Roaring River Hatchery construction

I only got over there about 50 times last year mostly around mid day and sometimes mid afternoon, and I never saw the river when it wasn't full of trout. Three days I didn't catch any wasn't because they weren't there, some days I just get it all wrong. Had reasonable numbers all through the winter as well, on the days I was there.  Lots of poaching going on though, them fillets in the cooler don't keep folks from going back out.  Cleaning in the creek or on the tailgate seems to make that more acceptable.

I've fished it less this year, maybe 20 times and have been amazed at the people that wade right in front of the "No Wading" signs and put chairs out in the water in the middle of Zone 2 no wade area, yesterday was a good day for dough balls in Z2, guy sat there in his lawn chair for at least two hours with two spinning rods and some kind of dough balls. Think I've seen the Ranger twice in two years and it's been many years since I saw a CO there. But still tons of fish, I turned 8 loose in about 3 hours mid after noon, and spent more time talking than fishing. They are in there.

The construction encountered an unusual number of rain days and high water, so I'd guess they are well behind any foreseen time table.  I've not been up past the old lodge in a quite a while.

26 minutes ago, tjm said:

I only got over there about 50 times last year mostly around mid day and sometimes mid afternoon, and I never saw the river when it wasn't full of trout. Three days I didn't catch any wasn't because they weren't there, some days I just get it all wrong. Had reasonable numbers all through the winter as well, on the days I was there.  Lots of poaching going on though, them fillets in the cooler don't keep folks from going back out.  Cleaning in the creek or on the tailgate seems to make that more acceptable.

I've fished it less this year, maybe 20 times and have been amazed at the people that wade right in front of the "No Wading" signs and put chairs out in the water in the middle of Zone 2 no wade area, yesterday was a good day for dough balls in Z2, guy sat there in his lawn chair for at least two hours with two spinning rods and some kind of dough balls. Think I've seen the Ranger twice in two years and it's been many years since I saw a CO there. But still tons of fish, I turned 8 loose in about 3 hours mid after noon, and spent more time talking than fishing. They are in there.

The construction encountered an unusual number of rain days and high water, so I'd guess they are well behind any foreseen time table.  I've not been up past the old lodge in a quite a while.

I'm with you. Plenty of fish. Only decline I have noticed is it doesn't seem to be as many large fish but that's to be somewhat expected considering the COVID free-for-all that happened this spring. 

I believe some of the trout are coming from a private hatchery. The couple of raceways that are open and holding fish had some golden trout in them. I assume none of the state run hatcheries raise Golden trout.

Think they probably came/come from a private that may be serving as a backup. 

Every body that I saw keeping fish had a limit yesterday. Wife said that about the yellow fish last week. I would think the Neosho hatchery could provide fish if needed, they seem to never operate at full capacity.

On 9/24/2020 at 10:40 AM, tjm said:

I only got over there about 50 times last year mostly around mid day and sometimes mid afternoon, and I never saw the river when it wasn't full of trout. Three days I didn't catch any wasn't because they weren't there, some days I just get it all wrong. Had reasonable numbers all through the winter as well, on the days I was there.  Lots of poaching going on though, them fillets in the cooler don't keep folks from going back out.  Cleaning in the creek or on the tailgate seems to make that more acceptable.

I've fished it less this year, maybe 20 times and have been amazed at the people that wade right in front of the "No Wading" signs and put chairs out in the water in the middle of Zone 2 no wade area, yesterday was a good day for dough balls in Z2, guy sat there in his lawn chair for at least two hours with two spinning rods and some kind of dough balls. Think I've seen the Ranger twice in two years and it's been many years since I saw a CO there. But still tons of fish, I turned 8 loose in about 3 hours mid after noon, and spent more time talking than fishing. They are in there.

The construction encountered an unusual number of rain days and high water, so I'd guess they are well behind any foreseen time table.  I've not been up past the old lodge in a quite a while.

The last time my son and I fished there when it was hot (sometime during the first week of August) I was so frustrated with the number of people who were wading/swimming/lawn chair sitting in the no wade zones. One couple even came and tossed a couple kayaks in bend right above the handicap area in Zone 2.

8 hours ago, tangledup said:

The last time my son and I fished there when it was hot (sometime during the first week of August) I was so frustrated with the number of people who were wading/swimming/lawn chair sitting in the no wade zones. One couple even came and tossed a couple kayaks in bend right above the handicap area in Zone 2.

Covid 19 is jacking up everything outdoors it seems.  

It has certainly changed the dynamic of going to places like Roaring River and other state parks. Even my son has noticed it and commented on how there is just a different type of people now. Before COVID I feel there was a sort of unwritten code of conduct among outdoor enthusiasts: be polite and respectful; respect personal space on hiking trails, rivers, etc.; pick up after yourself and leave an area better than you found it. With more people using our outdoor resources it seems like that code of conduct is vanishing. You can tell many people didn't have parents or mentors who taught them how to respect nature and others in nature. Instead they treat a day at a beautiful river or campground like a trip to an amusement park where they crowd each other, throw their trash all over the place and their only concern is how quickly they can get from one "attraction" to the next, with no regard for the people in between them and their next destination. 

We took my son's scout group to the Buffalo River last weekend and I spoke to one of the rangers before we started our community service project on one of the trails. He made the same observations and told me he noticed a complete change in the attitude and behavior of people since the "pandemic" started. It's really sad.

Heck, if we are gonna die next week from "The Virus" why should we worry about the "small stuff"?

Those people have always been around, this just means more of them have disposable time at the same time, so it looks like there are more of them. When the economy falls to normal levels they will all have to find some kind of jobs again. Probably with long hours and low pay, because companies of all sizes have learned how to do without as many employees.