copfisher

I only started fishing the river in 2007. So my observations don't come with as much background as you all. Those numbers are fascinating Laker67. Thanks for sharing. I would have loved to fish this river back in the 90's/ early 2000's. It sounded great. Maybe with better management it could return to its former glory. Over the 7-8 years I've fished the river, though, I've noticed a marked decline. I agree that fish typically hold in the usual areas. Prior to the last three years, although the size and numbers were never spectacular, I could usually do relatively well and pull fish from the usual spots. I guess what I'm saying is I fancy myself a good enough fisherman that I can tell the difference between a tough bite and when fish are not in the river--over the last few years things have definitely begin to shift from the former to later--but I understand it was even better earlier on. Sounds like things have gone from bad to worse. This is disappointing because this is one of the closest cold water fisheries to KC. When I come down I spend money on shuttles when I float, food, gas, etc. I don't mind supporting the area, but absent a change, I may start going elsewhere . Its a shame.

Over the last three years I've noticed is steep decline in the amount of trout caught out on the river per trip. Occasionally, in the past, I would have a rough outing where you might get skunked or maybe land one or two. But usually, you used to be able to almost always pick up a fish at just about every Riffle in the typical spots. Now it seems like every time I'm either getting skunked or maybe just catching one fish per trip. i typically fish the section from Bennett Springs to NRO and only rarely fish the area from an nro downstream to Barclay. So, for the most part, these observations are just with respect to that three or 4 mile stretch of river. Has anyone else noticed a similar pattern in terms of having difficulty picking up trout? Does anyone have any knowledge about whether the stocking patterns have changed over the last several years?

Floated Wednesday from Bennett to NRO. It is in good shap. A bit low and crystal clear but in good shape.

I think the hook size is 16.

Got mine. Awesome! Nice job everyone, especially mic for orchestrating this whole thing. Cant wait to test out a few.

Mine are tied and in the mail. Probably not the most sophsticated fly(and I am not the most sophsticated tier compared to some of you all I'm sure!) but they work just fine and produce well for me. Its a neat combination between a copper john and prince nymph. Tail: Brown goose biot abdomen: green and gold ultra wire thorax: peacock herl wings: white goose biots.

Mine are pretty much done....I may throw some extras in for good measure. PM me with the address for where I need to send them and I'll try to get them out the door in the next week or so. On a side note I gave a few hot-wired princes a test run on the Niangua last weekend....rest assured, they work just fine.

I fished the niangua the weekend before last. I saw at least two or three areas that I would bet money were redds. About a year ago I spoke to someone from the MDC who told me that occasionally he would see redds as well but generally spawning is unsuccesful here and "on the record" the MDC states that there is no spawing activities in the niangua--nonetheless its interesting to see. Anyone else have a similiar experience in seeing these?

I'll do a hot wired prince. I tried to post something earlier but I think it got lost in the shuffle.

Add me to the list as well...mine's not as sexy as rfd515's but I still want to participate

I'm game. I'll do a hot wired prince.

Boring videos suck...Brian, these videos are great. I've enjoyed your tying and guiding videos and hope to make another cameo in the guide trip movies someday. After a person has tied enough flies, I don't need the lecture series to accompany the video--in fact, I don't want the person to talk--music is better. As for "learning" from a video, there's not much you can learn from a fly-tying video once you've tied flies for over a week--other than what materials to use and what should the end product look like. Don't let the haters bring you down. I can assure you there are a lot more people who like these videos then dislike. Idea: have you ever done a fast speed tying video in reverse? That might be weird/ interesting to watch.

These just look like committe minutes. I think those interpreting the wording are jumping the gun before the actual reg's come down. (http://mdc.mo.gov/about-us/regulations/process-adopting-regulations). Those unhappy with this proposal have an opportunity to voice their concern, besides in this forum. (See link, we're on step 4 in the process). In any event, the committe minutes seem pretty clear to me as an attorney. The intent is obvious--no felt shoes in MDC trout waters. I think everyone is overlooking something I find way more exciting: From the committe notes, "Approved the purchase of 25 acres in Stone County as an addition to Wire Road Conservation Area (CA)." Of course, the location of the 25 acres will be important but I see this as a good thing--at least the MDC is willing to put resources towards Crane.

Weird! What are the odds that two get lost the same weekend. Mine has some fairly distinctive features that I'd be happy to elaborate upon if found. Perhaps a modest reward if someone happens to find it. I lost it Saturday morning and tried to back track after I realized it was lost but had no luck.

Accidently left my net somewhere near the river behind the ball fields. No idea exactly where. Please let me know if found. thanks.

Tyson, (BC here) My dad and I usually trout fish from bennett to NRO as a day trip (but we go very slow and spend a bunch of time wading the good water). We've done NRO to barclay a couple times and that also makes a good day trip if you stop and fish the good water hard. Bennett to Barclay is do-able in a day but it is a bit more water to cover if you plan on getting out and wading quite a bit.

How are things looking this weekend? The reports from last weekend seemed to indicate that conditions were improving and, while a bit up and off-color, very fishable. Anyone closer to action know what this weekend will be like and have a sense of whether the rain this week blew out the river from the park down to Baptist?

What are the road conditions at the Niangua acess points? Will they be drivable this weekend?

Is Bennett closed for fishing until the 12th when CNR begins? Did I understand that correctly?

Thanks for the all the advice. We ended up having a fantastic trip--we'll definitely be back! We started floating at Tan Vat and immediatly starting catching fish below the first rapid. Saturday morning we had a great morning/early afternoon. Between the two of us we caught around 15-20 fish and had probably just as many takes that were missed...so there was plenty of action. From about 10-12am there was a pretty good hatch occuring. Not a lot of activity on the top of the water but fish were active below the surface. Pschyo Prince nymph's were very effective. Sunday the action was a much slower. Still landed a couple fish a piece but there seemed to be much less activity. Everything Sunday was caught on wooly buggers. Sunday my dad had a huge brown on that we both were able to see momentarily before it shook loose. Probably would have gone 20+. Yet another reason to return!

Thanks to Gavin and everyone else for the advice. There is truly a wealth of knowledge here. Now that most of the guess work is gone for the float, all that's left is to land some fish!

Thanks for the advice. I think we will do a two day float. We plan on starting at Tan Vat and taking out at Cedar Grove. We want to take our time fishing and don't want to rush. That being said, and not being familiar with the river, does this distance make sense?

Thanks for the response. Anyone got any advice on floating? Still debating on whether it is worth the hassle to float the river. It sounds like from your response, there is plenty of good spots within walking or wading distance of the Tan Vat acess.

My father and I are interested in doing a fly fishing trip on the Current river this weekend. We've both never been to the current and have a couple questions about the best way to approach the trip. We are considering spending Saturday and Sunday on the water. We also may bring a canoe to float sections, if logistically we can manage. We are debating floating one day then going up to montauk another, floating both days, floating no days, etc. (the possibilities are endless!) Here are my questions. Thanks in advance for your thoughts! (1) What stretch of water is the best to fish? We are leaning towards trying the blue ribbon section at least one day. Any particular areas we should fish hard or avoid? (2) If we do decide to take the canoe, any recomendations on outfitters that will give portages? Also, any recomendations on how much ground to cover? Obviously, I don't want to have to rush through parts to get to the car before dark. (3)fly selection, techniques that have been working lately, etc.? Anything would be helpful. Once again, thanks.