Trout fishing hoarding and killing in Maryville

[Ruprecht]

I've been a long time trout fisherman. I've seen just about every type of fishing "jerk" on the rivers or lakes in East Tennessee. I don't think there's anything worse than a trout hoarder, and they are becoming more and more common.

I live in Maryville and during the winter months the local downtown river arr stocked with trout. I really wish TWRA wouldn't release the dates of stocking, and just randomly drop trout, as it causes more problems than it's worth. The day of, and the several days after stocking, is just a mess. I'm guessing the same thing happens up at the Halls duck pond or any of the winter stocking locations. People just hoard and kill off fish, with ZERO care for conservation, other fisherman, or TWRA.
Hoarding, to me, is catching more fish than is permitted. In Maryville it's five fish a day. That doesn't stop these guys from fishing, catching five, leaving for an hour, and coming back and fishing for five more. I've seen this play out with certain guys numerous times throughout the day. I've spent entire days just watching people fish, and I've seen certain guys do this routine 4-5 times. That's up to 25 fish they take a day! I even wonder if they even cared to buy a license? Do you want anyone else to take a trout home for dinner?!

The next jerk is the one who has no intention to take a fish home and cook it, but just loves to catch and throw back. This is actually worse than taking more fish home than allowed. I met a guy last week who just kept bragging how he caught 40-50 trout on this day, and how fun it was. He threw every fish back. He was fishing with bowerbait and a sinker. No tension on the line and almost every fish he brought in had swallowed the hook. He'd just yank out the hook and throw the trout back, sealing the trouts fate. I offered a little advice on proper release to help increase the trouts survival, but I might as well have talked to a rock. Watching bleeding fish thrown back in the river made me sick.

Trout are sensitive fish. They die fairly easy if not handled properly. For instance: if squeezed tightly while removing a hook you will crush their organs. If you use a cloth to hold them you remove all their protective coating. They definitely die if you yank out a swallowed hook in the gut. Just read online about trout (not other fish) survival rates, as there are so many article online about it.

I love trout fishing. I enjoy eating trout. I only fish for species I will eat, as I don't like to kill an animal just to kill it. I've never understood killing to kill. I fish, and if I catch my limit, I then go home. If I see a kid or someone who doesn't know how to fish, I'll offer advice. If I catch a trout and it's hooked properly and I know I can release it, I will do so, but if it's questionable, it goes home with me. I club its head and put it out of it misery asap.

I guess my problem is how people just brag about being terrible fishermen. No care cause no one has ever held them accountable. I buy a license and stamp every year, but in the 40 plus years I've fished I've never been approached by a TWRA officer to check to see if I'm legal to fish. I know it happens, just never seen it. I imagine these guys and girls work hard but I've just never seen one. You would think they would at least monitor areas that they've just stocked trout in over the next few days after to make sure people (like the one I just mentioned) don't steal or kill every fish???

This was not meant to put blame on TWRA, but it would be nice to see an officer or two in Maryville around stocking dates.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

Man I agree with everything you say.

I've been to marrowbone, cedar hill, priest tail water, supper fork, Shelby bottoms, and don fox trying to catch them. I've caught my limit exactly twice, over hours of fishing. I've never seen anyone catch a 5 fish limit in under 2 hours. Ever. I bet in the 30-40 trips I've been on, I've only seen maybe 10 people with limits total. I've been the day of, day after, two days after, etc. I have two good friends that do the same, both are avid fisherman, and one of them has limited one time, the other never. I don't know if there's just less to catch, the fish don't cooperate, or what. I don't think anyone at any of the places I mentioned are catching 40-50 fish. I got tips on here a couple years ago and use 2 pound red label and I often am the only person to catch any fish at all. Don't even know my point in saying all this. I would love to be able to go easily grab a limit. Crow Terminator I think it was put me on a bait he sent me videos of him slaying them on. I caught 1 fish with it lol

 

[MidTennFisher]

I fish, and if I catch my limit, I then go home.

I have made this argument before about fishing to catch your limit for dinner, then go home and boy has it been like kicking a hornets nest. The last thing a trout fisherman, or a tournament bass fisherman wants to hear is that it is, in fact, NOT good for conservation to catch 50 fish a day. Regardless of whether you kept your limit of 5 or so of those fish.

Multiple times last Fall I got into redfish in a creek really good on the coast of SC. I would catch 5 or 6 to come up with my limit 2 within the slot of 15-23 inches, then leave. If I wanted to, I could have stayed there for another few hours and probably caught 30+ redfish, but why? Just to brag? People like to keep a willful ignorance of catch and release mortality. Just because a fish swam away doesn't mean it is still alive. This is especially true with trout which are probably the most sensitive fish God ever created.

