troutfiend1985

I ran across this story today and thought it was interesting. Twin brothers have caught back to back world record rainbows out of the same lake. The kicker to this story is that the rainbows they caught were "triploids" meaning they have three sets of chromosomes instead of two, which also means they are sterile. Triploids grow larger than normal rainbows, I guess because they don't spend any of their energy preparing to breed because they are sterile. Both of these rainbows were from a hatchery that specifically bred these triploids because of their tendency to grow to gigantic sizes. The hyperlink that I attached has referred to these fish as being designed rather than bred, which I thought was interesting. This brings me to my question, should triploids count as a world record fish? Or are these fish the equivalent of the steroids in baseball, in that their genetic makeup is so different from a normal rainbow that triploids shouldn't count as a record fish. Please read the article before posting a response. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/biotechfishing/

Me too. You'll probably see me out there this spring. I see the hybrids chasing the shad around quite a bit. Hopefully I'll get one this spring.

It's here!!!! I thought a poll would be a good starting topic. I fish mainly for bluegill on a fly rod, but I also go for bass on the fly rod. Anyways, looking forward to seeing the results.

Thanks Lilley. Yes, Hybrids. Saw a dead one on the bank of one of the ponds and it was big. Could have easily put my fist in its mouth. Wanted to take a picture but didn't have a camera on me. Once again, thanks Lilley.

I'm prejudice about this, one because I live in Kansas City and the other because I don't have to do the work it takes to create a forum Personally I would like to see a test run maybe this spring. I know that the ice on the lakes doesn't have everyone out looking for largemouth bass and crappie right now, two species that are probably the most popular to go for in this area. This area also holds hybrid stripers that get pretty big and there are flathead catfish and channel cats among other things. Again, if it’s too much work I can understand, but I do know that I would post more often as I fish here about once a week on average, in the summer when school is out I probably fish here two to three times a week. I know for a fact that this is a very popular fishing area in KC I just think it might take warm weather plus a few people telling their friends about a forum on here to make it a popular forum. On the other hand there have only been a few posts on this link. However, its only been a few days. Also, there seems to be at least three people already interested and I’m sure that when spring hits there will be even more people that have heard about the topics on a forum for James A Reed. The forum will probably never be as big as the Busch forum, but I would be willing to bet that it would be fairly popular during the spring, summer and fall months. It’s at least something to consider. I’ll be coming down tomorrow to stay at your lodge for a couple days Lilley. My brother and dad will be joining me and we are looking forward to it.

As to number 1, I don't know. Did you notice that Roaring had a decrease in tags sold? That struck me as odd, I can understand Meramec because I have heard negative comments about this area, but I really like Roaring. This repart is also dated, the last survey year was 2001, so I wonder if the tags sales are representative of what 2008 and 2009. I read some of this and I would really like to see more managed areas and more catch and release seasons. The only catch and release area that I know of outside the trout parks is at Hickory during the winter.

I was just wondering if there was any way to get a link here for JAmes A. Reed Conservation Area just outside of Kansas City? I see there is a link for Busch in St. Louis, and I know that I'm not the only one who chases fish around James A. Reed. By the way, happy holidays.

Got there around 11 and didn’t catch anything until 1:30 on a sz. 16 dark olive nymph, caught 8 the whole day which isn’t bad considering that I haven’t fished in a few months. I saw a few risers, but very sporadic rises and not major enough to tie on a dry. Main catch was trout without a lot of color, probably recent stockers. But, I caught two that were loaded with color and they were by far the biggest. Stream was running well and I was hitting the pools right behind the runs and having success. On another note, someone was hunting out on the conservation area. I’ve never ran into that problem before while I was fishing and it was a little spooky because I was dressed in brown and black and I didn’t know if he could see me or not. It might be a good idea to pack a hunters orange hat with you just in case. Happy holidays.

I'm going down next week. And no, I won't be hitting the redds for spawners. With my lack of skills and the rust on my pole I'll probably spook all of the trout in Crane anyways. Nice pics.

All I know is that if we don't make some change in the way we conduct enforcement in Missouri, things won't change. I see individuals reporting breaches they see as being helpful, but not a cure. One person on here said they had called the hotline only to have the agent tell them that they were on the other side of the county. While constant reports would bring attention to an area, the person who is committing the violations will go free. This is a major problem in that the people who are poaching or overharvesting are getting away with it, and the lack of enforcement encourages this behavior. I encourage the reporting, but it shouldn't be a person’s duty. I do it out of my free will, but I don't have the same expectations to others. To me, the lack or enforcement is similar to the broken windows theory of criminology. Without some form of authority, the people committing these violations will tend to think that no one cares or that its not a big deal. Reasoning that if it was a big deal to over harvest or poach, their would be someone there to enforce the rules. Education is a great tool, but the problem with that is it also takes money. The other problem I see with that is you can't tell me in good faith that everyone who poaches does so in ignorance. Maybe at a trout park, where you get beginners and first time trout angler on the stream, I can understand this happening at Bennett or Roaring. But, when people are poaching a wild trout stream, a special management area for smallmouth or are hunting illegally, I find it very hard to believe that they do so without knowing that it is illegal. I think education has its purpose with the youth, get them started right at a young age. But when an adult is poaching, I don't know if there is a lot that can be done to alleviate this problem other than enforcement. If you look at the license fee, 12 dollars is not a lot of money. 7 dollars for a trout stamp isn't bad either. California charges 41 dollars. Iowa's is 17.50 for a standard license plus 11 dollars for trout, Nebraska is 26 dollars, Kansas is 20.50 dollars for a standard license plus 12.50 for trout. The only one that I could find cheaper than ours is Arkansas, 10.50 for a standard license plus 5 dollars for trout. So, while I don't want to pay anything close to California, nor do I want to pay any more for the same service, I can understand why we have an enforcement problem. Now, I only looked online for about 5 minutes in finding these fee's, but I would be willing to bet that our fee's in Missouri are one of the lowest around.

