Going Shocking Today

[Outside Bend]

Didn't the reintroduction of otters reduce the population in the late 90s early 00s?

Not measurably. Otters eat whatever's easiest to catch- usually crayfish, suckers, and minnows. Trout are pretty fast, and on a big system like the NFoW there aren't many places otters can herd them, unlike smaller wild trout streams.

Most folks agree the drought during the late 90's was the main reason the trout population declined so drastically.

[Justin Spencer]

I would guess otters hurt recently stocked fish some, but the wilder fish have had to survive from an egg so they get pretty good at it. Survival of the fittest is part of the reason you don't see many fish swimming around in the bigger blue ribbon streams. I love to trout fish, and I'm also glad we have otters, I have both here in front of my place, and I also trap a few otters when I think they are getting too abundant.

[mic]

I would guess otters hurt recently stocked fish some, but the wilder fish have had to survive from an egg so they get pretty good at it. Survival of the fittest is part of the reason you don't see many fish swimming around in the bigger blue ribbon streams. I love to trout fish, and I'm also glad we have otters, I have both here in front of my place, and I also trap a few otters when I think they are getting too abundant.

Can I get some of that otter fur? I would love to see what kind of flies you could tie with it?

[Justin Spencer]

Can I get some of that otter fur? I would love to see what kind of flies you could tie with it?

I've sold all my otters at this point, but hopefully will have some once season opens.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I've sold all my otters at this point, but hopefully will have some once season opens.

Curious what you got for them?? My latest Trapper mag says select darks should bring $100 or more this year.

[Justin Spencer]

The last 2 years only getting $40-$60 for good skins. Chinese must be back buying again, 3 or 4 years ago it was pretty common to get $80-$100.

[ness]

I suspect another major reason we don't stock cutts is that they'll cross with rainbows. The emphasis on wild trout streams is well established in MO. Nobody's gonna want cutts in there muddying things up.

[Brian Wise]

Justin, I am not comparing the North Fork to the trout parks, for what its worth I was fishing the North Fork when you was just a baby......what I am saying is that compared to trout fishing on the North Fork in the 70's and 80's there are fewer and smaller fish in the river which seems to mean to me that the fishing is declining? Maybe the survey numbers will tell us otherwise? Someone needs to pay attention to whats happening with the Rainbows in this river, not just how its fishing today.

We hear this exact "point" try to be proven every-so-often.......my reply......Name 1 wild river in the state that didn't fish better 30 years ago.....or 1 smallmouth river that didn't fish better 30 years ago....lake...pond...puddle that didn't fish better 30 years ago. I don't think people really understand what it takes to be a 100% wild rainbow trout fishery, especially in the mid-west. Wild fish are at the mercy of nature, period. It's not like the trout parks where they stock more fish than were taken yesterday....they haven't stocked this river with rainbows in almost 50 years...numbers will go up and down for the rest of existence.

MDC keeps VERY good track of the NFOW. I may dog them now and then but they do a good job of trying to keep a very close eye on their wild trout. Like others have said, the trend over the last several years have been numbers going UP......but, I ask you this, if you saw numbers going down------What would you do? This is a wild river, there is nothing you can do unless you try to change law and make it a catch and release stream when harvesting probably wouldn't be the problem, mother nature would more than likely be the culprit.

I don't know anyone that really fishes the river, and has for longer than I have been alive, that has anything bad to say about the NFOW right now. If you have fished it for 30 years you saw the drought of the 90's pretty much stop the fishing as there were basically no fish. Then in the mid-2000's we saw a JUMP in numbers. THEN in the late 2000's we saw a boom in numbers. It has fished better in the last 5 years than I have ever seen it fish.

I would kill to have been able to fish these rivers back in the 70's, I really would have. But comparing the rivers now to how they fished in the 70's is like comparing how YOU were back then compared to now. Shoot, I was a 5'8" guy that had a 44" vertical and could dunk when I was 18.......at 31 now, I would pull a hamstring if I tried to touch the net.

[Justin Spencer]

Shoot, I was a 5'8" guy that had a 44" vertical and could dunk when I was 18.......at 31 now, I would pull a hamstring if I tried to touch the net.

I knew you were a badax, I got you by a full 2 inches and could barely touch the rim. Now at 37 I pull a hammy just typing, and got tendonitis in my elbow so bad a few years ago I had to learn to fly fish left handed. At least the river can get better after getting worse, I'm afraid we're screwed.

I think maybe oldschool was questioning pollution in the river affecting the rainbows, which at this point I don't think is an issue. Sure we have lots of unnatural nutrients coming up in the springs which lead to algae growth, but that may actually increase productivity of the river (not sure about this) but fertilization is used in fish rearing to increase food sources.

[Brian Wise]

Now at 37 I pull a hammy just typing,

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!