Gavin

Could be eagles....might be herons...just have to find some birds on it to know for sure. Cheers.

Dunno... I'm not sure that the market will support a new event, or even if the market will continue to support the two events that they have in Mountain Home every year. I have no desire to go to either of the two existing events anymore. Lately I heard that the S. Council cant figure out how to make enough money to cover their annual budget at the Conclave. Guess they have finally promoted, educated, & auctioned all the fun out of it. Cheers.

I'd agree with Al...tubes and senko's are very effective plastics but its darn easy to gut hook fish with them..You really have to develop a touch for those baits, pay attention, and watch your line closely. I usually fish plastics on medium or medium light spin gear with braided line with a 6-8' leader of 8lb for better sensivity. From the boat..It often helps to have a lure you can see, so you can detect strikes visually as well as by feel. Zoom Flukes, buzzbaits, spinner baits, floating rapalas, and suspending jerkbaits are my usual choices, followed by a curly tail grub, or an 1/8 oz or 1/4 jig with a trailer. Cheers.

Thanks for the report...spent Thursday & Friday chasing smallies on the Jack's, great float, caught some fish, had a lot of fun.. Fished the NFoW on Saturday & Sunday, nothing great to report from there...probably should have been on the Current tossing cranbaits. Cheers.

I've been pleased with Smith's warranty/repair service before..Send em in and ask for a repair estimate.

9' 7wt, fast action.

Dunno why but those little black flecks seem to be pretty common on early season smallmouth...maybe its a social disease they aquire when they are stacked up together in their winter hidey holes?

Jadwin Canoe would be your best bet for a shuttle from Baptist to Cedar...Akers Ferry can put you in for a float from Cedar to Akers...Below there...Current River Canoe at Pulltite, or Carr's at Round Spring.. Give em a call and see how they want to run it. Usually costs about the same as a daily canoe rental. Another option... hook up with some other floaters, a friendly local, or some friendly fisherman, but that can be hit or miss proposition. Cheers.

There are some good spots to camp between Twin Bridges and Hammond, and on public land in the Devil's Backbone wilderness between Hammond and Rainbow spring. Lots of developement from Rainbow Spring to about a mile past the falls...There are some potential camp sites between there and the first island upstream of Blair Bridge....Lots of development from Blair on down to Dawt. Cheers.

Top 5 in MO..depends on your frame of mind and expectation level....Barbara Eden, hotty......Morgan Fairchild no go, Mary Anne not Ginger, Farrah no Jacklin Smith..Thinking I'd Rate that Erica from playboy on Baywatch a lot higher than Pamela Anderson. To be honest..trout fishing isnt worth a darn after Jun 1 or so....time to go wet a line for smallmouth.

There arent many crawfish in the blue ribbon area on the Current, though they are more abundant downstream..Main forage for the larger brown trout- sculpins, stoneroller minnows, and bleeding shiners....there will be lots of caddis fluttering about this time of year, particuarly at dusk.....bring dries, emergers, pupa, and some soft hackles in the 12-18 range. Lt. Cahills are known to emerge at dusk this time of year, but you really have to be on the right spots at the right time to hit that hatch. Bushy attractor dries can work anytime as well. Good luck. Cheers.

Hit two spots near the river in St. Louis this AM..One timber spot up the hill, one down by the river..Nothing on the hill yet, but the bottoms produced a mess of small ones. Sandy soil that gets a lot of sun, near small ash and maples, all within sight of water. Things appear to be getting started round here.

Bread in a 50/50 mix of corn meal and flour, s&p, and a hint of saffron. Saute in grape seed oil.

I'd hire a guide and let them show you the river, especially with a new fly fisher/wife in tow. Sam Potter or Norm Crisp are both good at what they do. Cheers.

You can camp at the MDC campground at Patrick, but I'd recommend Sunburst Ranch just up the road...the fees are reasonable, plus they have ice, showerhouse, boats for rent, and decent fishing on the property. Cheers.

I have one I need to register too...(1964 Evinrude 3hp Lightwin Folding Motor)....I havent bothered to do it yet, but I was told that you need to get a title by affidavit...First you need to get it inspected by MO Water Patrol officer and they will give you the affidavit to take to DMV. Start by contacting MO water patrol to locate an inspection site near you. Cheers.

Looks like a heron took a poke at that fish, IMO...but you never know. Nice catch!

Thats a tough question. How big is your party? You can camp @ Rymers, but there may be a fee involved. Check the ONSR website for camping regulations and a number to call and ask about overnight floater parking. I usually go through Windy's and have em pick me up at Rymers at a set time when I float from Prongs or Buck Hollow. I dont mind paying for extra time on the water, and I'm not sure that I'd want to leave a car there. If you do, dont leave anything in it. Cheers.

http://home.nps.gov/applications/parks/oza...ps/OZARmap1.pdf There's some decent maps on Ozark Chronicles.com...The most popular access points are Tan Vat, Baptist, and Parker Hollow off of Hwy YY just follow the gravel road heading out of the downstream end of the park. If your gonna float, call Jadwin Canoe if you want to float the blue ribbon area (Baptist to Cedar, 7 miles), or Akers Ferry Canoe if you want to float Cedar to Akers around 7 miles. For flies...bring lots of Caddis patterns, mohair leaches, nymphs, and streamers for the river. For the park..tiny tailwater type flies and light tippets work really well under a small indicator if they wont hit a mohair leach.

Spent a couple hours there about a month ago..Most of the stream improvements they installed on Bohigian CA two years ago looked like they washed out completely or filled up with sand and gravel. They were rebuilding some of them with the aid of some heavy equipment and I think there is a tree planting scheduled in the near future. There were still a few fish in the "unimproved" sections. But if I were to go back, I'd probably fish the lower end of the creek were they havent tried to improve anything. Some neat stuff in the MTF near there though....The natural bridge is worth the 15 minute walk, and the Little Piney is right there too. Cheers.

They are tough to sight cast too, thats for sure. My best fly for common carp is a cream mohair leach with bead chain or lead eyes...cast well ahead of them like 10-20' hope that you dont spook em, and that they come near your fly.....when they do, give it a little hop, like Ham suggested. I booked Dave Whitlock to do a presentation on Carp Fishing for the Ozark Fly Fishers a couple years ago. Dave recommended a book on carp fishing but its hard to find..Its called "Carp are Gamefish" by George Von Schrader, pick a copy up if you can find one.

Dessert on the river...YUM...how do you do your apple dumplings? I usually go with pineapple upside down cake cooked in a Dutch Oven. No-brainer easy and its always a hit. I've had good luck with this fellows recipes. http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadut...ven-recipes.htm Cheers.

June 2nd

Shimano spinning reels are binding pieces of junk IMO. Even the lower end reals like the Spirex and Sahara..and a good cleaning and re-lube wont fix the issue. I wont buy another.... I havent heard anything bad about their baitcasters though. I'd get it cleaned and serviced before I chucked it. Cheers.

Cant really say that I have a favorite...I've never fished Barren Fork, but I've enjoyed fishing all the others...Probably spend most of my time on the NFoW though. Bigger water, challenging fishing, and its not uncommon to catch a wild fish thats bigger than a sardine. Cheers.