Gavin

Walker is just a small shallow old pond. I’m sure they need to rehab it or fish will die when it gets really hot or cold. 
 

Kastmaster spoons are great for covering water fast on the river, so is the Little George on tail races for whites.

Congrats! Keep on keeping On! Wishing you many more!

Congrats! Keep on keeping On! Wishing you many more!

On Sunday I had a marathon creek fishing day, starting before 6 am and ending after 8 pm, and the fish were chomping. I've heard that on the Susquehanna the fishing is best after rain when the water is rising, and maybe that's the case here, too. According to a nearby river gauge the water level peaked around 3 am and then started dropping, and the water at the creek was up and had a slight stain. Over the course of the morning and afternoon I caught a number of 17 - 19.5 inch fish on a fluke and a WTD bait, making it a great day, but the best was yet to come.
It was a little after 6 pm towards the upper end of the smallmouth habitat on the creek. I had made a cast into the lower end of a long pool when I saw a big wake behind my fluke. It followed for several seconds before it hit, and then a drawn out battle ensued. When the fish jumped I saw that it was big, but I didn’t realize just how big. Maybe I should have guessed, because she just wouldn't come in. I’d gain some line, and then she’d make a 10 - 15 foot run. There was a small tree in the water towards the far bank, and she very nearly got into it a few times. I had to really strain the line to keep her out. This was the first time while fighting a smallmouth that I felt that 8 lb. test wasn’t quite enough. I would have felt a lot better with 10 or 12 lb., as she definitely had the upper hand for most of the fight. Obviously I lost all sense of time while fighting the fish, but I’d guess it took me about two minutes to get her to the bank, and then I saw what a tank she was. I knew immediately that she was pushing 20 inches if not over 20. And her depth was so much more impressive than any of the 19 inch fish I’ve caught. I had the thought that she was in a different category of fish, that she might as well have been a different species. Holding her up for pictures, I was confident she weighed at least four lb.s, although I’ll never know for sure. While keeping her in the water I carefully measured her several times and she was a little over 20 inches.
I've caught the same fish twice several times on this creek. When released she swam off strongly, so hopefully I'll have another run in with her in the near future. What a thrill.  

Float it, then pick your spot to park and wade. 6x to Peck's is the Zoo stretch, so avoid that on the weekend.

I've had some great days on the NFoW, and LOTS of stinkers. It is always a fun float and we enjoy the area. We usually float 2 days, toon & tube on Norfork one day, and spend our last day sight seeing, followed by trout fishing & dinner at Rockbridge.

Hammond to Sunburst is their most popular day float. It moves pretty well, 3-4 hours if you want to move, or all day if you choose to stay, fish, etc.. I usually do Kelly to Sunburst, then Sunburst to the Landing. The conditions do not look great.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07057500/?agency_cd=USGS#dataTypeId=continuous-00060-0&period=P7D&showMedian=true
I like it in the 800-1300 cfs range. It's tough to wade at any level, but you can hammer if you know how to chuck some big nymph rigs when the water is up. If it drops below 750 it gets air clear and the fishing gets really tough. Good luck!
 

Hammond to Sunburst is their most popular day float. It moves pretty well, 3-4 hours if you want to move, or all day if you choose to stay, fish, etc.. I usually do Kelly to Sunburst, then Sunburst to the Landing. The conditions do not look great.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07057500/?agency_cd=USGS#dataTypeId=continuous-00060-0&period=P7D&showMedian=true
I like it in the 800-1300 cfs range. It's tough to wade at any level, but you can hammer if you know how to chuck some big nymph rigs when the water is up. If it drops below 750 it gets air clear and the fishing gets really tough. Good luck!
 

Stipers are in there year round. The flat below Kelly Ford holds a bunch. Below McKee Bridge, Elephant Rocks below ROLF.. 6' deep with a slow current...probably stripers...But they don't bite often. Ask Brian Bade at Sunburst Ranch. He can tell you where they are.
 

Stipers are in there year round. The flat below Kelly Ford holds a bunch. Below McKee Bridge, Elephant Rocks below ROLF.. 6' deep with a slow current...probably stripers...But they don't bite often. Ask Brian Bade at Sunburst Ranch. He can tell you where they are.
 

Congrats on a successful build! Go scratch it up!

Congrats on a successful build! Go scratch it up!

Big gal was 20 inches long and weighed 4.71 lbs on my Rapala digital.  
Only problem is that she's a meanmouth/hybrid black bass/smallmouth-spot cross.....

