Lunker Release Program

[drew03cmc]

Someone said that an 18" fish shouldn't weigh 3#, but I caught a 17" fish Saturday at Lake Shawnee in Topeka that was WELL over 3#. This fish was built like a football and fought like one.

[laker67]

Someone said that an 18" fish shouldn't weigh 3#, but I caught a 17" fish Saturday at Lake Shawnee in Topeka that was WELL over 3#. This fish was built like a football and fought like one.

I said "most trout" will not make 3 pound. You are surely not talking about a trout in Kansas. In the trout parks, gut feeders take on that shape.

[brownieman]

Pose a question to you guys.

Far as trophy size fish everyone has an opinion and no-one is really wrong just personal preference.

Which of the following would be more of a trophy.

A 6 pound smallie

A 10 pound rainbow

A 15 pound brown

I would take the smallie...what say you all ?

[ohmz138]

Pose a question to you guys.

Far as trophy size fish everyone has an opinion and no-one is really wrong just personal preference.

Which of the following would be more of a trophy.

A 6 pound smallie

A 10 pound rainbow

A 10 pound brown

I would take the smallie...what say you all ?

Either the smallmouth or the rainbow but right now im hunting for a nice rainbow.. both would definitely be a catch!

tight lines

Matt

[laker67]

My personal preference would be for the rainbow because I only trout fish. 10 pound rainbows are alot more rare than 10 pound browns. You should make that mark higher for the browns. Maybe 20 pounds.

[brownieman]

My personal preference would be for the rainbow because I only trout fish. 10 pound rainbows are alot more rare than 10 pound browns. You should make that mark higher for the browns. Maybe 20 pounds.

I'll split it with ya laker, lol...does sound better

[Murdoc]

Ok lets back up a little and look at what they are trying to do with this patch program. How many trout fisherman have fished all the State Parks in Missouri? I haven't. I've never fished at Meramac and have never caught a lunker at Bennett or Montak. I think it would be really great to be able to spent time hitting all the parks enought to catch a good fish at each. What do we all go fishing for mostly? To try and catch a big fish. Bass fishermen fish for the one that will break the record. It's the thrill of that next hook set might have a huge fish on. Some people like to eat fish also. Nothing wrong with that. I find it exciting to go to Taney and Roaring River and see a nice fish laying there waiting for me to try and out smart it. I've tried for several years to go to all the State Parks in one year and save the tags. I think it would be thrilling to do that let alone catch a nice fish at each park. It doesn't take much to make me happy I guess. Remember the simple things in life are some of the best things.

Love to fish and love to live.

[catman]

Ok lets back up a little and look at what they are trying to do with this patch program. How many trout fisherman have fished all the State Parks in Missouri? I haven't. I've never fished at Meramac and have never caught a lunker at Bennett or Montak. I think it would be really great to be able to spent time hitting all the parks enought to catch a good fish at each. What do we all go fishing for mostly? To try and catch a big fish. Bass fishermen fish for the one that will break the record. It's the thrill of that next hook set might have a huge fish on. Some people like to eat fish also. Nothing wrong with that. I find it exciting to go to Taney and Roaring River and see a nice fish laying there waiting for me to try and out smart it. I've tried for several years to go to all the State Parks in one year and save the tags. I think it would be thrilling to do that let alone catch a nice fish at each park. It doesn't take much to make me happy I guess. Remember the simple things in life are some of the best things.

Love to fish and love to live.

Well said Mark..

[drew03cmc]

I said "most trout" will not make 3 pound. You are surely not talking about a trout in Kansas. In the trout parks, gut feeders take on that shape.

I most certainly am. We have HOLDOVER fish in Kansas in at least three locations. One is Lake Shawnee where fish are known to at least summer over for two summers, probably more. The state record bow was over 9# from Shawnee. Is a gut feeder a large trout? Sure is.

Now...I consider a trophy rainbow from a park 25", from a stream that isn't a park, 20" or 18" in some waters like Crane. For brown trout, a true trophy is 30"+. Smallmouth, anything over 20" is nearly trophy size. Largemouth, add about four inches to that and it's close, depends upon location.

How many 15# browns have you caught? Enough to become jaded by them? I doubt it. Fish like that are rare most places. 10# rainbows are not near as rare as one might think. They can be caught in MANY streams around Missouri, definitely all along the west coast from Oregon through Alaska. Asia holds many streams harboring rainbows of that size, many of which have no names.

15# browns, on the other hand are not common anywhere. You can undoubtedly catch them in Europe, probably the Isles, and occasionally in the Smokies, foothills of the Rockies, spring creeks in the Driftless Region and tailwaters. The brown is also more skittish by nature than the rainbow.

[laker67]

Ok lets back up a little and look at what they are trying to do with this patch program. How many trout fisherman have fished all the State Parks in Missouri? I haven't. I've never fished at Meramac and have never caught a lunker at Bennett or Montak. I think it would be really great to be able to spent time hitting all the parks enought to catch a good fish at each. What do we all go fishing for mostly? To try and catch a big fish. Bass fishermen fish for the one that will break the record. It's the thrill of that next hook set might have a huge fish on. Some people like to eat fish also. Nothing wrong with that. I find it exciting to go to Taney and Roaring River and see a nice fish laying there waiting for me to try and out smart it. I've tried for several years to go to all the State Parks in one year and save the tags. I think it would be thrilling to do that let alone catch a nice fish at each park. It doesn't take much to make me happy I guess. Remember the simple things in life are some of the best things.

Love to fish and love to live.

Well Murdoc, we got a little sidetracked. As far as your question, yes, I have fished all of the trout parks. I would have guessed that you had also. You are not missing alot at Meramac. Mostly slow water and deep holes. As far as the lunkers go, I have caught at least 10 lunkers at each of the parks with Meramac coming in at the bottom of the list. I have only fished Meramac 10 to 15 times in the past 30 years. Going around to all of the parks in the same year would be a goal to set. Getting a nice fish at each would be a bonus. It is hard for me to get away from taney long enough to fish the trout parks anymore.