Greasy B

Not only are the messages lame, inaccurate and unreliable they are dangerous.

Yea, annoy them a little for me. I fished a couple of lakes up your way years ago, La belle and Ewing. I had a buddy who told stories of catching huge bass night fishing at La Belle, never did find one myself. Do you know about any good bluegill lakes in that area?

I had a Battenkill reel. It came brand new with no lubricant on the spindle, froze up the first couple of times I used it. Never again Orvis. I have an Abel reel that doesn’t allow me the full range of drag settings. When it’s set in its lightest position it’s about two clicks too tight for fighting a fish and another two clicks from over running. It’s as though the clown who designed it figured he knew more setting drag than me. Never again Able. I have two Lamson reels. These reels are the perfect example of form follows function, flawless.

Hello fellow creek addict. With the partiers swarming over the mid size streams and the recreational powerboats roaring up and down the larger streams it seems like creeks are the only place to find peace and quiet. I’m looking forward to some of your creek reports. Rest assured the only dumb question about fly fishing is the one never asked, ask away.

Something to keep in mind is slightly used oil always frys better than new oil.

A sudden drop is not really a concern on most of the river. it rises very quickly but drops out gradually. Down at buffalo Shoals it might take two days for the water to go from navigable to dead low.

I’ll try to make it. I’ve been a longtime member of the MSA but admittedly have not attended very many meetings. I do recall a few that stand out. One meeting Al gave an explanation on how to use satellite images to locate potential Smallmouth habitats and how to interpret the USGS real time water gages. At the time I had experience using both but after that evening my understanding raised to a higher level. Now hardly a day goes by when I don’t check the river stages, especially during wet and dry spells. And as a part of my angling ritual I always look at Google Earth images of my destination before and after every trip. Technology has gone a long way to aid my understanding of the places I love. I also remember listening to Charley Campbell preach the good word of the dog and how to do the walk. Charley just lit up when he describe his experiences on the middle Gasconade, what a treasure. Then there was the evening Otto Fagen told us the story of the 12” statewide length limit, how he was so sure the powers that be would reject the proposal. If I recall correctly Otto said the 12” limit was approved with so little resistance he wished he would have proposed 14”. Can you imagine what those 2” would have meant to those of us who live to fish for stream bass. I need to really try to make this meeting.

I say test drive or don’t buy. These days most high end rods are probably pretty comparable. Back when I bought my first couple of quality fly rods the Orvis rods were way soft, bending well into the handle. Now that I’ve been casting the newer faster rods I can’t stand the old soft rods.

I was just telling myself that I need to lay low for a few weeks, you know stay at home, take care of a few chores, save some gas money, but after see the pictures of your trip It’s all I can do to keep from hauling my equipment up into the garage and loading up for a Friday run down to Current. It’s been two weeks since I’ve been on a river and I’m jonesing bad.

Hey, Fish are people too.

One thing most great fishing destinations have in common is that they can be dangerous. White River is a prime example. A great deal of respect is required. Get used to looking at the Bull Shoals generation chart. Pay special attention to the volume of water measured in cubic feet per inch or cfs. Cfs is a much better way to judge river conditions than elevation. The depending on the current level and the stream channel the volume of water can double or triple without raising the elevation much at all. I typically look at the chart before I get on the water then check it again at the end of the day. After a while you get a feel for what to expect and how to deal with it. Just today the volume varied from 50 cfs to 18890. 50 cfs is what trickles out if the dam’s idle generators. In some areas it’s enough water to float a kayak or canoe but little more. 18890 cfs is big water. Sometimes river goes from zero generation to the big stuff very quickly, it will scare the crap out of you the first few times you see that happen. Where you go and what you do on any given level can change from hour to hour, that what makes the river so darn interesting. See the link below for the generation chart. My link

Good question, a while ago Ozark Springs Resort would do shuttles but I don’t think that’s the case now. Gasconade Hills Resort may have done it at one time but the logistics are not good, I’m not sure that’s an option. Leaving a vehicle overnight at the access is a little scary. It’s a great stretch of river, well worth the extra effort/risk to float.

Reading Truman is like eating good ice cream, effortless. What an interesting man, the last accessible president. In his retirement he worked at his presidential library, a person could probably have walked right in and passed the time of day with him. I guess I’ll plug my way through the Quanah Parker book. That period in American history fascinates me. A little while back I read The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story by Elliott West, I enjoyed that immensely.

Just finished, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman. This book ended way too quickly. In the middle of, Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert Massie. An epic story of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia, and an account of why some historical figures are referred to as “the Great”. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has a curiosity about the world as it was and as it is. Up next is, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne. My sister gave this to me at Thanksgiving. I read one chapter as a teaser and I’m looking forward to more. Savage, yes, but probably no less savage than the civilized world at the time. One book I read last winter that I’m certain would be of great interest to users of this forum is, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, by Douglas Brinkley. This is a fascinating story about our bird watcher president’s effort to save as much of the natural world as he could. Every person who enjoys the outdoors is forever indebted to Theodore Roosevelt.

Probably been closed for 8 or 10 years, shame, we lost yet another great place to go.

