Trout harvest - don't want to upset the masses.

[MoMuskies]

The hot topic at one of the musky boards that I visit deals with the how fanatical we are at releasing all muskies caught. We try to educate folks new to musky fishing on things like, how to properly hold a fish for photos and measurements and no fishing when water temp/DO would equate toa dead fish. We understand that it's your right if you want to harvest a legal fish, however, we wish that you would reconsider and release the fish. If you wish a mount, take measurements and photos and have a fiberglass mount made of your trophy.

Being new to trout fishing, does that same hold true for trout out of Taney? Are there any do's and don't when it comes to release, hold, etc. I we use rubber nets on muskies, I guess the same can be applied to trout?

Thanks for input..

Frank

[Zach Bearden]

What I see most fly fishermen with is a cloth net I have heard that a rubber net can take the scales off of a trout. Im not positive about this but that is what ive heard. If im wrong please tell me...

[mizzouflyfisher]

Many of the same principles apply. Just as you shouldn't fish for muskie in MO/IL in July/August, you should be more careful w/ trout during vulnerable periods (when they are spawning, low dissolved oxygen, etc). I prefer not to use a net and grab the trout with a bare, wet hand. I don't use a rubber net for muskie, I've use one of the gigantic stowmasters (I think it's 4 feet deep) that will let you leave the muskie in the water while you unhook. You should also revive a large trout just like a musky. Trout are somewhat easier to release because the water is typically colder and trout are much easier to handle (especially when you're fishing by yourself).

Just cause I'm curious, where do you musky fish? I try to get to Lake Kincaid a couple of times a year and spend a week on Lake of the Woods every year.

Mizzouflyfisher

[MoMuskies]

I've been known to travel 620 miles one way to fish a day and half (Phelps, Wi)for musky. Since I live in St. Louis, I have a honey hole south of Springfield IL that takes up most of my time. I do travel 2 weeks a year with our group, we typically spend 1 week in northern WI and the other week in MN or Canada.

I've really enjoy trout fishing! Got into it 2 summers ago while vacationing in Branson with the family. I could'nt do another show and the outlet malls are not for me. I took my boat thinking I would hit Table Rock but we were staying at Pointe Royale (I think), and they had a boat ramp. Long story short, I had my perch rod and rapalas and had a blast catching trout. I've since graduated to a fly rod and even tied on some scuds...

Frank

[Murdoc]

Hey MoMuskies,

It's great to see someone wanting to be a part of a responsable public. You see so many that they do what they want to do and don't care. Your refreshing! Thank you!

[SilverMallard]

You asked about Taney. MO trout fishing in general is plagued with a "trout guts" ethic. It is quite common to see folks catch a quick limit of stocked trout and clean the fish right there where they fish...tossing the offal into the stream. Most MO trout anglers keep what they catch. Possession and limit violations are VERY common on Taney, as are methods violations.

You will see a lot of the fly anglers practicing C&R, and some even know how. But you won't see anyone else doing it. And fly anglers are in the minority on Taney by a wide margin except in the first 2 miles of the lake. It's pretty much a put-n-take fishery.

[Terry Beeson]

To expound a bit on what Ken has said, the White River system trout program has ALWAYS been designed as a "put and take" system. Otherwise, the hatcheries would all go belly up... Those who violate the limit regulations should be banned from the waters, but there is nothing wrong with harvesting trout within those regulations.

I am a C&R advocate when it comes to trout and many species. This does not mean I release every fish. I will take home a trout or two when I want to, but am a bit selective on what I take home. I am totally against killing a fish just to hang it on the wall. Pictures, measurements, and a replica are more than sufficient.

However, regulations as they stand allow the taking for just that purpose. (If the fish dies in the fight, it would be a different story.)

Now when it comes to crappie or bream/bluegill, I will take a limit home.

[Greg]

I agree with both SM and Terry that MO trout fishing is mostly put and take. But I do think that is slowly changing. I've been trout fishing in MO for almost 30 years and it does seem to me that many more trout fisherman release their catch than in the past.

I fish upper taneycomo quite a bit and it's fairly rare that I see someone harvesting trout. The same goes for the upper Current trophy area. That's partly because of the regulations in those areas of course but that's not entirely the reason. I believe I've even noted an increase in catch and release at the trout parks.

I've always been curious about muskie fishing. But I don't think I would have the patience. What are they called - the fish of 10,000 casts?

Greg

[Leonard]

I dont have a problem at all taking a few home myself...

But I really dont take the under 12s home (take to many to make a meal)..

with a wife and 2 kids plus myself.. a 20-23in fish will feed us all..

The thing I hate to see the most are these legal fish (20-24in) laying dead on the bottom, just because someone fought them to hard or poor mishandling.. when all they really needed to do is take a little time to revive the fish..

Leonard

[SilverMallard]

I also keep trout from stocked waters on occassion. And I have no problem keeping common panfish. I do not keep wild trout or smallmouth bass.

Most of the fly anglers on upper Taney release the vast majority of what they catch. During the warmer months, you will see a LOT of spin-fishermen keeping trout on upper Taney (by percentage).

Every holiday weekend during the warmer season that I have been there I have seen and/or heard from the agents that they have issued an average of about a dozen limit/possession and methods (usually bait) tickets per day in the Trophy Zone on Taney. And, yes, I have seen guys with fly rods during those times get tickets more than once. Watched one group of about 5 guys carry a clear plastic garbage bag full of trout inside the slot to their truck in the main parking lot under the watchful eye of a game warden who was sitting in his truck in the middle of the parking lot in plain view. DUH!