I can agree, I don't want to have an agent gunning for me, but I also don't want to have people poaching. I would like to see more enforcement as long as the agent was doing his job and not "exercising" his authority in an overly liberal manner. I'm sorry about the poll not letting you vote no, it wasn't my intention to rig a poll or anything. I want to see what the people really think. and if someone feels that they pay enough already that is more than acceptable. I voted yes, if and only if the money would go to enforcement. I don't want to see any more money go to our stocking program, we already have a pretty good one. I'd rather see more enforcement agents in the areas that need it. I also wouldn't want to pay more for the exact same thing that we are getting right now. Although I think the MDC generally does a decent job, I don't see the need to increase the fees unless they are going to use the increased revenue for funding enforcement.

It seems that there is a general grumbling that there is not enough enforcement. As one person put it, we need more boots in boats instead of more laws. My question is, are you willing to pay more money to have more enforcement? Thoughts are welcome as I know that the MDC considered raising the price of a license but met criticism.

Wow, what is your definition of wild then? This is the attitude that brings these problems to the surface. People treat a natural resource as if it doesn't matter, that mother nature or the magical cabinet of a local hatchery is sufficient to replace the fish. If everyone took this attitude to the stream, there would be no fish. So yes, lets treat them as if they were stocked and keep every fish that we catch. This would eliminate the problem of poaching because there wouldn't be any fish to catch. I personally fish barbless flies, practice catch and release and see no reason for the need to keep a trout from a wild stream i.e. a trout stream that’s population relies on natural reproduction. If you want to keep what you catch, that is fine, go to a trout park or a white ribbon stream. I like Chief's idea, report what you see. Bug these agents until they pay attention. I was initially hesitant when making the switch to barbless hooks, but I haven't noticed a difference. I have not lost more fish than I would have with barbed hooks, give it a try and see for yourself. As to this, lets not make more rules because we can't enforce the rules we already have, I think that’s a weak argument. That is the equivalent of telling the poachers that they have won. I know that this is coming out strong, but I'm tired of the law abiding people bending over for the people who take advantage of the laws. I hope that one day I run into a poacher on Crane one day. Poachers beware.

Hey, I have a couple questions. What's the biggest trout that you have caught, or have heard of being caught out of one of MO's wild trout stream? I had a guy try to tell me that he caught a 10lb trout out of crane. I just can't believe that, the creek doesn't seem large enought to support such a trout and the constant low water in the summer would probably stress a fish of that size. Granted, the guy told me he caught this fish over 20 years ago, I still can't see a trout of this size living in Crane.

You would almost think that MDC would close certain areas of Crane during the spawning season in order to protect this stream. I love to fish Crane, but I also realize that in order to fish this stream we must protect what we have. I know that Yellowstone closes its streams each year in order to protect the native cutthroats, something like this may be a way to protect the fish. Yes, I know that its just on paper and it takes enforcement to make sure that the trout are safe, but it gives enforcement another tool to protect this stream. It also gives a citizen a way of reporting poachers, as the agent would be able to respond to a citizens call that there is a person fishing on Crane during the restricted dates. Just a thought. By the way, awesome pics, I put one as my background.

Man!! I missed out, school sucks. My break starts on Wed and I know that they will be running. Oh well. Maybe I'll get to fish there some year. LOL

I think that I came off wrong here, I'm not concerned about the big wild trout, I just thought that the creek was beautiful. I was thinking of the wild trout creeks I have been too and couldn;t picture this one. Thanks.

What about a test before you get your trout stamp? You need to have a trout stamp to fish in the restricted zone, but to have a quick test that makes a person aware of the regulations that are necessary in order to keep trout might help. It would at least end the bs of someone saying that they didn't know of the regulations. I know that it seems like a hassel but it might be a way to curb the stupidity. Just a thought.

I saw this clip on youtube, I think its Jeremy Hunt fishing. I was wanting to know if anyone knows what stream this is. Nice fish. heres the address <

Might have been a public easement? I don't know, that property stuff can be difficult. If not, then I'm not sure what the agent was getting on. But I would have your friend check to see if that land had an easement on it.

Hi.

Cream midge sz 18-22, renegade sz 18-20, black beetles and hoppers. Cream midges seem to work well for me everywhere. Good luck.