Gavin

I'd agree with Hank...If you are in Lebanon...I'd fish Bennett plenty of stocked trout to keep you entertained for an hour or so.....Niangua R. isnt a bad smallmouth stream either. Bass fishing is better above the spring confluence..Theres a road that leads out of the park by the spring it will take you to the bass water follow it where it leads you. Not sure if I'd want to canoe anywhere next weekend w/o a chainsaw on board. Cheers.

Huz001, thanks again for the pictures and info..There isnt much available on the Current River style jons. You still have the plans? They should be preserved if you have them. Doc, that pic is my friend Jeff McGowan's Ausable boat on the Holy Waters of the of the Ausable in Grayling, MI (Main stem at Stephan Bridge, just above Gates Lodge). Fellow in the orange hat is my friend Tim...Jeff's boat was built by Bob Smock Jr. in Grayling MI...24' long 32" bottom, 11" sides, 42" beam. Its designed to be poled, and floated down river, with a big chain dragging out the back. Its beautiful river, especially the South Branch through the Mason Tract. The north, south, and main stem offer great hatches, wild brook and brown trout but the catch rate and sizes arent as good as some of our Blue ribbon waters.

Nice pictures thanks for sharing them..Who made the boats and where were they from? They dont look like a Dabblemont or Charlie Barnes type of boat. Kind of like an Ausable boat with sware ends...

Looks like it will be fishable this weekend though... http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=00065,00060

What do you like? Making meat sauce from scratch takes a couple hours...but you can come really close in minutes with some souped up Ragu..Big jug of Ragu Traditional, fresh garlic to taste, cooked ground beef (optional), Ital Seasoning from Sam's, a dash of cayenne, a bit of salt if you wish.. Works for almost everything red except linguine with clam sauce and pasta marina. Lasagna: Soup up some Ragu Boil enough noodles for 4 layers. 20-24, depends on your pan.. Sauce bottom of a rectangular baking dish Lay noodles out lenghtwise and overlapping Cover with meat sauce Top with cottage cheese, provel cheese, and parmesian cheeses ( I usually add some thin sliced Roma Tomatoes, thin slices of Fresh Mozzarella, and basil when I make it at home) Lay out another layer of noodles going the other directions Repeat till done Cook in a 400 degree oven till done, let cool overnight, and cut into serving size pieces. Cream Sauce Topping (optional) Stuff they use for Lasagna, Manicotti, and Cannelloni Quart of 1/2 1/2 1t White Pepper 1/2 stick of butter Flour Melt butter over heat and add flour to make a light rough. Bring the half/half to a hard boil Add chunks of rough and stir till sauce gets thick and creamy Remember it will get thicker as it cools, and turns to a jellow like substance in the fridge To serve: Make Cream Sauce and it cool a bit.. Coat bottom of a dish with red sauce sauce Add portions of Lasagna Top with more meat sauce Cream Sauce and Provel Cheese (or just more meat sauce and some cheese) Bake in oven its its hot. Most of their cream sauce pastas are pretty easy to do at home...Basically half/half, butter, seasonings, veggies..add noodles to heat and and some parmesian cheese to thicken it up after it gets to a hard boil. It will boil up at that stage. Cheers.

I know Jim..nice guy..one hell of a caster.

Nope, never been to Tony's in Alton, will check it out next time were across the river. Ever try the calves liver and onions at Lorenzo's? Think its my favorite dish there. Stellina just opened up about two years ago. Both Trattoria and Stellina were within walking distance of our old house, but we preferred Stellina. Pasta's are hand made in house, and you never know what you are going to get because there are only 3-4 things to choose from and they change daily, lunch sanwiches very good. Wish they had a better wine selection, but the food has always been great. Re-discovered Frank Pappa's a couple weeks ago. Had a wild game & morel mushroom pasta with two quail on top of it. Yummy.

Used to be a kitchen mananger at P. House in the mid 80's...Some of there items are pre-made at their factory on the Hill, mostly stuffed pastas like canneloni, manicotti, ravioli, etc. Pizza shells are purchased. Bread came from Fazio's on the hill, Meat from Kuna, Pasta by R&F... but almost everything else was prepped in house before the wait staff showed up. Hundreds of pounds of noodles, huge pots of red sauce, stocks, soups. Thats just the way the restaurant biz works..Get there at 7-8am to prep cook, open the doors at 11am, lunch rush, prep for dinner, dinner rush, clean up and go home around 11pm. P. House is pretty decent fare for the price but nothing spectacular. If you have any favorites I can share a recipe or two. BTW.If your looking for some upscale Italian places in St. Louis.....I'd recommend any of the following: Stellina Pasta on Watson, Trattoria Marsala on Watson, Lorenzo's on the Hill, LoRusso's on Watson, or Frank Pappa's on Brentwood. Gitto's and Tony's are pretty good, but there menu's are old school and prices are very high.

Sorry to hear that things that rough down there.

Folks put jets in above the bridge at Scott's Ford on fairly regular basis even when the water is fairly low (250-300 cfs at Steelville or so). Mostly folks going deer hunting or gigging in the fall. I'd be hesitant to get on the water at its current level though..Its had a good flush, and it hasnt come down enough for folks to log the channels yet. Cheers.

