4000 brown stocked

[Phil Lilley]

4000 brown trout were stocked this month by Shepherd. They averaged about 11 inches. The remainder of the annual stocking will take place in April or May and will add about 2000-6000 more brown trout to Taneycomo.

[gonefishin]

Hmmmm. 6000 for the year certainly doesn't seem to be many Browns for Taney. I thought with the increased prices and decreased limits they were supposed to stock more. ?? As usual I am confused; for a while I actually thought we (fishermen/taxpayers) were actually going to get something we paid for.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I believe the changes were aimed at increasing the size of fish stocked.

[Andrew Schaefer]

Browns in Taneycomo are managed as a trophy fish. Because none of them are supposed to be harvested untill they are >20 inches you don't need to stock as many of them plus you can only have one per day. I think 95% rainbows and 5% browns is the stocking numbers I remember reading somewhere. In reality, the regs for brown trout on taneycomo haven't changed at all with the new regs and the stocking numbers probably wont(or shouldn't) as a result.

[Phil Lilley]

I could be mistaken on the numbers... it could be 10,000 total. I've heard as many as 15,000 have been stocked but I think MDC has broaded their scope for stocking browns across the state. But there's never been more browns stocked, at least in recent years.

You have to remember stocking ratios vs how much a body of water can take. Stocking too many browns, which can't be harvested till they're 20 inches, can deplete the food base, just like MDC did back in the 80's by stocking too many rainbows.

[gonefishin]

You both could be right. I may just be touchy on the subject. It just seems to me that we have been misled by the MDC. They said by increased the licence fees, reduced the limits and promote C&R fishing so the fishery will be better with more fish and larger fish. So far all I have seen are lower stocking numbers and no change in stocker fish size yet I pay more for licences and can keep reduced numbers. I catch no more fish than I did say 2 or 3 years ago and the fish I do catch are no bigger than they were before the changes were made.

Some changes I have noticed are larger donations to the states general fund, larger donations to the Federal General Fund, (neither of which have anything to do with fishing) new vehicles for MDC, new air planes for MDC, raises for MDC employees and a new parking lot at the hatchery in Branson and more money being spent on things other than fishing.

It seems to me that fishermen are footing the bill for a lot of other outdoor sports and for things unrelated to outdoor sports. I didnt notice them reducing the number of deer/turkey killed per tag or raising the price of the deer/turkey tags as much as they have for fishing. In fact I have seen just the opposite. I also haven't noticed them pushing catch and release hunting. Ridiculious I know but a deer/turkey can only be killed once per tag... Think about it.

If they would do the same thing to deer/turkey hunters they have gotten away with doing to fishermen then deer/turkey hunters would all be buying not only expensive but, multiple tags for each animal, and would be using cameras to hunt with rather than guns.

No, I am not against hunting. In fact just the opposite, I am a hunter. I just happen to prefer fishing.

It just doesn't seem like the changes they have sold us fishermen on not only haven't happened they are vastly unfair and unfairly expensive when compared to other outdoor sports.

No, I am not mad. Just my opinion, for whatever it is worth, that us fishermen get short changed an awfully lot.

Bud

[Phil Lilley]

I wasn't for the increase in fees or the reduction of the limit... but as far as Taney, I'm giving them more time to get numbers and sizes in line with their promises.

[gonefishin]

You may be right and I hope that you are. Time will tell.

Bud

[Brian Sloss]

Now don't take this the wrong way, but the last time I was at Taney, I think I may have accidently step on two or three fish there were so many swimming around. What do they stock in there, 700,000+ trout a year or something? I can't complain about size too much because there were plently of huge ones swimming about as well. Now I don't begrudge you that, but lack of fish in that fishery is not an issue. You could take a couple of thousand of those fish that are about to stocked and spread them to other fisheries and never notice the diference and really make a noticeable diference at the other fishery. I'm not saying they should do that, it is just that I had 50 fish bumping my leg the last time I was at Taney. Also, I don't fish Taney enough to know the ends and outs of everything that goes on there with the MDC policies. Supposedly they are improving the hatcheries and will be able to produce more fish soon.

[gonefishin]

Brian:

I am not taking it the wrong way. I like to discuss the issues. I think discussing them with an open mind gives me a better understanding of what is going on.

I agree with you right now, there are a lot of fish in Taney but, I also know there is a limited amount of forage and as the browns get bigger the MDC will have to slow down the numbers of rainbows and browns stocked to allow ample food for the bigger browns. I'll not say that is all bad but it means there will be less numbers stocked. It also means that in the future there will be fewer catchable fish.

I guess it really shouldnt matter to me as I am not a dyed in the wool trout fisherman anyway. I only fish for trout in the winter. In the summer I am after other types of fish. Especially those "Remarkable Redears"

Bud