Ham

Tectan has a wonderfully small diameter. Great for casting and letting you fish small jigs with minimal impact from the current, BUT that thin diameter works against you when it comes to abrasion resistance. I had a HORRIBLE experience with Tectan 4.9 fishing for Guadaleupe bass in the Texas Hill Country. I broke off several SMALL fish and put that rod aside in favor of my normal 8 pound Silver Thread. If I have to go up to 8 pound Tectan to avoid break offs, why bother ? I can get that diameter in a less expensive 4 pound line. I can't imagine how thin the 2 lb Tectan would be. I can imagine that I would break off just by thinking about setting the hook if I spooled up with the 2 pound.

Hey Terry: I had a Great Blue Heron scare the bejesus out of me one night on the Norfork down near McClellands. It was very cloudy and rainy as well as well....dark. I couldn't see the water I was standing in and I was in about mid thigh. Chunkin streamers on a six weight and catchin trout was all I was thinking about when this explosin of noise from very close got me thinking about something other than trout. I never saw it, but it was very close. I heard the individual wing beats.

I absolutely understand what you're saying. I am aware of your preference to fish fast and that makes a lot of sense. The stream smallies are often very aggressive and a high speed approach puts you in contact with more active fish. Fishing a shallow crank in clear water might be a lot more like a buzzbait bite than I have considered before. I have fished the deep divers where the fish just loads up on the crankbait or shallow divers in high current areas where you don't see the bite. Man I need a fishing trip.

Well well about time. Has it only been 18 months since you moved to Nixa? Seems like a lot longer than that. My loss is yalls gain. CajunAngler moved from not too far from me to half a world away. Redfish did someone say Redfish? The cool thing about Redfish is they act like aggressive shallow water Largemouth, BUT They pull like a Striper.

I had bought a good number of Wiggle Warts when a K Mart was going out of business. I was going to build confidence in them by using them when I had a good crankbait bite going on a local bayou. I could pull up to the mouth of a slough draining into the bayou and expect a bite. I had already caught numerous fish on Bombers and Bandits. The WW did not get a bite. None. Switch back to Bomber fish. Back to WW -zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz This happened on about 6 areas and I never had the confidence to fish them again. I'll buy a few after I move north and give them another try. Al, I really don't like crankbait fishing for stream smallies. I've caught them on it, but it seems like a waste of a perfectly good topwater bite or tube bite or senko bite. Yeah, I catch the fish, but its dull compared to getting the thunk on a tube. I cranka few cranks, but it is a bait of near last resort.

The only crankbaits I ever hear about for Table Rock and Bull Shoals are Wiggle Warts. I had bought some Wiggle Warts years ago and got rid of them when they failed to produce for me on the rivers and lakes I fished back then. I use Bandits 100/200 and Bomber 2A/6A mostly, but own a bunch of other crankbaits as well. What is so special about the Wiggle Warts and are they really must haves of Ozark Hill Land lakes?

I have a Bass Pro Micro Lite 3 piece 6 foot light rod that has served me well for trout. It really isn't sensitive enough for delicate bites, but using inline spinners or jerkbaits that hasn't been a problem. They are often on sale for $30. They might be right now.

Ditto. I'm stunned at how few excercise their right to vote thoughtfully.

The COE seems to routinely completely ignore the interests of fisherman. We aren't even at the bottom of their list of concerns.

If your electronics are good enough to find a few brushpiles, you should be good to go. I haven't mastered drop shotting by any means, but I have caught a few bass doing it AND seeing my lure on the screen has NOT been as issue. I used to read about that with guys that were working slab spoons but I thought the whole lure on depthfinder screen was an ice fishing thing.

This site doesn't have very much drama, but there are sites that do. Detailed fishing reports can ruin small streams that can't handle the pressure. What you post here has a very long half life. I ocassionally get emails from fishing reports I made years ago before I learned to keep my mouth shut. Taney can take it, but small waters can not. If you like that little creek where you catch 15 inch smallies, you'd be much better off showing it to a friend or two in person. I really am more interested in techniques and general information.

I got way too up close and personal with a Cottonmouth on the Strawberry River. I was trying to show my sone the "dead" snake. He assured me it was alive, but I knew better. My bad.

Is trout fishing generally fairly easy at Taneycomo ? How many rainbows are stocked annually at Taneycomo ? Do the shufflers catch monster Browns or stocker Rainbows ? Should PowerBait, corn, and red wigglers be outlawed since so many trout get gut hooked by anglers fishing those baits ?

How did she know what to get you ?

Was there any mention of techniques used to catch their fish?

I don't know the politics of it and I'm not sure of the causes of it BUT I'm pretty sure there is a problem. All the rugulars mentioned more fishermen and less fish. Apparently fishing has been very slow this year. Even if they close the fishing on the upper Norfork, the White river is right there. Generation is a blessing and a curse. It is nice having a secod option when they begin generating on the river you're trying to fish.

