Tough Fishing At Cardiac Hill

[ozark trout fisher]

The MDC says they're still stocking browns at a high rate, but that the survival is down...This is from the MDC's page "Missouri Fishing Prospects",

"The decrease in brown trout numbers is attributed mainly to low stocked brown trout survival over the last several years. Years of extreme drought followed by extreme floods have reduced survival beyond what was expected. Future production estimates look hopeful that brown trout numbers will increase in coming years."

[stlfisher]

Hopefully the Brown Trout will have better survival and good to hear a few of you are catching some. Sounds like the MDC is more optimistic than me!

OTF your right it will never be like the Current or Eleven Point and as Coldwater stated any habitat improvement would cost a fortune. The other isssue is the extreme changes in the water level. It can be bone dry and then completely blown out the next day. Both extremes cause the water to warm up too much. Those muddy bluffs are kinda ugly.

[Born to Fish]

Many state's do fish habitat improvement projects but MDC hasn't ever shown much interest in doing such except a few bank stabilization projects or dredging out the trout parks. Their general fisheries management policy is to let nature take its' course and most of their fisheries biologist are not big supporters of trout fishing since trout aren't native to Missouri. The Meramec trout fishery has especially declined since Spence Turner retired as the state trout biologist. I don't think MDC even has a dedicated trout biologist anymore. The trout streams are just another responsibilty for the regional fisheries biologists. I'm sure Trout Unlimited has some biologists that could come up with some habitat improvement projects for the Meramec and not bankrupt MDC.

[ozark trout fisher]

I like your enthusiasm for the Meramec's trout fishery, but I just don't see how it could benefit from the normal methods of habitat improvements, because the floods on that river are so incredibly extreme... Just about anything you do to provide better habitat will be washed out when the river gets rolling at 30,000 cubic feet per second. Until the Meramec stops flooding as badly as it has lately, it's hard to see it ever being one of the state's better trout streams, no matter what the MDC does.

I'd say just enjoy the Meramec for what it is...A very nice smallmouth stream that features a pretty viable trout population for 3 or 4 miles. The thing is, unlike many of Missouri's sections of trout water, much of the the Meramec's Red Ribbon area can support a very fishable population of native species like smallmouth bass and goggle-eye. Perhaps it's a good thing that we don't have quite so many non-native trout intruding on them anymore. Just food for thought.

If all of our trout streams were declining then I'd also be concerned about management. But I've seen the Current, Eleven Point, and many of our smaller streams doing well over the last few years...So I think this is an isolated issue that has a lot more to do with recent weather than anything a state agency like the MDC can control.

[Born to Fish]

Just checked the USGS web site and and it shows that the Meramec had more high flows (20,000 cfs + Steelville) in the 1980's then any decade since, and it was pretty good for trophy trout back then too. Bank erosion + lost riparian corrider = higher water temps + excess fine substrate and gravel = decreased trout habitat and decreased survival. MDC does bank stabilzation and riparian corridor restoration work to help the endangered Niangua darter and Topeka shiner. Seeing the crowds at the other trout streams, compared to the late 1970s and 80s, it would be nice to spread out the pressure as much as possible. But then I prefer not to fish behind somebody when I fish a stream!

[Al Agnew]

Not much difference between the Meramec and the Eleven Point or Niangua...all three have good sized streams with huge watersheds above the trout water, so all three are susceptible to huge floods and droughts. I always thought the habitat from the spring to Suicide was pretty good for trout; no long, dead pools and quite a few deep runs. I think it's tougher fishing partly because a lot of the best runs are full of logs and difficult to fish well. It could also be that there really does seem to be more competition from smallmouth bass and other warm water fish, which may affect the brown trout. And it does get a lot of fishing pressure, being the closest big trout stream to St. Louis. But maybe the biggest problem is the Dry Fork, which enters the river only a mile or so below the spring. Dry Fork warms the river whenever it is flowing, and brings in a huge amount of water during floods.

[jgentile]

I am posting a note that I sent to Walt Fulps aka Missouri Trout Hunter following a trip I made with a buddy to the Meramec in early May of this year.

"Walt,

A couple of questions re: Meramec Brown Trout

My buddy and I went down to the Meramec yesterday, Thursday, May 03, 2012. Water was low and clear. Walked in from the park across the bridge and took the path/trail to the beach access that has a building for our walk in point. We turned over a couple of stones and found molting crawfish. Tied on streamer patterns and before you know it we were into one brown trout after another after another. In all we must have caught at least 30 browns between us. Nothing large, 14" maybe was the largest. All were well fed with fat, bulging, lumpy stomachs from what I am guessing were either molting crawfish or other forage. All of the fish were pretty much caught over the patches of large gravel. Almost all of the fish were also lip hooked. Aggressive behavior, light strikes. Here is the weird part. Most of the browns were not colored well. My guess is that these fish were recently stocked by the MDC as most had a grayish hue instead of that spectacular gold color. But, this said. Some of these fish seemed to me at least to be too big to be recent stockers. We did catch more than a few brightly colored browns but they were the exception, not the rule. All in all I have never caught as many browns in one day on the Meramec as yesterday. Could these fish have been in some sort of pre-spawn mode? We did also notice some really beat up tail fins on these fish."