St. Louis Area (St. Louis, St. Charles, St. Peters, and Jefferson County)..two hours from the Ozarks but its the biggest economy in the State. Bentonville, Arkansas, home of Wal-Mart...lots of economic opportunaty there. Springfield, MO- Lots of industry and a University. Rolla, MO-Close to the Army's Ft. Leonard Wood and the University of Missouri has a big campus there Columbia, MO- Northern edge of the Ozarks, but a nice town.. Main Campus of the University of MO and a fair amount of industry. There are some nice small towns in the Ozarks, but its hard to find employment. Good luck with your search, and a big Thank You for your service to our country.

Caught some crappie there many many years ago..Havent been back.

300cfs at Newburg is my limit.....floatable with a bit of draggin from Vida down at 150cfs.

The moral of the story? Fish over a fish in a bathtub long enough and you will catch it. Its gotta eat sometime.

Missouri park fish have some cutthroat genetics in them, and that orange slash is very common....Wouldnt be surprised if other hatchey strains have a mix of cutt to since bows and cutts interbreed very easilly. Cheers.

Its a fickle lake...plus the smell from sewer treatment plant next door can be bad at times. Holds some bass and crappie and whatever else swims in the Meramec, worth an afternoon if you dont have the time to go someplace else, but thats about it. Cheers.

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/documents/fish/sport/trout/maramec.pdf Good map on how to get there here...the sign for the road is often missing but its not to hard to find..turn by the 90 degree turn about 3 miles from Rosati or drive through St. James. Cardiac is a 3/4 mile walk from the access to the river..Suicide is about 200ft to the river..best trail down is usually across the wire and 50 yards or so down the private road, not hard to spot. Not as trecherous as dropping of the bluff at the access but still plenty steep... To high to float or fish at this level though..I'd wait till it drops to 500cfs-600cfs at Steelville before I'd give wade fishing any consideration. 300 or less is a much better level..OK to float and fish up to around 7-800 but its a long float from 8 to Scotts.nine miles or so, and the best fishing is usually in the upper stretch.. Dont leave anything you dont mind losing in your car at Suicide or Cardiac..Break ins have been known to occur in that area. Cheers.

Might try Simpson Lake in Valley Park..Its really deep in spots, but its has a fair number of LMB panfish, and crappie.

Nice...That rainbow looks like it has an eating disorder !

Its a park regulation..rule applies to outfitters and private boats. Had some friends get a ticket for it a couple year ago.

They dont mention anything about closures for wade anglers...The park only say that its closed to floaters at those levels. I'd agree that average levels have been a lot lower in recent years. 1.1' at Akers has been the usual low water mark for the last couple years. Usually a fair amount of dragging is involved at that level, particularly between Tan Vat & Ashley Creek, and in between Cedar and Welch Spring... I normally wont go if it gets to 3.5 at Akers... especially if I'm wading. Park regulations are available online here. http://www.nps.gov/ozar/parkmgmt/index.htm

I'd agree..the Park's closure guidelines are VERY conservative and inconsistently applied. Its running near 3' at Akers right know and thats usually good floating and good fishing. Heard there are a couple strainers to watch out for, and a lot of the big gravel bars got cleaned out. Upside is that there are a lot of new holes to fish, firewood is easy pickins, and you wont have to worry about any toilet paper mess in the woods. Here's the official stream closure guidelines from the park compendium. Rivers are closed to floating during times of flooding when the water level exceeds two feet above the “average levels”, and/or other times deemed unsafe by the District Ranger. Two exceptions are at Baptist camp which closes with a one foot rise and at Cedar Grove which closes when the water runs over the bridge curb. The “average levels” and closed levels are listed below: Current River Baptist Camp Ave-1.00' Closed at 2’ (+1’ rise) Cedar Grove Ave-0.50’ Closed when it runs over bridge curb Akers Ferry Ave-2.00’ Closed at 4’ Pulltite Ave-2.20’ Closed at 4.20’ Round Spring Bridge Ave-3.24 ‘ Closed at 5.24’ Two River Ave-1.50’ Closed at 3.5’ Powder Mill Bridge Ave-2.50’ Closed at 4.5’ Van Buren Bridge Ave-3.00’ Closed at 5’

Toss a chain saw in the boat just in case.

Blazer SS or a Legend Craft....another option would be a transom extension. See the following for lots of good info. Cheers. http://www.trouttandsons.com/ http://www.jetdoctor.net/products/detail.php?productID=17

Upper Current below Montauk State Park is running 2.9 at the park and 3.7 down at Akers.....Its right at my upper level of fishability right know, but it should be down to a good fishing level by Monday. You can only use flies and artificials (no plastics) below the park, but you can do pretty well with rapalas and inlines when the water is up...Taney would be a good option but you will want a boat from Lilley's. Not sure what the conditions on the White and Norfork are but you an always find a current report here. http://flyfishingarkansasandmissouri.yuku.com/ Have a great trip!