Southeastern Fly: Caney Fork Regulations

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Caney Fork Regulations

I have had several folks ask me my opinion on the new regulations for the Caney Fork. First off I was surprised anyone would ask. But hey, it's good conversation and when we can't be out there fishing, we might as well be talking about fishing. Let's take a look at the new regulations, specifically for the Caney Fork and hopefully this will spur something for the Elk as well. Yep, I said it hopefully this will spur something for the Elk as well!

Here they are as I see them....or might I say copied and paste from some other website:

Rainbow and brook trout-14-20 inches PLR with 1 fish of each species over 20 inches.
Well, I guess this one is OK. But only if you like to fish for larger fish and don't mind getting away from the Hatchery Brats that have been in the upper part of the river most of the Summer. We will give this one 3 out of 5 stars. (non-scientific rating)

Brown Trout-24 inches Minimum Length Limit (MLL) with 1 fish over, (changed from 18-inches MLL with two over)
There go all the 17 &1/2" brown trout. Now those fish will make their way up to 23 & 1/2". Gosh just when we thought we had these fish figured out, TWRA goes and increases the size of the browns. I am going to have to spend even more time on the water trying to figure out these even bigger browns...It's crazy, just crazy, I know my wife is gonna love that! We will give this one 4 out of 5 stars (non-scientific rating)

The daily creel limit has been changed from seven to five trout per day, per person
This sounds like a good thing to most. There is talk of decreasing the stocking rate for the river, but at this point it is just talk. But, just in case I am going to continue to eat only fresh salmon that I catch at the Kroger River just down the street. We will give this one 2 out of 5 stars and see how this shakes out. (non-scientific rating) The fish in the Kroger River will still fear me!

Alright, there's my take on the new regs for the Caney Fork River. Hopefully you can tell I have put a bit of humor in there to ease the pain of hearing the same old take on a good change that has been a long time coming. Until we see March 1st, which is supposed to be when the new regs go into effect, I am going to spend as much time on the water as I can. Hope to see you there as well!