fishinwrench

Well...that's the cool thing about "fishing", you can take it as slack and leisurely.... or as fanatical and serious as you choose. It's a personal matter as to which level of enthusiasm leads you to the feeling that you are enjoying yourself. Sometimes I go at it like I'm splittin' wood and fish with the mindset that I wanna catch every fish in the stream, sometimes I just sit and look at the water most of the day, and other times I strike a pace somewhere in between. As long as it is legal, ethical, and doesn't offend anyone that matters...then all is right with the world. No?

Nothing illegal about it, far as I know. It is fun to watch your buddy work a fish...but to be honest it really doesn't help having someone on a high-bank playing guide (narrating each drift and coaching you where to put your next cast). The spotter should keep quiet and control himself unless asked to do otherwise. JMO

Exactly. Kind of puts a different spin on the old belief that trout expend alot of energy when holding in the riffles and fast water. Apparently they expend more energy (just trying to hold their position) in still or slow water than they do in fast water. The way the sculpins oversized pectorals keep it "glued" to the bottom was interesting also. Like the wings on a soaring bird....the bird couldn't hold his position in the wind with a clipped wing, and I can't help but think that clipping fins on trout hamper their ability to deal with the environment they live in.

Right on ! Since you pointed me in the right direction I haven't visted that particular spot but I have worked over a few similar spots, quite a bit further downstream. There's a definate pattern there in those slow deep pools that is way more consistent than the riffle/tailout areas, and the fish are notably grouped up in "pods" ... just like you said. You'da Man ! They won't eat MY leeches, but I am using my trusty Hotwire Muddler on a sink tip to find'em, and then switching over to a soft hackle when they quit chasing the muddler. Still no Browns (except for one skinny little 12 incher), but at least I'm into some fish now. THANKS !

Gavin, You see a pectoral on that fish ? I only see a nub. There's a 2 part TU sponsored documentary type film called the underwater world of trout that has a segment on the hydrodynamics of fish movement in rivers and stillwater, if you haven't seen it you should. It goes into a study on how each fin (or sets of fins) are used to position and move the fish through current. I thought I had a pretty good grip on it...but I learned some interesting stuff from watching those videos. A notch out of the tail is no biggie, but a missing pectoral, pelvic, or adipose fin effects the fish quite a bit. I see quite a few fish in the Niangua with snipped pectorals and that has always bugged me. And it bugs me even more since I saw those videos. I don't want to hijack BKB's report thread, it just looked like to me that his fish had a pectoral snipped.

What the heck were those fish doing down there in that slick-water weed hole ? I fished the access area Wed. afternoon/evening (after getting my butt kicked further down) and could barely squeeze 3 little bows out of it. I'm so used to them piling up below the riffles it never occured to me to fish the slow deep holes further down. Good job PC...and thanks for the lesson. Ya know... the last high water event filled those riffles in with gravel, and they aren't holding fish like they used to. At least that's my excuse until I learn it all over again. Learned something about those eagles the other morning that I'll share with ya.........DO NOT continue walking/wading while watching the eagle fly over...STOP, watch eagle, then continue wading along. The eagle was very graceful, I was less so. John Gierach would have been proud.

What a healthy lookin' bow ! Nice job. But tell me...Why the heck do they cut the pectoral fins off those fish ? Anybody know? Is it so they won't travel very far, or what? If it is just to "mark them" I'd think there'd be another way. Then again, she mighta broke you off if she had'em both. J/K

