World Class Browns

[Gavin]

If you want a 20lb brown...I'd head to Lake Michigan...the Ozark Tailwaters have a few but your chances are much better up there..I consider anything over 24" a great fish on the Current...Over 30" seems like a good standard for a tailwater. Cheers.

[laker67]

38.8lbs caught on a marshmallow / corn sandwich down in Arkansas.

Was it Huey Manley ?

Not long before the same thing happens here.

Probably gonna happen off your dock someday Phil.

Manley's fish came from the norfork and Collins 40 pound fish came from the little red. It seems odd to me that the white has never produced any fish of that size. I think 33 pounds is the largest from the white. NOT that 33 pounds is small by any means, but there are alot more river miles to grow and protect fish. Another interesting note, Manley's fish was not recognized by igfa because of the treble hook/bait combination. I don't know if I quite understand that or not. Could have been a miss quote in the article also. Anyway he caught his fish in 88, and the collins fish was caught in 92. The 33 pound fish from the white, in 77.

[Micheal Kyle]

When I used to work for the MDC the last survey in 2000 That I helped with on Taney we shocked up the biggest Brown That I have ever seen. After we took the measurements and I can not remember what they are exactly. By math the fish would weigh about 42lbs.

The big Brown came down by the old Conoco dock down by Fall Creek.

I would estimate that there are a lot of of 20-25 inch browns may be 1/50 browns. I would further say that for about every 200 there is is one that would go 15-20 lbs.

If the MDC would take the stand on Brown Trout like AG&F and make it 24inch to keep we could see a big numbers change.

[snagged in outlet 3]

30 inches is very hard to attain in our tailwaters. I've been fishing Taney, Norfork and The White for 25 plus years and I've had many fish over 25 inches but 30 is tough. I caught a 30 incher a few years ago on the Norfork and it was one of several I had hooked in the same area but the rest broke off. I'm talking fly rods here just to be clear.

I consider anything over 25 inches to be real trophy whether from a tailwater or freeflowing river.

SIO3

[Gavin]

25" works for me...20" trout just arent hard to come by....

[snagged in outlet 3]

Maybe Laker67 will chime in on this length discussion. He's fished a little in this area .

SIO3

[taxidermist]

MDC needs some genetic diversity in their browns. Dont think so?? Look how long the records stand and at the lower weights, yea there is a lot of pressure but sometime a large fish has to slip through the hooks to grow old.. BUt part of this falls onto the COE, for lack of water flow and low O2.

The COE promised the the trout fishing would replace the lost warm water fish. BUt they fail to allow enough water at time for the fish to live, killing the food chain.

[Murdoc]

If you all remember a year or so ago Laker67 and I had a stab at getting a min length limit on Taney. The MDC wasn't too interested in our findings. I don't know why. I'm up for another stab at it if anyone would like to help us.

[Phil Lilley]

If you all remember a year or so ago Laker67 and I had a stab at getting a min length limit on Taney. The MDC wasn't too interested in our findings. I don't know why. I'm up for another stab at it if anyone would like to help us.

Refresh my memory. What were your findings and how did you come by them?

Thanks

[brownieman]

If you all remember a year or so ago Laker67 and I had a stab at getting a min length limit on Taney. The MDC wasn't too interested in our findings. I don't know why. I'm up for another stab at it if anyone would like to help us.

Just speculation but IMO the mdc didn't show much interest because the findings were not their own...who knows.

later on