twosets

Beauty

Below Fall creek the major concern would be a large gravel bar below short creek on the left side as you are going up. Above fall creek it is best to go up with someone who know the lay of the land Cooper creek public access is an excellent place to launch. Good Luck I will be there sometime in the middle of july and would be happy to show you what I know then, hopefully you will get out sooner than that, fishing is realy good right now.

Click on Leonards Website above. He is King of the night fishing

I think that this advice from 2sheds is very questionable, considering that one time I am pretty sure that I saw him above fall creek putting poison in the water like a South American Tribesman and then gigging big brown trout as they floated to the surface. Bill is just so hard to get along with in general that it is not surprising that he may rub some people the wrong way. (THIS IS A JOKE AND SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY) Bob is right, it is all of our jobs to keep people informed. When this information comes from a guide, it is more likely to be regarded as an act of self interest as opposed to what it actually is for all of us, a real concern for the recource

High Current angle your trailer about 70 degrees downstream when taking out, makes it real easy to pull right into your trailer. There is some natural protection from the current at cooper the way it was constructed, I put in and took out during the flood last year and I am no boat master. Lots of ramp room and parking at Cooper as well

Cooper creek is a great ramp

You will be fine all the way up to fall creek, other than the gravel bar below short creek just above lillys. Just stay to your right. If they are not generating a lot of water it would be a good idea to go above fall creek with some who knows where all the bodies are buried

I do not know if the rocky bottom factors in but I have seen people in fishing seats and the anchor comes loose, then catches on the next big rock and it comes close to throwing them into the water

Wet wading refers to no waders, and not what happens when you drink too much special coffee, right Leonard?

No need to go that small, they may swallow those, I use #6 or #4 with a crawler on a drift rig with the 1/2 worm hooked thru the middle hanging off both ends. usually hook them in the mouth. Small line is important 2 or 4 lb test. If they swallow the hook either add it to your limit of 4 or cut the line and return it quickly. 2 or 4 refers to the number of units generating power, not floodgates. I never thought of the trailering thing either. You should stop at Lillys for fishing advice, or scottys if are all the way down by branson. Real nice people at both places.

Also If you are into flyfishing, above fall creek ther are several places where you can safely tie up in the slack water below an island (lookout for one) if you are tired of fighting the current and want to try something different.

Hey Kramr The trick is to get your bait or fly down to the bottom, you do not want to slow your drift, you want your lure to move at the same speed as everything else. You need to use just enough weight to bounce off the bottom but not too much to get hungup all the time. Half a crawler on a drift rig down stream from Fall creek is a good way to go to catch fish for a newbe. Also, the cooper creek boat ramp is good. A guy showed me last year how to angle your trailer downstream to make the operation easier in high current. Good luck and let us know how you do. George

Thanks for the advice, Bryan. I was able to book Lenny Lenoard and will report when we get back. George

It was nice to see you and spend a few minutes. Thanks for the peppys, I will do my best to duplicate them, caught a trout on one with the flyrod off the new section of Phil's doc Monday am. very close to the bank, but saved the rest to duplicate. Fishing with either parents or kids is a true pleasure that I savor more each time that I do it, one of those things that is special as we get older It was nice to meet your son also and I am glad you can share your skill with him. Perhaps we will meet up again when the water conditions are more suitable to our kind of fishing. All my best George Steffen

That sounds like a tough trip. Guiding those two can be a real handful Phil, you are the best

Oh wait I did not realize it was an OSU Cowboy I was replying to. Bad float, no fish no fun, don't do it.

We did that float last summer in July and the water was still quite high with all of the spring rain. I would guess that you will have plenty of water in May. It was a great float, smallmouth hitting anything that you threw around any hole or downed tree in the water. Nothing too huge, up to a pound and a half, but light tackle and a 2" curley tail grub and a smallie is my idea of heaven. Please treat them gently and put them back. A real nice drop in the river on this stretch, not too much paddleing. Also lots of really great shade all along the way. I loved it and hope to do it again this July Have fun

Thanks for the input, J I really appreciate it. George

Phil Did you have someone that you would recomend to take you out?

Hi All I am headed to Key West in June and was interested in any advice or guide experiances that anyone would be willing to share. I am mostly interested in back bay spin fishing type stuff, my wife will be along and I do not think that the bone fishing flyrod thing would be the best for her. Any recomendations on guides or anything else would be most welcome. George

hey tipit What is sink line and how do you use it?

I think what Taxi is saying is that if you use large baits (and catch huge trout like he does) larger line is fine. Many us us fish smaller stuff and for that smaller line is needed.

Hey Phil Sorry I missed you yesterday I fished Sunday in a cold hard rain and had one strike in 4 hours between lookout and fall creek. Generation was high but I still wanted to use my flyrod. First drift I used a dandy peach jig (1/124) I tied with some split shot to get it down under a big carrot float I then fished the dead water and seams below lookout island, had a strike on a midge and also threw some larger jigs, sculpin and white. Then I drifted a 1/32 white jig with my flyrod under a big float 10 ft , nothing I finally bounces a 2 jig rig off the bottom, zilch Man, it was a cold hard rain. There were a few other fools out there as well but I only saw a lad in a drift boat hooks up a fish.

Thanks Champ I really appreciate the report I have tons of small jigs, but it never hurts to add a new item in the arsenal. Thanks again George

Mr Duffield catching trout on a peppy scud, what a shocker! I was suprised to read that you tried anything else. Seriously thanks for the report and for the e-mail about scud hooks. Hope to see you on the lake sometime. George Steffen