February 6, 2018
By: 2
A White County resident was cited on the Caney Fork River, on Wednesday, January 31. DeKalb County Officer Joe Fortner responded to a call and observed an angler and his female companion for over an hour and a half. During this time officer Fortner observed the angler catch several trout and place them in a bucket. Occasionally the angler’s female companion took the bucket to a nearby car, placed the trout in the car and returned to the riverbank.
When the couple packed up and returned to their car, officer Fortner performed an inspection of the man’s catch. The man was found to be in possession of 16 total trout including five brown trout, eight brook trout and three rainbow trout. The angler was cited with three counts of over the limit and two citations for illegal length limit. The female was given a written warning for aiding and abetting. The angler will appear in court on February 21.
Fortner shared, “TWRA fisheries crews work hard to maintain great angling opportunities in this area. Slot limits on fish are put in place to ensure quality fishing continues”.
This area is popular among anglers this time of year because warm tail-waters keep fish actively feeding and therefore biting during winter months. According to the Region 3 fisheries program manager, Mark Thurman, TWRA stocked 30,000 brook trout last fall in the tail-waters of Center Hill and another 5,000 will be stocked in April. Ninety thousand brown trout were also stocked in 2017. TWRA will stock 90,000 rainbow trout and 40,000 brown trout in the Caney Fork River in 2018.
The majority of stocked trout are raised at the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery in Celina. Thurman stated, “TWRA streams biologists monitor the Caney Fork River, evaluate fish stocking strategies and work with other regulatory agencies to evaluate flows that ensure good results in this area.
Thurman continued, “The regulations in place on the Caney help provide quality fishing to a wide range of anglers. TWRA staff will be performing a creel survey on the Caney Fork River this spring. For more information on stocking or fishing regulations visit tnwildlfie.org.