It should be noted that we did not fish below the Dry Creek confluence.

I returned to the Meramec one week later to only hook into a number of rainbows without any brown trout at all. I tend to stay away from the Meramec once the aluminum hatch occurs.

[Greasy B]

I am posting a note that I sent to Walt Fulps aka Missouri Trout Hunter following a trip I made with a buddy to the Meramec in early May of this year.

"Walt,

A couple of questions re: Meramec Brown Trout

My buddy and I went down to the Meramec yesterday, Thursday, May 03, 2012. Water was low and clear. Walked in from the park across the bridge and took the path/trail to the beach access that has a building for our walk in point. We turned over a couple of stones and found molting crawfish. Tied on streamer patterns and before you know it we were into one brown trout after another after another. In all we must have caught at least 30 browns between us. Nothing large, 14" maybe was the largest. All were well fed with fat, bulging, lumpy stomachs from what I am guessing were either molting crawfish or other forage. All of the fish were pretty much caught over the patches of large gravel. Almost all of the fish were also lip hooked. Aggressive behavior, light strikes. Here is the weird part. Most of the browns were not colored well. My guess is that these fish were recently stocked by the MDC as most had a grayish hue instead of that spectacular gold color. But, this said. Some of these fish seemed to me at least to be too big to be recent stockers. We did catch more than a few brightly colored browns but they were the exception, not the rule. All in all I have never caught as many browns in one day on the Meramec as yesterday. Could these fish have been in some sort of pre-spawn mode? We did also notice some really beat up tail fins on these fish."

It should be noted that we did not fish below the Dry Creek confluence.

I returned to the Meramec one week later to only hook into a number of rainbows without any brown trout at all. I tend to stay away from the Meramec once the aluminum hatch occurs.

Interesting. I believe May is when Stocking Browns takes place. Could all these freshly stocked fish have migrated out of the area only to perish when the water warmed.

[ozark trout fisher]

Interesting point Greasy. By all accounts and based on experience, there are a decent number of trout upstream from Maramec Spring..Of course not in the summertime, but throughout the rest of the year. I wonder how many of those fish don't make it back below the spring when the water heats up in May or June. I suppose some of those could find spring-holes upstream from the park, but you'd think most wouldn't survive. That could be one cause of mortality that no one is really thinking about. And there's no real way to prevent that.

Another thing I wonder is why they manage and stock the river all the way down to Scotts Ford. Let's be honest...The trout habitat on the Meramec basically ends below the Suicide Hill area, with just some scattered pockets of decent water downstream from there. I don't see much point in stocking trout down near Scotts Ford where they'll have little chance to survive, unless they move upstream, or get lucky and find a spring-hole. Much of the lower part of the Red-ribbon area looks more like the Bourbeuse than a legitimate trout stream. I know you can catch trout down in the Scotts Ford area, but not to the point where it's ever going to be real quality fishery. I say that whatever trout they're stocking now in that part of the river would be better used in the sections where they have a decent chance of holding over from year to year...Leave the rest of it to the bass and goggle-eye.

[Midwest troutbum]

With enough funding and interest, just about anything is possible.

Improving the Meramec river's water corridor is a huge challege, based on several years of harsh weather patterns and sheer numbers of people living near and using this resource and its tributaries.

MDC and other agencies and groups can and do conceivably sustain the upper Meramec and its tributary creeks, streams, etc. Many advocates say its not enough, but there is only so much funding and resources to go around in the entire state. The approach may arguably be considered spotty and concentrated at state parks, allow for degradation approach, vs the more western US proactive approach which includes in their plans to sustain and restore to pre-pioneer or settler times. Many western states take this proactive, sustainable and improvement approach which incorporates restrictive, legislative, and zero tolerance policies, to much success. I don't see this happening here in MO anytime soon based on the publics oppinion and politics, but it is great to dream....

However, I believe MDC does a somewhat decent job with what they have to work with and within the legislation they have to work under, and generally speaking reflects the general public's interest on how our watersheds are managed. As with anything dealing with watershed management in this state, there is always a need for improvement.

At the present time, the state stocks the vast majority of our waterways to maintain fish numbers. Some minor stream restoration takes place on the smaller creeks, much of which must be done with the cooperation of private landowners. Some education through farming communities, and outreach programs could also be lumped in here, which attempt to work with private landowners to improve stream banks, prevent runoff, and prevent erosion into tributary streams. There are some sucess stories. However, many unfortunate landowners choose not to cooperate or do not know that the state has great programs in place to assist. People have to reach out to the experts to expect any improvement, as the agencies are stretched to the limit these days, and do not actively seek expensive projects to undertake, unless outcry and awareness.

The depts are also in the process of educating the public in the form of publishing info and education at this point in Missouri Conservationist and Missouri Resources magazines. They publish success stories every so often of landowners that have transformed their properties into a more sustainable ecosystem. If anyone here does not already get either of these publications, you can sign up online.. The cost is free to Missouri residents.

I hope the MDC and other agencies, stream teams etc continue to work toward a more proactive approach in education, promotion and improving our waterways and resources in the state. We all share these resources, hopefully they will have as good if not better health report in 20 years and beyond.