Ozark Rainbows

[Big Brown Trout]

put out by MDC in 1977, found this on youtube and thought you guys would like it. hope you haven't seen it yet.

[laker67]

very nice bbt thank you for doing this. It brings back memories seeing what the parks and taney looked like 30 years ago.

[dennis boatman]

I was wondering if they still use pretty much the same process today?

[fishinwrench]

I was wondering if they still use pretty much the same process today?

Well, if we've made any real progress the fish should be healthier and there should be more of them. Having not started seriously trout fishing until 1980 it's hard for me to say.

I'm confident in saying that the fish quality in the spring branch at Bennett was alot better back then than it is now, which makes all these "improvements" they've done kinda suck.

[laker67]

In response to Fw's comment, I have always had the highest regard for our mdc and have witnessed huge improvements to the hunting and fishing that I remember growing up. "BUT", I truly believe they have dropped the ball and lost all control over bssp. Montauk and roaring have maintained their level of quality over the years, and taney has been on fast forward. Bssp continues to excelerate towards self destruct, and it is sad indeed to see this all transpire in the past ten years. In answer to dennis, I would guess they still use the same tried and true process.

[stlfisher]

Are the hatchery improvements finally completed? I am not throwing the towel in on Bennett quite yet. My understanding is it takes about a year to produce quality fish and even longer to produce bigger fish. I guess I am hoping that quality will improve again as we get into next year.

I think they need to something do the stream itself though. Those long dredged out pools can be a bit boring to fish after a while. More riffles please.

[Wayne SW/MO]

and it is sad indeed to see this all transpire in the past ten years

While I agree with what you're saying, I say this would be more accurate if it was 30 years.

The problem I see with Bennett is in what I believe is a misguided mission. For some asinine reason there is a mentality that the park needs to increase its visitor numbers. This has been going on for quite a while now and the ridiculous part of it is that the stream has been degrading all this time.

Much of the big push from the early 80's goes back to Sam Welch and Jim Rogers, Welch wanted numbers and Rogers wanted money, but in all fairness the trend started before Rogers. The canoe rental is a great example, nothing to do with fishing or the stream branch.

As far as size goes that is just one more example of trying to increase visitation. People who fish want bigger fish, after all they pay for them and they are hatchery raised. I don't know when the call for a C & R section started, but it 40+ years ago. It's fallen on deaf ears and it will because it endangers the visitation numbers.

The sad part is it ain't gonna change.

[laker67]

I think whom ever was in charge in the seventies, tried to capitalize on the numbers game by first having bob lamms state record rainbow big news in field and stream magazine. For missouri to light up a nationwide fishing mag about trout fishing was unheard of. Most out of staters didnt even realize that missouri had trout like that. But to their dismay, along comes an article about taneycomo about a year later. I can recall the headlines from outdoor life, i think it was, Lake Taneycomo, the premier trout fishing destination of the usa. As wayne states, we didnt realize at that time, that we were on a downhill slide because fishing was tremendous at bssp. It was not uncommon to catch a limit of five lunkers in a single day. You often heard talk about a c and r area, but of course it was only talk to help smooth things out. Like the new and improved hatchery facility, they will use it to help try to smooth things over for awhile. But even that will only be temporary. All they have done is buy some time by saying you need to give this new hatchery a time to catch up. When it runs its course, they will invent something new.

[Big Brown Trout]

so not having been to Bennett spring I'm kind of out of the loop here. What about it makes it so bad? I was planning a trip to one of the other state trout parks soon, should I pass Bennett over? and why?

[laker67]

By all means bbt, go visit bssp and fish. It will fish good, just dont expect that fish of a lifetime to be lurking on the far bank. It is what it is, as micheal kyle says. Take in all the parks and compare, Each one has its own special appeal. Bennet is the easiest of all parks to fish. It has good access.