So We Know The Large Browns Are Feasting, But...

[zonker]

curious if others are noticing the lack of 17+" bows in the nfow? the past few trips have been AMAZING for numbers of smaller bows (and that's a beautiful thing), but where have the toads gone? used to be fairly common to stick into a couple of really NICE ones during a trip....now, not so much. doing the same things i've always done (nymphing DEEP with a ton of weight and a 2-fly rig, throwing a variety of flies, constantly changing up patterns, sizes, etc.).

anyone else experiencing the same?

[Brian Wise]

As long as I have been around the river I can't really say it has ever been really 'that' common to hook very many true 17"+ rainbows. There are days where you will hook a couple but they are the minority. Our rainbows just don't get to be the crazy pig sizes NEAR as much as, say stocked streams coming from brood. Kyle Kosovich and I were talking not long ago about this exact thing and him and I both can count on one hand how many 20"+ rainbows we have seen landed in the last several years (and that is probably 80% of the total guide trips on the river on top of several hundred days of fishing on our own.)

I have a couple of complete guesses why this is but they are just that, a guess. Good thing is we have popped some really, really nice spawns over the last few years.

[Justin Spencer]

As long as I have been around the river I can't really say it has ever been really 'that' common to hook very many true 17"+ rainbows

I have to agree 100%, I have caught probably less than 5 rainbows over 17" in my time here, they are there but are smart and I think catching the smaller ones puts them down. I do catch a few nice 15" fish on most trips and have been surprised when I put the tape on them that they are only that long. I think the fight in these fish make them seem bigger than they are as well as the girth on some of these fish. Conant caught a likely 17" bow last time we went out on a big articulated streamer (see the flies page of the fly shop website) so trying a streamer all day might be the ticket. I for one would rather catch numbers of fish then go for one or two pigs, but streamers are a way to find those bigger fish.

[Chris Gates]

I have never landed a 20+ inch bow on the NFOW. We hooked in to one the last trip I was there, I would say 21 to 22, sounds like a fish tail but I'll say it anyway. Got him to the side of the boat and then he made one last run and broke off. By far the largest rainbow I have had an encounter with on that river. What I did notice the last trip I was there is that I caught a ton of 12 inch fish nymphing and hardly any in the 15 inch range. Usually hook in to a couple of those but not that day. The fatty football bows seemed to be replaced with a bunch of 1 year olds.

[Phil Lilley]

What, like this one?

Put away those fly rods and throw a jig.

[Brian Wise]

Exactly Phil....you seriously have something with the jigs. ANYTHING that is eye catching that goes straight to, and better yet STAYS on bottom will get eats from big, big fish both browns and rainbows.

I have a guy that comes down that got a 21" rainbow 2 years ago and a 23" rainbow last year....we landed the fish about 10' apart back-to-back years and took the photo in the same spot for both fish, pretty cool. I have a couple of 20's through the years and have lost double that many. Kyle just caught a 22" rainbow a couple of weeks ago too. They are here, just VERY far between.

You have to wonder about the wild fish growth rate compared to stocked fish growth rate/brood supplementing. Wild fish arguably have a tougher spawn (more active, harder working, etc) and it can take a lot out of them. Look at Triploid fish, they are a hybrid that does not even go through spawning motions and grow to grotesque sizes for that very reason. Stocker fish generally have 'some' brood thrown in during the stocking process (just like we get a few brood browns in out measly brown trout stockings yearly.) That is my take on it, like I said it is simply an educated guess but makes good sense to me. Do we have some seriously BIG rainbows, abso-LUTELY....are they tough to catch, just a 'little'. :-)

[flytyer57]

Put away those fly rods and throw a jig.

Ever hear the word "Sacrilegious"?

[zonker]

similar to chris, i've never landed a NFOW bow 20"+.....i've certainly had them hooked, but have yet to win a battle. been fishing there since the mid-80's, mainly in winter/ early sping, and have brought to hand several in the 16-19" range (and have lost my fair share too).

was digging thru some old pics and noticed that the majority of my largest NFOW bows were stuck between 2003-2007. question for those that are more in tune with this stream (justin, brian, kyle, etc): were water levels consistant year-round during this period? (i know we had gone thru some TOUGH low water years at the turn of the century.) have the numbers of fishermen increased significantly in the past 5 years?

curious....

[Justin Spencer]

I used to have fish counts from the last five years or so and don't remember seeing any big drop in bigger fish. A.J. Pratt with MDC would probably send you a summary of the last 10 years fish counts which would show exeactly what has gone on. In 03-04 I think we were just starting to come out of 7 years or so of bad water so if fish numbers were down, growth might be up and you weren't messing up a run by catching 5 small fish right off the bat. With good water the last few years pressure may have increased some, but it is still ridiculously low. In a "wild trout fishery" like we have for rainbows it only takes one year of a bad spawn and you have a gap in year class. Maybe 5 years ago we had a bad spawn and the bigger fish have died of old age, and the next good class are the 12-15 inchers right now? Or maybe otters are eating the big fish.

During the mid 80's I'm sure your reflexes were quicker so now those big fish bite and you are too slow to catch them, this is the most likely explanation Kevin.

[Brian Wise]

was digging thru some old pics and noticed that the majority of my largest NFOW bows were stuck between 2003-2007. question for those that are more in tune with this stream (justin, brian, kyle, etc): were water levels consistant year-round during this period?

I would agree with Justin...fishing pressure is very, very minimal. The only other real comparisons (fishing pressure wise) to the NFOW as far as size, etc is Taney, the Eleven Point, and 'maybe' the Niangua and I am guessing here but the NFOW and the Eleven Point are probably around the same, and for sure the lowest pressure. A tough comparison would be the Current(that poor river) which is smaller and gets HAMMERED from the St. Louis crowd even in the middle of winter on a nice day. We are a drive from anywhere so we just don't have fishing pressure.

2007 sparked the incredible fishing we have now. Before that we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel from the poor water years but still felt the effects. Don't quote me but 2007 was an incredible spawn, 2008 beat 2007, and 2009 beat 2008 so you are talking a good number of small fish hitting the system through that period (and we had another decent spawn in 2010) couple that with fish that do not grow super, super fast and, in my eyes, we see the reason for not running into the big, big rainbows very often.

One thing to keep an eye on when you are here. A good number of our male rainbows are showing a kype at around 12"...it's not a major kype but a defenite kype at 12", and some 15" fish have a pretty solid kype. A kype is a maturity thing (and genetic in others I'm sure because some have a CRAZY kype and others the same size don't) so you have to wonder about that too.

Really interesting thread here!