Mdc Article

[denjac]

JEFFERSON CITY-For 50 years, Missourians have been thrilling to the

electric sensation of a surging trout at the ends of their lines at Lake

Taneycomo. Now moving into its second half-century, Taneycomo’s trout

fishery is more productive than ever, supplying not only fishing thrills

for visitors to the White River lake, but brown trout for the entire

Show-Me State.

At 2,080 acres, Lake Taneycomo is dwarfed by its neighbors -

43,100-acre Table Rock Lake immediately upstream and 45,000-acre Bull

Shoals Lake immediately downstream. However, its location makes it

unique among the White River reservoirs that stitch together

southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas.

For one thing, Taneycomo is the only White-River lake that lies

entirely within Missouri. It also is the only one that maintains a

discernable current throughout its 22-mile length.

From the time it was filled in 1913 until 1958, it was a warm-water

lake and supported fish native to the White River, notably smallmouth

bass, white bass, crappie and bluegill. The completion of Table Rock

Dam, however, changed things dramatically.

From then on, Taneycomo’s water came from the bottom of a 160-foot

pool of water. The temperature of this water stays between the low 40s

and the low 50s year-round. That is far too cold for smallmouth bass,

but it is excellent for trout. The lower end of the lake and its arms

fed by warmer tributaries continue to offer good fishing for smallmouth

bass and other native species. But the farther you go toward Table Rock

Dam, the less suitable the water becomes for native fish.

Anticipating the change from warm to cold water, conservation officials

built Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery beside Table Rock Dam as the

160-foot structure went up south of the sleepy little village of

Branson. The hatchery was in operation in 1958, when Table Rock Dam

began discharging cold water into Lake Taneycomo and through the

hatchery’s raceways.

No one with the Missouri Department of Conservation today is sure where

the first stocking of 700 rainbow trout released into Lake Taneycomo

came from. The Norfork or the Neosho national trout hatchery might have

supplied the fish. Whatever their origins, the rainbow trout grew

rapidly.

“Fish fed very heavily on the enormous numbers of fresh water shrimp

in Lake Taneycomo,” said Fisheries Programs Supervisor Mike Kruse.

“That was probably more than anything responsible for the very

rapid growth of stocked rainbow trout and the creation of a big-rainbow

fishery there.”

Within 10 years, anglers nationwide were flocking to Taneycomo to catch

5- to 10-pound rainbow trout. To keep up with demand, the Conservation

Department boosted the number of trout planted there each year. In 1980

the agency began stocking German brown trout, which grow to even larger

sizes than rainbows. Stocking peaked at 1.6 million rainbow trout in

1984.

At about the same time, the Conservation Department detected a gradual

decline in the number of big fish anglers were catching. Exploring

possible causes for the decline of the trophy-trout fishery,

Conservation Department researchers discovered that fish were getting

less food than they needed to grow well.

Fisheries researchers also learned that the lake’s freshwater shrimp

population was drastically reduced. Furthermore, anglers were removing

trout from the lake so quickly after stocking that the fish had little

time to grow. A 1991 survey showed that only one percent of the lake’s

rainbow trout were 13 inches or larger.

“We were exceeding carrying capacity of the lake’s food supply,”

said Kruse, “so in 1993 we backed off on stocking to 700,000 10- to

11-inch rainbow trout annually. That helped get the population back in

line with what the lake could support. At the same time, we changed the

stocking schedule from 80,000 per month to one that more closely matched

fishing levels, stocking more heavily in the summer and fewer in the

winter.”

In 1997 the Conservation Department implemented a 12- to 20-inch slot

length limit in the upper three miles of the lake. In this area, which

lies upstream from the mouth of Fall Creek, anglers are allowed to keep

only trout smaller than 12 inches or longer than 20 inches. Another

regulation limited fishing above Fall Creek to artificial lures and

flies. Trout tend to swallow natural or soft baits, resulting in more

deeply hooked fish that die when released.

Kruse said these changes let more trout survive and grow during peak

fishing months. They also reduced the number of fish that inhabited the

lake during slow fishing periods, giving freshwater shrimp numbers a

chance to rebound.

“We let them use the natural food in the lake and protected them so

they could grow to larger size,” he said. “It worked. Since 2002

more than half the trout in our samples were over 13 inches.”

Trout numbers increased, too. In 1996, before the regulation changes,

electrofishing sampling data showed a capture rate of 27 trout per hour

above Fall Creek. In 2006, the capture rate in the same area was 226.

That number has topped 300 in recent years.

The Conservation Department continues to monitor Taneycomo trout and

angler success so it can react to future management challenges. The

agency also is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the

Southwestern Power Administration to solve problems with low water flows

and low oxygen levels in water released from Table Rock Lake each fall.

The National Fish Habitat Initiative (see fishhabitat.org/) may provide

help with this effort.

