My Trout Management Wish List

[ozark trout fisher]

I dont think any part of a river should be "fly fishing only". I like the way AR does it and says only lures and no hook points.

Fly fishing only in Missouri doesn't mean fly fishing only. It just means that you have to use single hooked lures and no soft plastics-and preferably there should be a feather on their somewhere, although I'm not entirely sure if that's even required. Most single hooked spinning lures comply, including some spinners and spoons, as well as all marabou jigs.

There are some states (mostly out east) where fly fishing is really the only method allowed on the best stretches of river- you have to be using a fly rod and reel. That's not fish management but class warfare, and I wouldn't support that.

Drew03, I see what you're saying about trout stocking in MO being unnatural. What you said is a valid point, but I don't see Missouri's trout going anywhere soon, and it would make a lot of people pretty sad if they did. And also, I think trout could sustain themselves in a lot more places if they were allowed. It's just that the harvest pressure is pretty tremendous on most of our trout waters.

[troutfiend1985]

I would like to know why Missouri has a white ribbon status of stream in the first place. I fish a few of these, Capps and Hickory, and it seems that if you missed the stocking truck you missed the fish. The bait buckets come in and out go the fish. It's frustrating to even go to these streams as they receive so much pressure that there are hardly fish in them at times.

So my change would be two-fold: One, decrease the limit from 4 to 2 on white ribbon streams. Just pure math says that at least some people will heed this change if it was put out there. Let the Trout Parks stay at the current 4, but the White Ribbons aren't stocked as often and can't handle as much pressure

2). Establish "flies only catch and release only" areas in white ribbon streams. It wouldn't have to be the whole stream, just enough of an area to allow fish to settle in and become more "wild" and it would also garauntee, if there is such a thing, some quality fishing in these streams.

Just my thoughts.

[ozark trout fisher]

I would like to know why Missouri has a white ribbon status of stream in the first place. I fish a few of these, Capps and Hickory, and it seems that if you missed the stocking truck you missed the fish. The bait buckets come in and out go the fish. It's frustrating to even go to these streams as they receive so much pressure that there are hardly fish in them at times.

So my change would be two-fold: One, decrease the limit from 4 to 2 on white ribbon streams. Just pure math says that at least some people will heed this change if it was put out there. Let the Trout Parks stay at the current 4, but the White Ribbons aren't stocked as often and can't handle as much pressure

2). Establish "flies only catch and release only" areas in white ribbon streams. It wouldn't have to be the whole stream, just enough of an area to allow fish to settle in and become more "wild" and it would also garauntee, if there is such a thing, some quality fishing in these streams.

Just my thoughts.

I like both of those ideas a lot.

[troutfiend1985]

IMO the White Ribbon areas are almost a policy of appeasement by the MDC. I see it as a statement "lets give the people a place to fish and keep trout and while the trout will probably never get big because it's put and take regulations, it will take pressure off of the blue/red ribbon streams of that area." This is wrong, and I think that a few changes could really make a difference. Take Capps for example, we could effectively split Capps into two areas, a catch and release/flies only zone and a "wild west" zone where anything goes. The upper area, from the waterfall to the bridge could be the zone of "white ribbon" policy. Then we could make the lower area a catch and release area. Win-win to me, you allow people to catch and keep, take kids fishing in the highly accessed area, but at the same time the lower area is managed differently. The same could be done for Hickory.

Now, I know people are going to say paper laws and that people will not abide by this. . . But what do you have to lose? Anything? At worst people will continue to do what they already do, that is keep the fish they catch. However, the upside is that maybe a few more poachers get tickets as more people, like myself, would be able to easily spot poachers. Also, this might convert some people from catch and keep to catch and release. If these people see that the stream can hold fish year round, and that the fish get bigger the longer they stay in the stream, then there is a chance that people would change the way they view there local streams

Just my .02

[drew03cmc]

I would like to know why Missouri has a white ribbon status of stream in the first place. I fish a few of these, Capps and Hickory, and it seems that if you missed the stocking truck you missed the fish. The bait buckets come in and out go the fish. It's frustrating to even go to these streams as they receive so much pressure that there are hardly fish in them at times.

So my change would be two-fold: One, decrease the limit from 4 to 2 on white ribbon streams. Just pure math says that at least some people will heed this change if it was put out there. Let the Trout Parks stay at the current 4, but the White Ribbons aren't stocked as often and can't handle as much pressure

2). Establish "flies only catch and release only" areas in white ribbon streams. It wouldn't have to be the whole stream, just enough of an area to allow fish to settle in and become more "wild" and it would also garauntee, if there is such a thing, some quality fishing in these streams.

Just my thoughts.

The fish in the white ribbon streams spread out and are not as easy as some would think.

[Fly_Guy]

+1 for less litter. I would like to see a day or two where people get ticketed for littering in the trout parks. Once a week, pull 5 or so undercover wardens for trout park duty, and start handing out tickets. What a way to raise money.

[troutfiend1985]

The fish in the white ribbon streams spread out and are not as easy as some would think.

