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Thread: New proposed lower saluda trout refs

  1. #1
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    Default New proposed lower saluda trout refs

    I plan on going to the meeting, if anyone is planning on being in the Lexington area Tuesday and wants to voice their opinion come on. I'm all for this!
    http://www.carolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=14832


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    Last edited by DJA; 02-08-2018 at 01:34 PM.
    "I swear if I found you in a marsh I don't know that I could keep myself from mud stomping you" -Griffin

  2. #2
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    I'm opposed. I see this as the local chapter of Trout Unlimited trying to protect their near-private honey hole from pressure that will come when the riverwalk is expanded in to the area.

    The current size restrictions help to protect the holdover rainbows that have been having some success at natural reproduction. Browns have not been documented to reproduce in this river. The present mortality rate of 98.7% for stocked trout means about 195 fish out of 15,000 make it through the first year. I'd wager that harvest by fishermen is relatively insignificant compared to how many are predated by stripers or die from stocking stress. Let's say catch-and-release in this stretch increases survivability by 50% for the whole river. That is a huge change to attribute to such a small portion of habitat. That gives us 300 holdovers per year instead of 200. Is that really worth the reduced opportunity and increased hassle imposed on the public? I say no.

    If catch-and-release only happens, will gear restrictions be added (barbless hooks, single hook, artificial only)? I predict at least barbless hooks would soon follow.

    How to enforce? Say a fisherman puts in a Saluda Shoals or Gardendale and floats downriver. He has caught and kept legal trout. He floats under I-26 on his way to his intended takeout. Is he now in possession of illegal fish? How would a game warden know where the fish were caught if he didn't see the landings? What about his gear?


    End game: I predict most, if not all, restrictions applied to this stretch will eventually be expanded to other areas.
    Last edited by Beauregard; 02-08-2018 at 02:24 PM.

  3. #3
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    I say let it become a self sustaining fishery.... I could give a damn about eating fish out of that river anyways, in fact I won't. I just like catching them.
    "I swear if I found you in a marsh I don't know that I could keep myself from mud stomping you" -Griffin

  4. #4
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    Are they expanding restrictions on the corn-eyed brown trout?? Seem to be prolific on that stretch.

  5. #5
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    Beauregard,
    Would weir dams and a controlled CFS release help things any on making it a reproductive stretch of river? I haven't fished there but my understanding is the outflow is huge or near nothing. I see it as having a great potential though.
    Worship the LORD, not HIS creation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spur hunter View Post
    Beauregard,
    Would weir dams and a controlled CFS release help things any on making it a reproductive stretch of river? I haven't fished there but my understanding is the outflow is huge or near nothing. I see it as having a great potential though.
    I believe that FERC relicensing has aided in mandating a reliable CFS in the Saluda river to maintain a certain amount of dissolved oxygen to support a trout fishery. I don't believe there is much evidence supporting the spawning of hatchery fish tho. The spawning striper run, believe it or not....largemouth bass and river otters, herons, etc lead to massive predation of Saluda river stocked trout. It's a put and take fishery and holdover fish are very, very few but some have grown into very nice trout.

    Barbless / catch and release is a nice idea and worth a try to protect large holdover fish and may be worth a try to increase numbers of holdover fish. I'd bet nearly all Trout Unlimited members that fish that area in mention practice catch and release already.
    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

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  7. #7
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    Thanks for the further info. Didn't see that in the article. I do recall SCDNR suggesting in other articles in the past that if folks would catch and release till the early months of the year that they would catch larger fish due to the growth rates. Believe it was something like 1-2" a month or such. Most fishing with a fly aren't too worried about keeping fish anyway. I'd trade driving 2.5 hours for a 1.25 hour drive to fish a good tailwater in a skinny minute.
    Worship the LORD, not HIS creation.

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  8. #8
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    Couple things:

    Rainbow trout have been documented spawning and I have seen the juvenile fish more than once on a particular set of rapids. Just because it has happened doesn’t mean it’s a sustainable fishery.

    It is absurd to stock trout with tax dollars in a non-native fishery and then set ristrictions as if it were wild trout down in a secluded mountain gorge.
    They are dirt cheap, easy to catch, and just pure fun for a whole lot of people.

    The first law enacted on that river restricted me from using trout as striped bait.
    I could still take them home and eat them (5 per day) but for some reason it was deplorable to free line one and try for a big rockfish.
    Now catch and release only?

    Those flappy hat TU sweeties put trout to High on a pedestal.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by BOGSTER View Post
    Couple things:

    Rainbow trout have been documented spawning and I have seen the juvenile fish more than once on a particular set of rapids. Just because it has happened doesn’t mean it’s a sustainable fishery.

    It is absurd to stock trout with tax dollars in a non-native fishery and then set ristrictions as if it were wild trout down in a secluded mountain gorge.
    They are dirt cheap, easy to catch, and just pure fun for a whole lot of people.

    The first law enacted on that river restricted me from using trout as striped bait.
    I could still take them home and eat them (5 per day) but for some reason it was deplorable to free line one and try for a big rockfish.
    Now catch and release only?

