Gavin

Cedargrove to Round Spring can be a good 3-4 day float. The scenery between Cedar and Akers is some of the best on the river and the trout fishing can be good if its been recently stocked. Akers to Pulltite is a nice float, good scenery, but its usually poor fishing (no stocked trout, to cold for smallmouth). The smallmouth fishing is a little better from Pulltite down to Round Spring, but the lower river is much better. You shouldnt have a hard time finding a good gravel bar to camp on, firewood can be scarce. Baptist to Cedargrove offers the best trout fishing, but be aware of the 1 trout> 18" no bait or no soft plastic regulations. Also, there is a low water bridge that at Cedargrove, you'll have to portage if you want float from Baptist to a spot below Cedar Grove.

I dont get your logic Brian..If your agree that developement has something to do with the decline in fish numbers, why do you support more of it? You selling lots down there or something?

Sorry Brian, but you got me started...I fished the NFoW for the first time in the late 1980's and it was a lot different that is know. IMO, its pretty forked up from developement. The trout population isnt even half of what it was in the early 1980's and early 90's, the biologists arent finding any hellbenders, and every year there are more cabins, fewer trees, and more algae..Its not Lake of the Ozarks, but if that aint forked up by developement, I dont know what is. Its ashame really.

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to camp on the river, float above the trout water. 14 to Kelly Ford is a pretty stretch. Its skinny water with fair fishing for smallmouth, goggle eye, and the occasional trout. The trout water between Kelly and Dawt Mill is mostly private land and its heavilly developed. Welcome to the subdivision. If you just want to catch trout, your best bet is to stay at ROLF, Sunburst, or the campground at MDC's Patrick Bridge Access and day float. I wouldnt recommend Petit's or Riverside. Kelly to Blair has been good to me in the past, but I've had more consistant fishing between Blair and James bridge in the last 3 years. Cheers.

I've only floated it once from B to Dry Knob. The water was up and the fishing was poor. Nice float, but it was too much for one day. 14 miles of frog water is a lot to get through if you put in late. I've explored it a bit up around Empire Ranch, but most of the access points were loaded with cattle. It might be a lot better down closer to the Gasconade. Cheers.

I dont think so. We have a lot of public land and stream access in Missouri, the hard part is getting to all the places you want to go. You can get away from most pay to play trout farms for less than $100 fish bill unless you are a real glutton. Deer leases are usually pretty cheap....Bought the only thing that there is a real market for is decent guaranteed available waterfowl hunting. Folks are willing to pay a lot to avoid MDC's draw system.

Women's waders are tough to find. Best bet is to let her try on a bunch of them and see what fits best. My wife tried on at least a dozen pair before she found some she liked. The ended up being $400 Patagonia's but thats what she liked. Cheers.

I havent had a problem with my Pentax Optio. Might check the mode your shooting in and stay out of the digital zoom. You get lots of blurry pictures with digital zoom. You get better pictures without focusing in so tight with digital zoom, but youll have to crop the picture later with your camera software. The next step up would be a digital SLR. The Canon Dig Rebel is a nice camera, so are the Nikon D series of cameras. Cheers.

You can camp there, theres a little metal fire ring right by the access. The downside is that its accessable by road and it gets a lot of traffic from fisherman, campers, and horse people. I've seen at least 25-30 horses and riders down there on occasion. You can camp there, but you'd be better off camping someplace else. . Cheers.

Smallmouth bass usually spawn in late April-the end of May so I'd go early April in hopes of pre-spawn fish or after the end of May to avoid most of the spawning activity. Cheers.

The prices are pretty reasonable in relation to what you pay in other states but the hunting licenses seem high in relation to what you get. I cant see paying more than $10 to hunt deer (just a little something to cover the paperwork). Cheers.

Made my first trip to the White twenty five years ago and I made my last one five years ago. The White just isnt the same river it once was and I dont enjoy the trout park atmosphere. Dont know what to blame it on, unrestricted development, bad Agricultural practices, to much fishing pressure, invasive species, to many stocker bows. It could also be natural decline over time. Table Rock, LOZ, and Bull Shoals arent what they used to be either.

Temperature Dropping.... That just means that its time to go floating!

Caddis are the most abundant insect on the Current followed by Blue Winged Olives, Trico's, Hex, and March Browns. Caddis usually run in the size 14-18 range, brown with brown, gray, yellow or olive bodies. They look like little moths fluttering around, but theres a big October Caddis which usually runs about a size 6-8. Trico's and BWO are tiny usually size 18-24 and look like little gray wispys with big wings. Hex and March Browns are big mayflies, but they usually emerge and fall around dusk. FWIW, Imitating insects works best on the little fish, bigger ones tend to prefer shiner minnows and sculpins. Cheers.

The 11pt is blown out, but the Current is in great shape. If you can make it over there today, it would be an ideal time to fish streamers and crankbaits. Cheers.

It can be done. It sounds like the reel seat is already loose so try pulling it off so you can reuse it. Chunk the cork off the blank with a set of vise grips. Youll have to remove the guides on the butt section to install the new grip. To remove them, cut the epoxy over the top of the guide foot with a razor blade, then pop the guide off, whats left of the wraps should peel off. If it sounds like more than you are willing to take on, talk to Tom at Hargrove's fly shop in St. Louis. His custom rods and repair work are top notch. His prices are reasonable too. Cheers.

My Wenonah Spirit II tandem canoe. The bend right above Mary Decker Shoal on the Eleven Point, February 2005

I use Anvil's with the long curved seratted blade, but I'd recommend that you find a pair that fits your hand well when you tie, so you dont have to pick em up and put them down all the time. Cheers.

Cottonmouths? Havent seen any down there, but I've seen some big banded water snakes...looks like good cottonmouth habitat though. Plan to float it next weekend. Will post a report and let you know if we see any !

Another way to do a hunched effect is with some smooth jaw pliers. Wrap the hook with lead, dub it etc, then take it out of the vise and mash it with pliers. The same works for making sowbugs look fatter except you use a straight shank hook and mash them horizontally after they are tied. Cheers.

You can make your own tool to create rabbit strips out of some 1/4 or 1/8 inch scrap wood and some razor blades. Attach 3-4 or six of them together, add a handle and slash away ala Freddy Krueger. Cheers.

If your looking for a pay to play place, I'd go to Rockbridge near Ava, MO, or head to Steelville and hit Westover Farm or Windrush Farms. All cater to fly fishers. Of the three Rockbridge has the most water, good accomodations, good food, nice cabins, sporting clays, trap, etc. Cheers.

FYI, Jack Dennis will be presenting at the Ozark Fly Fishers on Saturday February 10th. Meeting starts at 9am at Queeny Park and should end around 2-3pm. Admission is free to Ozark Members, but there will be a small fee applicable towards membership for non-members. Hope to see you there. Gavin

Send $....LOL...It depends on what the club's board has in mind, but there will probably be lots of ways to get involved. Our club in St. Louis does a lot of different stuff; monthly meetings with guest speakers, fly fishing, fly tying, and casting classes, club outings, newsletter, maintaining the website, conservation activities, etc. None of it is possible without the help of a lot of volunteers. Contact some of the board members, I'm sure they will put you to work. Cheers.

The composition and lighting are good, but the fish appears to be missing a few fins. Not a bad fish pic though. Cheers.