Gavin

I've caught some trout near the confluence of Dry Creek and the Huzzah before, just above Huzzah Valley Resort (escapees from Westover)...but I've never caught trout on the Courtois. There are lots of places with trout around that area...public stocking at Meramec, and some private stocking takes place in a couple of the private spring branches a some nearby private spring ponds. Who knows were the pictures came from or when they were taken...Call and ask. Cheers.

Golden stones are the most common on the Current, and there are some blacks but not many...Nothing like the NFoW....Dick Ryan's CR Gold is a good pattern when fish are eating goldens, so is an amber colored hare's ear, or a Pat's Rubberlegs (see link in previous post) with gold brown chenille with brown or gold legs. Cheers.

On spin gear I use Hi-Vis Braided line with a 6'-7' Flourocarbon leader. For the business end fly or spin..., subsurface.... I use Seaguar or Berkeley Vanish flouro, in the 6-12lb range. On top, I use mono in the 6-12lb range. Cheers.

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?p...ocumentID=27597 Your comments are needed on proposed management changes to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The proposed changes pertain to limits on motorized boats and land use and they can be viewed at the link above. There will be a meetings around the state seeking comments if you want to attend or you can submit your comments via the web. I'd hope that you will take some time to offer your comments because these changes will affect two of Missouri's premier trout waters and some of the best smallmouth waters in the state (Jack's Fork and Current below Round Spring) Gavin

Might try the Big Piney...not many jets on it and it's fairly scenic between Slabtown and Ross..Not usually many folks on the first ten miles of the float, but the outfitters dump a bunch in for the five mile float from 6x down to Ross. Cheers.

Bennett, Roaring River, and Montauk are owned by Missouri DNR....not MDC...DNR's rules would apply but I'm not sure what those are. Cheers.

Nice fish Mike! Thanks for the report.

Jets can get pretty thick down there on the weekends.I've been out there once or twice when Whitten was packed with boat trailers and it wasnt an experience that I'd like to repeat. A jet boat/canoe incident/swimmer incident is bound to happen, so I take precautions to make sure its not me getting hurt when I hear one coming. Jets are different than prop drive boats. Jets cant turn if they slow down, and they might get stuck in a shallow spot if they come off plane.......So I figure that its best to stay out of the bend, narrow channels, and shallow spots when you hear one coming..I'll pull off on a gravel bar out of the channel, or sit in a in visable spot in the pool well above a bend when I hear one coming. If swimming, or wading fishing I get the heck out of the water. No sense putting yourself in a position to get run over or swamped. Cheers.

I dont think that I've ever caught a stocked rainbow on the NFoW and I've fished a couple days a year for almost 20 years. There are rainbows througout the river. I've caught them occasionally while smallmouth fishing way up above the start of the blue ribbon area, and all the way down to Dawt. I dont catch that many brown trout above the falls but they seem to be pretty common from the falls on down. Cheers.

Dunno...It sounds like it might be worth something but I'd need pictures.......I'm thinking Harris was the retailer that sold it, but the rod was probably built by someone else, and one of those tips does not belong with the rod...Battenkill 7' 3 3/8oz makes along with the serial numbers makes me think Orvis with a replacement tip, but I cant tell w/o pictures. Take some pictures of the rod...entire rod, reel seat & grip, ferrules, bag, tube, and any markings and post them up on the classic fly rod forum http://clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com/ The folks there will be able to identify it with more certainty. Cheers.

Floated it the last weekend of April......Two day float from Prongs to Rymers. My better fish came while dragging a 4" green pumpkin tube along the bottom. But we caught a lot of small bass and goggleeye on dark colored 3-4" grubs and we had a pretty good fluke bite on the morning of the second day. Water temp was only 55 degrees, and we had no topwater action to speak of but things could be very different now. Water temps are in the mid-60's right know so be prepared to fish top, mid-water, or the bottom. Have a great trip.

Brings back some memories..Havent fished that lake 30 years or so, since I was 10 or 12, but we always caught some great blue gill there. Crickets were our bait of choice FWIW. Sounds like you had a great time.

