White Ribbon Conservation Issue

[ness]

I think I am going to cry...I got a compliment of sorts.

Just to make it clear, I admire your passion and your ability to keep it civil. Good on you! We oughta get together and fish for them Neodosha smallmouth things sometime

[Chief Grey Bear]

That is what I was saying earlier, take the challange. We all like to catch fish, me included but, I like to shake it up a bit too. Does targeting the easy fish make you feel like a better fisherman. And I don't mean you personally.

Well, I didn't mean with bait. Point was there are different types of fishermen and they usually stay with the type they like to do the most.

[ness]

No, not necessarily beneath them, it's just that the Blue Ribbons generally offer better fishing.

Better is in the eye of the beholder. If a feller is looking for size, best head elsewhere. If you can get excited about a parr-marked 6-inch streambred trout, Blue Ribbon might be just what you're looking for.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I have to say I agree with you ness. "Better" is a relitive term.

I wouldn't discount White Ribbon from 6" parr marked, stream bred fish though. You may be surprized what you may find.

[eric1978]

Better is in the eye of the beholder. If a feller is looking for size, best head elsewhere. If you can get excited about a parr-marked 6-inch streambred trout, Blue Ribbon might be just what you're looking for.

Maybe "better" was the wrong word...I should have said most Blue Ribbons offer a more "authentic experience" than most White Ribbons will. If you like catching cookie-cutter silver bullets all day (or for 15 minutes 'til the creel is filled), then White will be "better" for you than Blue, and that's fine.

[Chief Grey Bear]

But that only last a week or two at best. Then it is back to "athentic" trout fishing.

[eric1978]

But that only last a week or two at best. Then it is back to "athentic" trout fishing.

Yeah, pretty much. Don't get me wrong, I have fun hammering the idiot silver bullets out at Busch. But the only reason I go is because it's 10 minutes from home. If I'm driving two hours to go fishing, given the option between White and Blue Ribbon, I'd pick the latter every time. When I start teaching my kid to fish, I'm sure I'll spend some time on the White stretches...hopefully I get there within a week of the truck so she can catch a few.

[jdmidwest]

Better is in the eye of the beholder. If a feller is looking for size, best head elsewhere. If you can get excited about a parr-marked 6-inch streambred trout, Blue Ribbon might be just what you're looking for.

If a stream is only producing 6" parr marked trout, it needs to be managed or policed better. Trout with parr marks are youngin's and are not growing to adult size for some reason. My guess, predation, poaching, or the stream will not support their growth.

[Buzz]

Maybe "better" was the wrong word...I should have said most Blue Ribbons offer a more "authentic experience" than most White Ribbons will. If you like catching cookie-cutter silver bullets all day (or for 15 minutes 'til the creel is filled), then White will be "better" for you than Blue, and that's fine.

It only took 155 posts to get to the real heart of this entire subject. Really people, what is wrong with the idea of inserting a small stretch of water that can hold fish between stockings???????

The premise for this idea is that within a 2 week period the trout are mostly wiped out. I will attest to that. The idea of having a section that can and probably will hold fish for an extended period of time is exactly what you are going to need in order to determine if the stream is capable of supporting a somewhat larger resident population of trout or natural reproduction. Not to mention the fact that given the time and opportunity trout WILL and DO spawn in our Ozark streams. Ideal stream scenarios really don't have as much to do with it, IMO, as just giving them a little bit of time to get the job done.

I personally would like to see Capps go to the same regs that Hickory has gone to for the last few years, which is C & R from Nov. 1st through the last day of February. The problem is that Capps has historically been put and take with no other limits except for Brown trout. It would not sit well with the people who are the ones who do the majority of the keeping on the stream. That's OK with me. I do think that they would more likely accept a small stretch of water that is C & R than the entire stream.

Eric, I'm not familiar with all of the trout water in your neck of the woods, but I can tell you this, Capps is a much wilder creek than what most think. It has a very large area that is in no way manicured. It actually resembles Crane in a lot of ways. It's just not as long of a creek.

So, this proposal would actually, if considered, be more of a test than anything. If it shows promise, then some regs might be changed permanently. If not, I would assume the regs would go back to the originals.

[stlfisher]

I agree with Buzz.

As far as the White Ribbon Stuff at the Urban Lakes in Winter I love fishing the C/R lakes from Nov 1st to February 1st. The fishing is great, I have met some great people, and it is the only time I can drive 5 minutes to fish for trout. They might be fresh from the farm stockers, but I spend a ton of time at Forest Park and it is one of my favorite times of the year. I don't even bother after February 1st.