Fishing Report 2-5-11

[awhuber]

Thanks for the report. Looks like a great time...May head out on some White ribbon water this weekend...fish fry hopeful...

We are going Thursday.

[Gavin]

Friday-Sunday for our bunch. Leave a few for us!

[Nathanael]

nice fish, could have been left in the river tho and still put on the wall....

[awhuber]

nice fish, could have been left in the river tho and still put on the wall....

Ha ha ...not down there. The next guy would have kept it!

[drew03cmc]

That fish was stocked, can't reproduce and legally can be kept. Why does everyone have such an issue with someone keeping a legal fish?

Good on you! You wanted trout, you caught a very nice fish! How did he taste?

[ozark trout fisher]

That fish was stocked, can't reproduce and legally can be kept. Why does everyone have such an issue with someone keeping a legal fish?

A few months ago I probably would have vehemently disagreed with you about that, but I am now sort of coming around to that line of thinking. It is a non-native stocker in a put and take section of river and a legal fish...If it was a smallie I might be feeling different, but it's not....So if I am "the fly fisherman from Eastern Missouri" being referred to, I can assure you my head is still intact (if it ever was).

So nice fish, and pretty pictures.

[mhall02]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but below Ceadergrove where this was caught is a White Ribbon area so I don't think that would qualify as the 'trophy' area further upstream. Again, this is not a smallie or even a rainbow in say Crane Creek or one of the other 'wild' trout streams I've fished. To each their own, if he is legal, it wasn't snagged or shot, then fish on!! I've caught trout in every leagal way and now enjoy catching them on my 4 wt fly rod with flies I've personally tied. Does that mean someone catching trout (and keeping them) on corn with their Zebco 33 or spinning gear with jigs is less of a sportsman me and isn't having as much enjoyment of the sport as I am?

Some people prefer the Blue Ribbion areas and their regulations, others the park and white ribbon, that is why they came up with these different areas for your preference/style of fising if you will. I personally like them all, just know what to expect on Opening Day at Bennett vs a secluded Blue Ribbion area, night and day but both enjoyable to me for different reasons.

[Trout Commander]

Was just looking at those pics again.... Do I count 3 fish on the stringer plus the field dressed fish plus the big brown in the picture by its self? *black helicopter flies by*

[FishinCricket]

Nice fishies....

[ozark trout fisher]

Was just looking at those pics again.... Do I count 3 fish on the stringer plus the field dressed fish plus the big brown in the picture by its self? *black helicopter flies by*

Interesting... I hadn't noticed that.

Still, I don't think its quite fair to jump to the conclusion that the guy went over his limit. Since there were two fisherman, it's very possible that they were just sharing a stringer or something... Also it seems pretty unlikely that a poacher would post pictures displaying an illegal catch on a public forum that Conservation officers probably look at from time to time, and where most all the members have operation game thief in their cell phone. In the interest of the benefit of the doubt, for now I'll assume the "shared stringer" idea or something similar is the case and that nothing funny is going on here. I don't want to accuse someone wrongly, and I have a feeling that this guy didn't go over his limit and then have his friend post pictures of it on a forum. Hope I'm right.

But I think an explanation from the original poster might be helpful in stopping folks from coming to conclusions.