Nps And Agfc To Stock Channel Catfish

[taxidermist]

There was an article about them teaming up and stocking channel cats to get them back to the former popualtions and breeding.

Personally the river is not the same river it was 30 years ago, we seldom catch smallies over a pound above Carver where as before back when I was a kid we caught and filleted several three to four pound smallies, then there was no size limit but fewer pointd boats and even fewer gravel filled holes.

Habitat has changed and I don't know if they see the end of smallies and are stocking cats or what. But thats the news.

[hoglaw]

I don't think the habitat changes in the buffalo are affecting the smallies as badly as you think. First, the river gets a TON of pressure. Much of it comes in the form of catch and keep, as the average drunk is ignorant of the restrictions. I was a lower stretch this summer and started scooping gravel with a hand net. The water was as hot as a bath, and that snot moss was growing everywhere. I still found lots of crawdads and quite a few of these other things. I think they're helgramites maybe? They look like centipedes with serious jaws. Even in the nasty hot water, I landed 30+ fish with some 16+ inchers once I switched to a baitcasting rig and my favorite topwater rig. Anyway, the forage in the buffalo is pretty abundant in my opinion.

I think stocking channel cats is a fine idea. It gives the keeping crowd something else to fish for. AGFC has stocked channels in the past and has had limited success believe it or not. There was a big study a few years back where they tagged the stocked cats, and found that quite a few had migrated all the way downstream to the white, and wound up in the delta warm-water stretches. I don't know why the cats leave the buffalo, but it probably has something to do with spawning patterns. Channels move to current and headwaters to spawn, then retreat back to reservoirs. If life is good in the river, and they can find a big still pool, they sometimes stick around. Also, while the channels share much of the same forage base as the smallies, I think they're probably more prone to scavenge and feed on larger sunfish. All in all, I don't think stocking channels will affect the smallmouth population that much, but I'm not a biologist. AGFC won't stock them if they didn't think the smallies would be okay.

Personally, I think they need new restrictions. A big slot, or C&R on all smallmouth over 12 inches might be interesting. At least that would get the message out more effectively.

[Ham]

Channel Catfish were a part of the Buffalo and the cold water of the White has messed them up. I seriously doubt a stocking will be much more than a band-aid that has to be re-applied from time to time.

I would favor a minimum length of 10 inches on smallies and total C&R on smallies above 14 inches, BUT there is no point to changing regs until you enforce the regs that exist now. People basically follow the law if they want to do so.

I know first hand that lots of other states have much larger average smallmouth. Our waters are plenty fertile and loaded with food. It might be the genetics of the smallies we have that keeps them small, but I expect ot has more to do with the keep and kill crowd. We have lots of small mouth, but I wish we had a lot more > 14 inch smallies.

[riverdawg]

Channel Catfish were a part of the Buffalo and the cold water of the White has messed them up. I seriously doubt a stocking will be much more than a band-aid that has to be re-applied from time to time.

I would favor a minimum length of 10 inches on smallies and total C&R on smallies above 14 inches, BUT there is no point to changing regs until you enforce the regs that exist now. People basically follow the law if they want to do so.

I know first hand that lots of other states have much larger average smallmouth. Our waters are plenty fertile and loaded with food. It might be the genetics of the smallies we have that keeps them small, but I expect ot has more to do with the keep and kill crowd. We have lots of small mouth, but I wish we had a lot more > 14 inch smallies.

Slot limit is the way to go but as has been said, people are only going to follow the law if they want to. I don't keep smallmouth period. There are too many catfish and trout around if I am hungry for fish. I think the floods have played some role in the disturbance of the smallmouth poplulation. As an avid catfisher, I will be glad to see the restocking plan. There is plenty of food to go around in the Buffalo.