The agency also has made improvements to increase the productivity of

Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery. A new fish ladder at the upper end

of Lake Taneycomo allows hatchery personnel to effortlessly catch brown

trout that swim upstream in the fall trying to spawn. These fish serve

as brood stock for all the brown trout raised in Missouri hatcheries.

At Taneycomo alone, the Conservation Department stocks 10,000 to 15,000

brown trout annually. A lake-wide 20-inch minimum length limit protects

Taneycomo browns, which can grow to more than 30 pounds.

Anglers 16 and older need a valid fishing permit to fish at Lake

Taneycomo. That is the only permit required to fish below the U.S.

Highway 65 bridge. However, you also need a Missouri Trout Permit to

fish above Highway 65 or to keep trout you catch anywhere on the lake.

“Lake Taneycomo above Branson is almost exclusively a trout

fishery,” said Kruse. “The only fish you are likely to catch

there are trout, much like a trout park, and in a trout park everyone

who fishes, regardless of age needs a trout tag. Rather than institute a

daily tag system it made more sense to require people fishing the upper

part of the lake to have a Trout Permit.”

Taneycomo’s constant water temperature means fishing is good

throughout the year. Fall is especially popular because brown trout move

up the lake in October trying to return to Shepherd of the Hills

Hatchery, where they were born.

The lake never freezes, so you can fish Taneycomo year round. Summer

air temperatures are moderated by the large mass of cool water.

“It’s a great place to be in the heat of summer, because that mass

of cold water being released from Table Rock Lake acts like a giant air

conditioner. It can be 100 degrees in Branson and you can go down on the

lake and be comfortable.”

Power generation activity at Table Rock Dam makes a big difference in

the fishing environment. During periods of low water flow - when Table

Rock’s power plant is not operating - anglers can fish from gravel

bars. During peak generation periods, water covers gravel bars and turns

the entire lake into a large river. Then you can use a boat to drift and

dangle bait below the mouth of Fall Creek or drift-fish with artificial

flies and lures in the upper 3 miles.

For information about water flows at Lake Taneycomo, visit

waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?07053500, or

www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/plots/Web/tab.htm, or call

866/494-1993.

[drew03cmc]

I have one gripe here..."In 1980

the agency began stocking German brown trout, which grow to even larger

sizes than rainbows"

They do? I believe the world records of the two fish would care to fight this out...

Rainbow-43.6lbs

Brown-40.4lbs

Now, I do not doubt there are larger fish of both species around, but thus far, that statement is not true...

Otherwise, way to go printing things that were printed two years ago in MO game and fish.

[Ryno]

Another thing to think about is, that world record rainbow is likley a triploid fish escaped from a near by hatchery. The genetic modification allows them to grow larger and quicker than normal.

[drew03cmc]

The lake where this fish was caught, the catchers of it, had caught numerous 30+# fish before, so it is not an anomaly in this fishery...just a VERY large fish. Likely about to die anyway, but nice catch.

[jdavis]

I would be interested in knowing if the changes have had any positive impact on the fresh water shrimp population. If there decline was one of the reasons for adding the restrictions, did it work?

[Chief Grey Bear]

Otherwise, way to go printing things that were printed two years ago in MO game and fish.

I have yet to see the issue it was printed in or find it on their web page. I'm not saying it wasn't printed, just not any time recently.

I do wonder if the Mo Game & Fish article was authored by Spencer E. Turner. He spends a lot of time in Columbia and Jeff City getting info to print in that mag.

[drew03cmc]

Yeah, it was roughly two and a half years ago and printed in Nov if I am not mistaken...but you know how that goes

[Trav]

Funny

I thought the shrimp were basically extinct. Maybe I am wrong.

The rest of the article just proves my point that all we need is a giant glass window to complete the fish bowl. While we are at it, lets put dispensing kiosks so the tourists can pay a quarter to feed the fish. Maybe the money can pay for an extra game officer or two.

As far as the sizes mentioned, I have been fishing the lake for three decades and have yet to catch a bow over 10 pounds. I am a very astute brownie man and have yet to locate any over the low teens. And have heard of only a handful over 15. My average(out of hundreds caught) is between 3 and 8 pounds. Nowhere near the 30 pounds that is rumored.

[denjac]

The article I posted I just recieved in the MDC newsletter. It could have been an old article the reused. Don't know. The topic was Taneycome was 50 years old.

[Greg]

I'm pretty sure it is an article from a few years ago reprinted. But regardless it was interesting to read it again. Thanks for posting it.

I'm also pretty sure the freshwater shrimp are not extinct. They just are not present in the same numbers as they were several decades ago.

Regarding sizes I think that even though genetically rainbows have the potential to get as big as browns - in general they don't in MO for a variety of reasons including the way they are stocked, their natural wariness, etc. Just my opinions of course.

Greg