    Those flappy hat TU sweeties put trout to High on a pedestal.
    It is fun but I don't see the issue with a catch and release only? Still have a shit ton of fun catching them. I love eating trout too but it'd be nice to see what a few years of unharvested fish would do. Idk im no biologist.
    "I swear if I found you in a marsh I don't know that I could keep myself from mud stomping you" -Griffin

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    I want to fish it again. I grew up on that section of river. Caught several fish over 3lb and hooked several much larger. Can’t get there on foot with out the law bing called on ya now. And yes i want to keep them. Dam fine eating.


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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by mello_collins View Post
    I want to fish it again. I grew up on that section of river. Caught several fish over 3lb and hooked several much larger. Can’t get there on foot with out the law bing called on ya now. And yes i want to keep them. Dam fine eating.
    You can go by foot just got to ask and respect his property
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  12. #12
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    Shit I lived on that river in the 70's and 80's. Very few fish made it to any worthwhile size. I didn't give a damn though, those trout were some find tasting fish and I caught the hell out of them every chance I got. The limit then was 12 per day, what is it now?
    Last edited by LabLuvR; 02-08-2018 at 08:19 PM.
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  13. #13
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    Go to the SCDNR and do the survey link from there. Probably carry more weight than arguing here. I don't see anything wrong with the catch and release on a mile section of stream myself. I know for a fact that the upper 5 miles of the Davidson river is catch and release and 100% hatchery supported for the sections immediately beside the hatchery. We had the head biologist come and speak to us at a FFF meeting in the mid 90s. I asked if they stocked those upper sections. He said he wasn't paying his techs to chase a half dozen fish out of those troughs when they were moving them, just opened the valves and flushed them to the river. Accounted for the high fish density there and still going on today. Makes for a popular fishing spot and a heck of a draw for money coming into the area. By the way, none of the fish are native, the bows, browns or brooks that are stocked and might take hold.

    And what it seems some of you are missing:
    Quote Originally Posted by cajunwannabe View Post
    I believe that FERC relicensing has aided in mandating a reliable CFS in the Saluda river to maintain a certain amount of dissolved oxygen to support a trout fishery.
    I think that is what has been missing? You fix those flows and you just may have sustainable reproduction and the catch and release might not seem so absurd.
    Last edited by Spur hunter; 02-08-2018 at 08:29 PM.
    Worship the LORD, not HIS creation.

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  14. #14
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    A Rainbow Trout will catch a BIGASS Rockfish. Just sayin. According to a friend of course.
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    They use bigass 18" rainbows in TN to catch BIGGERASS rockfish. Just saying. They usually buy them from a trout farm instead of catching them out of the river for bait though.
    Worship the LORD, not HIS creation.

    "No self respecting turkey hunter would pay $5 for a call that makes a good sound when he can buy a custom call for $80 and get the same sound."-NWiles

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by DJA View Post
    It is fun but I don't see the issue with a catch and release only? Still have a shit ton of fun catching them. I love eating trout too but it'd be nice to see what a few years of unharvested fish would do. Idk im no biologist.
    I truly love that river. But I see it for what it is. A put and take.
    I’ve likely spent more time casting flies to trout there than the average Joe.

    I lived in Columbia for 9 years and learned to fly fish for trout on every rapid up there.
    The fishing (fly fishing) is great from Christmas to late February and slows drastically as spring progresses.
    Winter fishing is nymphs and 20 fish in an afternoon.
    March and April is dry fly and 3-5 fish in an afternoon.
    When the rockfish show up, it’s all but done.

    In 9 years I caught only a handful of big trout on a fly, and only because I saw them rise, stalked them, and pestered them until they finally took.

    Now, I have caught several big (and other friends have too) trout while rockfishing with herring.

    I don’t think that it will ever be a trophy trout fishery, at least in flyfishermen’s terms simply because so few make it to that size, and even fewer get caught by fly at that size.
    My personal theory is that in this particular river scenario, bigger trout key in on the plentiful shad and other baitfish washed down from Murray rather than spending their days sipping blue winged olives, and that’s why the bigger fish are caught by striper fishermen rather than fly fishers.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  17. #17
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    So see it for what it is.

    A lucky glitch that it’s able to support trout, but needs to be stocked and treated like a stock fishery.

    The few trophy fish are just icing on the cake and not what should drive the fishery’s management.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  18. #18
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    I'm ready

  19. #19
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    I haven’t fished the Saluda for trout in probably 15 years. Only went a few times back then, and used canned corn for bait. First trout I ever caught there was a Rainbow over 3lbs. I was pretty excited. I’m not very familiar with landmarks on the Saluda. Which direction is the ledge they mention, from the interstate? Towards the zoo, or towards the dam?

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by murraywader View Post
    I'm ready
    I bet you are.......










    Missing my leaky boat, Luke warm beer, Grateful Dead, and creative bait tanks.....

    But damn we caught some fish.

    Lookin forward to it bubba.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

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