Trout In Missouri

[ozark trout fisher]

One thing you can always count on from me Al, we may have minor dissagreements on our journey but, I assure you, we have the same destination! I will meet you there. Rod in hand.

You are absolutely correct Greg. I couldn't agree more. It just seemed kind of odd to be scolded like a redheaded step child when I was the one giving the info/opinion. Wouldn't you agree?

I think I've made it clear I have no interest in perpetuating this argument further. It is quite likely I misinterpreted your posts.

In my opinion, everything's good. Agreed?

[Chief Grey Bear]

Yeah sure. I told you I would take you fishing if you ever come down this way. And yes I will pass you a beverage from the cooler as I stated earlier. And those offers still stand. For anyone. I am really not the A-hole that I can make myself out to be. Well...sometimes.

I know it turned from a conversation into a debate but, that was not my intention.

[hank franklin]

Al, my "campfire opinion" if you will (admittedly anecdotal but based on 30+ years of running around the Bourbeuse) is that the river really hasn't changed much, at least above Mayer's Landing or Reiker's Ford. Melody Lake is the only large development I'm aware of in the last generation. It's likely that land use practices have improved, due in large part in my opinion to the Soil and Water District efforts, as well as CRP and other such. The Clean Water Act has helped too (Red Oak Creek for example was a sewage wash for years but will be cleaned up considerably with the new Owensville sewage treatment.) Stream Teams have done their share, etc. I definitely recall more trash in the river when I was a kid.

I feel the "elephant in the room" these days may be the effect of ag runoff. I don't know much about it and really haven't seen much research, but I don't think there's much question that the fertilizers and herbicides, pest control etc. used these days are super-powered compared to 30 or so years ago. What effect this may have on water quality, stream habitat, and spotted bass, I have no idea, but my gut feeling is that ag runoff is the thing that HAS changed significantly in the past generation.

I wonder if you've heard much discussion in the regulatory community about it. I hear a lot about point source problems in the circles I travel, and a share of grumbling from these folks when it comes to non-point. (To be fair I've also heard some non-point grumbling, these guys saying they're heavily regulated too.) I really don't know where the science is on this, but like I say, if you're sitting around the campfire trying to put your finger on what HAS changed in the past 30 or so years, this might be it.

[fishinwrench]

I feel the "elephant in the room" these days may be the effect of ag runoff. I don't know much about it and really haven't seen much research, but I don't think there's much question that the fertilizers and herbicides, pest control etc. used these days are super-powered compared to 30 or so years ago.

I was under the impression that every chemical in circulation had been "watered down", or to borrow a term from the drug cartel, "cut".... from the potent chemicals of the past. Often to the point that certain products that used to be effective are practically worthless now.

I know that bleach, detergents, fuel, cleaners, bug spray ect. ect. are way less potent (hence more "safe") than they used to be.

So I don't know how the farming industry could have avoided it.

[Al Agnew]

I'm guessing that ag run-off is probably a greater problem on the Bourbeuse than on most other Ozark streams. There is simply more farm land in the watershed than in much of the Ozarks. However, a lot of streams in SW MO and NW AR have greater problems with factory poultry farm pollution. "Non-point source" pollution is the least addressed water pollution problem in general, because it isn't as easy to regulate as something coming out of a pipe. Whether it be simple siltation problems from erosion of farmland, pesticides and herbicides, spreading sewage treatment residue of farmland (both human residue and the residue from factory farms), or run-off from heavily pastured lands, there's no doubt that it's a problem and a growing one. And it is one that isn't really being addressed at anywhere near the levels it deserves.