fishinwrench

Still don't know. Unless your are referring to Stinson cr. (outside of Fulton) but it's nasty. Huge hog farm operation on it's banks.

Auxvasse cr. (above, and just a little ways below hwy.54) has some nice Smallies in it. When I used to fish it you could gain access through the old rock quarry north of Kingdom city....but that was more than a decade ago. It has long stretches of mud bank interrupted by rocky, gravelly sections. Skip the mud and fish the rock....they are in there. Other than that, there's Cedar cr., but I think Smallmouth are about extict from that creek. I've never checked out Hinsley cr. Not even sure where it is.

So, stay PC, either agree or keep quiet..... or risk being iggy'd So much for that comfortable, ok to be yourself, fishing buddy atmosphere illusion I had.

I'm sorry to hear that Chuck's having health problems, but I'd love to recover about 2000.00 worth of the gas money (and wear-n-tear) that I wasted by following many of his leads. Gotta hand it to him for the superb CYA though....disclaimers on every page, and plenty of good water left out. I kinda wonder if he didn't simply do a good portion of his "prospecting" solely from the keyboard and kitchen table, armed with nothing more than a Gazetter and Google Earth. Nevertheless he is a respected icon in the Missouri fishing circle and I certainly wish him good health and good fortune. There's no denying that everyone who fishes Missouri streams should personally own a copy of every book he has had published.

One "con" to paypal is that if anyone who has paid you ever has a descrepancy, they can file a claim and you will loose access to your money until the descrepancy is resolved. Which would be all great and wonderful, BUT, they are bias (favorable) towards the buyer, so depending on the situation you can really get screwed. I had a person order an outboard part from me (fuel pump/vapor seperator for a FICHT). Almost 2 months later he contacted me and said that the pump I sold him was bad. I knew better and was suspicious that he had mis-diagnosed his engine problem (his pump/seperator was fine), and wanted to send it back for a refund. It was specifically stated on the listing that returns would only be accepted for 14 days after the sale, so I said "sorry but NO", and suggested he list it himself, sell it, and get his money back that way. He filed a claim with paypal and they froze my account until I agreed to refund his money. I was forced to refund him BEFORE I even recieved the part back, and when I got it back I figured out what he was up to.....He had swapped the pump out (you could tell the screws had been tampered with, and the bushing was in crooked) so what I got back was MY seperator with HIS old (bad) pump attached to it. I filed a counter claim with paypal, but he never responded to it....so 10 days later THEY closed the case and told me if I wanted to pursue it further I'd have to file suit through my local law enforcement agency. Just telling you this so that if you ever have a similar issue, you'll know what to expect from paypal. I still use them, but I never leave any more money in there then I have to. What ever you do...DO NOT link your paypal account to your bank account if you only have one personal checking account.

I've never bought any from BPS. All my Tbeads are either Spirit River, or from an overseas EBAY source.

Eastern edge of ol' AP Green territory, home of clay pits, and the best quail and rabbit population in the state. You're makin'me homesick

Well, I'm glad you have a thick skin. No, a descrepancy of a hundred or so wouldn't concern me, I can imagine how difficult it would be counting a truckload of flip-flopping fish......but when they report (and accept credit for) stocking 5000 or more, when other evidence indicates that 1200 is a much more accurate number, it just makes ya wonder, ya know. I probably wouldn't have such a hair-trigger for stuff like that if it weren't for OTHER federal and state "capers" that are pulled off right in front of in our faces all the time. It seems that everyone associated with state or federal entitys is either crooked, or turning a blind eye toward things out of fear for their jobs. It is just like this stupid water quality reporting they are doing here on Lake Ozark. It is so obvious that the DNR is in bed with AmeronUE and the community leaders that it turns my stomach. We have some serious E-coli issues here, among other things. And instead of taking action to solve the problem they are totally BSing the ones who provide their wealth, just to maintain the tourist cash flow on the short term. And when called out on it, or asked to answer valid questions....they plead the fifth (no comment). I'm sick of watching these state and federally funded agencys being run that way, it's freakin' wrong ! Wow, got off on a bit of a rant there didn't I....Sorry

I sure would have expected a better survival rate, especially when they only have to travel 2 to 10 miles. If a 25% survival rate is the norm then it hardly seems worth the effort. When you look at it like that, it sounds more like a program designed to benefit coons, turtles, and buzzards.

Gavin, Believe me, I am taking all that into consideration. The meat hunters seldom float or even walk/wade very far on the Niangua, and truthfully there isn't that many of them. They hit the mouth of Bennett, the old gravel ramp, the hole above NRO, and the Barclay slough...that's about it. There aren't "hordes" of people loading their freezers the day after stocking like I've seen at other WR areas. Just a handfull of regulars that are in the loop and catch a few easy limits when they see the water trails on the roads. Most just walk up on a spot and either give up in 15-20 minutes, or take 4 quick ones and go home. There's easier, more convenient and reliable fishing in the park for people that are truly fish hungry, and the locals know that. They also know that a "daily tag" is good for about a week or so. LOL (oops, did I say that outloud?) Also I have to say that the trash situation has actually gotten alot better. Huge difference between now and 5-10 years ago, that's for sure.

