Fishing Report

[John Wenzlick]

I would say that prohibiting gigging may help my business although I think most people didn't gig trout very often anyway. My main objection is that while there are plenty of places to gig suckers in the state, I can't put in at my boatramp and gig on the bottom of the river which I guess the state considers "my property". I guess it would be like saying you can't go out in your woodlot and hunt deer with a rifle because you might accidently shoot a similar looking non-native deer. I see both sides of the arguement and am not even sure I'm against the regulations. I just wish I could gig in my front yard because it would be a hell of alot easier than trailering my boat somewhere to do what I could do right here. I just want my freedom back (boo hoo!)

I would say the regs. are doing what they are supposed to. On NFWR where gigging isn't allowed, they don't stock rainbows and there are some pretty big healthy fish. Where I fish on the Upper Meramec it is a Red Ribbon area, is regularly stocked plus has escapees from the Trout Park and you don't see many big rainbows. I have seen or suspected personally that fish under the 18" limit get poached and I know by the actions of some jet boaters that they ocassionally run limb lines. It is heavily gigged in season and I know some of the bigger rainbows get gigged, have seen gig marks on rainbows. I appreciate how good stewards you are on the NFWR and that is why it is such a great fishery. Even though you can't gig in your own backyard you are better off than a lot of other Mo. waters.

Just my $ .02.

[ozark trout fisher]

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! Depending on what you call the fish of a lifetime, I'd rather catch a 25" brown or rainbow on a free flowing river, than a 30" fish next to a pipe. Nothing wrong with these fisheries, and if you want to catch lots of fish and some big fish they are great, but give me a river all to myself with the best scenery in the country and the challenge and opportunity to catch stream bred fish and I'm happy. We need to remember that trout fishing in this area is all "fake" and will be managed for the best economic benefit of an area, not neccesarily what's best for a "wild fishery". If you have never fished the 11 point or North Fork you need to try it, for me the experience trumps the catching (maybe an excuse for being a poor fisherman).

I haven't heard a statement in a long time that made as much since as that one.

I am a wading angler , and my "fish of a lifetime" didn't come from a tailwater-I can promise you that. Rather it was an intensely colorful 9 inch rainbow from a little brush-lined wild trout creek- a fish that was actually born in the stream it lives in and actually showed me firsthand why these trout are called rainbows.

I don't get the whole big trout head-hunting game. Frankly, I've always been a lot more impressed by the pretty little parr-marked wild fish than the hogs. But that's just me and nothing more than my opinion. I understand that a lot of people feel differently and more power to 'em.

[Phil Lilley]

OTF'er - you mean like this one

Sorry- just had to....

[ozark trout fisher]

OTF'er - you mean like this one

Sorry- just had to....

Nice

[Justin Spencer]

Even though you can't gig in your own backyard you are better off than a lot of other Mo. waters.

I think we are better off because we have a great spring fed river not neccesarily because of the regulations, obviously the 18" limit and bait restrictions help the blue ribbon area! Locals for the most part couldn't care less about trout, I have no friends from Ozark county that will even go trout fish with me, they want bass because none of them like to eat trout. I see very few bait chuckers down in the red ribbon section on the NFoW and most of my big number fish days come from down there as well as some of the biggest fish I have seen, in an area that allows gigging.

I love to fly fish trout and gig so think of it this way. You buy a house next to the city park that has a tennis court. On the court is a basketball goal. You don't play tennis but love basketball and play there with your friends every night. One day the city says you can no longer play basketball there because it is roughing up the surface for the tennis players. No more ball games with your friends. This is the closest analogy as to how I think the locals kind of feel about this. Sure you can drive across town to another court but it's not the same, with gigging for me I have to make sure the trailer lights are working, accesses are few and far between and rough, and to be selfish, I had several good holes here that were not easily accessed by others because of my private access, so the gigging was better than at public put ins, plus I can't drink lots of beer if I have to load up and drive the boat home (really isn't that why we gig anyway)! For those of you who haven't gigged, a big bonfire on the bank cooking fish and drinking beer is the real reason for gigging. A social event where the gigging is just a way to get fish for the main event which is the fish fry, people aren't out to gig bass, goggle-eye and trout. There are a few bad eggs like with everything else, but most people who have gone to the trouble and expense of a gigging rig do it right so this activity won't be taken from them altogether.