Could Taneycomo Be A Smallmouth Lake?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I started another thread on Smallies in general with some information I found.

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20450

Smallmouth eating scuds laugh. :lol:

My thoughts exactly :lol:

[Flysmallie]

My thoughts exactly

I don't know, I caught a nice smallie on a soft hackle a few years back. Of course the soft hackle was attached to a small bluegill at the moment of impact!!!

[ozark trout fisher]

I think the whole idea is nuts on many different levels, and who started this thread anyway? Upper Taney is a premier trout tailwater desitination, the middle section is ugly Branson and the lower end is a forgotten and very marginal-bass water. Just leave it at that. Stock muskies on the lower end if anything, they'd probably do a lot better than smallies. I love smallies, but this talk is just plain silly.

Smallmouth eating scuds

I agree its probably not a smallie lake, but no need to be so nasty about it.

[wily]

There is a difference between reservoir-strain and stream-strain smallmouth bass. Traditionally, stream-strain smallmouth bass have a difficult time recruiting in a reservoir, but Taneycomo isn't a traditional reservoir.

In eastern Kansas, we have a 5,000-acre power-plant reservoir that supports a significant population of reservoir-strain smallmouth bass, and during a calender year, the water temperatures in this lake range from 38 degrees to 90 degrees. In recent years, some anglers in Kansas have asked the biologists to raise reservoir-strain smallmouth bass until they are eight-inches long and stock them the way they stock wipers, channel catfish and trout in the small reservoirs in easter Kansas.

The Chinese fishmongers have shown the world that it is a relatively easy task to raise 12" to 13" largemouth bass, and Leonard Jirak of Hartford, Kansas, and Kansas Dept of Wildlife and Parks, has shown us that it is relatively easy to raise smallmouth bass in a summer to be six to eight inches long, and stock them in late September in a reservoir and allow them to become three- to five-pounders.

Perhaps in order to develop a decent smallmouth bass fishery at Taneycomo, anglers will have to convince the folks at the Missouri Dept of Conservation to periodically raise reservoir-strain smallmouth bass and stock them into Taneycomo. The obstacle to that idea is that the MDC has a prejudice against reservoir-strain smallmouth, fearing that they will adversely affect the stream-strained smallmouth bass in the Ozarks. Years ago before Beaver Lake was stocked with reservoir-strain smallmouth bass that was a legitimate concern

Some folks think that Table Rock's smallmouth bass population has been enhanced by the reservoir-strain smallmouth bass that have escaped from Beaver. And it is assumed the byproducts of Beaver's smallmouth bass bass have already affected the stream-strain smallmouth in the tributaries of Table Rock, and since some of Table Rock's smallmouth bass have washed into Taneycomo, it's likely that they have affected the stream-strain smallmouth in Taneycomo and Bull Shoal's feeder creeks.

good information -- and a real pleasure to have someone with your credentials chime in on the subject.

i've read a fews things by you in in-fisherman and i've always enjoyed your perspective and historical knowledge.

thanks

[eric1978]

I think the whole idea is nuts on many different levels, and who started this thread anyway? Upper Taney is a premier trout tailwater desitination, the middle section is ugly Branson and the lower end is a forgotten and very marginal-bass water. Just leave it at that. Stock muskies on the lower end if anything, they'd probably do a lot better than smallies. I love smallies, but this talk is just plain silly.

Smallmouth eating scuds

I started this thread. And it was just a hypothetical question because I didn't understand why Taney didn't have more smallmouth. The White did, and the water above and below Taney do now. Why is it such a stupid thing to ask? We're on page three so apparently a few people were somewhat interested in the topic. If you think it's so silly, I would recommend spending your time posting about conversations you find more relevant, instead of wasting it mocking other people's curiosity.

And by the way, smallmouth can and do eat scuds...guaranteed. Gammarus scuds can reach 20mm, plenty big enough to attract a smallie.

[Gatorjet]

eric1978, I share in your curiosity. To take it one step farther, I wonder what the fishery in Taneycomo would be if MDC had not started the trout stocking program. I enjoy fishing Taney, and personally think that it is being put to the best use it can be for fishermen. With Table Rock just a short drive away, I don't think an effort should be made to increase the smallsouth population. I have herd all the "native species" talk, but since the construction of Table Rock dam, Taneycomo is far from being a part of a native stream.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Sorry Eric and OTF, the hypothetical question was okay intially I guess, but the research seemed a bit labored and repeated posts got to be more than I could take, and coming from you and Ozark TF'er who I take don't have all that many hours spent on Taney, am I correct?

Who would support stocking of smallmouth, whatever the strain, in Taney other than you guys and maybe a stimulus package lamppost?

I'm sure smallmouth eat a few scuds, about like I eat candy corn in the jar in the lobby of some office that I have to be in . . . but anyway, not trying to be nasty. Please continue with the research!

[Sam]

I wonder what the fishery in Taneycomo would be if MDC had not started the trout stocking program.

That's easy. I don't think trout really compete with anything else - not enough to reduce the numbers of other species. So, without trout the other fish in Taneycomo would be the same as they are now - a few bass, crappie, perch, catfish, etc. But the most numerous fish would be the ones the lake produces now, naturally, without help, and in quantity - and I enjoy the heck out of them at grabbing time.

Suckers.

[eric1978]

Sorry Eric and OTF, the hypothetical question was okay intially I guess, but the research seemed a bit labored and repeated posts got to be more than I could take, and coming from you and Ozark TF'er who I take don't have all that many hours spent on Taney, am I correct?

Who would support stocking of smallmouth, whatever the strain, in Taney other than you guys and maybe a stimulus package lamppost?

I'm sure smallmouth eat a few scuds, about like I eat candy corn in the jar in the lobby of some office that I have to be in . . . but anyway, not trying to be nasty. Please continue with the research!

My apologies too. I overreacted. I didn't expect such a long thread...I was just looking for an easy explanation.

I have zero hours on Taney.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Eric as far as the Scuds go, I simply can't see a smallie hanging around Scud habitat. It just isn't normally their their type of water.