Greasy B

Keep it simple, your normal tackle is probably fine to get started, get a boat and go fishing. Start with either a john, 16ft or so with kicker or a poly canoe. Keep it cheap until you get a feel for how you like to run and fish the rivers.

Thank you for the kind words. I have been thinking about this effort to restrict river access. I cannot imagine not being able to float and camp on our rivers; its one of the most important things in my life, it is what pulled me through hard times, its one of the few thing Im good at, its the reason I want to live in this state. I thought Id share one more picture from that trip. This is my favorite Ozark canoe rental. We love you Cindy, cant wait to see you this year.

What is a navigable stream? I have floated this one when it was flush with water like this trip last spring and when it barely trickled in drought years. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16972749023983545035&q=Elder+v.+DelCour&hl=en&as_sdt=400000002 Please forgive my brother, I think this was his response when I asked him how many fish he had caught.

Even if this bill dies in committee there's no doubt the efforts to rob the citizens of Missouri of access to their streams will continue. I appreciate the efforts of everyone trying to get the word out and rally the troops. I'll do my best to make my position known to my representative every time these thieves try to kill our way of life. One thing is certain, if something like this comes to pass I'm doomed to a life of crime.

I'll switch back and forth between a slow sinking spider and a popping bug depending on whether I'm searching or working fish I have found and how aggressive the fish are. The spiders are a simple pattern I tie, the poppers are the store bought bubble pack variety. I need a new source for the poppers, all of them need the hook gap opened and I seem to have much better success with one that have very small bodies, my boxes tend to be filled with the bugs I don't use. I did a search for Boogle Bugs, they look like a good fly but a bit heavy in the body. The search did turn up some custom bugs with the very small body profiles that looked just like the one from the store but with much better hooks.

Was that the Walleye moon I seen last night?

This is not an exaggeration.

Except for the occasional shuttle I don't have any use for outfitters and canoe rentals but we sure need their help with this.

If your willing to do the work rehabbing a used Jon, a lot of the old trout docks have a pile of worn out boats in their yard. Should cost next to nothing.

Great story.

A couple of months ago we had a branch fall on one of our trucks at the Buffalo City access. Looks like we missed an opportunity to sue for near miss trauma.

I'm ready to go back to the old country, universal health care, clean air, higher standard of living and I don't have to pay my way with coins that honor someone else's deity. Oh yeah, I forgot they also have no public lands are waterways, never mind.

How long since it has been stocked right? My experience only goes back 15 years or so, I can't recall anything better than mediocre last 5 years.

What a fish, what a river. , congratulations.

The response I got from my representative was that she had received many comment similar to mine. It looks like the letter campain caused at least some of the Jeff city crowd to listen.

I have fished a dozen or so other states and that has been my experance as well. We also have relatively cheap license fees,

You don’t need a perfect picture, it’s the fish that matters, it’s the river that matters and it’s the regulations that allow fish to grow in the river that matter. That is a fine fish, congratulations.

Yeah, that weekend trip stands out as two of the best days on an Ozark river this year. My most memorable days last year were on a new river in Minnesota. Three buddies and I drove 10 hours with only a hunch of what to expect. I knew where the boat ramps were but had no idea whether the river was navigable or if we could find one of the designated camp sites. When we launched I quickly tied on buzz bait just so I would have something to throw while I was getting settled in. The bass were all over the buzz bait right from the start, we landed one bass after another until it was so dark we were setting the hook to the sound of blow ups. That went on for three days until we moved down state to fish more familiar waters. The two buddies that went with my brother and I were very experienced fishermen, one is a Table Rock veteran, both said they had never seen so many good Smallmouth caught, much less all topwater.

Good looking fish. I hope to get down in the next month or so, maybe get in on the spring Caddis hatch.

Excellent, now if you would just insist that women can shut that thing down you could run for office and win.

Yep a disheveled fly always out fishes a new or neat fly, thank goodness or would never get to fish with my own.

I would have taken you up on your offer if I didn't live so far away. I don't frequent the river like I did in the past but one day last year the water dropped out while me and a buddy were about mid river and we had the time of our lives. Good luck, let us know how you do.

The pictures remind me how much I miss summer.

Excellent fish, I can't imagine the odds that fish overcame to grow so large in the lower river. Great catch.