species that have been displaced by stocked fish, or restoring a native species to a water where they have been extirpated? No, the MDC sees dollar signs rather than what is best for a fishery or for a state from a fishery standpoint. The state could, or should, depending upon your viewpoint, spend their money on native species that are facing hardships due to the degradation of habitat or invasive species. MDC seems to favor the cash cow trout above and beyond those native species like black bass, catfish, walleye, etc.

Not quite. If it were indeed in its purest sense, the fish would be indigenous to this region, county, watershed and creek. They are not, however, indigenous, but it is indeed good wild trout fishing.

If momma wasn't sick, I would come down again. I enjoyed Capps, but this time, I would leave the fly rod at home and bring the jigs, Ollie-style. Anywho, be sure to post some pictures of the fish caught, or at least some good fish stories.

Chief, I just caught the rainbow chub comment...lol. I am a little slow sometimes.

I am in the minority here, but if what I read is true, before length limits, before browns and before Powerbait, Taney had massive rainbow trout. Now, with browns, there are nice fish in the lake of both species, but both are hatchery managed, and if someone takes a 13" brown or bow from the lake, in a month or two it will be restocked, so I don't see the loss there. If someone takes a 20 pound brown, it would be tragic to some (not me, stockers are stockers, no matter how big), however, it was not a wild fish, and does not have the value (IMO) of a wild fish. The MDC focuses on deer during deer season because it is a cash cow, possibly more so than the state's artificially sustained trout fisheries. Frankly, fishing on Taney would be nice due to the size of the fish, but it would not have the same allure as chasing a wild rainbow on any of Missouri's wild trout creeks. I would estimate that the state spends more money on trout annually than they do on deer, especially over the last three years. I would suggest opening up the regulations to allow bait in the upper lake, to the dismay of most fly fishermen on here, but that would make some of these things, that are constantly griped about, moot. Several members on here make Taney out to be the best trout fishery in the world and while, for size of fish, it is a decent fishery, it is not in the same class as the fisheries out west that possess trout naturally and are not completely reliant upon hatchery fish. Love Taney for what it is, do not make it out to be something it isn't.

Chief, it is those types of challenges that keep me coming back!

We agree afterall!

Thanks all! To answer all the questions, the Rapala I was using was a floater in the 2" size. I removed the front treble hook to ease release of fish, and haven't lost a fish after solid hookup yet. The picture of Little Chief and I fishing the creek was on Shoal IIRC. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for Buzz and Chief's hospitality and cannot reiterate enough that if you have a chance to fish with these two (three including Dylan), please do not pass on it. You will regret it. That Ozark Bass was fun to catch as he smashed that Rapala then gave a nice account of himself in the fast water. We caught over 8 or 9 species of fish between the two waters and four of us including a couple of NICE largemouth and at least one really nice smallmouth. This was the most fun that I have had fishing in a long time and cannot wait to fish with you all again! Thank you again guys and we have to plan a float as well as some more crick fishin'.