I think that’s a great boat. Some observations; Vacuuming up gravel will wear your impeller out, leaves and weeds will rob you of power and burn up your power head, always be aware of what is under your jet’s intake especially when starting and when accelerating from idle to plow. When your boat plows it will draft much more than it does on plane, so it’s best to either idle or be on plane anytime the water is thin. I don’t think the fiberglass boats weight and its longer hull will side slip when turning quite as much as a typical aluminum hull, what has happen to me is when leaning the boat into a tight turn the jet will briefly suck air, no water in the pump means no control. How you run your boat through a shoal depends on how much water you have and what the bottom is composed of. Going over loose gravel you’ll need to be on plane to not suck gravel. Rock gardens and ledge rock shoals are a crap shoot, if you not certain about depth it’s probably best to idle through. This was the case last month on Eleven Point, I think it was just above Bliss Shoal, the water was fill with boulders the size of small appliances, never having run this in such low water I had to idle down, I was lucky just glancing a few rocks. As mentioned on a previous reply the trip up was much easier and I was able to do it on plane. The ledge rock shoals on white river are an animal of their own, this is where your river jon will shine. Even with the water pretty low it’s amazing how you can get up through the ledges of places like Wildcat Shoals and Buffalo by gently putting the front of the boat on a ledge then power up to slide over, then of course as Ham said “the downstream stuff is a white knuckle one shot deal”. That brings up the last point I wanted to make, I wouldn’t be too concerned with damaging your boat but I would be very afraid of getting thrown out, Al’s got it right “USE THE KILL SWITCH!”

About 20 years ago I discovered Bluegill fishing on the strip mine pits in south central Illinois. The water is crystal clear; the sight fishing opportunities are fantastic. During the spawns the typical day starts by standing on the front of the boat scouting the water for beds. When active fish are spotted the idea is to set the boat to drift with the wind past the bed without spooking the fish. On the first pass you want to throw your bugs on the edges, well beyond the main beds, often aggressive male Bluegill will stage around the limited shallows waiting their turn to move in. On the second pass you move in a little closer. I’ve seen beds that stretch for a hundred yards full of countless fish, other times just a few fish are on select spots. When you lay your fly over an undisturbed fish the take is almost always instant and violent, the fish will immediately swim straight for the deep water under the boat, if you don’t set up on them instantly and strip like a crazy you’ll lose most. After you’ve taken a few fish off a bed the rest of the fish wise up so a person needs to work another area then come back. A big bull Bluegill bending my fly rod double is every bit as exciting as any trout fishing I’ve done.

Good lord, how am I going to spend the weekend in a tree stand when the bass are biting?

Cool pictures, It’s interesting to see the spring world from the opposite view point.

Great responses all, thanks. Everything from “I have paradise right down the road, why should I drive half way across the country” to “Paradise is half way across the country and I’m going to do what I have to do to get there”. One thing’s for sure, youth and zeal make it a lot easier to burn up the road. As it turns out this trip was well worth it. We did spend about nine hours on the road and about twelve hours on the water but if you include a great evening camping on a gravel bar enjoying cold beverages and juicy rib eyes, eight glorious hours of deep sleep followed by a leisurely morning drinking coffee and yet another great meal we probably had thirty hours of quality time, I’d do it again and again. Oh yea I kind of forgot about the $80.00 plus spent on gas, I can’t do again and again.

On the drive out, time flies whether two hours or twenty hours, the sense of adventure and the anticipation is enough. On the drive back exhaustion, boredom and back pain take their toll.

For as long as I have been fishing Ozark streams the drive to the river has been part of the price to pay both in time and gas money. Over the years some general rules have evolved as far as how much distance/time and gas money I’m willing to spend. I try to spend at least twice as much time on the water as time in the truck. From my home base in Charley Town a two hour drive will allow me to do a single day trip most anywhere in the Meramec basin, four hours total time on the road equals 8 hours on the river. If I’m going to reach out to the Big Piney or Gasconade I need a day and a half on the water. That usual involves overnight camping on a gravel bar. Typically trips to Jacks fork, Eleven Point or North Fork of the White require two nights and two and a half day on the water. For big trips out west one week will allow me to reach northern New Mexico, most of Colorado and southeast Wyoming, Two week will get me to the Yellowstone area and most of Montana. This weekend I’m violating my rule and packing for a balls to the walls single night trip to Eleven Point River. It will be about nine hour’s total drive time for about twelve hours on the water. I’m wonder how other folks look at the drive time vs. time on the water equation? Thanks for any comments,

Born and raised at Grandpa Pidgeons, I can still smell anise coming from the jelly worms. More stuff doesn’t equal a better outdoor experience. I’m basically fed up with the whole retail marketing circus that has overtaken what was once a pleasant experience. I’m cool with supporting local small stores and will seek them out when I can.

Yep I couldn’t agree more. BPS is the Wal-Mart of fishing, help is nonexistent, knowledge is nowhere to be found and I haven’t set foot in the place for years. Cabalas are a little better, you can find knowledgeable help but the mass in your face marketing is off putting. In recent years I have seen the light; I try to avoid all retail outlets trying to sell me crap I don’t want. I’d rather spend my money on gas and my time on the river even if my equipment suffers a bit.