The Busch Slaughter

[eric1978]

Went out to 28 today to check out the slaughter, and yep, it was underway. The ice was about 2 inches thick and the nutjobs were out walking around on it. You could hear it popping and cracking under their feet, but they didn't seem to care. Supposedly 2 guys fell through yesterday. I can't believe people want 4 trout so bad they'll risk their lives for them. Everyone left with a limit. The lake looks like a Christmas tree with all the Powerbait everywhere. Classy.

[stlfisher]

I got done with work early yesterday and headed up to forest Park to find it jammed packed

with the massacre well underway. I actually forgot it was Feb 1st and just went home. There wasn't even a place to fish if I had stayed. No one on the ice at Forest Park, but those 4000 or so fish will be cleaned out in no time.

It is just depressing to watch and kind of makes me angry.

I really don't see why they don't delay the harvest a few more weeks until the middle of

February or maybe even March 1st.

[eric1978]

I really don't see why they don't delay the harvest a few more weeks until the middle of

February or maybe even March 1st.

Me neither. The fish obviously need to be harvested before summer, but it would be nice to keep them in there an extra month. There would be plenty of time to clean them out if it was opened March 1st or even April 1st for that matter.

[fishgypsy]

Yeah, the risk some of those folks take in order to get a couple trout for the freezer is a bit ridiculous. I'm not an attorney, but is MDC potentially opening themselves up to a liability lawsuit by stocking these fish?

But as for the "slaughter,"- is anyone really surprised? The fish are put in those lakes with the knowledge they'll be harvested. To lament it when they are harvested seems a little silly to me.

Pushing the harvest date to March seems a little dicey to me- trout need both cold water and well-oxygenated water. A few warm days and nights, and some warm spring rains could send the lakes into turnover, deplete oxygen in the water column, and kill all the trout before anglers have had a chance to harvest them. A few thousand dead trout floating around an urban lake does no one any good, and I'd rather see those fish in someone's freezer than belly up in a pond.

[eric1978]

It's hardly urban, but I get your point. I still think the fish would manage just fine through March though, warm days or not. The water temp won't rise to intolerable levels until well after then. Oxygen levels may be another consideration, but I still think they'd be okay.

I'm not lamenting the harvest of the fish...just being sarcastic. I'm well aware that they have to be taken out of there, and I have no problem with it. I just think it's comical watching some of those people going to such great lengths for a fish dinner. They act like it's a gold rush or something.

I wondered about liability issues, too, but just because MDC puts some fish in a lake doesn't mean they forced anyone to do something stupid like walk on thin ice. What if someone fell through on an unstocked lake? Who's responsible then? I'd say they're safe with an "at your own risk" philosophy.

[Chief Grey Bear]

See, the MDC is doing us all a big favor. By stocking these ponds with trout, it keeps all of these idiots from fishing the areas that we really like.

You know like Hickory!

Ahhhh com'on gyspy, ya gotta laugh a little at that!

[fishgypsy]

I'd rather fish a muddy urban pond than Hickory. I hear that place is a real, well....you know.

And I'd take issue with that too though- I've seen an awful lot of boneheaded behavior at the trout parks, at Taneycomo, and several of the blue/red ribbon waters. What goes on Feb 1 pales in comparison to the circus that will occur a month from now...

[stlfisher]

For me the Urban Trout program is the only close to home trout fishing that I have. Otherwise I am driving 90 minutes to fish or 3 hours to where I really want to fish. So when the slaughter happens my fun is over for close to home fishing. That sucks especially since I can't get away any weekend this month. As mentioned it is comical/pathetic to watch these people attack the lakes in droves armed with powerbait. I called the mdc game thief line 4-5 times this year to turn in poachers during the C/R season. There are many lakes that are catch and keep that I don't see why another month of C/R would hurt.

It is usually mid May before the water warms up to much for the trout, but Forest Park will be cleaned ot in a few weeks. It just seems like it could be managed better.

[fishgypsy]

For me the Urban Trout program is the only close to home trout fishing that I have. Otherwise I am driving 90 minutes to fish or 3 hours to where I really want to fish. So when the slaughter happens my fun is over for close to home fishing. That sucks especially since I can't get away any weekend this month. As mentioned it is comical/pathetic to watch these people attack the lakes in droves armed with powerbait. I called the mdc game thief line 4-5 times this year to turn in poachers during the C/R season. There are many lakes that are catch and keep that I don't see why another month of C/R would hurt.

It is usually mid May before the water warms up to much for the trout, but Forest Park will be cleaned ot in a few weeks. It just seems like it could be managed better.

True, the water won't warm enough to kill the trout until later in the season. But the water temperature need only be around 40 degrees to trigger a turnover event. If the water at the bottom of the pond is oxygen-depleted, it can result in serious, even lethal stress for the fish. Nutrient inputs (from fertilizers and goose poo), excacerbates the situation. I've seen bass, bluegill, crappie, golden shiners, catfish, even common carp stressed and killed as a result of low oxygen levels and pond turnover- why wouldn't trout, which have significantly higher dissolved oxygen requirements, not be affected? Like I said, I'd rather see those fish on someone's table than floating belly-up. If that means I don't get to spend another week or two fishing for them, so be it.

Look on the bright side- you no longer have urban trout fishing distracting you from your duties at the tying desk. Caddis are beginning to pop on the Current. In less than a month, the trout parks will open. Muskie will start stirring once the water reaches the 50's. White bass and walleye will soon begin moving towards spawning areas, and the crappie bite ought to pick up shortly. Blue catfish are staging behind wing dykes on the big rivers for their spawning preparations. And in a few days those urban trout ponds will be devoid of the salmonids, just in time for the bass and bluegill and crappies and catfish to begin waking up. Before too long those bass will start getting into their pre-spawning activities. Don't think of this as the end, just as a different sort of beginning

[Chief Grey Bear]

I'd rather fish a muddy urban pond than Hickory. I hear that place is a real, well....you know.

And I'd take issue with that too though- I've seen an awful lot of boneheaded behavior at the trout parks, at Taneycomo, and several of the blue/red ribbon waters. What goes on Feb 1 pales in comparison to the circus that will occur a month from now...

Yeah I read that about Hickory somewhere.

I know exactly what you are saying about the parks. But most of that will subside after a few weeks. Plus I won't step into one until late in the year. Like October. Maybe September. But that is not to say I won't hit down below the park a few times during the summer.

For me the Urban Trout program is the only close to home trout fishing that I have.

And I am all for it. I think it is a great program for others in the same situation like yourself. I was really just kinda playing around with eric and gypsy. If I offened you, it was not my intention.

I think me and eric went around and around about it earlier this winter but, all is good with me. I see he is enjoying the program by the reports and pics he post. It appears to me that the program is operating as designed for all involved.