# Ky catch and Release season



## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Had a chance to hit one of KY''s catch and release streams on Sat. Caught a few fish early on Woolly worms {blk and red} dead drifted and later as the sun got on the water I switched to a McGinty Bee slightly weighted. Swinging the Bee and then stripping it against the current proved to be the best pattern of the day. Water was nice and clear and I was able to see many of the fish strike. The leaves were a ''slight'' nuisance--- but it sure was a PRETTY DAY with many pretty fish.


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## Boathead241 (Oct 4, 2005)

Nice fish. Rainbows? 

Sent from my VS920 4G using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## HipWader (Jun 25, 2013)

Great catches and good pix's....glad someone had a good fishing day....


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## Riverbum (Jan 27, 2013)

Wow, what a bunch of nice looking rainbows ! It also looks like that creek had pretty good flow. 
Were most fish caught in fast water, or in the seam?
Must have been an awesome day : )


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Riverbum said:


> Wow, what a bunch of nice looking rainbows ! It also looks like that creek had pretty good flow.
> *Were most fish caught in fast water, or in the seam?*
> Must have been an awesome day : )


Almost all fish were taken in slower current adjacent to fast runs. Wish I could have hit it again today --- but I'm raking leaves and cutting grass


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

Good job Garhtr, looks like you gave many fish a sore lip for sure! The fact that you caught good numbers of quality fish (aside from your ability) is evidence that catch and release seasons "delayed harvest" does work. One of the rivers that I fish in Tennessee is now in their 3rd year of the delayed harvest program and the results have been phenomenal. While I have always practiced catch and release, the fact that it is now mandatory for all anglers for the duration of five months is paying dividends. If you head to the river during this period, the fishing pressure is cut by at least 50%. You are not tripping on monofilament line left along the bank or picking up empty worm containers or empty cans of Green Giant nibblets corn and placing them into the trash receptacle approximately 30 feet away. Just like the river you fished, the pellet fed stockers that they introduce have a chance to get acclimated to the river and start feeding on the entomology within the watershed and to grow for five months instead of meeting their faith by instinctively munching on a hook full of corn, Powerbait or a night crawler and ending up on a stringer or in a creel basket. I too had a chance to fish my river this weekend and the results were similar to yours with good numbers of quality fish. I was fortunate to catch three this past weekend all exceeding 20 as a result of the delayed harvest program. Now if they would introduce a slot limit to protect some of these large fish, we will continue to have success like this year round. Once again, great job!


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## pathbreaker (Nov 12, 2013)

Those are some nice catches


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

flyman01 said:


> Good job Garhtr, looks like you gave many fish a sore lip for sure! The fact that you caught good numbers of quality fish (aside from your ability) *is evidence that catch and release seasons "delayed harvest" does work.* One of the rivers that I fish in Tennessee is now in their 3rd year of the delayed harvest program and the results have been phenomenal. *While I have always practiced catch and release, the fact that it is now mandatory for all anglers for the duration of five months is paying dividends. If you head to the river during this period, the fishing pressure is cut by at least 50%. You are not tripping on monofilament line left along the bank or picking up empty worm containers or empty cans of Green Giant nibblets corn and placing them into the trash receptacle approximately 30 feet away. Just like the river you fished, the pellet fed stockers that they introduce have a chance to get acclimated to the river and start feeding on the entomology within the watershed and to grow for five months instead of meeting their faith by instinctively munching on a hook full of corn, Powerbait or a night crawler and ending up on a stringer or in a creel basket. * *I too had a chance to fish my river this weekend and the results were similar to yours with good numbers of quality fish. I was fortunate to catch three this past weekend all exceeding 20 as a result of the delayed harvest program. Now if they would introduce a slot limit to protect some of these large fish, we will continue to have success like this year round. * Once again, great job!


 Good job Flyman 
Glad to hear someone else is taking advantage of the ''DELAYED HARVEST'' programs offered by other states. I haven't had a chance to fish in Tenn but if it is anything like KY's program I'm sure gonna give it a try--- soon. Sure wish *Ohio* would give it a try. I can think of several local streams in *Ohio* that would be ''Perfect'' for the delayed harvest program. Maybe someday soon ? 
Good Luck n Good Fishing !


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

I hear you garhtr, but I am not sure if that will happen here in Ohio anytime soon on the stocked trout streams. However, Ohio DNR has taken precautions to preserve some of the resources with a creel limit of two fish and a slot limit of nothing below 12". 

