Gavin

http://www.missouricanoe.org/river-maps/niangua.html http://mdc.mo.gov/documents/area_brochures/8024map.pdf This might help. MDC claims to have a boat ramp and a river access on Lead Mine....Good Luck

I'm sure that you'll find something if you bridge hop up above Tea, but I also agree with Eric. The BB is typified by really long slow deep holes, and short riffle sections so its best to float it even though you know your gonna drag the boat through almost every riffle. The Huzzah & Courtois offer good wade fishing and convienient canoe rentals... but I'd fish way upstream on the weekends due to all the rental canoes. Mineral Fork is good wade water, but access is limited and it gets crowded near the access points. Cheers.

In the summer I usually start with a buzzbait or a walk the dog type bait and work my way down the water column till I get bit...If no hits on top...I'll switch to a Zoom Fluke, wide wobbling shallow crankbait, or a spinnerbait...no hits on that...I fish the bottom with a 4" Hula Grub, 4" curlytail grub, jig chunk trailer, or a 3-4" tube. Repeat the process a couple times a day so you dont miss the topwater action when it occurs. In colors....top & middle of the water column...I like minnow like colors, white, chartruese, black for starters...On the bottom...I like darker colors that might resemble crayfish in clear water(browns, olives, etc). If the water is stained I go with highly visable colors..White, Chart, Black, Yellow, Fluor Orange etc. Good luck.

There isnt much thats close to town. Might try the Mineral Fork around Potosi and Washington State Park, Upper Big River around Desoto and the Upper Bourbeuse. Some of the creeks that flow into the Missippi south of Arnold are possibilities too. Good luck.

Dunno how long it is..But I'll give it a 20". Great Catch!

Oldly enough...I've never seen a water mocassin on the F to 47 stretch...and I've floated it many times...The Fouche up above F has a bunch of them though...Particularly below the dam on Sunnen Lake.

The Old CG is about a 1/2 mile upstream of the Hwy 47 bridge (North West Corner). Park at the bridge and wade up. Or float down from Hwy F. Was down there in April...fishing was nothing to write home about. Cheers.

Access is not a problem........I've been putting in there for over 25 years. Make sure that you paddle up and fish near the springs before you float down. Cheers.

In my mind, there is no reason that we cant have harvest, and bigger fish...A slot might accomplish that....Pick a number over X" limits arent accomplishing that no matter how restrictive. They do a good job at protecting all the fish to the X-1/2" range and all the legal harvest is focused on the X+" fish. I'll have to disagree with you Al. There is no need to send a message that big smallmouth have value....They already have value because everyone wants to catch one.

Kelly Ford is a bout half a mile below Rainbow Spring...Turn East off of H at the Crossroads Store (Think its CR 372 or something close to that, just turn at the old store) stay on the paved road at the first turn, turn left at the Berry Farm (look for a red & white sign) Kelly is at the end of the road. Leave room for someone else to turn a car and trailer around if your gonna leave a vehicle there. Fishing Access is tolerated there but dont abuse the priveledge.

I agree with Bob's point about tackle, bait, and harvest restrictions turning away anglers....That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. I like fishing the special regulation waters but the current trout & smallmouth regulations have a downside....Sometimes I'd like to be able to go out floating for a couple days and catch something for dinner. Its hard to do that in an area with a restrictive 1>X" limit. Sure, you can catch goggleye sunfish yadda yadda...but there are restrictions on Goggleeye and Smallmouth in some places....and I really dont care to fish for Goggleeye...Kinda like pulling in a wet sock, IMO. The more I think about it....a slot limit on smallmouth would be a better option than what we have now, and better than what SMA has proposed. I dont see much problem with folks eating a couple 10-12" smallmouth. They are abundant, and folks eat lots of them even though they arent legal now.... Frankly, I'd rather see folks eat those little fish instead of quality smallmouth in the 14"+ range.... I'm thinking that 3-4 under 12", (with only one big one allowed in your limit) would be preferable to limits that focus all the legal harvest on the top end of the population like they are now. 6>12", 3>15", 1>15" or 18"....what we have now, and what has been proposed by SMA focuses all the legal harvest on the bigger less abundant fish. Wonder why were complaining about smallish smallmouth in Missouri?

