North Fork issue

[ColdWaterFshr]

The flood that hit the North Fork in 2017 was more than just a massive flood.  It was BIBLICAL.  A 1000 year flood.

I floated a good chunk of it just a week before that flood and it still is hard to wrap my head around the Hwy CC bridge being taken out the way it was.  The devastation up and down the river is still very evident as I have been there at least 3 or 4 times since.

A couple of things:

-- there were many floods of much, much lesser impact than the 2017 event that would allow stripers to get above the dam even before its removal.  I believe this happened almost every spring after a good soaker, no?

-- the # of springs that feed that river are considerable in size.  I really doubt that water temp has been affected all that greatly due to loss of shade cover, but that would be interesting to learn. 

-- the river will repair itself soon and the aquatic insect base will rebound quickly, I would think, but I'm no expert.

-- I would like to NOT see it stocked with rainbows.  It was a great wild trout fishery before the flood.

[Ham]

I'm not a fisheries biologist nor an environmental scientist, but I would like to to see trees replanted ASAP and native aquatic vegetation re-established. I am not in favor of stocking trout IF there are acceptable numbers of the naturalized Rainbows remaining. 

I am fine with them re-establishing the dam at Dawt Mill as long as it can be done in a way that will be safe for the people and specifically children that swim there.  

[Gavin]

I'm in favor of planting trees, etc. and have donated money toward that end in the past. I am not in favor of stocking rainbow trout or rebuilding Dawt Mill Dam. It is a different fishery now...Where else can you catch a wild rainbow, brown trout, smallmouth, and a striper on the same float trip? Maybe just encourage folks to FISH FOR, KEEP & EAT those stripers and walleye. The stripers are there in decent numbers. Hooked a really nice one right below Kelly Ford last summer. 

[netboy]

Since those "wild" rainbows originally came from a hatchery how can they now have "wild" trout genes?

I am not a biologist but I don't think genetics change over time.  There is a rather large industry that makes millions of dollars testing DNA and reporting an individual's ancestry through many generations.   JMO

[laker67]

If the last rainbow stocking was in 1964, they were most likely the McCloud River strain. Why not just add more of that strain? It should not interfere with the reproduction cycle already there. Might even help speed things up.

[Ham]

14 minutes ago, netboy said:

Since those "wild" rainbows originally came from a hatchery how can they now have "wild" trout genes?

I am not a biologist but I don't think genetics change over time.  There is a rather large industry that makes millions of dollars testing DNA and reporting an individual's ancestry through many generations.   JMO

I like that they are “wild” born and self sustaining. I’d rather not mess that up if we can help it. 

[netboy]

Obviously the North Fork suffered a huge loss of trout during the 2017 flood as did the Eleven Point. I heard stories of many dead trout on both rivers that got stranded when the water went down and I am sure many more were washed downstream and died from the warmer water.

The Eleven Point has bounced back and is fishing pretty good now. I would attribute that to the stockings by MDC.

I fished the North Fork with a couple of good fly fishermen in October and it was a tough day to say the least. Haven't been back since and don't plan on going back any time soon.

It may take many years to replenish the rainbow population on the North Fork if we wait on natural reproduction. With that said I think a couple of truck loads from the hatchery would speed up the recovery and not alter the genetics of the trout in the river. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[snagged in outlet 3]

I wonder what the time line would be for stream reproduction to make any sizable increase in the population?  I bet the reproduction rate was low before the flood much less after.  Maybe hotspot it for your grandkids to hit it in 30 years or so.

[fishinwrench]

I'm sure they'll want to keep the "Blue Ribbon" designation to keep the giggers out.  

Isn't it funny that they don't consider illegal gigging a problem at all on any other body of water.....But on "Blue Ribbon" streams they strictly enforce NO GIGGING !

[netboy]

Another interesting question...

Al states in the original post that "brown trout have not proven to be able to reproduce anywhere in the Ozarks".  With that said I wonder why AGFC closes the Bull Shoals C&R area to all fishing from Nov 1 thru Jan 31 to accommodate the brown trout spawning efforts??