Chef of the Sea

I put in at Houseman around 11 today, once I decided that the radar looked worse than it was, and ran up. Started fishing just below Spider Creek with midges dropped off of a micro jig about 5' below an indicator. I pretty well stayed on fish all day, more sporadically early and more steady later with the high point being 4 fish on 4 casts. Red, hare and copper and rainbow warrior midges in #16 were all good with a good split coming on the micro jig. Nothing big, but a couple +-14" fish to keep it fun. Awesome day on the river! 

I'll be there the first week of August, launching out of Lost Bridge Marina. I have a red Tracker deep v tiller, with MO registration and a couple of Walleye decals on the back. If you happen to see me, stop and say hi, I'll gladly share any info I figure out. 

After a month of all work and no play, I had the opportunity to take a day off and explore a creek that I've wanted to fish for a long time.  I made it to the access around 7 a.m. and there were a couple of people fishing.  I headed downstream and around a bend, and suddenly found myself in complete seclusion which lasted the rest of the day.  As far as beauty, this little creek was up there with any Ozark stream I've seen.  It was one of those places that was so awe-inspiring that catching a fish or two would have just been icing on the cake...  



Fortunately, the fish wanted to maximize my experience.  I caught a lot of fish and had consistent action all day.  I was primarily finding success fishing structure in holes at the end of riffles.  However, the smallies were also hunting in packs in the middle of runs and it was awesome because the creek was so clear I could watch four or five of them chasing after my lure.  They reminded me of my German Shorthairs when they find a possum in the backyard. It was one of those days where I would see a rock, log, or shady spot and say to myself "I will catch a fish there", and most of the time, I would.  Most of the smallies were 8-12" range, but I did catch a hard-fighting 14" (didn't get a pic).  I also lost a monster - I thought I was snagged on a log but then the log started fighting back and immediately got free.  Species caught:  smallmouth bass, Kentucky bass, goggle-eye (caught some really nice ones), and bluegill.  All fish were released.  

Dude that was a blast. Every method was catching every creek species I know. I was blown away with how random the bag was. Good times with good people sums it up! 

That bottom pic I took did not do that fish justice. 

I had the opportunity to spend yesterday floating a small local flow with Amery and Chef of the sea. We floated some of the upper reaches of a small creek and didn't see another soul all day. The fishing was hot with Amery on the fly rod and me and Chef mostly on spinning rods ( a few for both of us on the fly). Wewere all about the same for numbers, which was a lot. Had a great tTim with some good dudes on my favorite flow. 
 

I floated twice last week. Once from rock house to trigger gap and once from trigger gap to the farm. From rock house the fishing was poor with a lot of very small fish. From trigger gap to farm was a lot better fishing. Lower quantity but much higher quality fish. One thing to note is there are a lot of trees that you have to maneuver under around and even through. Keep an eye out I was having to watch my fly rod a lot. It's a good float though. I used black buggers with success but with all the trees I switched to the spin rod with a metallic blue grub. Enjoy!

It was my absolute pleasure to fish with Richard Button and BilletHead yesterday on Taneycomo. I swung by Lilley's Landing and got my trout stamp and a couple of OAF stickers. They have a really well stocked shop. i was sorely tempted to shop, but I had to meet the guys at the ramp.
We launched at Cooper Creek. Very nice launch. It was pretty chilly 28 degrees or so. Billethead had gotten a tip or two from DuckyDoty so we headed up above Fall Creek and fished the deeper side of the river. Not surprisingly, I threw Zig Jigs. Richard and BilletHead started with fly rods. 
We all started with White jigs or flys, but I honestly think the bloom is off that rose. Judging by all the White Jigs I saw broken off in trees up and down the river, that was definitely the deal recently. It's always worth a try when they are generating, but we just did not catch that many on White. I broke off a White jig and switched to Tri Olive. I caught a fish almost immediately with it and stayed away from White most of the rest of the day. Brown/orange was also good for us.
We caught a few, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to run up close to the dam. We ran all the way to the cable. We spotted DD up river and watched one of his guys catch a nice fish on a fly drift rig on spinning. We started on a section of bank that Richard and BilletHead know well. We almost immediately started catching fish. Action was much better in that area. I know we could have put up huge numbers if the wind had been <10 mph.
The wind was just a pain in the butt. It makes it tough to sling flys. It makes it tough to get a good drift and I really struggle to jig fish when the wind gets >10 mph. We were getting blown upstream against pretty decent generation. They had run about 7000 CFS and it dropped by dribs and drabs down to 5300 or so. 
Whenever I could get a good drift and the wind would slow just a tad, one of us would hook up. We also had a bunch of doubles, but we never got a triple. The fish were fat and happy. generation really helps those fish fatten up. Shad are a great food for the trout. I think the "extra" water helps the entire food chain.
Billethead is a 99.44 % pure fly rod fisherman. He caught some on streamers and some beneath an indicator. Big San Juans, 1/32 oz Zig Jigs, and Y2K's all caught fish for him. He did sling a Zig Jig just for a minute to catch a couple of fish just to show me he could. I brought a couple of fly rods, but never strung one up. I did borrow Richard's fly rod for a few minutes and caught a small one and lost another drifting a 1/32 oz Zig. The wind soon irritated me too much to keep that up. Point made and back to Zig Jigs.
Richard did better with jigs. He had a lot of fish hooked on the fly rod, but I'm not sure he got any to the boat with it. He had some real nice jig fish though. We all caught enough fish to keep us interested. The wind kept us cool, but the sunshine was good for the soul. I had such a good time with these two gentleman. The day flew by.
Richard brought drinks and sandwiches. BilletHead brought some goose jerky that was as good as any jerky I've ever had. Makes me wish I hunted geese. You might think you know what goose tastes like, but if you haven't had it done right, you just don't know.
i hope we can do it again soon. Here, there, or somewhere else ; I look forward to fishing with either or both of them again. 
BilletHead took a few pictures. Maybe he'll share. 
 

