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

[MrDucky]

Mrs Ducky and I both like to catch and release , We also will take home our limit from the trout parks . However we will only take home what we need . When i catch the next Taney record trout , I would have the measurments and specs to reproduce the fish . Tami and I have been practicing catch and release and we even use pilers to smash our barbs . And if the fish needs help being revived we do what we can to help it , If it's bleeding theres a good chance we will keep it!! . If we are just still fishing with our son and the fish swallows the hook with bait , I just cut the line if we are not keeping it . I just hope this dosent turn into and catch or release arguement > Not sure if im right ,But a ranger @ the hatchery told me that if people dont harvest , the trout population would be dangerously High (correct me if im wrong)

Mr Ducky

[SilverMallard]

In a fishery managed as a put-n-take operation, YES...people keeping fish is important. This is especially true on Taneycomo, where stocking levels are WAY too high to be sustained by the acquaculture. You end up with a whole bunch of little bitty starving trout if people don't remove most of the stocked fish. Stocking at Taney is based on FISHING PRESSURE and TYPICAL HARVEST LEVELS, not on what the fishery can naturally sustain. That's what makes a put-n-take operation and put-n-take operation...like an upland bird hunting preserve.

[Gavin]

Missouri's trout fishery is heavilly regulated, monitored, and highly dependant on stocked fish, so I'd say that its OK to take limit of trout in Taneycomo and most of our other trout fisheries.

I'd draw the line at taking wild rainbows out of the N. Fork of the White or any of the small blue ribbon trout areas. Cheers.

[Randall]

i've been fishing taney for a little over two years, and have never seen a warden or conservation agent. i can pick em out like crazy at the parks, but like i said, i have never seen anybody near the parking lots or the water that i thought was a warden. i was under the impression based on a couple older threads that they don't really police the trophy area very hard.

also, i don't recall having ever seen somebody keep an illegal fish or use illegal methods in the trophy area. i do actively pay attention to what people are doing because it helps me pick up new tricks and techniques, and i would be able to tell if they were breaking the law. i doubt that limit and method violations are as common as some people may think.

[SilverMallard]

Well, dude, you're entitled to your opinion. But I lived in Branson from 1998 until Sept 2006. And I fished that stretch of water a LOT. And I know the game wardens, just don't "spot" them. I strongly suspect my 30-90 days of fishing the Trophy Management Zone on upper Taneycomo per year for the past 8 years...or 240-720 days...has probably given me a bit better of an idea what goes on there and what doesn't than most. There are a FEW guys here who spend more time on that water than I do. But not many! And they will tell you the same thing if they are honest.

Phil can explain it to you. So can Leonard. They both live there and would be the two guys on this forum that come to mind off the top of my head who have spent more time on the upper end of Taney than I have during the past 8 years.

[Seth]

I will keep a limit of the 11-12" trout from the trophy area if we are wanting some fish. IMO, it would be nice if people would take a limit of the small fish now and then because they are thick up there a lot of times and eat a lot of the food that the bigger fish could use and really help their growth.

I have a little mesh net on the back of my vest just incase, but I always try to just grab the fly and twist the fish off without out them even coming out of the water.

[Ham]

I hate seeing dead trout on a stringer, but as long as the trout were taken by legal methods and are "legal" to keep then I have no right to look down on the angler.

I don't keep smallies or spots(the Louisiana equivalent of a smallie). I'm never that hungry. I don't keep trout because I don't enjoy eating them.

I do keep LMB when so moved. I keep some of the crappie I catch. I keep some of the catfish I catch. I believe in selective harvest and keeping what I need rather than all I am legally allowed to keep.

There is a reason that many folks consider guys that fly fish for trout to be snobs.

[Randall]

i didn't say they weren't there, i just said i haven't been able to pick them out and that a couple threads from last winter gave me the impression that it wasn't policed very well.

i understand you have spent more time there than i have, and i don't doubt the truth of the stories you told, but i do doubt that violations are as you said, "very common". if people were keeping illegal fish and using illegal methods as often as you implied, i would have expected to see it happen during one of my trips down which tend to occur during the summer, over thanksgiving, and spring break. one would also think there would be more threads here about people breaking the law.

i wasn't trying to offend you, i was just posting my observations.

[MrsDucky]

Devon and I went over to the hatchery last Friday, during our snow day-fishing outing to warm up, and watched their video. The first thing the agent did before showing it was explain that trout are not native, and if they didn't stock Taneycomo, you would have 17 miles of water too cold to swim in, and not much else to do with it, so it is stocked with trout for anglers. (Yes, I'm paraphrasing a little...note the lack of quotation marks!) There is a reason for the slot limits, the possession limits, and the cleaning regulations. I have seen people ignore them, and also been told by the people who live near one public access dock that in 18 years of living there she has seen one ranger...who checked the bathrooms, but not the dock! You learn what you can "get away with," then you decide if you want to chance it. Some people do, other strictly follow the rules. As John said earlier, we bring home our limit when we want to eat trout, and we release when we are just out for a good way to spend family time together. If we bring home 12 (when we can get Devon to lay down his Gameboy!), then we have about 3-4 meals. If we could manage to land just one over that slot limit, we would only need the one allowed in those creeks designated that way. Personally, I feel that just messing with the fish is kind of cruel...take some home every now and then, don't just mess with their little fishy minds! And John was told once by a warden that he would rather see some one take home one that is within the slot if it would die rather than leaving a dead fish in the lake. Everyone has their opinion, and each of us can argue the point well...it's up to each of us to be responsible for our decisions and choices!

Meanwhile, pass the lemon pepper...I have a stocker in the microwave!

[Danoinark]

Devon and I went over to the hatchery last Friday, during our snow day-fishing outing to warm up, and watched their video. The first thing the agent did before showing it was explain that trout are not native, and if they didn't stock Taneycomo, you would have 17 miles of water too cold to swim in, and not much else to do with it, so it is stocked with trout for anglers.

There is another important reason they are stocked in the tailwaters. Its because of mitigation. That is how the government appeased the states and locals when they took the rivers to build dams for hydropower.

They agreed to make them trout fisheries. As to taking trout. I don't take them, not because of some ethical or purist reason, but I simply don't like to mess with them, and I sure don't like the taste of trout.

Dano