If proof wasn't lacking I wouldn't be questioning it. If you paid someone to plant 50 acres of corn, would you be content with half a bushel at harvest time without questioning something ? I mean sure, some of the seed may not sprout....and the deer might get some.... yada-yada I know that stretch of the Niangua like the back of my hand, I know the good holding areas. The only stretch with good holding areas that I don't frequent very often is the area within a stones throw of NRO. I guess it's possible that the NRO stretch is COMPLETELY ATE UP with Browns and Rainbows, and all the other good spots between 64 and Prosperine just have a mediocre-to-moderate population of trout. All I know is, when I hear those kind of numbers I expect to find more fish at certain key areas, than I normally do. I know what it's like when the fish count on the Niangua is really good. That's all I'm sayin'.

Sounds good PC, I don't know about reducing the numbers, since I still have plenty of fish in the freezer. But I'm certainly up for "educating" some of them. I've been in Smallie mode forever it seems, I'm due for a change-up. It's been a really good year for Smallies too, I might add. The best Summer bite I can ever remember, and should be a kickazz Fall. I've had to cut back on spending this season, staying fairly close to home and haven't done a shuttled float all year....but I sure haven't been shorted fishwise.

Ok, so now we are up to 10,000+ Browns, and roughly 3000 Rainbows. That's about 1600 trout per mile, predominately Browns, not counting the holdover fish from previous stockings. I'm not sure but that sounds like a more dense population than the spring branch has in it on opening day. And this is in a year when (earlier in the season) they said that overall hatchery numbers were "down" significantly, statewide. Am I being overly skeptical or what ? This is such a pet-peeve of mine. Is it ok for a tax funded hatchery to claim elevated numbers when nobody can prove otherwise ? I guess when you throw the results of your work in a river... you could put any number you want on your productivity reports, to keep that money flowing in.

You lucky dog, I wish I had a flying canoe. Or a truck that would get to the takeout on it's own.

4.0 @ Windyville, that's boderline "blown-out". Catching fish will be possible tomorrow....but not much fun.

Definately Lil'Piney. Mill cr.= is nice if total solitude with a slight chance of hooking up with a little wild trout or two makes you content. Roubidoux (assuming you are talking about the trout holding portion) = is ok for killin' some time while stuck in the W'ville area...but you probably won't be hankering to return any time soon. Wherever you decide on, don't forget to take some of your favorite Hopper patterns. Good luck, Wrench

Horny Toad ! ??? A really good trick for ponds like that is to put on some hip boots, take a garden rake or a hoe, and clear out some "lanes". Then come back and fish them in a few days.

Yeah that's a bad deal. I know the family of one of the girls that sustained "moderate" injuries. My first thought was that I'm suprised it doesn't happen more often, considering the way some of those road-foundered old busses fly around on busy weekends. Getting thrown around in a buss rolling down a hillside would be mighty hard on the body. Hope everyone heals up ok and a lesson is learned from this.

Yep I've had it happen with T-beads when shortline nymphing. If you whip-snap the fly on your forward casting stroke sometimes they just kinda explode. Black T-beads do it worse than the others for some reason. I've even had them do it when putting the bead on a hook (forcing it over the barb, or around the hook bend). It's wierd cuz when the "pop" they just kinda turn to dust.

Very Nice !

The definition and wording of a ...."River"..... still comes into play at the county court level. "Rivers" (as they are called) do not pose any legal trespass problems. It is when you get in to (so called) "creeks" and "streams" that it becomes an issue. Granted some "creeks" are bigger than some "rivers" but there must have been a system and reasoning for the naming of the flows (creek,river,fork,slough,ect.) when the area was originally explored and mapped, which I guess was back in the Lewis&Clark era. If you were to present that document you posted to a county prosecutor he would quickly point out that the body of water in question is a "creek" or a "stream" ...not a "River". It recently occured to me that if it is called "such and such River" you're generally ok, but if it is called "such and such Creek" then you may not be. The term "fork" apparently has some significance also, I think when "fork" is part of a streams name, it links it to the larger system making it a definite part (headwater possibly) of the larger "river" that it feeds.

Sorry to hear you are feeling cruddy Oneshot, hope whatever it is, it lets go of ya soon. I know several guys that have delt with Lymes and Eurlichiosis and from what I understand it just kinda runs its course. Best wishes, Wrench

Thanks I'll check'em out.

I'd like to find a source for small to med. sized spinnerbaits and buzzbaits (1/8 to 1/4 oz.) that do not have heavy wire (largemouth sized) hooks. Any recommendations ?

Nice report. It kinda sounds like you are anxious to get into a good spinnerbait/crankbait bite, and for that I think you really need to be in bigger water with some color to it. My experience in streams the size of Tavern is that Jigs, worms, tubes, and soft stickbaits usually rule the day....any day. One major exception is a small 1/8oz. buzzbait.