Gavin

I'd like to see it left as it is..no fishing or kayaking...Its a jewel of the Ozarks and I'd hate to see it developed in any way...Some things are just better left as is. Cheers.

Glad the new hatchery is up and running..I couldnt care less about the herons because there doesnt appear to be a shortage of trout in Missouri's trout water. I haven't been down to the dam at Taney in a long time..Do you still have to kick the trout out of the way to make room to wade fish, or has the giant squid thinned em out to more manageable numbers?

The LP is known for flash flooding...but it doesnt seem to affect the trout water all that much...The guage is on the bridge in Newburg about 5 miles below the blue ribbon trout water, and there is a magor tributary that doubles the flow about a mile above that bridge Corn Creek or Coon Creek if I remember correctly..I usually wont wade fish it if flowing at over 300-400cfs at Newburg...wont float it if its below 175 or 200 at Newburg. Should be fishable again by tomorrow. The Meramec isnt a good bet right know...I'd wait till it gets down to 450cfs at Steelville before I'd hike down Cardiac or Suicide Hill to wade fish, though I'd float it of fish below Maramec Spring at a slightly higher water level. The Meramec comes down slower than most of our trout waters. Current, NFoW, and 11pt seem to be in good shape..The other blue ribbon creeks near Rolla should be OK as well. Cheers.

I like to canoe and fish the Current, 11pt, NFoW, and Meramec for trout in the winter, and I like to canoe and fish for smallmouth in the summer time. I'm not a fan of trout parks or tailwater fishing. Cheers.

My intial estimate was way to low...Now that I've had a chance to think about it...My last trip I made to AK cost me around $4,000 including airfair and the bill to ship our fish home. Airfare-$1000 My share of the cabin on the Kenai-$500 2 fly outs across Cook Inlet from Soldatna $8-900 Halibut Charter $250 My share of the SUV rental $250 Groceries & booze $200 Fish Bill (around 80lbs of salmon & Halibut) $250 2 Nights on the town in Anchorage $200 Lodging in Anchorage $100 Gas approx $150 Fishing Tackle Purchases while in AK $150 Back out the expenses from Anchorag and the airfare, and I come up with around $2700 of fishing related costs. Considering that we cooked our own or ate out most of the time and spent a ton of of time driving around the Kenai instead of fishing......$3500-4,000 a pop, plus airfare seams pretty reasonable...More relaxation and fishing, less work. Cheers.

Bill, when my wife and I go out West, it usually runs around $200 a day for lodging, food, etc. Guide fees usually run $450, plus tip on the days that we have a guide. So lets do the math...5 daysof guided fishing for two x $650, plus $200 for the extra night=$3,450 for two people, plus tip. and airfare. Sounds like a great tip..but I've been to AK several times, and I'd be reluctant to book a trip that only features one river. Are fly outs for fishing and bear viewing availble at extra cost? Are wilderness raft trips available at a lower cost? Gavin

The Urban Trout Lakes around St. Louis are very popular until the the lakes freeze over. People have fun, and its a good way for MDC to show the flag in the urban areas where most of their 1/4 cent sales tax revenue comes from. I think its a fun program..no complaints here.

Bob Nunley in Mountain Home or Tom Hargrove in St. Louis.

Heres a link to a Fly fishing club in Tulsa...Looks like they are having a fly tying meeting on January 8th... http://tulsaflyfishers.org/calendar.html Might be worth your while. Cheers.

I think its more of a matter of regulatory hurdles, and a bit of a habitat issue. Most of our trout streams flow though some federal land, and the feds currently have a ban on the introduction of non-native species. Doesnt matter if they are gamefish or not. Thats the reason MDC can't stock brown trout on the 11pt, and the reason that they cant stock trout on the Current between Akers and Pulltite. The habitat is there, but the feds say no... Brook Trout...I dont think that our trout waters are cold enough for them. Arkansas Tailwaters are a bit cooler than most of our spring fed trout waters, and even there the brookies stay in the coldest water near the dams. FWIW, I think that some of the Hatchery Rainbows have a bit of Cutthroat in them...Its not uncommon to catch one with an orange slash on the gill plate..They are mostly bow, with a hint of cutt in them...not cutt-bows. Cheers.

Best bet is to pick up some materials for the flies you want to tie.. Some really easy patterns to start with Zebra Midges Trout Crack Soft Hackles Wolly Buggers Marabou Streamers After you master those move on to more difficult stuff... Dont know where you are located, but if your in St. Louis, Chris at Hargrove's offers an evening fly tying class..Ozark Fly Fishers teaches some as well..Check the out the class schedule at www.ozarkflyfishers.org for the intro to fly tying and intermediate fly tying course. Both run for four weeks and they usually kick off in January or February. Other Fly Fishing clubs around the state offer classes as well. Cheers.

