Trout- Part One

[bfishn]

Tiny trout are as good as whoppers. Ask any 4-year-old.

[Al Agnew]

I'm kinda glad that people do get so passionate about them...keeps some of them off the smallmouth rivers.

It's a self-reinforcing tradition. Trout were the aristocrats' gamefish in Europe (and to some extent still are). They became the elite gamefish in early America. They've always been considered the epitome of a freshwater gamefish by many, and at some point most people want to catch them because they are supposed to be such an elite gamefish. And then there's the whole fly fishing thing...fly fishing was invented to catch trout, and since trout tend to feed a lot on insects, fly fishing is still the most versatile and often effective way to fish for them.

Besides...at their best, trout ARE great gamefish that are a challenge to catch consistently. Of course, the stocker rainbows that so many people fish for are far from trout at their best.

[Mitch f]

I do respect trout! and I have the most respect for them when they prey on minnows, crayfish, and bigger fish. When they are just a plankton filter it's not too exciting. I still consider smallmouth the absolute monarchs mongst the species!

[Buzz]

There are times when I just want to go catch some little wild trout. I know I probably won't catch any bigger than 12 inches, but just knowing they are wild and surviving is a thrill in its own right.

I'll agree that it's a passion. Even though I get a huge thrill when I catch a big smallmouth or even a big largemouth it's not quite the same.

[Ham]

I love catching all kinds of fish. For me, part of the attraction of trout is that they weren't available to me as a child so they still sort of have "new" status. They are usually a pretty fish and they have their charms, but yeah I'd rather have a smallmouth.

[Al Agnew]

I love rivers, so if the river happens to have trout in it, then I love fishing for them with a fly rod, and once in a while I even go for big ones with casting tackle and lures. I'd rather the river have wild, naturally reproducing trout. Fishing most Missouri trout rivers is about three steps below river smallmouth fishing for me because I know that most if not all the trout I'll catch weren't born in the river. Two steps below would be rivers in Missouri that have a lot of wild, naturally reproduced trout. One step below are the western rivers where all the trout are naturally reproducing, and if they happen to have the native cutthroat along with or instead of the long-ago introduced rainbows and browns, that's a rather short step below.

[LittleRedFisherman]

I'm the same way with smallmouth, to me it's the ultimate experience for me. I've always had a love for rivers, lake fishing just isn't the same for me, although I go in the summer,and enjoy it, but I usually take my flyrod or something and sneak down to the spring or southfork early of the morning, before I hit the lake with the family.

As far as trout, and what Al is talking about, that's why I love the Little Red River in AR. The Brown trout in there, are all wild, none are stocked in that river. They were introduced in there by a fly fishing group like 50 years ago, unbenounced to the AGFC. This group did put those little boxes in there with eggs, but the rest is history, decades later they have reproduced in the river, and there's some woppers in there! So, they haven't always been wild in there, but now it's basically a wild brown trout river. To me, it's my destination for browns!!

[laker67]

with all this hype about rivers and wild fish, i think you all must somewhere be related to daniel boone. lol. the smallmouth fish must most definately be missouri's official "state fish" of record.. with all it's popularity, it was surely voted number one.

[Jeff Tief]

We grew up riding bikes down to Bone Hole on Big River to initially catch whatever we could.As we got older it tended more to bass fishing and again whatever kind of bass would hit our plug or minnows.We made a few forays to Maramac Springs in the early 60's with a carload of family and/or friends and again fished with anything we could that was legal and caught fish.In the mid to late 60's we started going more as a group of young guys and probably began trout fishing a little better ..Back then gas was a little more reasonable and everybody could chip in a dollar and fill up the tank and have a dollar to park.I started trout fishing more after a summer in Washington fishing the rivers and lakes outside of Tacoma.Older brother,Toofer, couldn't figure out why I fished less for bass and more for trout the last 40 years and I explained that the size of the fish for many years and the access to take wife and kids made it a win-win situation for all. Now I enjoy tying and fishing flies that fool trout and salmon all over the USA.

[Greasy B]

Where they live has a lot to do with it.