When I lived in TN I used to love fishing in the Caney Fork. Once I had the 5 fish I wanted to keep, I stopped fishing. It just isn't important to me to keep catching them. At that point we're treating fish like a toy for our entertainment, at the expense of the fish, rather than treating it as a source of food that should be treated with respect.

 

[WTM]

generally people are hogs no matter the fish species and then scream that asian carp are eating all the fish. there are daily limits and possession limits and i bet 98% of folks dont dollow them.

anyhoo, trout taste like dog turds and youll never see me fish for em or eat em.

 

[megalomaniac]

Stocker trout are 'put and take'. in many areas, they won't even survive past May. They are expendable. And thats why TWRA publishes the stocking dates, closes it for that day, then opens up the rodeo the following morning. Makes folks feel great they can catch their own dinner with a box of worms or kernel corn. That being said, what you observed is correct. Someone taking multiple limits is abhorrent, and those folks should be reported. Likewise releasing gut hooked fish is also abhorrent. Those folks are literally stealing those mealy tasting dog food flavored (as I've never eaten a dog turd as WTM thinks they taste )

Now Mid Tn Fisher... lemme tell you, when I get on a redfish bite, I'm going to catch every dang one of them until they stop biting, move on, or it gets dark. But redfish and trout are totally different animals. Release survival of redfish caught on artificials approaches 100%. They are some tough critters. The only ones you have to take any care to revive are the big bulls caught in summer. But specks are much more fragile, and have around a 25% average mortality rate after release.... much higher when fishing around dolphins. You have to really care for specks to get less than a 10% mortality rate.

 

[jlanecr500]

I striper fish Norris late summer thru fall. The creel limit is 2 per person so some fishermen throw them back in hopes of catching a bigger one. When these fish are reeled up thru warm water from colder water, they are severely weakened. Some advocate that there are steps to give them a chance at survival upon release. Still yet, they are floating all over the lake. In our group, we do not throw them back. Once our limit is caught, we go home. We consume what we catch.

 

[Lt.Dan]

I'm originally from up north where there are wild populations of trout. Those wild caught trout are delicious plain and simple. I went to Lake Junior in Chattanooga last spring and caught a couple stocked trout on some sort of marshmallow bait. By the way that would never happen up north. But I kept the 2 fish, because I haven't had a trout in the 23 years since I moved to Tennessee. I can say I was not impressed. When I gutted the fish, their bellies were completely empty. The flesh was white and pasty looking. I put them in a vacuum bag and froze them, planning to make breakfast with them some morning. I still haven't eaten them. I figure they will taste like farm raised catfish - bland, flavorless chucks of nothing. Or maybe the turd or dog food others have spoken about.

Someone said these fish are put and take. I agree whole heartily with this. I don't agree with the folks who take more than their limit or catch and release gut hooked fish. That's bad. The put and take is good, it gives people a chance to catch dinner, as others have said. They can do it easily, and have fun doing it.

 

[WTM]

i cant stand the taste of it or any other salmanoid.

it all tastes like this to me, my nasty step momma used to make "salmon" patties at least once per week.

i guess im spoiled to sauger, bluegill and shellcracker.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

Best dog turds I've ever eaten I guess lol, I like them fine fried in a skillet with a slab of butter, fresh lemon, and some garlic. I just very rarely catch more than 1 or 2.

Crappie are excellent, just a whole different meal. Apples to oranges in my book

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I don't think I'd want to eat anything out of Creek. The runoff from all the parking lots and streets goes straight into it. The poachers are only doing you a favor.

 

[gtk]

I agree except this statement

The next jerk is the one who has no intention to take a fish home and cook it, but just loves to catch and throw back. This is actually worse than taking more fish home than allowed.

I guess the gold river waters in CO where its catch/release only, are in the wrong? i love to fly fish, and 99% of the time the fish are release to grow bigger/smarter. Ever once in a while you would see a dead fish gut hooked or stressed and died, but not with any regularity

When I gutted the fish, their bellies were completely empty. The flesh was white and pasty looking. I put them in a vacuum bag and froze them, planning to make breakfast with them some morning. I still haven't eaten them. I figure they will taste like farm raised catfish - bland, flavorless chucks of nothing. Or maybe the turd or dog food others have spoken about.

