Freefall

Thanks for the helpful input everyone!

My wife and I are thinking about a trip to the Ozarks for our anniversary this summer so I wanted to see if there are any good suggestions for guides and lodging. We grew up in MO and KS and always enjoyed floating the rivers in southern MO and Northern AR, but we moved out to Phoenix several years ago so I'm not very knowledgeable about some of the other rivers in the area or what our options are. I'm really interested in more fly fishing (either trout or bass, but mostly bass) but my wife is more of a spincasting fan. I'd like to bring my fly rod and my baitcaster and find a place with guided trips. We're ok with "rustic" cabins, etc., but if there's a more boujie/fancy/upscale type of place that would be good to. I was looking at Riley's in Mountain Home, AR. It sits on the White and Buffalo rivers so you can fly or spin fish for trout or smallmouth in the same area. There's not much else to do around there, but that's part of the appeal. They have guided trips and you can wade or even rent kayaks and canoes so it seems like a great place. Any other suggestions for a trip like this?

I'll be down by Bennett Springs and Niangua next month. I've never fished there before, but I'm assuming without waders, I would get pretty cold pretty quick even in the summer due to the water temp from the spring? Do I need to get some waders or will I be ok fly fishing from the shore?

Thanks for all the input everyone. I've been doing a little research on the net and will do more as the time get's closer, but your suggestions are all helpful. I mainly wanted to see if anyone had been in a similar situation (great location/limited time) and had any definate places/outfitter/things to add to the to-do list... or things for the not-to-do list. We'll be going up there in mid June and leaving from Anchorage (Whittier), AK and ending up in Vancouver. The other ports along the way include: Sitka,AK Juneau,AK Skagway,AK and Ketchikan,AK, so I'm sure we'll find something. Thanks for your help!

I'm going to be going on an Alaskan Cruise from Anchorage (Whittier, AK) to Vancouver this June with my wife and in-laws and I was wondering if anyone here had any advice on fishing opportunities. We’ve discussed either going to Anchorage a few days early or staying a few days later in Vancouver so either one would offer an extra day or so for my wife and I to get in some fishing up north. We’re also going to be stopping in places down the coast like Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, etc but we’ll only have part of a day in each of those ports. My wife and I are both probably more comfortable using a spinning set up instead of fly fishing but that’s not to say that fly fishing isn’t an option. I’ve only used a fly rod once when I was much younger and although I had fun, my wife has never even held one so I think we would have more fun using something more familiar instead of going through a whole fly fishing class, etc. So if anyone has any recommendations on places, guides/outfitters, etc. please let me know. Chris

Thanks for all the good input everybody! My mom had some of the Fels-Naptha (sp?) soap which I tried as soon as I got home and I haven't had any breakouts yet (knock on wood). Last time I was out at this pond was 2 nights ago so I think (hope) I dodged the bullet. After reading some more info about the plants, I'm not sure if I would try making the pills that gonefishin reccomended. I'm sure the gelatin protects you from the oils, but if the oils get into you respiratory system or even parts of your digestive system it could cause serious problems or even death. I guess I'l just keep fishing and scrubbing with the Fels-Naptha when I get home. Afterall, we caught 6 decent largemouths in about a hour and we had the whole place to ourseles so it's worth it!

I'm pretty allergic to poison ivy. So much so that I recently had to get a shot and was put on Prednisone after inadvertently getting in some. Last night out at a new farm pond I was just delighted when nocited a lot of poison ivy around. I'm sure someone on this forum has a good remedy or something they know works fairly well to either get rid of poinson ivy or to do when they first get home such as use a certain type of soap or something to make sure the oils don't get into your skin. This new pond is great and I'd hate to avoid going just because of the ivy, so if you've got any ideas, I'm all ears.

How about this video of a bass that almost get's pull back to the boat, but then get's taken out by a huge muskee! Click here for Muskee Lunch

Thanks for all your help and PMs everyone.

The "Walkering" fish story made me think of one of the weirdest fishing times I’ve experienced. I was only about 8 years old and on a float trip with my Grandfather and a guide near Broken Bow, OK. We were passing through a really narrow stream in the boat with trees hanging down so I had my rod laying across my lap and was ducking under some of the branches. I didn’t even realize that I had about 6” of line hanging from my rod tip so my crawdad crankbait was drifting just underwater beside the boat. Before I knew what was happening my rod was getting yanked off my lap and into the water. I didn’t want to loose my only rod and reel so I grabbed it and without even having to reel it in I pulled the biggest largemouth bass my young eyes had ever seen (it was probably only about 8” or 10” ) into the boat.

I'm new to this forum, but saw this thread and wanted to see how Kayaker's trip ended up since I'm considering taking a trip down to the Elk at the beginning of August. I've floated it a few years back, but haven't really fished it. Not to get too off-topic here, but the reason for the trip is that my wife mentioned some interest in taking a family fishing/float/camping trip for her birthday (Yes, she just may be the perfect woman ) and since we live in KC the Elk seems like the perfect location. We'll probably have our 4 yr old daughter with us so would the Shady Beach resort be a good spot to camp, or does anyone else have any reccomendations for campgrounds and/or other things to see while we're down there like caves, springs, hikes, etc.? Should we try to fish and float or may do a half-day float and concentrate our fishing time wading the areas with less canoe traffic? Thanks in advance for any help. -Chris