Gavin

The softhackle- too much hackle on it for my taste, fine otherwise.Egg is a bit lumpy looking..Keep practicing.

I use an Albright and some Loon UV Knotsense. Two uni's will work too. Cheers.

Fished it a few times...mostly chain pickeral with a few bass, and some really nervous sunfishl. I usually toss a canoe in at the CG and fish the edges and the potholes in the weed mats for bass and pickeral. I've had success with spinner baits, bluegill crankbaits, zoom flukes, popping bugs, and streamers. Worth a couple hours if you plan to camp there, but the river is the main attraction. Good luck.

I've been to Cedar Grove, Parker, Rymers, and Bay Creek..Cant say that I'd want to stay at any of them because of all the drive through and horse traffic... Might be fine if you have a gear guard, but I'd be very reluctant to leave my camp unattended in those areas. Best spots are located in areas that are only accessable by long walk or by boat. Cheers.

I think the back way is about 15-20 minutes faster....I take I-44 to Hwy 8 in St. James, South on Hwy 8 , right on Hwy 68 to Salem, take right on 19 south through Salem, a couple miles out of town you make a right on K (look for the Tie dye shop), follow K for 8-9miles and go right at the Y onto E (just past the store BBQ shack), go a couple hundred yards on E and make a left on YY (by the cows standing in the pasture;>)) and follow all the way to the park. Black top turns to gravel by the road to Baptist Camp Access, but follow the gravel past Tan Vat Access (across from Eagles Park CG) to the park. 63 is easy to navigate, but I find the drive boring, plus they write a lot of tickets on 63 near Edgar Springs. The local shops in St. Louis should be able to set you up with some appropriate caddis patterns. Good luck.

Never have fished Dogwood. Spring Valley closed, and a friend who owns property near there said it was sold. No word on what is going to happen there. Rockbridge is nice. Nice stream, lots of fish, nice cabins, good restaurant, sporting clays, nice bar. Good place to take your wife or girlfriend. Rooms and food are relatively expensive and its usually cheaper to catch and keep if you are fishing. Might check out Westover Farm near Steelville..think its about $50 a day for C&R Windrush Farm near Maramec Spring isnt bad either..but its closed some of the time. Good Luck.

Should see a lot of caddis mating flights at dusk if the water is clear, and weather stays warm. #16 and tan usually does the trick but I'd carry a good selection of caddis in the 12-18 range. Dries, emergers, pupa, diving caddis, softhackles.. Late May-mid April is usually one the best times of the year to stick a good brown on top. Cheers.

Should be a few brown trout down there....Powersite produced a state record brown in the late 1990's.

http://www.nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/fees...eservations.htm Looks like first come, first served

Park Regs below...not sure about Tim's hours, but good luck. http://www.mostateparks.com/roaringriver/troutregs.htm

Like Sam says it can be spooky out there...Beavers slapping their tails on the surface of the water, the prehistoric calls of great blue herons, snakes, funky noises in the dark, Bats...Bats are usually a sign of a hatch or spinner fall...lots of Caddis, Stones, Drakes, and some of the larger mayflies make there appearances at night. Hatch or no hatch, brown trout always seem to go for sculpins and minnow imitaions that push some water. Carry at least 3 sources of light..I like those little LED flashlights that clip on to your hat, but keep your light off unless you really need it..A light on the water will usually put the fish down, plus it will spoil your night vision for ten minutes or so...Best time seems to be during low clear water periods in the heat of the summer. Water temps are up, fish metabolism is up, but they dont come out during the day due to fishing pressure, canoes, etc. Learn how to roll cast really well so you can keep your fly out of the bushes. Cheers.

Stopped there on the way to Barren Fork once, but didnt fish..Might try Noblett Lake south of Cabool..I've caught a few Smallies, LM, and some big chain pickeral there. Cheers.

I've been using Simms..my old guide models were great. They held up for 5 years before they gave out..Replaced them with some G3's but they only lasted for 3 years. The new G3's have better features than my old pair..but I was disapointed with my old pair so I recently switched to Patagonias. Like them a lot. Cheers.

Its just the rules, and thats the way it is. Zone 1 & 2 are better bait water..Maybe you can talk the state into swapping the zones around every know and then.

http://www.mostateparks.com/bennett/troutregs.htm You can use a fly rod with bait or soft plastic but its probably best to leave it to the bait fishers...I think you will get a lot of nasty looks or worse for "poaching" in the bait zone. U caint use dat sissy fly rod in here boy....Cheers.

Fishing down near Cardiac is pretty slow during the winter but at least you got some February Smallmouth.... I think most of the fish stack up in the spring hole during the winter....Floated 8 to Scott's on Feb 24th..Caught a bunch from the Spring down to Dry fork..started running into wade traffic by the Cabin and those guys said they didnt catch any.. Got two more at the creek between Cardiac and Suicide hill but not a strike between there and Scotts..Still a nice float.

Easy there 3wt. The LP has two different regulation sections..Blue Ribbon regulations apply upstream of Mill Dam Hollow, White Ribbon regulations apply below. Cheers.

3wt & 4wt rods are fun toys, but they arent very versatile.....good for small flies, small fish, small streams, and sometimes a long 3 or 4wt can be fun on bigger water when the wind doesnt blow. They are capable of landing some nice fish, but most of the time I prefer to fish with a 9' 5, 6, or 7wt.

5" Senkos dont work there...send those useless baits to me and buy some smaller ones.

There are a few riverpro owners on this forum http://forums.riversmallies.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2 Kevin Turner, the guy who owns riverpro frequents that forum as well. I'm sure he'd answer you Q's and take you for a boat ride. More HP than I'd care to share the river with, but you have to admit that they are impressive boats. Cheers.

Nope...I think Feather Craft (in St. Louis) picked up the Echo line this year .Give them a ring and see if they have the one on hand to cast. If not its hard to go wrong with any of the rods in the Sage lineup, just a matter of finding the one you like best at your price point.. Cheers.

Id go with the tube cuz the bottom looks really silty..Set aside some extra cash to pay for the ticket.

Its true..Hatchery bows are just plain confused when it comes to spawning..they do try to spawn, but the timing varies a lot. I see a lot of stocker bows on beds in late September early October.Wild bows in Crane, Mill, etc. spawn in January or February.

Havent been there in years...fishing was OK, but nothing to write home about. FWIW, I'd fish fish streamers and crawfish patterns..Guess I've always missed the stocking truck, because always caught more smallmouth than trout on that creek. Cheers.

Gene's mileage estimates are right on...The Park to about a mile below Baptist is usually full of wade anglers on the weekend..your best shot at decent fishing is to get there first, or float out of Baptist. Baptist to Parker is probably my favorite. Short shuttle and its good day float with some of the best scenery in the blue ribbon area...It can be done in a day, but I usually stretch it to two day float with lots of fishing. Put in around daybreak, fish till the suns on the water and the bit shuts down..set up camp on some good water, fish the mid day evening, then fish morning bite before paddling out. If you dont have your own boat, Baptist to Cedar is your best option. Contact Jadwin Canoe. Cheers.