I fished TR on Thursday and Friday with my buddy Johnny Mitchell. Johnny lives in Nixa, Mo now. We fished up the James river arm. We started early and stayed late both days. We caught 27 bass Thursday (3 "keepers"-16 inch smallie, 16 inch spot, and a 15 1/2 inch largemouth). What a beeotch Table Rock is though. Lots of boats on every decent looking spot on a crappy weather Thursday and Friday. Conditions were fairly tough Friday. Not a fair weather fisherman day and there were still lots of boats out. crap. The 20-30 MPH winds made the lake fish small, but there still seems to be a lot of "intelligent" fishing pressure. Friday we caught about 20 bass, but only had one beat up largemouth that would have kept. We caught fish as shallow as 3 foot and as deep as 20 foot. We junk fished. I think we caught fish on 4 different crankbaits, 3 different topwaters, swimbaits, finesse worms, and jigs. We did not drop shot ans we did not carolina rig. I did not bring my drop shot stuff, but that would have worked in select areas I'm sure. I like to KNOW the spots before I drag out the DS rod as I don't see it as a search technique at all. It is a milk a fish out of a known SPOT for me. The fish were beautiful and I was thankful for everyone we caught. I spent hours fishing beautiful stuff and going fishless though. Table Rock is considered a Premier fishery ???

Well I'm back. I'm happy and bummed out all at the same time. Thanks to the help I received here and BRF and on the water I was pretty successful. I guess I caught between 15-20 nice sized trout. Mainly Rainbows. I landed one 12 inch Brown and a very fat 15 inch Brookie. I did not get my cut throat though. I lost a large Brown and a LARGE rainbow. I was stunned by the number of visible DEAD brown trout. I could see 7 from one spot. I was told by the folks around me that caught large Brown trout feet away from me that the Browns were very sluggish compared to he Rainbows. I don't know if that is a water quality issue or lamprey or being caught 1/2 dozen times or the rigors of spawning or what. I saw several fish in the process of dying come tumbling down Dry Creek from the limited access area. I was using size 18 mymphs (brown seemed better than olive) on 6x tippet. I used my 5 weight rod. I enjoyed watching my indicator, but I bet I could have caught fish w/o it. I did not catch any fish on a WB fished down and across even though with the conditions I had, it should have worked. I only fished Wednesday at Norfork. The fish were awesome, but I can see that I was part of the problem. I was befriended by the regulars that are there every year. I'd like to be part of that crew, but jeez I have met the enemy and we are them. I'll join the chorus for closed October through Feb or at least barbless artifical lures only above the new boat ramp. Could there be some habitat improvement projects to give the trout more holding areas ? Could something be down to revitalize the gravel? Quarry campground was nice. Weather was great for fishing. There were a fair number of guys fishing, but everyone was very nice. My Brookie was a beautiful surprize and made up for the large Brown I lost.

Lots of good line out there. Least expensive is Bass Pro Shops Excel. I've been using the 4 lb and 6 lb of late.NO problems with it trout fishing on the Spring river. I have used Silver Thread AN40 and Super Silver Thread for years in 6 lb to 20 lb. I got it inexpensively and it has worked well. I have no need to change. I currently am trying out some CX Premium on my crappie jig poles. I'm liking it so far, but early on. McCoy Mean Green is good stuff too, but their 6 lb is probably a 10 lb line marked as 6 lb. Tectan is high dollar and the thinnest line going, but it is an open water line. It CAN NOT hadnle the abrasion from rocks in the 4.9 lb size. If I'm gonna buy thicker line, I don't buy Tectan - I buy something cheaper.

Wow that's a bummer. I might ought to consider the White River, but I've gotten a good scare there once before when I got caught by generation. Long story. Hey Snagged I sure do appreciate the intell. I might plan a stop at Blue Ribbon on the way up for some flies and advice. I'm all packed and ready to go. I think I'll be able to skip town around 1000 -1100. My truck knows the way. Hmmm this might be the year I fish Taneycomo instead. When you say eels, I guess you mean lamprey (probably chestnut lamprey). I've only caught one fish with a lamprey attached in my life. Do folks C & R lamprey ?

I'm trying to catch up with some guys that I know that are there now. If it is like fishing at Roaring river, I'll only be there Wednesday. If I catch severeal BIG browns Wednesday, I'll probably roam as well.

Hey Guys, I'm finally making it happen. I'm heading up in search of a LARGE brown trout. I plan on fishing 10-25-06 and depending on how things go maybe changing to smallmouth on other rivers or even Table Rock after that. Is there much of a chance I'll find a tent camping spot there at the park next to the dam on Lake Norfork or should I consider another spot. I plan on fly fishing with a six weight. Does McClellands have a fly shop ? How much of a ZOO is the Norfork tailwater going to be during the week ?

Well CWF I'd guess then you wouldn't be happy at Lil Mo. Lower Mt Fork, Roaring River, Bennett Springs/Niangua, Taneycomo, or the Spring river. Heck you might not even be happy on the White River or the Norfork since sometimes the fishing is pretty close to easy there too.

$75 bucks seems high unless you play golf or run a boat with a big motor or fill up an SUV or ... If you can afford it and want to have an easy and successful trip, why not ?

Yak fishing is wonderful and horrible all at once. Opens up tons of new water, but you can't fish as well. Harder to detect strikes. Harder to get good hooksets. Any water safe enough to use an anchor probably is slow enough that you don't need an anchor. Just don't do it. Stick the boat in an eddy or on a gravel bar or wedge on a rock or wood. I often use the yak as a water Taxi and fish from foot in prime spots.