Current River experiences...

[Al Agnew]

I agree, Kicknbass, the Current has a lot of potential that's not being realized. I think the reason it isn't on the radar for special management is precisely because the growth rates are slower due to the colder water, or at least that's what a lot of the old data showed. It's almost like "conventional wisdom"...Ozark streams in general have slow growth rates because they are cool and infertile, and the most heavily spring fed ones are even worse. I really wonder about that. The more time I spend on these rivers and on rivers in other parts of the country, the less I agree with the conventional wisdom. Growth rates in many parts of the country that produce bigger fish regularly aren't much, if any, better than they are here. If you're comparing river fish to lake fish, yes, there is a difference. But rivers all over the ocuntry have similar growth rates. And I think somebody just decided that slow growth rates on rivers like the Current are due to cold water just because it seems to make sense. I disagree. I think fish on the less heavily spring fed streams go more dormant in the winter, so they have a warm weather growing season, but the fish in these heavily spring fed streams feed more all year long, so they may actually grow in winter as well as the summer.

I think, based on what I've seen on the Current (and I don't spend much time on it compared to other streams) that it has LOTS of small fish. As you said, many are probably being cropped off at 12 inches. And it's also possible that the smaller fish may be a little overpopulated and that's contributing to slow growth rates. A slot limit would seem to me to be a great idea on the Current.

Polock, yes, I fish the Jacks Fork some. Beautiful river!