Gavin

Lake Erie has a phenominal smallmouth fishery...but its only produced one over 9lbs.. http://www.bassmaster.com/bassmaster-top-25-smallmouth-bass

If you want to pay by the pound...go to Westover or Rockbridge.

Might as well buy one Eric. Fishing is a blood sport...and it would be ashame if you accidentally killed a legal fish while C&R fishing without the legal right to fulfill your ethical responsibility to take it home and eat it. You kill it...you grill it.

Spin setups-6' ML Bass Pro Bionic Blades, one with an Abu Soron STX20, and the other with a 2000 series Plueger President. Baitcasters-5', fast action, rated for 1/8-5/8oz lures. Custom build on a cut down Batson Spinning Rod Blank. Shimano Curado 200e7 4'9" pool cue...for tossing buzzers, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits. Custom build on a $10 blank of unknown origin from Tom Hargrove's bargain bin, Daiwa Reel 6'6 MH, and a Flipping stick for bass boat fishing Fly Rod- 9' 7wt Winston BIIX, Galvan OB Reel, SA XXD Weight Forward Floating Line, extra spool with a sink tip line.

Brown trout are special.So are stocker rainbows, but in different ways. It just depends on what you value them for. Given the choice between stocker bows and big brown trout...I'll go for the big brown trout first. If forced to fish for stockers. I'll sharpen the fillet knife, buy some peanut oil, and some Ande's. You would be surprized at the numbers of big browns that come out of the park. Didnt bother to count them all, but there were 50+ over 3lbs on the Montauk Lunker Board last year..some up to 7lbs..No issues with that because a brown usually has to grow to 18-19" to reach the 3lb mark. If they are taking 50+ over 18-19" out in the park. The numbers of 15-17.5" browns has to be a heck of allot higher. You might think that park anglers are a bunch of amatuers, but there are quite a few that are very good anglers. Dont underestimate them.

Those sheep are mighty tasty....Mrs. Amy cooks a great leg o lamb.

The stop fishing after you string your limit rule applies in the trout parks, but not the waters below.

I've considered one a couple of times, but I've never pulled the trigger. The problem is that most of the rods are overkill for the size of the fish around hear...I do use several of the casts though..The double spey, single spey, switch cast, and snake roll are worth learning.

Very Nice...and I like the photo...There is a huge difference between a 16" and the big girl. How long was the big girl?

Mary Decker is no big deal..go right.

Awesome!...cant wait to see your pics.

The fishing is good in that area. The the fishing usually doesnt slow down until you get past big Hurricane.

Cane to Little Hurricane would make a good day one float...I havent been down recently...but it was the biggest gravel bar on the Greer to Turner stretch last fall...Here's a pic of the spot.

Wow! Congrats to the angler!

Absurd is the right word. Match the reg below the park...and establish a 1 brown trout statewide limit. They only stock 40-50,000 of them a year...8,0000 to the Current, 6,500 to the NFoW, 5,000 or so to the Meramec and Niangua, 10,000 or so to Taney....some other places.

Brute...I think your wrong...There is plenty of food and habitat on the Current...Sculpins, Stonerollers, & Minnows all over the place. Trout guts too...Its not a wild fishery and the limiting factors seem to be a lack of natural reproduction and angler harvest. Dunno, if you fished there years ago...Fishing has improved twice in my memory...Mid 1990's when they banned bait...Mid 2000's when the went from 3>15" to one over 18"...took a couple years to grow em from 14.5 to 18" plus...but there are more 18" plus fish on that river today, than there ever were years ago. I dont know how much it will improve on the Current if they only allow the park anglers one fish. The Current doesnt have as much room for improvement in comparisson to some of our other brown trout fisheries. I think that the Niangua, Meramec, and NFoW below Patrick would take off.

FF, browns are rarely stocked in the parks..They stock the river below and most stay there, but some move up to spawn or to seek cooler water during a long hot spell. I have no issues with someone killing a brown trout for the table or the wall, but dont make a glutton out of yourself. Brown trout are a scarce commodity in Missouri. The state raises & stocks millions of rainbow trout, but brown trout production is somewhere around 50,000 fish a year. The 4>15" park limit...just doesnt cut it.

Might be farther than you want to drive, but there are some neat spots in the Mark Twain National Forest. http://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/mtnf/recreation The Ozark Scenic Riverways offers some good primitive camping options as well. http://www.nps.gov/ozar/planyourvisit/camping.htm

FF, there is a disconnect in the management strategy for brown trout below the trout parks and some are taking advantage of it. All of our best brown trout water is under special regulation...2>15" limit, or 1>18" limit. Set foot in the park...and that changes to 4 browns over 15". 15" is just a tiddler of a brown trout. Why would you let folks keep 4 tiddler browns when your trying to manage for quality brown trout fishing downstream? It doesnt make any sense. Frankly, I think it was an oversight when MDC revised the trout regulations several years ago. I think the intent was a 1 brown trout statewide limit...but they dropped the ball....

Write an article encouraging others to write letters to MDC's regulation committee and send it to anyone who will publish it in their newsletter. Local Fishing Clubs, Outdoor publications, etc. TU Clubs, FFF clubs, etc..Mid Mo TU, Ozark Fly Fishers in St. Louis, & Heart of America Flyfishers in KC would be good places to start. Maybe Outdoor Guide, and River Hills Traveler. Good Luck.

The legislature has nothing to do with it. Express your concerns to MDC's regulation committee..I've written to them asking for a one brown trout statewide limit before. Go ahead and add your comments to their trash cans...Start here. http://mdc.mo.gov/about-us/regulations/process-adopting-regulations

Hog I use a triple surgeons if I'm tying on a new leader..probably not 100% but its a 10 second no brainer tie, small, and strong enough. I use a uni to uni if I want to retie the line leader knot w/o removing the lure. Triple Surgeons http://www.doalures.com/uploads/Docs/9102_DOA_10.28__Knot_Page.pdf Uni to Uni http://www.fish4fun.com/Joining2Lines.htm

Apparent murder suicice near Blue Spring Creek & the Meramec River. Sad news indeed. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57399585/4-dead-at-mo-campsite-may-be-murder-suicide/

The 6lb Suffix is the thinnest braid out there..I like it better than power pro. It casts a country mile but it does need a leader to deal with abrasion issues. I fish it on medium light spin tackle..Works well with 1/8-3/8oz jigs & plastic, flukes, and 1/2oz jerkbaits.

Thanks for your snarky comment Xguide...If you want to go old school, I've caught fish using single strand of horse hair for tippet...silk gut tippet too....it was not practical, but just something to do. Now back to who's kung foo is the best.