Fisherman's Paradise Wading

[Troy]

Hi All,
I have a dumb question. Are you allowed to wade fisherman's paradise? I thought the answer was "no". My buddy says you can. I thought he was full of #OOPS#, so I looked it up and there was an article from 2007 that interviewed Eric Stroup and he said they opened it up to wading. I think what is confusing me is that fishermans paradise is a longer stretch from what I thought. I thought it ends at the commission building, but I'm assuming it goes upstream a little further. I hope I'm not wrong because I bet him $50.

Troy

 

[JackM]

From just upstream of the "end of the road" you can begin wading upstream, but when I was there for the jam, there were still signs saying that you could NOT wade below that.

 

[Troy]

Thanks Jack! I was there in Apil and I know the signs were there that you could not wade below the "end of the road". I didn't see anyone wading in the water. Like you said, wading is permitted above that. I guess at one point you couldn't wade the upper section either.

Troy

 

[troutbert]

JackM wrote:
From just upstream of the "end of the road" you can begin wading upstream, but when I was there for the jam, there were still signs saying that you could NOT wade below that.

That't the way it is. From the upper parking lot, you walk up the gravel road a short distance and you'll see a sign saying wading permitted above this point. And that is still part of the "Paradise" stretch, i.e FFO, C&R, from there on up to a point down over the bank from the pistol range. There's a wire across the creek at that point.

But the Paradise is still closed to wading below that, through the areas with the parking lots, the hatchery etc.

So, umm, who wins the bet, since part of it is open to wading, part of it is closed?

 

[troutslammer]

if they opened it to wading then someone forgot to take the no wading sigs down by the cable , and i don't refer to it as paradise either , more like a flat glide with more suckers than trout , wouldn't waste my time fishing there if i were you

 

[Troy]

Troutbert,
We called it a draw. I always thought the "no wading" section was called fisherman's paradise. I didn't know fisherman's paradise extended any further than that. My buddy is going there for the first time tomorrow with a friend of his. His friend never fished it either. Over the weekend, I pointed out that you can't wade fishermans paradise so he would know the rules beforehand. Today, he thought he was going to prove me wrong and he told me you could wade it. His friend saw an article and told him you can wade it. He likes to argue even if he doesn't have a clue about what he is talking about. He is the same guy who swore up and down that there are Elk in the Adirondacks. He also is the guy who said the tallest mountain in the east is over 10,000 feet. He is a type of guy that doesn't do any research on things and still argues about a topic he doesn't know about. He works on my nerves.

Troy

 

[sidthemuffinrunner]

no wading allowed

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

I think and many consider the "fishermans paradise" section to be from a few hundred yards past the gate on the upper end to the property line below the hatchery. I'd say "paradise" is no wading and it's just special regs C&R above that.

You win or you can take your buddy up there and give him a chance (double or nuthin) if he can out fish ya.

 

[flyguyfishing]

I saw them electroshock the no wading area once...I cannot remember if it was early this season or sometime last year. It was some kind of demonstration with an organized group of people watching as they explained what they were doing.

I was curious to see what they would get; however, they went stumping through the water like a herd of wild beast.

They were able to net a bunch - the biggest I saw was about 16 inches....though I am certain they could have got many more - even bigger ones - if they could have quietly waded.

I had a thought of throwing a fly in behind them - you know, catch all the dazed and confused fish....but I thought twice and went somewhere else to fish.

I like the paradise. If I only have a half an hour or so, I can still wet a line. No gearing-up time, just grab the rod, a fly box, and get fishing.

Not too many places one can fly fish from the banks without getting snagged on trees and shrubbery on the shores. Its nice that they cut the grass.

Having said that, the paradise is no where near the top places I like to go fishing. But it is convenient at times.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

Before they took out all of the check dams, I was there when they shocked. It may have been 15+ yrs ago. They netted on fish that was close to 30" and a ton over 20". If you wanted to see an absolute freak show, you should have seen what they pulled out of 'the ditch' at Big Spring years ago. Shocked 2 times a year and the fish were moved down closer to town. It was possible to see them take 75 fish out of that section between 3-8 lbs!! Some may have been closer to 10 lbs.

 

[Troy]

Well, my friend is there now and he saw the signs. He kind of sounded like he had his tail between his legs. I can't wait for the next argument. Maybe this time he will try to tell me that Spring doesn't have scuds.

Troy