In CO, the stockers had the same pale , pasty looking flesh, and the "wild" trout had a beautiful red hue to the flesh. I was told this was because of the wild shrimp/scuds that the wild fish ate, while the stockers had been eating processed pellet feed

 

[WTM]

I agree except this statement

I guess the gold river waters in CO where its catch/release only, are in the wrong? i love to fly fish, and 99% of the time the fish are release to grow bigger/smarter. Ever once in a while you would see a dead fish gut hooked or stressed and died, but not with any regularity




In CO, the stockers had the same pale , pasty looking flesh, and the "wild" trout had a beautiful red hue to the flesh. I was told this was because of the wild shrimp/scuds that the wild fish ate, while the stockers had been eating processed pellet feed

yeah but using live bait, doughballs, etc fish have a higher chance of gut hooking with inexperienced anglers as opposed to artificials or flies.

 

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

I catch and release all LMB's (except gill hooked ones) but keep all Alabama Bass no matter the size or amount and eat them. Some of the best tasting fish I've ever eaten. Bass must be pretty hardy I never see any floaters.

I'm there to catch and/or release fish. As many as I can for as long as I can.

I haven't tried to catch a trout in many years. But if I did I would respect them for the fragility.

 

[Wooden Arrow]

it's not just trout that bring out the fish hog in some folks. when the sauger/walleye/saugeye start running up out of Douglas in the winter, the hogs come out in force. catch a limit, go back to the ramp & put them on ice. then back up the river they go...

 

[Crow Terminator]

Ohhh you probably hate me then. I love fishing for trout but they are nasty to eat. I like catching fish and will catch em as long as they are biting. I've had plenty of days of 40+ trout. All released. But there are correct ways and incorrect ways of doing it. Use a net. Don't take the fish out of the water. Use barbless hooks and if they are hooked deeper than the lips, just cut the line and leave the hook. The White River in Arkansas is the premier trout fishery for browns and not shabby on rainbows either. They are nearly 99% Catch & Release on brown trout. And I can tell you for a fact...they live after being caught because browns have very distinct dots and markings and I can show you guide pictures of the same exact fish being caught multiple times over the years. When fish hit 25 inches and keep growing, they have some age on em and they don't get age on em if they die easy. Heck some states stock them via dropping out of aircraft.

But as to the first part of your post. Yeah I see that a lot. Particular the winter stocking of ponds, etc. There's one guy at Athens Regional Park that will be there every day from the time they stock it until he pretty much fishes it out. He will be on the side of the dam with about 5 or 6 rods out in rod holders every morning. He puts his fish in a cooler and when he gets his limit or close to it, he texts somebody that comes and gets his fish and he keeps fishing with an empty cooler. I used to go mess with him...go catch a bunch of fish down from where he has the place blocked...throw them all back and then move on...and watch him reel his stuff in and move to where I had just been. Then I go to where he originally was and catch several more haha.

 

[wcw280]

Those stockers are literally one notch above cat food and we worried about people catching too many? People whine about everything these days.

 

[Setterman]

Those stockers are literally one notch above cat food and we worried about people catching too many? People whine about everything these days.

I'm an avid fly fisherman and fish for trout a lot obviously. I can't agree more with this statement. Stocker trout are disgusting to eat, and quite frankly disgusting to Look at with their worn off fins and terrible coloration. These winter stocking locations are essentially an enormous waste of money.

The people who line the banks would be just as happy grabbing them out of a bucket. It's a pretty pitiful thing Twra does, and it blows my mind people eat those nasty things. I'd rather eat Vienna sausages than a stocker

 

[TheLBLman]

I don't think there's anything worse than a trout hoarder, and they are becoming more and more common.

How about illegal alien trout hoarders?

Seems to me many of those "keeping" tons of fish,
are actually not even in our Country legally?

Agree with most of what you had to say.
Not sure what we can do about it.

Stocker trout are 'put and take'. in many areas, they won't even survive past May. They are expendable. And thats why TWRA publishes the stocking dates, closes it for that day, then opens up the rodeo the following morning.

Good point.
Original premise of these "trout" stockings (into waters they cannot exist year-round) was to increase the interest in fishing (in general), and to provide a bit of a fishing opportunity to some people who normally might have much less opportunity than most (such as urban children with non-fishing parents).

Count me as overall a bit neutral on whether or not the urban stockings continue, but can see both pros & cons of it. Just wish the law breakers would and could be held accountable.

 

[TboneD]

I've been a long time trout fisherman. I've seen just about every type of fishing "jerk" on the rivers or lakes in East Tennessee. I don't think there's anything worse than a trout hoarder, and they are becoming more and more common.