Congrats to PC and KSB, sounds like you guys ruled the river last weekend. I wheeled thru the park Sat.about 11am, it was "assholes to elbows", so I stopped at the park store for a soda and to see when the last river stocking was (I believe they said 300 were stocked on the 23rd) so I headed for the river. Crossed the 64 bridge and took a look downstream....you guys already had that "under control" so I headed on downstream via gravel until I found a piece of river to myself, not that I mind joining-in but I was in one of those solitary moods. I ended up a little below Maggards and there was a killer brown caddis hatch going off (mixed sizes) along with some #18 white mayflys and tons of itty-bitty white midges. No risers were apparent so I started out by drifting and swinging a few soft hackles, caught a few little smallies and twice as many chubs but no trout so I changed over to a sink-tip and worked over a nice stretch of water (good tailout, and a pool with some wood cover) with muddlers, cougars, and leeches hoping to get slammed by a decent Brown but it never happened. The caddis' were coming off even heavier by then, some of them were huge...like a size 8 ! and the wind was blowing them across the water in textbook "crackleback skating fashion" but I never witnessed a single surface splash....I started to think that there were either no trout in that area or they were holding tight in the pocket water, so I switched back to the floating line and a weighted nymph rig and set out to just avoid a skunkin'. Finally after getting my weight adjusted right I started getting some bites. Caught 7 fish total, 1 or 2 rainbows apiece on a RFSN, a copper john, a hares ear, and a big rubber leg stonefly nymph but only if I put it right on their nose, they didn't seem to be willing to move more than 6 inches to take ANYTHING. The fish down there appeared to have been in the river awhile, nice colors, all fins present, and really scrappy when hooked. Best fish was a pretty 14-15 inch bow which I snapped a quick pic of just to prove to my g/f that I actually fished instead of hanging out in at the flyshops shooting the bull and spending money all day. I stayed late, clear up until I couldn't see the end of my line hoping to cross paths with a decent Brown cuz the weather and water just seemed "right" for it.... but no dice. The trees sure are pretty now...I love Fall on the river ! Did you guys catch any Browns up there ?

There are a lot of really good places for big fish to "hole up" in Z3 ...wouldn't ya love to fish it at night ? As far as making little plastic critters,,, you can make an impression in a piece of plaster of paris, coat it with ceramic based paint (engine paint) once it has set up, then melt down your old bass worms in the micro-wave or in a pan on a hotplate and pour them. OR, you can lay pieces of torn up worm in the mold and melt it into place with a soldering iron or worm welder. Pull your "critters" out while they are still pretty warm and drop them into ice water to cool. Add a bit of cotton into the melted plastic and they will stay on the hook better, and hold scent if you choose to add any.

I think Jack was THERE (in the room) during the time that all the discussion on changing fly/lure/bait descriptions (wording) were being debated and decided on. He knows what's legal and what's not. It was without a doubt a "legal" catch...providing it was hooked inside the mouth.

Nice fish Jack Good timing too ! only "legal" for a few more weeks. I hope she got released though. Wonder how long before plaster of paris, ceramic paint, marmilade Mann's jelly worms, and little micro-wave ovens will be available through Feathercraft ? LOL

The river is really in good condition, about perfect by my standards. We camped at Riverfront and I fished the area up from there on Friday afternoon. The Smallies were tight to the rootwads and required a "flippin" approach, didn't catch anything over 14" but numbers were real good and the bite was dependable when I dropped the jig softly in the right kinda spots. I was tossing a 1/8oz. Strike King mini-jig with a Zoom critter craw trailer and concentrating on thick wood cover with current running through it. The boulder banks and eddys didn't produce well for me at all, and I kept picking up the 7wt. with hoppers, poppers, and sneaky Pete's but never did catch a smallie on top. Saturday we drifted down to Sand Spring island, fished for Smallies on the way down and then switched to trout mode. I didn't do so well on the smallmouth on that stretch, only a few dinks under 12 in. but caught 2 really nice rainbows and a buttload of stockers fishing around the island, my best producing flys were a #12 beadhead crackleback, and a #10 olive mohair leech. All the best bites were on the swing, it seemed like they really were in a mood to chase their food down that day. Sunday was a different story, it was dead-drift or forget it. Racked up some good numbers of stocker sized fish in the Sand Spring to Riverwood stretch, and caught one really nice rainbow that had really good coloring and extremely dark spots down by the second island. I had him basically landed and was leading him around waiting for my daughter to fetch the camera from the toon....I gave him some slack at the wrong time and he shook off. I gotta throw in a positive note on a couple of guys I watched gig up by Riverfront Saturday night, I didn't see them stick any fish but it was all I could do to keep from applauding them as they gigged up numerous bits of trash from the bottom and threw it into their boat. (a couple of stream team bags on the bottom of a deep hole, and some black netting that was tangled up in a rootwad that I noticed earlier that day and could have gotten...but didn't because I was in a hurry to get back to camp and eat) Nice job fellas!!! My "attitude" about giggers finally got a much needed reset. Noticed this sign at the access too, and I hope they post them everywhere along the Gasconade as well.

