A year and a half ago, many of us that spend a ton of time on the Missouri noticed something that quite frankly was very disturbing. Our brown trout population was developing some kind of fungus that was killing them off in significant numbers. It only happened to the big mature fish and it was only on the browns. Dozens of them were found dying in pools of water with big white splotches on their sides and backs. Because it was only found on the really big fish, we all had our theories of what was happening.
The fish that were dying were post-spawners. We only noticed it in late season and figured they had contracted the fungus in the tributaries. The water in the last couple years stayed relatively warm throughout the fall and the fish had been exerting more energy during the spawn so possibly their immune systems were compromised and they weren't able to fight off the infections.
A client of mine had seen a similar phenomenon on his home waters. He told me that the biologists attributed the fungus to kokanee salmon that were spilling over from the reservoir and bringing the fungus into the lower river. We have been seeing quite a few kokanee in the lower river along with other species that aren't thought to really inhabit the Lower Missouri anymore such as cutthroats and brook trout in part, due to the high water.
I'm not really sure what I believe about where it came from but I do know it had a significant effect on the brown trout population--especially the trophy class of browns. In fact, last year I don't think I saw a brown in the boat over 22 inches. Some people think that the browns were there, they were just harder to find because of the high water. Some people were in denial but for most of us, it was kind of something we didn't want to get out anyway so it was a little hush, hush. Without browns, the two things that tend to suck are streamer fishing and hopper fishing. As for the rainbows; I think they were very happy and honestly, I think their numbers went up without as much pressure from the browns.
The good news however, is that I've been seeing many more browns on streamers this Spring. In fact, of all the fish we caught today about two-thirds of them were browns and some really good ones. We only threw streamers and we went way down low, which is a stretch that can kick you in the teeth this time of year. It wasn't great but we were kind of handicapping ourselves. The water temps have also been falling with the weather systems that have stuck around for the past few days and colder water means lethargic fish. Given the conditions, I would say we did all right managing to land around a dozen or so and missing a number of others. The canyon has been good off and on as well. The browns are coming back which means bring your sink tips and all your big uglies and it also means that the little guys ought to take cover.
Keep 'em where they live...
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