I live in Maryville and during the winter months the local downtown river arr stocked with trout. I really wish TWRA wouldn't release the dates of stocking, and just randomly drop trout, as it causes more problems than it's worth. The day of, and the several days after stocking, is just a mess. I'm guessing the same thing happens up at the Halls duck pond or any of the winter stocking locations. People just hoard and kill off fish, with ZERO care for conservation, other fisherman, or TWRA.
Hoarding, to me, is catching more fish than is permitted. In Maryville it's five fish a day. That doesn't stop these guys from fishing, catching five, leaving for an hour, and coming back and fishing for five more. I've seen this play out with certain guys numerous times throughout the day. I've spent entire days just watching people fish, and I've seen certain guys do this routine 4-5 times. That's up to 25 fish they take a day! I even wonder if they even cared to buy a license? Do you want anyone else to take a trout home for dinner?!

The next jerk is the one who has no intention to take a fish home and cook it, but just loves to catch and throw back. This is actually worse than taking more fish home than allowed. I met a guy last week who just kept bragging how he caught 40-50 trout on this day, and how fun it was. He threw every fish back. He was fishing with bowerbait and a sinker. No tension on the line and almost every fish he brought in had swallowed the hook. He'd just yank out the hook and throw the trout back, sealing the trouts fate. I offered a little advice on proper release to help increase the trouts survival, but I might as well have talked to a rock. Watching bleeding fish thrown back in the river made me sick.

Trout are sensitive fish. They die fairly easy if not handled properly. For instance: if squeezed tightly while removing a hook you will crush their organs. If you use a cloth to hold them you remove all their protective coating. They definitely die if you yank out a swallowed hook in the gut. Just read online about trout (not other fish) survival rates, as there are so many article online about it.

I love trout fishing. I enjoy eating trout. I only fish for species I will eat, as I don't like to kill an animal just to kill it. I've never understood killing to kill. I fish, and if I catch my limit, I then go home. If I see a kid or someone who doesn't know how to fish, I'll offer advice. If I catch a trout and it's hooked properly and I know I can release it, I will do so, but if it's questionable, it goes home with me. I club its head and put it out of it misery asap.

I guess my problem is how people just brag about being terrible fishermen. No care cause no one has ever held them accountable. I buy a license and stamp every year, but in the 40 plus years I've fished I've never been approached by a TWRA officer to check to see if I'm legal to fish. I know it happens, just never seen it. I imagine these guys and girls work hard but I've just never seen one. You would think they would at least monitor areas that they've just stocked trout in over the next few days after to make sure people (like the one I just mentioned) don't steal or kill every fish???

This was not meant to put blame on TWRA, but it would be nice to see an officer or two in Maryville around stocking dates.

Sorry if you already answered this but have you reported them to your game warden?

 

[Schap]

It's the Amish in west Tn that do that to the stocked trout.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

@Ruprecht If you live in Maryville, why not go just up the road to the park where you can catch real trout and not have to worry about the nonsense where the stockers are?

 

[BigCityBubba]

I'm originally from up north where there are wild populations of trout. Those wild caught trout are delicious plain and simple. I went to Lake Junior in Chattanooga last spring and caught a couple stocked trout on some sort of marshmallow bait. By the way that would never happen up north. But I kept the 2 fish, because I haven't had a trout in the 23 years since I moved to Tennessee. I can say I was not impressed. When I gutted the fish, their bellies were completely empty. The flesh was white and pasty looking. I put them in a vacuum bag and froze them, planning to make breakfast with them some morning. I still haven't eaten them. I figure they will taste like farm raised catfish - bland, flavorless chucks of nothing. Or maybe the turd or dog food others have spoken about.

Someone said these fish are put and take. I agree whole heartily with this. I don't agree with the folks who take more than their limit or catch and release gut hooked fish. That's bad. The put and take is good, it gives people a chance to catch dinner, as others have said. They can do it easily, and have fun doing it.

Thats because they are eating purina trout chow. The hold overs are a little better tasting but there are no hold overs in the winter stocking. They die if they are not caught before the weather warms up.

 

[Setterman]

@Ruprecht If you live in Maryville, why not go just up the road to the park where you can catch real trout and not have to worry about the nonsense where the stockers are?

Can't fish bait in those streams would be my guess

 

[killingtime 41]

They stock em by the thousands every year and every year for years to come. Very few that are released ever live to begin with or there would be no need to keep stocking. Just ask a TWRA agent the next time you see one. A tunafish sandwich tastes better than the stocked ones anyway. They been raised on eating dog food or fish food whatever you want to call it. Basically stocked to give people a chance to fight a wet sock. Bigger ones fight decent nothing compared to the natives. I watched Mexicans using cast nets and hoarding them. now that I have a problem with.