Even so, what is the point of stocking this fish with the current regulations in place by the MDC? To me it just doesn't make since, and with the minimum amount of enforcement this state has, you have basically free access at these white ribbons to do what you want i.e. poach.

I know the fish are spread out, but the last time I went to Capps I didn't even see signs of trout. It could have been a bad day, but it happens too often to chalk it up to bad days. I see less trout, and have less success consistently at white ribbon streams than blue/red ribbon streams. I'm not a great fisherman, no doubt about it, but I am at least adequate when it comes to trout fishing with a fly rod.

To me this lack of productive areas means that MDC is mismanaging these areas. It could be just me, but I get a general feeling from this forum that I am not the only one. I'm not being argumentative, and I hope that this doesn't come off that way, but I am just generally perplexed by the MDC on this issue.

[Al Agnew]

I don't think I've ever fished a white ribbon area for trout, but my understanding is that one reason the white ribbon areas are so designated is that they are mostly marginal trout water where there will be significant mortality even if the fish aren't caught. I'm not too sure about that, because I've seen trout survive in water temps and conditions where you wouldn't think they could, though.

Personally, I'm kinda happy with the various trout stream designations. Yes, the trout have pushed native fish out of a few waters to some extent, but lots of native fish, including bass, can compete very well with non-native trout. I doubt if there would be a huge number of smallmouth bass in the trout streams if the trout weren't there. You can look at the Akers to Pulltite stretch of the Current for a good example...few trout, never stocked, yet also relatively few smallmouth because the water is just too cool and infertile to grow a lot of them. You can also look at the trout section of the Meramec, which has quite a few bass, both largemouth and smallmouth, and some big ones as well. Why? Although it's a cool water stretch of river, it has quite a bit of fertility coming from the upper river and Dry Fork.

And the main reason I like the trout sections is that they attract a lot of nimrods who might otherwise be cluttering up my favorite smallmouth streams

[Buzz]

IMO the White Ribbon areas are almost a policy of appeasement by the MDC. I see it as a statement "lets give the people a place to fish and keep trout and while the trout will probably never get big because it's put and take regulations, it will take pressure off of the blue/red ribbon streams of that area." This is wrong, and I think that a few changes could really make a difference. Take Capps for example, we could effectively split Capps into two areas, a catch and release/flies only zone and a "wild west" zone where anything goes. The upper area, from the waterfall to the bridge could be the zone of "white ribbon" policy. Then we could make the lower area a catch and release area. Win-win to me, you allow people to catch and keep, take kids fishing in the highly accessed area, but at the same time the lower area is managed differently. The same could be done for Hickory.

Now, I know people are going to say paper laws and that people will not abide by this. . . But what do you have to lose? Anything? At worst people will continue to do what they already do, that is keep the fish they catch. However, the upside is that maybe a few more poachers get tickets as more people, like myself, would be able to easily spot poachers. Also, this might convert some people from catch and keep to catch and release. If these people see that the stream can hold fish year round, and that the fish get bigger the longer they stay in the stream, then there is a chance that people would change the way they view there local streams

Just my .02

I really like the idea of breaking the streams up into C & R fly only and Wild West ( good name). I think Capp's would probably be the best for this since most of the water below the park area is very wooly with only a couple of foot paths. The only real way to fish it is by wading and that is sometimes a little tricky.

As for Hickory. I would like to see the upper section from 86 hwy. down to the helicopter made C & R fly only year round. As it is now, Hickory has the same winter C & R rules as the trout parks. I would like to see the same for Capp's. When it works, it works really well. It also gives the trout an opportunity to spawn if the conditions are right.

There are trout in these streams that do manage to avoid the worm and powerbait. They are just so spread out that unless you are able to spend a lot of time on the stream you probably won't know where to find them. I have caught at least one trout from Hickory each month this year. That's just a goal I set for myself last year when Hickory was given such a bad review last Thanksgiving.

Our White Ribbon streams could definitely be better and I'm all for anything that would help everyone have a better experience.

[drew03cmc]

Even so, what is the point of stocking this fish with the current regulations in place by the MDC? To me it just doesn't make since, and with the minimum amount of enforcement this state has, you have basically free access at these white ribbons to do what you want i.e. poach.

I know the fish are spread out, but the last time I went to Capps I didn't even see signs of trout. It could have been a bad day, but it happens too often to chalk it up to bad days. I see less trout, and have less success consistently at white ribbon streams than blue/red ribbon streams. I'm not a great fisherman, no doubt about it, but I am at least adequate when it comes to trout fishing with a fly rod.

To me this lack of productive areas means that MDC is mismanaging these areas. It could be just me, but I get a general feeling from this forum that I am not the only one. I'm not being argumentative, and I hope that this doesn't come off that way, but I am just generally perplexed by the MDC on this issue.

Troutfiend, Capps has fish in it all year long. Get away from the accesses and fish away from where the pressure is. We caught fish and had the stream to ourselves last November.