The trout fishing business in both Kentucky and Tennessee generates millions in revenue, approximately $40 million in Kentucky and over $80 million in Tennessee. Because of the commerce impacted, there is a delicate balance they have been working with to attract, retain and grow this industry from within and from surrounding states. For that reason, creel limits in these two states during the open season are generally 7 fish, any size but with species limits as compared to the two fish limit, nothing under 12" in our streams. When trying to attract anglers from other states, who wants to purchase a pricey out of state license and catch stocker fish in the 9 - 10" range all day long? If people are spending good money on a license, food, gas and lodging to venture down to one of these fisheries, they want a chance to catch some decent fish and that is what the delayed harvest has been providing. The months the Delayed Harvest are in effect is October through February, the time period when the water temps are colder and more conducive for trout growth and survival not to mention the normal fishing pressure has back down to the seasonal conditions. During these months, they introduce more and larger fish to the river system which is awesome to the serious fishermen like us who are less impacted by weather conditions. 
The results of the Delayed Harvest program over the past several years have proven that the carryover ratio of larger fish has increased annually. The opportunity for people to catch larger fish and possibly a trophy has also increased and therefore more anglers are willing to spend dollars to make the trek to one of these rivers. The fly shops, guides, restaurants, hotels, DNR, State and the list goes on, all benefit from these efforts to preserve the resource.
Here are a couple of photos of two that I have caught on a recent trip, some evidence that the Delayed Harvest is working well.


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)




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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Informative post Flyman and Those sure are some BEAUTIFUL Fish, Great Job and thanks for posting them.
I agree, we will never see a Delayed Harvest program in Ohio that is anything on par with Ky or Tenn. With very few Ohio streams having the ability to carry-over trout a Fall stocking with DELAYED HARVEST seems to make sense. The on- going Steel-head program is fantastic and ODNR's work on the Mad River and Clear-Fork are also wins for Ohio fishermen. The confusing thing for me is why every March/April ODNR stocks nearly 100,000 trout into ponds and lakes. These fish are caught or die within a few weeks and these releases make for crowded conditions,at best, as people ''fight'' to get their 5 fish. I always thought it would make more sense to stock these fish in the Fall and make them available for several months as ''Delayed Harvest''. Stocking a few in area streams might even make them available for a ''slightly '' longer time
I made it back to Ky yesterday and caught over two dozen trout, these fish will all surely die when summer arrives but until then they provide great opportunity for fisherman. Good luck and Good fishing


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

Thanks garhtr and the same to you, looks like you had yet another fine outing! I understand your point on the amount of fish they stock in ponds and lakes for public fishing but consider this point. If Ohio DNR decided to defer those fish and stocked the 100K fish between the Mad, Clear Creek and Clear Fork for a delayed harvest, what would happen when the delayed harvest ended? Yes, it would it look like a door opening on black Friday at a Walmart, utter chaos the stream picked clean, everything trampled and look at the litter situation......unimaginable. 

Ironically, back in the 70's when I was a teen, the picture I just painted for you was reality. I recall venturing up to the Mad by the spillway in Urbana and that is what it looked like. It was reminiscent of the Maumee River during a Walleye run with people virtually elbow to elbow when the announced they were releasing trout into the river. The aftermath looked like a concert had taken place, everything trampled, litter everywhere and you would have better luck finding a trout in the dumpster behind a Stuckey's Restaurant. From and educational experience, Ohio DNR decided to protect these rivers by throwing the bone in another direction, toward the lakes and ponds they have been stocking over the years and preserving these streams as much as possible.

Keep me updated on your catches!


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

flyman01 said:


> Thanks garhtr and the same to you, looks like you had yet another fine outing! I understand your point on the amount of fish they stock in ponds and lakes for public fishing but consider this point.* If Ohio DNR decided to defer those fish and stocked the 100K fish between the Mad, Clear Creek and Clear Fork for a delayed harvest, what would happen when the delayed harvest ended? * Yes, it would it look like a door opening on black Friday at a Walmart, utter chaos the stream picked clean, everything trampled and look at the litter situation......unimaginable.
> 
> Ironically, back in the 70's when I was a teen, the picture I just painted for you was reality. I recall venturing up to the Mad by the spillway in Urbana and that is what it looked like. It was reminiscent of the Maumee River during a Walleye run with people virtually elbow to elbow when the announced they were releasing trout into the river. The aftermath looked like a concert had taken place, everything trampled, litter everywhere and you would have better luck finding a trout in the dumpster behind a Stuckey's Restaurant. From and educational experience, Ohio DNR decided to protect these rivers by throwing the bone in another direction, toward the lakes and ponds they have been stocking over the years and preserving these streams as much as possible.
> 
> Keep me updated on your catches!


 I would agree, dumping a few thousand stocker Rain-bows in to the Mad or Clear-fork would be a Bad idea and that wasn't exactly what I was try to say. I think the trout programs on both the Mad and Clear-frk are great. My idea would be to stock the fish from the spring releases in the fall{October} and delay the harvest until the following spring. This way these fish could be caught and released for several months and provide anglers around Ohio with several months of trout fishing opportunities outside of the Mad and Clear-fork systems, Many of the states Reservoirs have tail-waters that would seem to be perfect for a few trout. Most have at least some public access. Here in S/W Ohio, Paint-Crk, Caesar Crk and East Fork lake combine for miles of water both above and below the Lake systems that would seem perfect for a delayed harvest program. Stocking the fish in Oct{lakes or streams] and not Harvesting them until Mid to Late March would make these fish available to anglers for months instead of the few weeks that we see under Ohio's current Trout stocking program. Good luck n Good fishing


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