Last time I broke was at 45i and it lasted about 3 weeks.  Sounds like you might have just popped one out of alignment. My chiro fixes that in 1 visit mostly, sometimes a follow up 2-3 days later. Good luck with it..

Last time I broke was at 45i and it lasted about 3 weeks.  Sounds like you might have just popped one out of alignment. My chiro fixes that in 1 visit mostly, sometimes a follow up 2-3 days later. Good luck with it..

So, here's a bit of back story.  I've been a long time fan of Ruger rifles.  I bought this M77 RL new in .270 Win in 1985.  It's taken too many deer to count, and a couple of elk.  It's always been a good accurate rifle and it's light enough to carry all day.  It's got a Bushnell Elite 3200 3x9 scope on it.  Good scope too, holds zero perfectly, it's bright, has their rainguard coating that helps keep the lenses clear even in bad weather - and the crosshairs glow for about 15 minutes after shining a light in the lens.  Very nice early and late.  This rifle is an old and dependable friend.  It is in exceptionally good condition, nice slick bore and the stock (cut checkering, not stamped) is not marked up at all.  No rust anywhere.  But it's time for me to let it go.  Since I hurt my shoulder in a fall on the ice several years ago (complete rotator cuff separation and 90% on bicep) it just seems to be slowly getting worse.  To the point the recoil from .270 in a light rifle was affecting my accuracy and enjoyment of the rifle.  Thus, this post.  The rifle is for sale.  They bring $1200 +/- on Gun Broker with no scope.  I'll sell this one for $1000.  Still have about a box and a half of 130 grain Winchester Supreme that the rifle seems to like and the deer don't.  So they go too.  Here's the rifle:

I'm basically in Ozark and will travel a reasonable distance - say 100 miles - to meet if needed.  Face to face deal, I'm not messing around with an FFL to ship.  Let me know if there's interest.
I'm not giving up centerfire rifles altogether.  I've got another Ruger incoming, a .223 Gen II American Ranch Rifle.  Just ordered a Leupold 2x7 to put on it, rings and some ammunition.  The .223 will do anything I need to do now and with almost insignificant recoil.  So looking forward to having it.
I've already sold my 1942 Husqvarna M38 Swedish Mauser and gave my .30-06 Remington Pump to a grandson.  I now only have Ruger rifles.  A 77/22 in .22LR with a 4x Nikon scope and a 77/22 All Weather (boat paddle stock/stainless rifle) in .22 Magnum with Leupold Compact 2x7 on it.  


So I'm down to one manufacturer with three rifles all in .22 caliber.  It's good to be me.

The Big Piney runs faster & clearer and you will see fewer jet boats. If hitting the Gasconade....you wont see many jets above Hwy 28 during low water, but you may see a few at this level. Gasconade Hills, Boiling Springs are fine. Buddy used Froggy's said they were fine. Route 66 would be my first call for a lower B. Piney float. Haven't called him in a couple years....if not in biz Boiling Springs on the Gasconade is just 2 ish miles downstream.
 
 

The Big Piney runs faster & clearer and you will see fewer jet boats. If hitting the Gasconade....you wont see many jets above Hwy 28 during low water, but you may see a few at this level. Gasconade Hills, Boiling Springs are fine. Buddy used Froggy's said they were fine. Route 66 would be my first call for a lower B. Piney float. Haven't called him in a couple years....if not in biz Boiling Springs on the Gasconade is just 2 ish miles downstream.
 
 

It would be hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube at this point. On the other hand, my buddies nephew Trey just qualified for the Bass Master Classic.

It would be hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube at this point. On the other hand, my buddies nephew Trey just qualified for the Bass Master Classic.

I've been done since Sunday for the most part... We should have a revival of Gavin's After Tax Season Party on the Current. Globall Dave moved to Arizona years ago, but the folks up the hill at Pinecrest are nice. They have a nice pavillion with a band stand and PA system. We wont have a 40' tall stack of  barn debris to burn, but we could figure something out. Wonder what happened to the bonfire picture? That trip was a hoot!
 

All your BIG spots are still small bass.. Fish Tacos!

All your BIG spots are still small bass.. Fish Tacos!

I kill 100% of the spots that I catch on the rivers in the eastern Ozarks, and in Mid-MO. They hybridize with smallmouth bass and other bass species and really mess allot of stuff up. They are the Bradford Pear of Missouri bass fishing.