Where Are The Fish?

[trouthunter77]

ima havto add there wasnt many fish, and on top of it very few caught from anyone after 730 siren. i managed to catch 4 fish in 6-7 hours of fishing today, no real size. all came off a cracklback floating high on top. very slowww day for most anglers

[brittsnbirds]

NoLuck-

Like I told you I stayed down until yesterday (Tuesday). It got very crowded. The fishing wasn't any better.

I did some investigating as that is in my blood. Spoke with several people that have a vested interest in the park ($$$). Apparently during the meeting before the opener, the hatchery manager "Mike" led several locals to believe that Bennett and Montauk would be OK this year but the other parks are going to show significant reductions in numbers as well as size. In fact there was a mention that they were going to release 11" fish to meet the demand.

My question was why is there such a shortage? Their response was that they used 50,000 plus fish to stock KC and St. Louis lakes from Bennett, RRSP and Shepard of the Hills hatchery's. I thought they did the same thing the previous years. Still unknown why there is a shortage. The buzz around the stream about the shortage of fish was "the floods", "too warm water", "economics" and one very disgruntle gentleman complaining that the Hatchery Manager "Mike" ruined Montauk so they sent him up here 4 years ago, now he is doing it to BSSP.

Bottom line, there definitely is not as many fish as in the past. During my investigative quest, one of my sources even admitted that they do not stock all the normal locations every night. I thought they stocked the normal access points every time. Apparently that is not the case.

Several people encouraged me to write the Conservation Department. That may be an option. This may finally force me to head south and see what is happening down there.

Pat

[rcguy]

This does not sound good!

[drew03cmc]

It is a trout park. What do you really want? If your goal is to have a 30+ fish day every time out, that is your best location in the state, however, for size, which seems to be a common complaint, you are catching test tube trout, stocked at supposedly a set length. At Bennett, I have never caught a 12" fish to be honest, even though "12" is stocking length." That is a joke. They stock fish from 9" up.

I am sorry, to hear someone complaining about the size of fish in a put and take fishery, kind of irks me, but that is neither here nor there. These things go through cycles, and as far as I am concerned, it will bounce back.

Now, on spawning in BSSP, I doubt it. I have caught one 3" bow with parr marks, but I doubt he was spawned in stream.

[ozark trout fisher]

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.

That is a great idea. I think Bennett would make a great wild trout stream. Even if it wouldn't, they could maintain it with yearly stocking, which would free up more trout for the White Ribbon Areas, etc...I vote for yearly stockings of browns as well. I wouldn't have too much problem with turning all the trout parks into Blue Ribbon Areas myself, but I understand that wouldn't work for some But then again, the parks do have their own appeal, and I think I would miss them if they were gone. So I'm kinda split.

[DoveTail]

They release browns several times / year in Bennett and the river. I don't know the numbers, but one fall I think there were 5,000 browns released? At least that's what a board in the park store had on it - not certain of the numbers but it was high compared to periodic rainbow releases in the river of 300 fish or various numbers.

Making the park a wild stream would be good for those that like catch and release, but there are too many people and kids that like to go and bait a hook. With all the lodging and established concerns, they would have to justify for the masses and continue as is.

[drew03cmc]

The only park that could arguably sustain fish in the Blue Ribbon sense is Montauk. Maramec couldn't get close, Roaring River lacks the gravelly riffles and is separated in deep pools IIRC, and Bennett, well, it's Bennett. There is a reason that trout don't spawn at Bennett, and if they do, it is in extremely low numbers. There is something missing.

I would like the parks to stay pay to play, and personally, fish outside the parks for solitude and better fishing.

[mhall02]

Dad and I started about 5 minutes after the buzzer and did OK. I caugth 4 and kept 3 in about 3.5 hours, had 3 get off shortly after hooked. Caught 3 of the four on scuds under an indictor (grey and light brown). Dad did much better on his spinning rig. Caught 9 and kept four in about 4.5 hours of fishing. There were not as many fish visible to the eye as I've seen in the past, but fish were caught. One of mine had been in the stream for a while, nice color, white tips on fins, 12-13" long. The other 3 were fresh from the hatchery. Dad caught 2 or 3 in excess of 12", sorry to hear drew03mc you have never caught a trout in excess of 12" there. They are in there. Did not make it to the hatchery, I haven't in years so I wouldn't have any comparison to prior years (i.e. fish smaller than ususal, less of 'em, etc.), just went by what I saw in the stream.

[tippett7]

I would have to agree that Bennet is one of the toughest parks to catch fish in. If you like a challenge you will like Bennet.

[drew03cmc]

I know they are there, but honestly, I would rather catch a wild 5" fish than a 12" silver bullet.