I'd stay at Sunburst Ranch....Float Kelly to Sunburst your first day (7 miles). Get on the river as early as possible so you can get some fishing in before the floatilla's from Hammond catch up to you. The upper end is mostly rainbows.....On Sunday put in at Sunburst and float to Patrick Bridge (2 miles) or James Bridge (about 5miles) mostly brown trout below Blair Bridge but some rainbows too. There's public camping available at Hammond Camp and Patrick Bridge, but I'd avoid it cuz there wont be anyone to watch your gear while your on the river. ROLF would be another good spot. Cheers.

The Eleven Point & NFoW see their fair share of drifters...I havent seen one on a warm water stream yet...but you could easilly do sections of the bigger rivers..G. Nade, Meramec, Big Piney, Current below Welch Spring. Cheers.

I've caught some trout down near Pulltite on occassion but not regularly. Trout show up in odd places sometimes...usually after major high water events that push them down out of stocked waters both public and private...Not aware of any being caught down that far on the Current but its possible. Cheers.

Bob Todd is entitled to his opinion, but I disagree with it. Most of our smallmouth rivers dont have a management stategy in place and there is plenty of room for improvement. World Class Smallmouth fishing is a stretch when compared to what I've enjoyed in other places, but I'd be happy with some more quality fish in the 15"+ range. Whatever we can do to accomplish that...I'm for it. Cheers.

No worries.......The location of where it was 2 summers ago doesnt mean much. Hope you catch it if its still there...sounds like you have the time to do it. I'd love to have 3-4 days a month to fish....but 3-4 day a week...I envy you!

Were is this huge smallie honey hole? LOL.... I figure that a 6lbs river smallie would have to be close to 24" long. Possible, but I find that 18" (3lb) fish are uncommon, 20" (4lb) fish are rare, and I've never caught one that I'd say was a 5lb fish (22") in Missouri. Cheers.

Another to consider......the new Wenonah Northfork 17'....I think its their answer to the OT Disco 169 and it comes with better seats and a slightly lower retail price. $949 v $989.

Brookies are friendly fish. I usually go for them with big bushy attractor dries like the H&L Variant, Royal Wullff, Crackleback and the the like...If they wont eat those I go with small muddlers, flashy nymphs, eggs or worms (worms work really well). Nothing better than some fresh caught brookies with your eggs in the AM. Cheers.

Looks like a spot to me too....The mouth looks smaller than a LMB and the Lateral line and barring below looks like a spot more than a LMB. Nice one if you caught it a river.

Fly fishing from a canoe by yourself is really tough. I still need a lot of work in that regard, so I usually end up chucking hardware from the boat. It does work great if you have someone to handle the boat while the person in front fishes though. Need to do more of that this year.

The dogs chase stuff till they or someone kill its. Its a coordinated group poaching activity.

Thats unfortunate, but I guess your gonna have to learn to protect your stuff alot better if you want to canoe and fly fish. A short fly rod isnt going to do you any favors in the distance department. I usually toss my fly rod tips under the front seat in my tandem, middle of the rod is over the thwarts, and the reel rests on the back seat...In my solo canoe...I run the tips out the back...but if your really clumsy..you might want to make yourself a rod holder out of PVC pipe..A 5' piece will do if you break your rod in half with the line on in-between stops. Cheers.

There are a bunch of running dogs in Shannon County...Sounds like your buddy ran into one. They run whatever with them...Coyote, Fox, Deer. The number is so they can bet on em. Cheers.

A 9' 7wt is my go too for smallmouth....I'd look at TFO, or St. Croix at that price point. Cheers.