Gavin

I'd agree with Hank...its canoe water above Mill Rock, and be prepared to drag and portage around some log jams..You can wade in spots, but is typical BB..short riffle section, looong deep slow hole...so you will want a boat to cover water. Cant help you with a public access between Noser and Reiker, though there are several private access points. Might have to knock on a few doors, or put in at Devil's Back and portage the dam. Cheers.

I'd recommend a motor boat if you want to fish the river, but there are a couple lakes around there..Simpson Lake in Valley Park, Unger Park Lake (behind the Soccer Park), Fabick Lakes up the hill from Fenton City Park. Cheers.

I'd look to the Big Piney, Osage Fork of the G. Nade, or the G. Nade during the week. Cheers.

Depends on your idea of primitive. Backpacker primitive or canoe camping?..Fix them with the seasoning of your choice..With trout, I usually wrap em in foil, with some lemon, dill, S&P, butter or oil and toss em on a grill or on the coals...Warmwater fish..like gills and goggs...whole over the fire in a small fish basket or fillet, bread, and fry in a dutch oven over some coals.

The Jack's is a bit different from the Current. Prongs to Rymers is the more difficult water. Its a bit narrow in places with lots of submerged rocks to look out for in addition to logs in the twisty spots. 38 miles would be a lot to cover in 3 days...I figure an hour a mile if I plan to fish, plus the Jack's gets kinda wide and slow as you get down past Rymers (lots of flat frog water to paddle through). If your thinking about a shorter float..Harvey's canoe is located at Alley Spring, and Windy's is in Eminence. Cheers.

Not strictly Southern Rock, but they mix well with it The Byrds-Sweetheart of the Rodeo LP Grateful Dead Jerry Reed Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ZZ Top

Nice write up Al...An old timer who shuttled my wife and I up to Slabtown several years ago was a big fan of the Lucky 13 with a skirt. Wonder if it was the same guy? Forgot his name, but he retired from the Army at Ft. Wood, and he work's out of Rich's.

Good for you! How do they intend to compensate you? Make sure you get a % of the gross, and the payment schedule in writing...montly, quarterly, payments, etc. Also figure out what happens if either of you want to terminate the relationship. Cheers.

Summer weekends turn the EP into jet boat city below Greer..Especially if the Ozark County Sheriff's are out running around...Think they ran past us about two dozen times on a two night float from Greer to Whitten over memorial day a couple years ago. Probably another dozen or so boats out as well. I'd pick another river if your contemplating a weekend float for smallies...Big Piney between Mason and Ross, and the Upper G. Nade south of I-44 both offer good smallie fishing and they dont see much jet boat traffic. Cheers.

They arent bad out to 30-40' or so, if you have no wind to deal with...A good friend uses a Sage 000 one alot on the little jump across wild trout creeks, and Norm Crisp uses an Orvis 1 weight for small dry flies (trico's, BWO, small caddis) on the Current alot. Not a general purpose rod by any means, but a fun toy for short range dry fly applications, small nymphs, and buggers. Cheers.

Think they have 5 or 6 tournament weekends a year at Montauk and I'm not a fan of them. The parks are obnoxious enough without the added silliness that the trout tourneys add. I cant see why the state devotes so many fishing days, fish, and other resources to these tournaments. Cheers.

Too bad...sounds like they ran you through the wringer. Used to be a red headed Park Ranger on the Current that was really full of himself. He gave a couple friends of mine tickets for floating the river when the river was supposedly closed a couple years ago. Guess he'd been watching for us for days cuz we went at Baptist on Wednesday and came out at Parker on Sunday...Still remember the look on his face when 16 more canoes rolled around the bend were he'd told Robbie and me to pull our boats off the river so he could have some fun with us. He ended up writing a few tickets and he gave us all a lecture instead of raking us over the coals really hard. We complained, and the tickets were dismissed. I guess we werent the only ones complaing cuz that guy isnt there anymore. Write a complaint...they just might listen. Cheers.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv/?site...065,63160,00060 Check the Montauk guage...its a new one, located near the end of the state park...I dont watch it much, but its probably your best bet for fishing above Baptist..Ashley Creek comes in about a mile below Baptist and it can add alot of flow when it rains, virtually no flow at low water..Big Creek enters just below Cedargrove not much flow at low water, lots after a rain... then Welch Spring adds a bunch of water about a mile above Akers.... Figure a fast rise of over 2' will make thinks tough on the upper end and it looks like a big spike of water is moving through right know. Doesnt look like its fishable today, but all isnt lost......the Current often comes up and down faster than most rivers.......Just depends on how big the spike is...The upper end will probably be fishable by tomorrow afternoon or Sunday depending on how much more rain they get. Cheers.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=00065,00060 here's a link to the guage at Akers...1.0 is dead low and its usually in good shape up to 3' or so but it all depends on your comfort level. Cheers. Nice hybrid BTW

Would love to meet you fellows down there some time but I probabably wont make it down there again till September.

