Here is the 2nd half of the article published in the Missouri Conservationist about Lake Taneycomo. The first half ended with how in the 70's and 80's trout fishing quadrupled on Lake Taneycomo. (See the first half here)
By then, the Branson boom had begun. Development claimed more and
more of the landscape, and sediment entered the lake during rainstorms.
In addition, white suckers suddenly became common in the lake and
outnumbered trout in some surveys. In addition, the cold water from
Table Rock Lake contained low levels of dissolved oxygen in the fall,
stressing both fish and their food sources. Two things were certain: the
big rainbow trout were gone, and freshwater shrimp were not as numerous
as before.
By the early 1990s, the once-great Taneycomo trout fishery had fallen
on relatively hard times. Anglers who wanted something more than
stocker-size rainbow trout demanded that something be done to bring back
the big rainbows. Their demands were partially met by a new brown trout
fishery that produced enormous, even world-record size, brown trout.
However, brown trout are harder to catch, and a few behemoth browns
didn't satisfy anglers who remembered the glory years when rainbows were
measured in pounds, not inches.
The Missouri Department of Conservation developed several research
studies to determine what caused the decline of the big rainbows. Some
of the studies suggested there simply wasn't enough food in Lake
Taneycomo to grow large rainbow trout. Clearly, the lake's freshwater
shrimp population had declined. Other studies showed that Taneycomo was
still capable of growing rainbows, but few fish lived longer than a
month before being caught and removed.
Gradually, a picture emerged of a fishery that could still produce
large fish, but not without some changes. First, because there was less
trout food, fewer trout could be stocked. Reduced stocking levels helped
the freshwater shrimp population recover slightly. Still, rainbow trout
harvest remained high, and while trout now had more to eat, most were
harvested before they could grow large.
It became obvious that the rainbows needed protection from immediate
harvest. So, beginning in March 1997, the Conservation Department
established new fishing regulations in the upper part of the lake. These
regulations were designed to protect some of the rainbows and allow
them to grow larger. Fishing pressure is heavy in upper Lake Taneycomo,
and the trout there needed more protection.
Studies show a trout is about five times more likely to die if caught
and released on natural or prepared baits than one caught on artificial
lures or flies. Because the new rules require anglers to release most
of the trout they catch, it was necessary to limit fishing tackle in the
upper lake to artificial lures and flies only. The new rules protected
many of the rainbows from harvest and minimized losses of released fish
to hooking mortality.
The new fishing regulations created an almost immediate improvement
in the fishery. Before the rule change, fewer than 10 percent of the
rainbow trout in the upper part of the lake exceeded 13 inches. Only
five months after the regulation change, the percentage jumped to 30
percent.
In a little more than two years, there was also a ten-fold increase
in the number of rainbows in the upper lake. More than half were longer
than 13 inches, and 10 percent exceeded 16 inches. Bigger rainbows are
back, and with one- to three-pound fish being caught daily, anglers are
recalling memories of the glory days
Taneycomo still has some problems. Branson continues to grow, white
suckers are still abundant, and water from Table Rock Lake still has low
oxygen levels during late summer and fall. The Conservation Department
is working with other agencies to protect the lake and its fishing, and
to determine if it's possible to make changes in the operation of Table
Rock Dam that would help the fishery.
Not everyone who fishes Lake Taneycomo is interested in catching a
trophy. Many simply want to catch a few trout to eat, and the
Conservation Department has devoted considerable effort to helping
anglers who choose not to fish in the special regulations area of the
upper lake. Below the mouth of Fall Creek, for example, the Department heavily
stocks rainbow trout. Anglers may keep any trout they catch up to the
daily limit of five, regardless of size, and they may fish with any kind
of bait, lure or fly. In addition, the Department has built a new
access facility at Cooper Creek, and improved the access facilities in
Forsyth and Rockaway Beach. These areas bring the thrill of fighting a
rainbow trout to more anglers by increasing bank fishing opportunities,
making boat access easier and easing access for disabled anglers.
The saga of Lake Taneycomo continues, providing plenty of grist for
new stories of how the fishing in this unusual cold-water lake promises
to get better and better.
Rockaway Beach is situated nearly in the middle of Lake Taneycomo with about the same distance to either dam both upstream and down. I was witness just a few days ago to a trout tournament hosted by a group of St.Louis area anglers who had no trouble at all bringing in a nice catch of Rainbows and browns.
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