2007 Survey

[Phil Lilley]

Dave Mayers

Camping, trout fishing, canoeing, the 19 miles of river from Montauk State Park to Akers Ferry has it all. Visitors have the choice of three areas to visit.

Montauk State Park

Rainbow trout are stocked daily in the 2.3 miles of water within Montauk State Park. If you don't mind the company of other anglers, this is the place to catch trout. The state park here also offers lodging, and restaurant facilities. See the Trout Fishing section of this publication for more information.

Blue Ribbon Trout Area

The 9.0 miles from the state park downstream to the Cedargrove bridge is managed for large size brown trout on a put-grow-and-take basis. Trout must be at least 18" to keep and the daily limit is one. See Trout Fishing Section for more information.

Brown trout, 8-10", are stocked each spring but do not reach legal size until at least two or three years later. Anglers in 2008 can expect to find more brown trout over 18 inches but fewer in the11 to 15 inch size range. Density of 18 inch and larger brown trout in fall of 2007 averaged 47 per mile and is up 42% from 2006. Warm summer temperatures in 2007 were probably responsible for low survival of fish stocked in late spring. Anglers wanting to catch rainbow trout should concentrate in the upper two miles of the Blue Ribbon Area from Montauk Trout Park boundary downstream to Baptist Access. Rainbow trout here make up about 25% of the trout population with the vast majority of them 11 - 15” long. These fish are the result of stocked trout moving out of the Trout Park. Downstream of Baptist Access the rainbows make up less than 10% of the trout population.

White Ribbon Trout Area

The 9.0 miles from the Cedargrove bridge to Akers Ferry are managed with rainbow trout on a put-and-take basis. This section has no minimum length limit and four fish per day limit. See Trout Fishing Section for more information. Rainbows, 10-12" are stocked once a month and twice a month from March through June. During the months of July and August, and when river levels are low, trout stocking is limited to the cooler section from Welch Spring downstream to Akers Ferry. Fishing in the White Ribbon Area is less crowded than in the trout park and the stream can be easily waded or floated in a canoe.

[mhall02]

That is interesting they state the browns stocked in the spring are 8" - 10". I fished Baptist Camp area on July 5 and caught numerous 4"-5" browns, and once nice 16-17" inch brown.

[Gavin]

Thanks for the info. Caught a couple nice fish on every trip down there this fall but numbers were way down. Now we know why.

Cheers.

[Kayser]

When I fished this summer, I pulled a 4" bow and a 5" brown from behind the same rock in about 10" of water. No scars, full fins, beautiful colors. Curious where they might've come from.

Also saw some trophy sized fish, a few of them rainbows. Hard to spot and even harder to get a bite without spooking em.

Rob

[Project Healing Waters]

Some trout fry escape from hatcheries or get into the stocking trucks periodically. That COULD explain it. Of course, it is also possible that there could be natural propagation occurring in sporadically. That doesn't automatically make a fishery sustainable.

[Kayser]

I thought that they were escapees when I hooked em, but they lacked the scarring on the nose and fins typical of hatcery fish. Specially the bow- full pink fins with sharp, white tips. Oh well, just a nice little surprise.

Rob

[drew03cmc]

Well, the rainbows may spawn with some success in the Current, but I haven't heard of browns spawning in Missouri. If they are, that is good news for us.

[brownieman]

I have caught free flowing females on the current several times...upon landing the fish the eggs are literally dumping from the fish.

it's always been debatable...probably always will be.

bm

[Gavin]

Browns certainly go through the motions but I dont think the have any significant reproduction. MDC usually clips a fin on almost all of the browns they stock because it helps identify the year the fish was stocked when they sample. so if you catch a brown big or small, check the pelvic fins and the adiopose fin for evidence of a fin clip (one fin smaller than the other, missing fin, deformed fin. If it has one it came from the hatchery.

Take this little feller from this January. Adiopose fin looks fine, left pelvic is OK, but he was missing his right pelvic fin. Cheers.

[shawncat]

Nice pic, Gavin.Good detail and color.Seems like they darken up a little in the Meremac after they have been in there awhile.