I hit a good fish this afternoon below Fall Creek.  I had the wife and daughter in the boat out enjoying the weather and was just out for the afternoon to fool around. Made a few casts with a white jig and caught a couple then picked up my jerkbait. First cast, boom. Fish stays deep and pulling drag off my jerkbait rod. (Yes I use a bait caster rigged with 8# flurocarbon for trout, so much better control with big stick baits.) Got the fish immediately in the live well to unhook it and get ready for a photo. We weighted it and took a quick picture and back she went. Weight was 5 pounds 1 ounce. 

CajunAngler has found a diamond in the rough. For those of you that are looking for a Light rod for trout or crappie, take a look at the Browning Air Stream 7 foot 2 piece Rod. They call it a UL, but it fished like a "L" and it is not a buggy whip. I got a chance to fish CajunAngler's Browning Rod 
yesterday and I found it to be very similar to my go to Rod the Dorber OMT. I am very fond of the Dorber OMT84UL AND I fully recommend them, but they are often out of stock and are 80 ish dollars. The Browning is listed at $59.99 thru Bass Pro. I have no need for one, but I'm sorely tempted to go buy two of them on put them back for whenever I do need them. Quite a nice Rod for $60. Very comfortable handle that secures the reel well. Light weight with pretty cosmetics.
Heck of deal. 

Saw it yesterday it's a dam good way to spend 8 bucks on a cold day 

Nice fish, m-taylor. But I've read that holding a fish like that, bending it's jaw as the only hold point, can damage them. Might want to just hang him straight up and down for the pictures, rather than risk injuring them. No offense intended, just saying.

No offense taken Jeb. I was truly ignorant to that information until my buddy recently told me. I will be more mindful in the future. As much as I have read about bass fishing lately, I haven't run across a single article about that. Not an excuse, but something more people probably need to know. 

That is some dam tasting looking food. Are yall looking for work in a kitchen?

That is some dam tasting looking food. Are yall looking for work in a kitchen?

Good job on the duck buddy!
     We did General Taso today. Last time we did this we used goose, today wild turkey breast. Served over a bed of white rice,

BilletHead
 

Ducque du BilletHead. Skin on, pan fried, cooked rare. Nothing but salt and pepper. Excellent!
 

wish I would've seen this thread last year!

I generally mark them on my rod, but i was in too much shock to do anything except yell at the guys upstream and ask for them to take a picture.  Im on cloud 9.

went below the dam this morning a little before sunrise. The river was very low, (probably 50 ft across at best)There was fish activity everywhere, found current worked a midge and hooked up with some good looking trout. Beautiful! Between my poor knot tying skills and the two deer that insisted on crossing the river where I was fishing every good drift produced a strike. Grey and olive. Then..bam...9am horn blows and my day is done. That's the first time I've seen it not follow the schedule, but I did have the river to myself so that was too good to be true anyways. Headed over to roaring river and caught good trout, they just weren't the same

went below the dam this morning a little before sunrise. The river was very low, (probably 50 ft across at best)There was fish activity everywhere, found current worked a midge and hooked up with some good looking trout. Beautiful! Between my poor knot tying skills and the two deer that insisted on crossing the river where I was fishing every good drift produced a strike. Grey and olive. Then..bam...9am horn blows and my day is done. That's the first time I've seen it not follow the schedule, but I did have the river to myself so that was too good to be true anyways. Headed over to roaring river and caught good trout, they just weren't the same

went below the dam this morning a little before sunrise. The river was very low, (probably 50 ft across at best)There was fish activity everywhere, found current worked a midge and hooked up with some good looking trout. Beautiful! Between my poor knot tying skills and the two deer that insisted on crossing the river where I was fishing every good drift produced a strike. Grey and olive. Then..bam...9am horn blows and my day is done. That's the first time I've seen it not follow the schedule, but I did have the river to myself so that was too good to be true anyways. Headed over to roaring river and caught good trout, they just weren't the same

went below the dam this morning a little before sunrise. The river was very low, (probably 50 ft across at best)There was fish activity everywhere, found current worked a midge and hooked up with some good looking trout. Beautiful! Between my poor knot tying skills and the two deer that insisted on crossing the river where I was fishing every good drift produced a strike. Grey and olive. Then..bam...9am horn blows and my day is done. That's the first time I've seen it not follow the schedule, but I did have the river to myself so that was too good to be true anyways. Headed over to roaring river and caught good trout, they just weren't the same

went below the dam this morning a little before sunrise. The river was very low, (probably 50 ft across at best)There was fish activity everywhere, found current worked a midge and hooked up with some good looking trout. Beautiful! Between my poor knot tying skills and the two deer that insisted on crossing the river where I was fishing every good drift produced a strike. Grey and olive. Then..bam...9am horn blows and my day is done. That's the first time I've seen it not follow the schedule, but I did have the river to myself so that was too good to be true anyways. Headed over to roaring river and caught good trout, they just weren't the same

went below the dam this morning a little before sunrise. The river was very low, (probably 50 ft across at best)There was fish activity everywhere, found current worked a midge and hooked up with some good looking trout. Beautiful! Between my poor knot tying skills and the two deer that insisted on crossing the river where I was fishing every good drift produced a strike. Grey and olive. Then..bam...9am horn blows and my day is done. That's the first time I've seen it not follow the schedule, but I did have the river to myself so that was too good to be true anyways. Headed over to roaring river and caught good trout, they just weren't the same