mhall02

Tried 21 Monday the 24 and didn't get a strike. Think those 'catch and release' lakes with flies only is an option to some from what I saw. One guy was standing there with a bait bucket, rod in hand, line out and no reeling. The other was using an orange plastic worm....There was a nice big dead one on the shore along the dam, looked to be 4 or 5 lbs.

https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/trophies-certificates/state-record-fish#block-views-fish-state-records-block This still shows the Roaring River fish.

Occasionally some get out with out a flood, from any hatchery I think. I'm assuming where our current state record Rainbow came from right? Flooded out of that spring pool?

Was there an escape at the hatchery? Was visiting RR last weekend up by the hatchery and there were a number of small 2" ish baby rainbow trout in the river. Where did they come from?

M for Mike, hall last name and 02, I think mhall and mhall01 were already taken?? 28" Rainbow at the Rebar Hole wet wading, summer of '90 attending C of O and working in Branson. Man I did a lot of fishing back then, amazing I had time to attend classes, study, and work.

Well, you are in Mt. Vernon, I grew up around Monett and there is only one tiny creek I can think of that is around there that has 4lb trout that are wild.... I'll PM you.

After trying for over 2 years after graduating from Mizzou with a Fisheries and Wildlife degree and working for MDC and Mizzou for minimum wage with no benefits, I moved on. Salaried jobs are few and far in between with MDC and lets just say I wasn't what the State was looking for to fill their entry level positions in the early '90s. The good thing is the degree was useful for other things non-fisheries or wildlife related jobs (i.e. environmental). Some of my visits from DNR inspectors for wastewater, hazardous waste, and stormwater have the good ole Mizzou Fisheries and Wildlife Degree. Somehow that message wasn't translated to the students that particular reality, but anyhow, just my 2 cents worth.

They are elusive. Remember they would come up to a dry fly, circle around it then drop back down or go ahead and take it, not just pounce on it. You could tell they were really pondering what it was they were looking at. Need to get back down there one day.

So where do the big browns come from? I remember when they started stocking stocker size back in the mid 80s, they seemed to really stand out to me. Would be surprised if something that big would last too long in a stream that small. Would stand out like a big ole log I would think.

Was down on Saturday, fished the fly zone from 10am till noon and landed and release 4. My son caught 2, but the fly zone still seems light on fish compared to prior years IMO. Weather was great and crowd was light when we arrived. Grilled some brauts, messed around for a few more hours and I caught one more, my son the sculpin killer had fun along the bank. Visited that hatchery and were on the road by 3:p.m.

Must have been that Great White Shark I've been hearing about on the news that is lurking in the Mississippi Looks and sounds like fun!

Fished Saturday in the fly zone and never seen so few fish since I've been going down there (20+ years). What happened? Did they forget to stock? Interesting note, caught 3 or 4 dinks, way too small to be stocked and they were beautiful. Did they have a successful spawn last winter??

Ok, thanks for the free fishing weekend feedback. Just a side note on this whole topic, typically you know what to expect fishing the parks on the weekend vs. the secluded streams in MO where you may see no one. I don't expect to hit Bennett on the weekend and have long care free drifts with the fly rod, no kids in the water, and the odds are good if I'm catching fish someone is going to drop in with 10' of me and maybe even cast over my line. Knowing what to expect is the majority of the battle with MO trout fishing. This 'free weekend' is a new thing to me, but other than that I've pretty much seen all that has been discussed here first hand (other than that swimming thing in Zone 1...that is pretty odd). Opening day at Bennett is much different than Crane Creek in the middle of winter. Expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if it is something different.

Heading down tomorrow for the weekend. I didn't realize this was free fishing weekend and from the sounds of things, it may not be that great of an outing, we will see. Anyone ever fish the free weekend, and it is more of a zoo than usual? Maybe the heat will keep the crowds manageable. We went one weekend in June last year and the place was dead.