Headed down Wednesday morning.

[bfishn]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Let's say the FF'er has about $3k wrapped in gear.  All high end stuff.  Let's also look at a bass fisherman wearing a jersey (he's not a pro) and he has over $60K wrapped in boat and gear.  What does that make the bass fisherman?  20 times the order of magnitude snob??  Super supreme snob??

OK, poor comparison on my part. My point was simply that everyone should be able to enjoy the sport how and when they want. 

To expand a bit... 30 years ago my then-wife talked me into taking over a local trout farm against my "better judgement". Pay fishing was the lowest of the low for me at that time,, and I wanted nothing to do with it. After doing it for ~10 years though, I did a complete 180. Yeah, most of my customers were "urbanites" that didn't know a trout from a pout, but the kids didn't care. They learned that cane pole/fixed line/bobber/hook routine in about 30 seconds, and were squealing with delight shortly after when they pulled in their first fish. I had the pleasure of helping several thousand of those city kids learn to appreciate the simple fun of fishing. Best experience of my life. I suspect the urban trout programs provide much the same experience.

[snagged in outlet 3]

33 minutes ago, bfishn said:

OK, poor comparison on my part. My point was simply that everyone should be able to enjoy the sport how and when they want. 

To expand a bit... 30 years ago my then-wife talked me into taking over a local trout farm against my "better judgement". Pay fishing was the lowest of the low for me at that time,, and I wanted nothing to do with it. After doing it for ~10 years though, I did a complete 180. Yeah, most of my customers were "urbanites" that didn't know a trout from a pout, but the kids didn't care. They learned that cane pole/fixed line/bobber/hook routine in about 30 seconds, and were squealing with delight shortly after when they pulled in their first fish. I had the pleasure of helping several thousand of those city kids learn to appreciate the simple fun of fishing. Best experience of my life. I suspect the urban trout programs provide much the same experience.

That's pretty cool.  I loved taking my kids fishing.  Or anyone really.  My grandkids just love it.   Where was the trout farm?

[bfishn]

Bella Vista, AR. When we split the sheets and closed up in '99, the developer CEO took the place for a personal residence, and closed the gate forever. Really, really cool place. 

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, bfishn said:

, but the kids didn't care. They learned that cane pole/fixed line/bobber/hook routine in about 30 seconds, and were squealing with delight shortly after when they pulled in their first fish

Had they been bluegill, bass, or bullheads I bet the excitement would have been equally as spiritual and orgasmic.  

The point I was trying to make was that TROUT aren't really special UNLESS they are in the beautiful places where trout can live......and even then, it isn't necessarily the TROUT that make the experience what it is.   Matter of fact, bluegill are even more colorful and cute than trout are. 

[bfishn]

Just now, fishinwrench said:

Had they been bluegill, bass, or bullheads I bet the excitement would have been equally as spiritual and orgasmic.  

The point I was trying to make was that TROUT aren't really special UNLESS they are in the beautiful places where trout can live......and even then, it isn't necessarily the TROUT that make the experience what it is.   

I agree. The only reason they use trout is purely logistic. Commercial trout production is perhaps the most predictable and well established form of aquaculture in the US, and hasn't changed a whole lot in 100 years. I learned the ropes from a 1950s hatchery manual given to me by the guy that built my facility in the 50s, EL Keith. You can buy eyed eggs shipped overnight any month of the year you choose, ready to incubate and hatch in a week. That allows you to produce the desired size when you need them. The oft-maligned pellet feed (Silver Cup, not Purina) gets LTL shipped whenever you want it, and offers the best feed conversion ratio of any commercial fish. Given a proper water supply, trout can be grown all 12 months a year under optimal conditions. The details have been worked out long ago, much like chickens, pigs and cattle. You simply can't do all that with bass, bluegill or bullheads.

[snagged in outlet 3]

29 minutes ago, bfishn said:

I agree. The only reason they use trout is purely logistic. Commercial trout production is perhaps the most predictable and well established form of aquaculture in the US, and hasn't changed a whole lot in 100 years. I learned the ropes from a 1950s hatchery manual given to me by the guy that built my facility in the 50s, EL Keith. You can buy eyed eggs shipped overnight any month of the year you choose, ready to incubate and hatch in a week. That allows you to produce the desired size when you need them. The oft-maligned pellet feed (Silver Cup, not Purina) gets LTL shipped whenever you want it, and offers the best feed conversion ratio of any commercial fish. Given a proper water supply, trout can be grown all 12 months a year under optimal conditions. The details have been worked out long ago, much like chickens, pigs and cattle. You simply can't do all that with bass, bluegill or bullheads.

No kidding?   I always think trout are delicate relative to bass and bluegill.  Interesting.  Thx

[bfishn]

Yeah, they're delicate when it comes to handling them, but hardy as anything else when left alone. The lofty stigma they have is simply folklore and wishful thinking, they're really just a glorified water chicken. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

50 minutes ago, bfishn said:

Yeah, they're delicate when it comes to handling them, but hardy as anything else when left alone. The lofty stigma they have is simply folklore and wishful thinking, they're really just a glorified water chicken. 

Chicken taste better though 😁

[fishinwrench]

The fisheries dept. at Lincoln U. has been working to make an ultra-fast growing strain of bluegill for fish farming.   They have hermaphrodite bluegill that can reproduce all on their own (no male/female pairing required).  

For some reason though they are having trouble marketing them.   How much do you wanna bet that eventually hermaphrodite Bluegill will be in all of our lakes and streams ?   Along with the many other weirdo species that nobody wants to accept the blame for.   

Biologist's 🙄 They just can't keep from piddling around with the genes of living organisms.  Just try to remember, here in 5-9 years when you begin hearing about Hermaphrodite bluegill and the problems they are creating.....I told you where they originated from. 

 

 

 

Anyway, enough of that 😣  Is our boy back from his Niangua trip yet?   Anxious to hear his report. 👍

[snagged in outlet 3]

Yeah how did it go?   Might as well fully hot spot that place.