Greasy B

One things for sure, this political season has been very entertaining, comical actually. Great fun since the GOP completely abandoned the intellect.

The tradition of gigging as it is practiced began with the arrival of high intensity discharge lights and the jet pump, about 1980.

Don't give up looking, A buddy found a used penobscot 16 on craigs list a few weeks ago. Saved almost a grand not buying new. The 16 is a smallish tandom, works well as a solo if your a big boy and carry alot of gear. I personally would avoid fishing or recreational type canoes they are for people who are not adept at paddling and do not perform well.

Thats it, I've heard enough, I'm going to bass gig central and getting some pictures of the carnage myself.

Tongue in cheek, I have a bundle of worn out spinning rods in my basement, the real reason I favor the fly rod is the darn knot on my fingers from holding the reel stem between them. By the fall of every season my finger look like it has a marble under the skin. Snobs are slobs. Great fish!

These shad got sucked through the generator turbins and spat out of the base of the dam. Not really a reliable way to gather bait but at times they create a situation where all the biggest trout come out of hiding and are catchable.

All reservoirs die by silting in, some faster than others. This one looked just about full, breaching through the base of the dam was probably intended to move as much silt as possible. The ability of a stream to recover from Impoundment is fairly well documented. I would be courious about following this rivers recovery.

Last weekend we fished 3000-6000 cfs. With aid of a boat we found plenty of wadable water. Saturday with the wind calm we were able to drift fish pretty effectively, Sunday the wind blew so hard wading was the only option besides a man on the oars full time. I'm with you on the spin fishing, I would just as soon not fish. I'm afraid if set my fly rod down and pick up a spinning rod my brain would go numb from the boredom.

When I watched it I thought about the way canvas tents smelled, the way my old Grumman canoe sounded when it hit a rock and the hiss of the gas lantern. The canvas tent smell has long been replaced by nylon, the bang crunch of aluminum on rock is long gone and I haven’t heard the hiss of a gas lantern since I discovered head lamps with red filters.

Holy Cow! That was incredible, the eventual fate of all dams whether happening by force of nature long after we’re gone or through enlighten river management in our life time.

I've spent the better part of thirty years chasing Smallmouth in the Ozarks, twenty years doing it pretty seriously. i have only broke the 20" mark one time. Those who say we don't need to revisit Ozark bass regulations could learn a thing or two by hearing about the quality of fish that are possible through limited harvest.

No we didn't break the 20" mark but caught almost no small fish. Most were 16"-18". I'm looking forward to hearing your take on our local smallmouth issues. This forum could use a voice and perspective from outside our Ozark world.

I watched just enough on my phone to know I'll need to see the whole film tonight. Bee Bluff on Buffalo River? That's interesting, I wonder what spurred the MDC to acknowledge something across a political border? Usually a government agency's world ends at the border. Thanks for the post.

There are areas where Smallmouth are not native and are considered an invasive species. My trip to the Missisippi was very interesting on many levels. For one the river was void of fishermen and recreationist, apparently most folks are lake centric. The river is so large you could combine the volumn of water in every creek and river in the ozarks and it would less than what flows in this section of the Missisippi. I thought about posting a report on the forum while back, this is an easy destination for Ozark Smallmouth enthusiasts.

A couple of years ago my brother and I spent a week Smallmouth fishing the Mississippi River between St Cloud and Elk River. What a great experience, what a great river. I’m looking forward to more time spent on Minnesota’s Smallmouth Rivers. Niangua is one of the best Ozark Rivers for floating and fishing. It will take you some work and time to figure out how to find your version of outdoor experience but it can be done.

Welcome to the site and to Ozark Smallmouth fishing. We have a lot of wonderful rivers that offer great scenery and solitude and you only need to carry your canoe from your car to the creek. I would invite you to read some of the ongoing forum conversations about the fisheries and the various issues as well as the wealth of previous post.

Barren Fork, there are probably a few other tiny creeks that nobody talks about.

My best Brown out if Naingua last year had gig scars. I've seen so many bass and trout with gig marks over the years it never occurred to me to take pictures, I didn't think anybody gave a #hit. Rest assured I'll start, maybe if enough of did it someone will listen.

Mr. Shot, Yea, yapping with the guys may be a great time, especially if they’re not getting all sour, but I’m not so sure of their abilities to cut through the fly fishing bull. They lay you to believe that you need expensive equipment and a bazillion flies. Not true, all you need is a pair of waders a rod, reel and a line with a leader with a fly attached, it matters not what quality or price, heck it probably doesn’t matter what fly you have tied on. Start at the 64 bridge, walk out about knee deep and toss the line and fly across the river as best you can, let the current grab it and swing the fly down until it is hanging in the current below you, let it sit for a bit and if you don’t feel the tug of a fish take a step or two down river and cast again. It’s that simple.

The Proffesor Higbee's stream maps look good, i've always wanted a wall map of rivers. I wonder if this is the best there is?

I don’t know, I been reading this thread, I chimed in with my own comment that took every bit of 5 seconds thought. I tend to regard Smallmouth Bass with an almost sacred reverence. I think this is mostly due to my experiences when fishing for them; it’s always in a very beautiful place and always with someone who appreciates it. My bias toward protecting Smallmouth Bass is motivated my desire to have these quality experiences continue. In our household we are fortunate to eat fish about once a week, whether these fish are from one body of water or another or of one species or another really doesn’t matter as long as I followed the rules. People are not at fault for taking advantage of game laws as they are, law abiding fisher folks are not the problem, regulations that do not respect the unique qualities of an Ozark stream and the experiences that they afford are the problem.

The Ozark Smallmouth is such a special creature, such a fate is indeed a loss.

I haven't heard any peepers yet but this weekend will be my first overnight gravel bar camping trip. Its a bit of a stretch but yea spring has arrived.

I remember when I was young an old timer showed me how to hold my pop bottle under water so it would fill and sink to the bottom. My how times have changed.

I think Arkansas container laws are watercraft specific.