Maramec 1/13/2008

[rollcast]

went fishing today and had a great day. didnt catch any big ones but cought a ton of decent fish.

the main concern is this; between my dad and i we have seen several people throwing illegal baits. the way i read it it is flies only, no soft plastic, scented or natural bait!!!! no rubber even on a single hook!!!! i told two guys today that they were fishing illegal cause they were throwing rubber worms but they plead they were legal cause it was on a single hook. and to top it off today when we were leaving the park at 4:30 a guy was still fishing after the whistle of course. this place is gettin out of control

[hfdhoosier]

I think Missouri needs to have deputized wardens (us), or allow citizen arrest. Every trout park has illegal stuff going on and not enough enforcement of the laws. The only way they are going to stop it is to regularly issue tickets at all the parks. Need a better response to phone in complaints. Must be able to respond in a timely fashion before the offenders leave. JMHO

Dennis

[bikehikefish]

I was there a week ago and saw the same kind of stuff and more. A group of three were fishing the trophy are just outside the park (below the campground) using dough bait. After they cleaned a couple trout I showed them the sign with the regs. They acted suprised, but I suspect they knew exactly what they were doing.

We walked back up to the parking lot for a break and someone I was with mentioned this to a park employee. He said something about getting his book to write them up, got in his truck, then drove up the hill on the opposite site of the stream.

Guess they don't care if we follow the regs.

[jrbhc8]

I too have seen this, especially at Maramec Springs. For catch and release it doesn't bother me as much, becuase they are still letting the fish go. Of course the mortality rate goes up when using illegal baits. It's the people outside of the park keeping and cleaning fish during the season that bothers me. I can't tell you how many people I have seen throwing power bait on a spinning rod and a flyrod below the park. And everyone wonders why the Maramec River is going downhill. Between that and giggers, the Maramec doesn't stand a chance.

jrbhc8