Beads do work...I started using them in AK a couple years ago, and I've been using them here...Its pretty rare when you dont hook one in the mouth if you rig them correctly... If your foul hooking with a bead, the distance between the bead and the hook is too long. An inch is about you need, but you wont catch anything if your bead gets pushed up against the hook. They work a lot better than yarn eggs thats for sure. Pegging works OK, but a guide in AK showed us how to rig them so they stay put. Peg them, and put a snell knot on the tippet below the bead. It cant slide down that way. Another tip...bright beads dont work as well as painted beads...Most of the beads they fish in AK are orange, pink, caramel or red (smooth or faceted) and most of the time they give them a sloppy coat of flesh tone or white fingernail polish so it looks more like a natural egg in the water. Sometimes the bright bead works best, but most of the time its the painted bead. They use big beads over King Salmon beds, and the smallest trout beads over sockeye reds. The small beads 3-4mm seem to work best here. I make my own out of plastic craft store beads and a big of white or flesh tone nail polish. I add a bit of thread to the hook to make it legal in MO. Cheers.

You cant believe everything your read in MO Game and Fish. Its more infotainment than information....Not much real content there, and they tend to fill their pages by Hot Spotting every river/hunting local in the state on rotating basis. I also wouldnt rely on spotts alone if you want fresh fish for dinner. Most of the spots I catch are dinks in the 8-10" range, so it usually takes a bunch for a fish fry. Might want to keep some goggleeye, bluegill, and maybe some largemouth too. FWIW, I wouldnt eat the longears out of Big River...A MDC biologist told me that the the spotts in Big River were OK to eat, but the longear sunfish had a ton of lead in them. Cheers.

The 11pt and Current are my favorites for an overnight of multi-day trout floats, followed by the Meramec for an overnight trip. The Current is on National Park Land and the 11pt is on Forest Service Land so you can camp anywhere you want to...Good Camping on the Meramec in Woodson Conservation Area and that is were the best trout water is..Its private land below Woodson and there arent that many good spots to camp between there and Scott's Ford. A trip to the NFoW usually involves a cabin trip to River of Life, or tent camping at Sunburst Ranch. Both can provide a boat and a shuttle for you. Look up Brian's place (Eleven Point Canoe) for the 11pt, Jadwin or Akers Ferry Canoe Rental for the Current, and Adventure Outdoors for floats on the Meramec. There are 5 of 6 outfitters to choose from on the Niangua depending on where you want to float. Cheers.

It really depend on what you want to do..the Current, 11pt, Meramec, NFoW. and Niangua, are all worth fishing...IMO, the Current has the best scenery, followed by the 11pt, Meramec, NFoW (to many cabins on the river). and Niangua (trash, & cattle). Best fishing is a toss up between the 11pt (best free flowing rainbow fishery)and Current (best free flowing brown trout fishery). The Meramec and Niangua offer mixed bags of browns, rainbows, bass, and panfish. NFoW offers wild rainbow trout, brown trout, and anything that swims in lake Norfork is a possibility. Pick up a copy of the Missouri Floaters Guide, and check out the trout maps on the MDC website. Our blue ribbon streams are great, but some of the red and white ribbon areas are great too. The Niangua, Current Below Cedar Grove, NFoW, and Meramec get the most float traffic on summer weekends. Not so many weekend floaters on the 11pt, but jet boats can be a nuisance. Cheers.

Nice to meet you guys too. Didnt have a chance to say howdy to you Brian, but it looked like you had plenty of folks to talk to. Must have been 120 people there... Yea, my office has a great location....Truth be known, we were just looking to get out of Clayton..Something nearby with some street visiablity, parking, and a friendly business climate. Brentwood has been great. Proximity to the local fly fishing establishments wasnt even a consideration.

You dont have to give us your adress but how bought a hint?....St. Louis, St. Charles, KC, Springfield, someplace in between?

It looks like the spool rotates on those rollers inside of a circular cage....not sure how the drag would be applied, palming I suppse..Nice concept but I'd be interested to see how it performs with a little grit or ice in it.

I'll be there..We havent had a NFoW program in a long time. FWIW, the club will be having a fly swap at the meeting on the 11th..to participate, bring a box of a dozen flies giftwrapped, and youll get a ticket to pick a box from another participant after Brians program.

I think it applies to when you are ON the water and actively fishing in areas with length limits. If your in an area with lengh limits, you need to leave the water to process your fish...go to a cleaning station, go back to camp, go to your hotel, or go home. Not really a big deal if you clean and eat one on the river, as long as you keep the carcass handy till your dinner is done.Probably not something that anyone would get a ticket for unless they did something else, short fish, overlimit, etc....Cheers.

Very Impressive....looks like you visited almost every trout stream in the State..Did it count if you didnt catch a fish?

Some of the flies folks use for the hex hatch up in Michigan are that big..My friend Carl ties one called Mothra...you can see one here..big one in the center. A stout 6 or a 7wt and a short 20lb leader does the trick. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/g...smichflies1.jpg

I wont go anywhere w/o some mohair leaches, wooly buggers, elk hair caddis, hares ear nyphs, prince nymphs, pheasant tail nymphs, zebra midges, black rubber leg stones, eggs, and some worms. Add some location and time specific flies to that list and you should catch fish almost anywhere.

USMC 1986-1992

You can only use artificial baits w/o scent...An unscented worm should be OK..Heres a link to the regs. http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/548.pdf