Saw a big (15+) flathead just above Prosperine a couple years ago, and I've caught crappie as far upstream as NRO. I seldom fish below Prosperine and still haven't personally seen a spotted bass that far up, but have heard of some being caught above Tunnel, as well as Walleye, Aligator gar and even Musky(all caught on a trotline near Bird island).

I do have a set of model A jaws....If it is a cam "model A" type and you are still interested in unloading it, shoot me an email. simsmarine@sbcglobal.net Thanks, Glen

Hey, did the Thompson vise sell ?

Just a heads up for everyone in the L.O. area, this weekend is the annual Hwy.5 "25 mile garage sale" stretching from Gravois Mills to Greenview.....Lots of fishing tackle and boating items...CHEAP And of course plenty of goodies to keep the better half entertained. Inside tip: Watch the signs for the ones set up down the lake roads off the main highway.....they usually have more fishing/hunting gear.

Just curious what it would be worth.....or better yet "what it would bring" $$$ ? I have one like it also, in its box. They were sent out as "gifts" with a B.A.S.S./Bassmaster magazine renewal in the late 80's early 90's Also have a plug... Moonlite bait co. .... (same deal) that has the B.A.S.S. logo on one side of it. I assumed thousands of these were sent out...but maybe not. Anyone know ?

A report I made back in '06' was investigated promptly...same day. The guy was found to be operating with expired license and no permits. He and his equipment was kicked out of the stream, and the people that were buying his gravel were warned not to buy from him until further notice. So DO make the call.

I'm glad you brought this up !!! When I first started buying squirrel hides about 2 years ago I could usually get 3 #8 PS leaches per strip (without having to two-piece" them).....but the last 4-5 skins I have reluctantly purchased (because it is all i can find) I only get one good fly per strip and then have to scavenge leftover pieces to build more. Add in the cost of a hook and bead and you have one fairly expensive leach. I also got one skin that looked really good BUT the skin was tender (thin as paper) and the strips would tear way too easily....So now I always open up the bag and give the strips a tug to test that, and at 15 buck per...I won't take a chance ordering one online anymore.

How was your stay at Riverwood ? Looks like a nice place. How much river frontage do they have there, and how decent is the access to the bank along their property. Is it wadeable ?

Not "Hound DOG".....Hound Dawg" !

CC, Don't take this the wrong way......but, I can think of no better way to make a bunch of the locals and quite a few of the "regulars" hate your guts. Especially if you are seen coaching a group of 3 or more "drifting bleeding minnows" around the access points. Also keep in mind that you should be in as good (or better) physical condition than those you are guiding, and just as good at water rescue and first aid...as you are at knowing where some fish hang out. I'm certainly not knockin' your desire to do a little "part time guiding"... just pointing out that it takes a little more than putting folks on fish to maintain a decent reputation and ensure the safety of your clients.

The "Jim" from the park store is Jim Rogers...I think.

Awesome picture !!!! How cool ! No we didn't make it Sunday. Went today tho, a bit too high to wade still (can't get to the places I really want to fish). So I fished in the park. Average size seems to be a bit better than the norm in Z2, caught a couple of real pig Bows too. Gonna try to hit the river Thursday if work allows. It oughta be about perfect by then.

Cricket, I may be down there with my daughter Sunday. If we go we won't be there until noon'ish though. I'll look for ya and introduce myself if I see you. I'm in a red Chevy Z71 sportside with a big rainbow on the tailgate.