Should be a good distance for an overnighter or a lazy 2 night on the river tip. I'm not aware of any outfitters that service that area so you might have to run your own shuttle, but you might try Gasconade Hills. I havent floated the O. Fork in a long time, but fishing should be decent since its trophy smallmouth water and I'm sure you could catch some greenies and cats if you targeted them. Not a lot of big gravel bars to camp on, and its not well served by canoe outfitters. Check the channels before you run them, and be prepared to drag your boat over or around some log jams. Cheers.

Its small water up there..Last time I floated Mill to Wenkel, we had to drag the canoe around fair number of log jams and over some shallow shoals between pools..I'd probaby lauch from Reiker or Mayers instead. Cheers.

Campbell Bridge to Blue Spring Creek is one of the most scenic on the Meramac..Its about an hour from St. Louis and well served by outfitters. Its a flat water float but there is a lot of deep water and the current is strong and its a bit murky. Kinda like the Eleven Point...easy to float, but it can be high consequence water if something goes wrong. Not the place I'd want to take my 2 year old out for a float. I'm surprised that someone let them put on with that many kids in canoe. Tragedys like this make me very sad and a bit angry.

http://www.kplr11.com/news/sns-ap-mo--mera...0,1555962.story 5 kids and one adult in a canoe, what were they thinking?

http://www.missouricanoe.org/river-maps/no...ork-bryant.html or if you want some detail http://wdr.water.usgs.gov/adrgmap/index.html

There are restrictions on the Current, Eleven Point, Jack's Fork, and Buffalo in Arkansas, but you can run legally elsewhere. Good luck with your new boat.

It was an interesting read..A true Ozark experience that included some of the best, and the worst our area of the country has to offer. Trout park silliness, Wild Trout, Party floaters, a couple nights camping in peace and quiet on a gravel bar someplace. I'd say that he got the gist of it..The Ozark fisherman's version of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Glad you got some well deserved press. Cheers.

I'm interested..where can we get more info?

In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

The National parks have some pretty tough gun policies...No target shooting, unloaded unless you are actively hunting in those National Parks where hunting is allowed. I've done a bit of back country hiking in bear country, and I can see a need to loosen the restrictions a bit. A home defense shotgun and some 00 buck shot just might come in handy out there... Just because folks can carry, doesnt mean that many people will carry, plus I'm sure that the Feds will impose some severe penalties on anyone who uses a weapon improperly. Cheers.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv/?site...065,63160,00060 Looks like its a bit high for wade fishing and dry fly fishing right know..Might be able to wade a bit below the park at this level, but I'd wait till it dropped down to 500cfs or so before making a trip to Cardiac or Suicide..Its at a good level for float fishing with cranks and streamers though. 250cfs is about perfect for wade fishing. As for hatches...The Meramec has a some, but its not like the Current...The Meramec's channel shifts alot and its got a fine gravel bottom..Accordingly most of the insects are small..midges, scud, aquatic worms...Sometimes you get a decent mayfly hatch..Early in the year...Hendricksons come off sporadically. This time of year...I'd look for sulphurs at dusk..fish a size 16 pheasant tail before the hatch, then switch to a comparadun, or rusty spinner during the hatch. Later in the year...August/September time frame you may run into a White Fly Hatch..big white mayflies, usually around a size 12 at dusk. Seems there are always a few fish midging around dusk in the Summertime. If nothing is going on, I usually do pretty well with a streamer/nymph combo fished deep under a bobber. Cheers.

You cant launch a boat in the park, but private boats can and do launch at Tan Vat occasionally. The canoe rentals put folks in at Baptist, and Cedargrove, but not at Parker, Parker is the usual takeout for private boaters running their own shuttle because its such a short drive back to Baptist and its also popular with the horse people and local partiers. Park down to about a mile below Baptist is usually pretty crowded with wade fisherman on the weekends...Fish it Sunday PM through Thursday if you dont like a crowd. Cheers.

Havent fished Unger in awhile, caught a lot of crappie and some LMB in there before, same with Simpson but I usually take a canoe out to Simpson. Both flood at times so you can catch anything that swims in them. Fabick holds some small bass and sunfish for the most part..I usually just walk the banks and fish anything that looks like structure or fish off the dam with a fly rod. The catch & release lakes at Busch usually have more fish in them. Cheers.