Do you want a Yugo or a Cadillac? I've played with a couple headwaters rods and I think that you will get a much better rod from a U.S. Builder. There are several cane builders in N. Arkansas, Bob Nunley, Tony Spezio, David Bolin...give em a ring and cast a couple or check out the Southern Rod Makers gathering in Mountain Home in the fall. Think Bob Nunley has a class were he will teach you to build your own a couple times a year. Cheers.

Greer Spring to Turner is classified as blue ribbon trout water.No bait or soft plastic lures are allowed...Flies, marabou jigs, inline spinners, hardbaits with trebles are OK though..Turner to Whitten, anything goes but you'll need a trout stamp to keep trout. Check the board at Greer for the trout and bass regulations. Good luck.

Yikes! Glad everyone made it out of there.

I dead drift streamer/nymph combos alot...When I float the current I usually have one fly rod rigged to drift a streamer/nymph combo, another fly rod rigged for dry fly fishing(or more active streamer presentation), and a spinning rod rigged with a minnow crankbait. Try it, you might be surprised..it doesnt matter if your nymph rig isnt dead drifting 100% of the time, because the little flaws in your drift add action to the streamer. Cheers.

I'd agree with Randall, you dont really need a sink tip or a sinking line on the Current. If the fish are active and its up...they will usually come up to chase a big streamer or a floating rapala near the surface, plus the smack of a sinking line hitting the water can turn the fish off at times. If they wont come up for those, I go with a suspending jerkbait or a streamer/nymph combo. As for diving caddis....You need to be able to distinguish an egg laying flight from an emergence...If they caddis are bouncing up and down on the water...Its and egg laying flight, not a hatch. Fish em dead drift under and indy, or behind an indicator dry fly, or fish them like a wet fly. Cheers.

Caddis activity can be frustrating at times...Fish rising everywhere and few takers on a dry fly.....Sunk adults like LaFontaine's diving caddis work can work well at those times...a pupa in the film can work really well too...favorites are the LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa, and the Matthew's Iris Caddis behind a more bouyant fly like an EHC or Fluttering Caddis.....Skittering or imparting a slight twitch to your fly can work really well to..If you want to skitter...hard to beat a Crackleback or Hackle spider worked over a tailout full of risers......if you want to dead drift with an occasional small twitch in the flat pools...my favorite is Leonard Wright's Fluttering Caddis..dead drift it, then barely move it when it gets near your target fish. Otherwise...I wouldnt go to the Current without a box full of brown and olive mohair leaches, sculpins, buggers, and zonkers...Brown trout love to eat attack sculpins and minnows. If the fish arent in the mood to chase, try drifting a good sized mohair, zonker, or wooly bugger under an indi with a small nymph dropper behind the streamer. Big bushy dry flies and terrestrial imitations can work at any time down there...great for a change up when you cant figure out the hatch...Cheers.

Cleaning did nothing for the two Sahara's, and my wife's Spirex that I pitched a couple years ago. Get em wet, and next thing you know they started to bind up. Thats just not acceptable...not even in a $10 reel. Not sure if they have fixed the issue or not, but I wont be buying another Shimano spinning reel anytime soon.

The US Forest Service, and National Park service require outfitters to apply for a permit to guide on their lands. After a permit is granted, the outfitter needs to share a percentage of their gross revenue and file an annual report with the agency that granted the permit. It appears that this guy didnt have a permit to guide hog hunts in the National Forest and he got caught doing it. Cheers.

Illinois is probably your best bet, Sparkleminnow knows where.... Or head to Truman or down to S. Missouri..Saw a couple guys filleting a nice mess of hybrids down at Patrick Bridge a couple weeks ago. Said they caught em at night down below the confluence of the North Fork of the White and Bryant Creek. Cheers.

Its a common problem with Shimano spinning reels. I chucked mine and replaced them with a couple Diawa Excellers and some U.S. Reel Supercasters. Diawa's are OK but the bail springs are weak. Not a big deal if your in the habit of flipping the bail manually. The Supercasters have performed flawlessly. Cheers.