North Fork issue

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, netboy said:

I just didn't get your post about summertime water temps. 

That was directed at the assumption someone made, that the Trout in the NFOW might perish because of the lack of shade since the flood.  

[netboy]

2 hours ago, ness said:

Things do adapt and change over time. It's why you don't look like this  

 

Well maybe over a million years it can change, but not that much over 50 years.

BTW.. that pic is pretty good after what I look like these days after a few skin cancer surgeries.

PSA.. wear your sunblock... 

[Terrierman]

Put me down for let Mother Nature have her way and stop spending my $$$ to try to do otherwise.  Some streambank stabilization work is not doing otherwise, it's helpin' her out.

[netboy]

38 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

That was directed at the assumption someone made, that the Trout in the NFOW might perish because of the lack of shade since the flood.  

Got that. Fish are pretty adaptive. They move upstream towards the colder water coming from the feeder springs.   

[fshndoug]

AFGC closes that section so they don't have to spend resources to patrol it as much.You won't hear them say that but I bet that is a contributing factor.Heck MO. never patrols the upper 3 miles of Taneycomo.

[Gavin]

The shenanigans that folks will do to snag spawning trout in the mouth....Yep, I’m guilty but the statute has run out. I’d rather hear from the Bade’s & Spencer’s about the condition of the NFoW as opposed to Al’s mystery man in the box. Have mystery man post up, let him out of the closet😀!

[Chief Grey Bear]

4 hours ago, Gavin said:

The shenanigans that folks will do to snag spawning trout in the mouth....Yep, I’m guilty but the statute has run out. I’d rather hear from the Bade’s & Spencer’s about the condition of the NFoW as opposed to Al’s mystery man in the box. Have mystery man post up, let him out of the closet😀!

That was my first thought. If the dude wrote a letter for everyone to read, why not just post the letter??? What’s with all the secrecy?? 

[SpoonDog]

As wild as they are, NFOW rainbows are a product of our invention.   We can intervene to stock fish throughout the 1900s, we can intervene to quit stocking fish in the 1960s, we can intervene to rebuild a dam...but we can't intervene to augment populations? 

Because we don't want to wreck the genetics?  That horse left the barn with catastrophic flooding.  Whatever individuals remain represent only a fraction of the population's former genetic diversity.   Stop and get gas in a little Ozark town and tell me there are no genetic consequences for small, isolated populations breeding with near-relatives over generations 🙂

After an event like 2017, there's an argument for stocking to increase genetic diversity.  I don't know if it's a silver bullet, but it solves a bunch of problems a dam doesn't address.  Does it pretty quick, does it pretty cheap.  I think it's a little premature to start tossing out alternatives in favor of the biggest, flashiest, most expensive "solution," based on little more than a hunch.  I think it's pretty ham-handed asking other folks to foot the bill on your "solution," because someone who isn't paying for it finds it the most palatable option.  It's easy to make the perfect the enemy of the good when you have no stake in the game.

There's gotta be a handful of vulnerable endemic species in this state where a $500,000 investment would make tremendous impact on their conservation.  But hey, they're not trout.  So we'll try spending half a million dollars hoping to prevent one of the most widespread critters on the planet from being eaten by one of the next most widespread critters on the planet. 

Perfectly sane, rational, well adjusted people go absolutely bonkers for trout, and that's as much a problem here as the flood or the stripers or Dawt Mill Dam.  Don't believe me?  Replace "trout" in Al's OP with "bluegill" and ask if it'd still be worth $500,000. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, SpoonDog said:

As wild as they are, NFOW rainbows are a product of our invention.   We can intervene to stock fish throughout the 1900s, we can intervene to quit stocking fish in the 1960s, we can intervene to rebuild a dam...but we can't intervene to augment populations? 

Because we don't want to wreck the genetics?  That horse left the barn with catastrophic flooding.  Whatever individuals remain represent only a fraction of the population's former genetic diversity.   Stop and get gas in a little Ozark town and tell me there are no genetic consequences for small, isolated populations breeding with near-relatives over generations 🙂

After an event like 2017, there's an argument for stocking to increase genetic diversity.  I don't know if it's a silver bullet, but it solves a bunch of problems a dam doesn't address.  Does it pretty quick, does it pretty cheap.  I think it's a little premature to start tossing out alternatives in favor of the biggest, flashiest, most expensive "solution," based on little more than a hunch.  I think it's pretty ham-handed asking other folks to foot the bill on your "solution," because someone who isn't paying for it finds it the most palatable option.  It's easy to make the perfect the enemy of the good when you have no stake in the game.

There's gotta be a handful of vulnerable endemic species in this state where a $500,000 investment would make tremendous impact on their conservation.  But hey, they're not trout.  So we'll try spending half a million dollars hoping to prevent one of the most widespread critters on the planet from being eaten by one of the next most widespread critters on the planet. 

Perfectly sane, rational, well adjusted people go absolutely bonkers for trout, and that's as much a problem here as the flood or the stripers or Dawt Mill Dam.  Don't believe me?  Replace "trout" in Al's OP with "bluegill" and ask if it'd still be worth $500,000. 

Great points!  Can we put the money towards smallies please??

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Great points!  Can we put the money towards smallies please??

No kidding 🙄 

Everybody wants to praise trout, while the native Smallmouth are left to deal with.....whatever.   That really pisses me off.