mhall02

Went on Tuesday, 12/22.  No charge to get in and caught all the trout we cared to.  White jigs were ticket.  Fished from about 1030am - 2:pm, then headed back home.   Most fish I have ever caught at MS, I swore never again after the last visit during the catch and keep season a number of years ago so I thought I would try the catch and release after reading all the good stories.   Catch and release is the time to go!     

Went on Tuesday, 12/22.  No charge to get in and caught all the trout we cared to.  White jigs were ticket.  Fished from about 1030am - 2:pm, then headed back home.   Most fish I have ever caught at MS, I swore never again after the last visit during the catch and keep season a number of years ago so I thought I would try the catch and release after reading all the good stories.   Catch and release is the time to go!     

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.    

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.    
 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Used to catch some nice Rainbows out of Spring as well back in the late 80s early 90s. Caught them from about 2" up to 20".  Beautiful fish, appeared to be stream born, never kept a one.   

Went to Lake 28 Sat. and caught one on the dam with an olive woolly bugger on my 6 wt.  Had a couple other hits, and was only there for about an hour.  Could have caught more if we stayed longer but my son wanted to try Lake 21, where we had no luck at all.  Water was murky and high, didn't see any splashing on the surface like you usually do.  Bait users may have cleaned 21 out, there were at least two or three there when we were there siting on buckets waiting for a bite . 

Flies, Lures and Baits:
The following classes of lures are authorized for use, except where restricted.
Natural and scented baits—A natural fish food such as bait fish, crayfish, frogs permitted as bait, grubs, insects, larvae, worms, salmon eggs, cheese, corn and other food substances not containing any ingredient to stupefy, injure or kill fish. Does not include flies or artificial lures. Includes dough bait, putty or paste-type bait, any substance designed to attract fish by taste or smell and any fly, lure or bait containing or used with such substances. Soft plastic bait (unscented)—Synthetic eggs, synthetic worms, synthetic grubs and soft plastic lures. Artificial Lure—A lure constructed of any material excluding soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait defined in (A) or (B) above. Fly—An artificial lure constructed on a single-point hook, using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait as defined in (A) or (B) above, that is tied, glued or otherwise permanently attached. Found here:
 
http://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/huntfish/regulations/regulations-and-permits-definitions
 
I think they would be OK with a single hook Little Cleo.  I think the metal used to make the LC falls under the "constructed of any material"', they are obviously not made of soft plastic or natural and scented bait.    
 

Son and I fished the fly zone Saturday as well from around 930am till around 330pm and caught quite a few.  I caught at least a dozen and he caught 6 or 7 on a white jig.  They were nailing a #8  olive wooly bugger on my 4 wt, my last 2 I kept were 13-15" each.  Beautiful day!
 
 

Son and I fished the fly zone Saturday as well from around 930am till around 330pm and caught quite a few.  I caught at least a dozen and he caught 6 or 7 on a white jig.  They were nailing a #8  olive wooly bugger on my 4 wt, my last 2 I kept were 13-15" each.  Beautiful day!
 
 

28" rainbow trout in my avatar, would guess 8 - 10 lbs. Summer of '90 when I was at C of O at the Rebar hole caught on 6' Eagle Claw ultra light rod, 4 lb test line, Shimano spinning reel on a 1/64 oz black Bass Snapper crappie jig. Fought hard, got her in, Dad happened to have the camera, snapped a pic and let her go. Yeah, didn't have waders back then so wet wading in Taney, ankles go numb pretty quick!

http://s37.photobucket.com/user/mhall02/media/trout.jpg.html?o=0

Caught a grass carp close to 3' long, 15+ lbs would guess and a channel cat about the same. No pics.