Gavin

I'd have to agree with that...before they started stocking again...a 4-5 fish day was pretty good in the blue ribbon area. After stocking a 10-20 fish day would be slow. When they started stocking it again, I emailed the biologist as for the reasons why. He said fish counts were incredibly low for the size of the river around 130-150 fish per mile, and they hadnt turned many young of the year rainbows when they sampled. His theory was that many of the fish were stockers that moved up from the White Ribbon Area. Will be interesting to hear what turns up this year. Cheers.

Its a religious thing....folks who observe a kosher diet dont consume fish w/o scales.

I'd go with a 4pc for ease of transport...Cast a bunch of them and buy the one you like best. Cheers.

Chief, I'd take a pass on that pelican unless it was free..I've paddled one before, and there is a world of difference between there boats and a quality canoes from mfgs like Old Town or a Wenonah. If I was in the market for canoe right know, I'd go with something along these guidelines. Tandem Length- 16 or 17' Solo Length 14-15' Not much rocker No Keel Materials- 1st Choice-Royalex for light weight and durability 2nd Choice-Old town crosslink. slightly more durable than Royalex, but a lot heavier. Cheers.

The lead ban has been coming for awhile..NPS has had that mandate in Yellowstone for years, so it is no surprise that NPS extended their mandate to other National Parks. They arent going to repeal their mandate, so its up to us to figure out a way to comply with it. There are plenty of brass worm weights on the market, but finding suitable replacement for bass jigs, spinners, and micro jig heads will be a problem for awhile. Maybe its an opportunaty for someone. The only Missouri and Arkansas waters affected by the NPS ban will be the the Current, Jack's Fork, and Buffalo rivers within the National Park boundaries. Other local waters outside of the Park boundaries are not affected by the NPS ban, but other agencies can regulate the use of lead on land and waters that they control. Cheers.

I'm sure that Hargrove will mail you anything you want...Just pick up the phone and call him. Cheers.

Dunno...I always seem to be able to find holdovers in the White Ribbon areas, and I've always found plenty of fish in most of the Red Ribbon stretches. I cant see a reason to change the stocking regimine based upon what some poacher of a bunch of them might do. Trout dont reproduce in significant enough numbers to sustain the fishing pressure they recieve in Missouri, so I'd rather crack down on the poachers, and allow folks to fish for stocked fish in catchable sizes. Cheers.

Its usually OK with a 1'-1.5' rise, but anything more than that can make it tough to find a place to cross, especially below Ashley Creek. Its usually fishable with a 2-3' rise but crossing the crick w/o a boat isnt a good idea. The Current goes up quickly, and comes down fast..its hardly ever blown out for more than a couple hours. Good Luck.

You can get cell signal on just about any bluff top down there if you choose to hike up off the river..I rarely bother, but some fellows that I camp on the river with hike up to make phone calls, and answer emails when were out for a couple days. Have a great trip. Cheers.

I've gone out with MDC before when they electro fished for trout....Its probably the best way to gather population and growth data for a river fishery. Electro fishing does hose up the fishing for a couple hours, but you would be surprised at how fast those fish recovered...I know nothing about the status of the Walleye program, but hopefully the data they are gathering is providing some benefits to the fishery. Cheers.

I've had a couple request for some red tin...and I'll mail em out later this week...Here's were you can the stuff in the future. Olaf is a nice guy to deal with. Cheers. http://www.silkflylines.com/index.php?accessories

Kinda hard to fit a decent sized cooler in a tube or toon....no thanks...I'd rather ride high and dry and travel quickly in a canoe, kayak, or jon boat. Cheers.

I've tried em but I dont see any advantage with em...think I still have two of them laying around if anyone wants em. Dano...if you want some red tin mucillin...I've got an entire box of it in my basement. PM me with your addy and I'll drop some in the mail for you. Cheers.

Rent a canoe...

Nothing up in the St. Louis area yet...to dry till yesterday, still a bit too cold...probably another week or two. Cheers

Nice....sounds like a heck of a trip!

Mark if your familiar with the 11pt, The Upper Current wont present any problems for you..More gravel to camp on, great scenery, less water, more floaters, no jet boats above Round Spring in the Summer. Plenty of outfitters to choose from...Akers Ferry canoe will run you up to Cedar...Jadwin will do it too and they also service the Baptist to Cedar Stretch. Price them cuz shuttles arent cheap down there. Some others...Current River canoe operates out of Pulltite CG, Carr's is down at Round Spring. Silver Arrow on Hwy 19 works that area too. Aker's to Pulltite, and Pulltite to Round Spring are nice floats, great scenery and some caves to explore, but the fishing is usually slow till you get down near Round Spring. Cheers.

Its an easy float...its a bit wider and slower than the upper stretch...and not much water till you get down to Welch but there are some deep holes that rule out wading, maybe some minor stretches of small standing waves and a couple logs and rocks to avoid. Plenty of small gravel bars to camp on, but if you have a bunch I'd camp around Medlock or on the big bar near just across and upstream from Welch Landing. Firewood can be scarce on the big bars..but thats about it. Cheers.

Cedar to Akers is a nice stretch of water...but you will want a canoe..Aker's Ferry Canoe rental is right there at the takeout if you need a boat. Its one of my favorite spring time floats, especially when the dogwoods are in bloom... but the fishing can be hit or miss..it just depends on when they stock it. I've usuallly had better fishing on the second half of the float...Medlock down to Akers or Welch to Akers. Cheers.

Went to Red Lobster instead, LOL...Taney can stand a lot of harvest pressure and still produce some records...I have no issue with folks keeping fish down there..I'd wack a brace of sub 12" fish w/o a care, and I'd probably wack a 20ish rainbow if I had plans for a trout for dinner and a shortage of dinks. Cheers.

Bosco Bait..best guess is ground up pellets and bacon grease...its was a dry mix so he could rip it off the hook, rebait, and repeat, till he had a wad of fish assembled and feeding, then he'd drift one through with w/o ripping the bait off the hook. Not sporting, but thats what the old fellow liked to do. The baits that Bman mentioned work really well. Cheers.

Think there is a phone number on the sign but I dont have it...You can always stay at Eagles Park if you dont want to stay in the Montauk CG. Cheers.

Sucker snagging (grabbing) is legal on the Current...Think the season runs Sept 15-January 31, and March 15th-May 15th...so the fellow snagging suckers was within his priveledge. The slack water in the Tan Vat hole is a popular location for it...They stand on the high bank there a lot...Same with the high bank in the guage hole just up from Baptist and a few of the other high bank spots that overlook slow water.... Not a lot of trout in those slack water areas, so they hit redhorse and hog mollies mostly. Cheers.

Definitely, doable at low water but it will be a long day....Its much easier to float, or hike in, camp, and fish for a couple days...The horse trails up from Parker make for fast travel...till you get within 3/4 of a mile of Ashley creek..Youll have to do a bit of brush busting in that section till you pick up the fisherman's trail that heads down from Baptist. Cheers.

Nice...gotta love those pointer 78's.