 

[agelessssone]

Best dog turds I've ever eaten I guess lol, I like them fine fried in a skillet with a slab of butter, fresh lemon, and some garlic. I just very rarely catch more than 1 or 2.

Crappie are excellent, just a whole different meal. Apples to oranges in my book

I won't eat a trout or crappie, just personal preference.
But let me catch a legal sized largemouth bass...and it's goin home with me.
Same with a sauger or walleye, legal length is goin home!
I love them little yellow bass too. Just took a sealed bag of yellow bass filets out of the freezer for tomorrow night's dinner.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

I won't eat a trout or crappie, just personal preference.
But let me catch a legal sized largemouth bass...and it's goin home with me.
Same with a sauger or walleye, legal length is goin home!
I love them little yellow bass too. Just took a sealed bag of yellow bass filets out of the freezer for tomorrow night's dinner.

Sauger and walleye are at the top for me, I just can't catch them

Yellow bass and crappie seem the same to me

I'll eat a spot all day. Largemouth doesn't do it for me

 

[Crow Terminator]

My uncle used to basically live on trout during the summers when Inwas a kid. We'd go camp and catch some...clean em and cook em at the camp site. From swimming in water to cooking in grease probably less than 30 mins time. They'd still be flopping when cleaning them. And they still taste blah to me. But under the recommendation of one of our guides...we ate at Gastons on the White River and tried the dish he recommended. It was trout with mushroom Hollandaise sauce on it, on top of rice. It may have been the sauce masking some of the taste...but that was the best trout I've eaten.

 

[MidTennFisher]

Now Mid Tn Fisher... lemme tell you, when I get on a redfish bite, I'm going to catch every dang one of them until they stop biting, move on, or it gets dark. But redfish and trout are totally different animals. Release survival of redfish caught on artificials approaches 100%. They are some tough critters. The only ones you have to take any care to revive are the big bulls caught in summer. But specks are much more fragile, and have around a 25% average mortality rate after release.... much higher when fishing around dolphins. You have to really care for specks to get less than a 10% mortality rate.

Hey that's fine with me. I don't knock people for catch and release fishing.... until they even begin a sentence whining at me for keeping my limit of whatever the heck I want to eat. Trout, bass, redfish, stripers, whatever I want.

I'll quickly point out the glaring hypocrisy of being a guy who whines that I kept a limit of fish while they caught and released 40. Knowing that there is some percentage of catch and release mortality. So in most cases they killed more fish than I did, but for absolutely no reason. But I'm wrong for routinely fishing with the intent to take fish home? Cracker please.

 

[agelessssone]

Hey that's fine with me. I don't knock people for catch and release fishing.... until they even begin a sentence whining at me for keeping my limit of whatever the heck I want to eat. Trout, bass, redfish, stripers, whatever I want.

I'll quickly point out the glaring hypocrisy of being a guy who whines that I kept a limit of fish while they caught and released 40. Knowing that there is some percentage of catch and release mortality. So in most cases they killed more fish than I did, but for absolutely no reason. But I'm wrong for routinely fishing with the intent to take fish home? Cracker please.

Nope, take whatever you want that is legal and eat what you want.
I will be eating yellow bass for dinner tonight, had walleye a few nights ago.

 

[megalomaniac]

Hey that's fine with me. I don't knock people for catch and release fishing.... until they even begin a sentence whining at me for keeping my limit of whatever the heck I want to eat. Trout, bass, redfish, stripers, whatever I want.

I'll quickly point out the glaring hypocrisy of being a guy who whines that I kept a limit of fish while they caught and released 40. Knowing that there is some percentage of catch and release mortality. So in most cases they killed more fish than I did, but for absolutely no reason. But I'm wrong for routinely fishing with the intent to take fish home? Cracker please.

I have no problem with self guided individuals keeping a limit of whatever fish they want to keep. Personally, I keep enough for 1 or 2 meals each time I go, but don't keep a limit, as that would mean I'm putting another 10 meals in the freezer... and I prefer fresh fish over frozen fish.

I have a big problem with the locals who get a 'commercial' license for an extra $100, then keep 12 or 15 redfish each trip. And get to keep specks 14in and up, while everyone else cannot keep unless 15in and up.

I also have a problem with the meat haul guides that slap fill their boat up 5 days out of the week. I understand paying clients want to take fish home after they spent $500 on a guide, but I just don't see the justification for keeping a limit every trip. The guides need to be pushing conservation values on their clients. Again, keep enough for 1 or 2 meals, no need to stuff the box with 3 clients on 1 boat, all keeping their limit, plus sometimes the guides limit