Fred

Hey, CMAC, From the couple of times I've floated that stretch that you told me about down to 95, I'd have to say it'd be a fast float right now. The gauge near Tecumseh shows it's about two feet up still. I floated/fished that stretch one time when that gauge was reading about 4 feet (it's 5.25 as I write this). The water was definitely moving on that day, but fishable. With another foot-plus of water, you'd really be moving and you better be careful. It'll probably be a fun ride through there, but the fishing might be tough. No going back for a second shot at the good holes with that kind of current... Hope this helps. Tight lines, buddy. Stay safe. Fred

Sorry about the delay in getting this out, but I got a nice surprise about two weeks ago when I hit this stretch again. In that hole right below where the Spring Creek comes in I pulled out a nice 16" rainbow on my old standby 4" pumpkinseed grub on a black 1/8 oz. jighead. I think it looks just like those little bottom fish I think are called sculpins...The trout was instantly in the air when I hooked it and jumped again so fast I thought there were two fish jumping. Very nice! Since they're not really native there (Thanks, Rockbridge!) I just HAD to take that one home. I'm sort of an amateur biologist so when I cleaned it I also opened it's stomach to see what it'd been munching on. All of you fly fisherman out there need to start tieing on...snails! I don't know how to "match this hatch" , but this trout probably had 10-15 shells in it's stomach... That is a nice run.

My buddy and I got out Tuesday and did the 5 miles above 95. NICE float. Thankfully the weather held up for us, too, although we did get some strong winds blowing us near the end of the afternoon. Fishing was pretty good all day. We stopped above nice holes and fished from the shore a bunch. 57 fish between the two of us, with some nice smallies in the 11-14" range. Nothing huge, but a lot of fun. We were basically using light tackle with black jigheads and 2-4" plastic grubs (single and double tail), mainly light brown, gray or pumpkinseed... The biggest surprise was about a 1/2 mile up from where the Spring Creek flows in my buddy caught an 11" rainbow! I knew we might see some below the Spring Creek but not above...it fought hard! Is that from Rockbridge? I was hoping one of those five pounders might have washed down, but that was the only trout we saw. The other thing we noticed was that the rockbass and sunfish seemed relatively small. All the fish we caught were really healthy and pretty fat, but the panfish just seemed on the small size... There'd probably be quite a bit of dragging in July and August, as some of the water was already really skinny. (that's my token comment to keep the summer crowd away, CMAC! ) We also saw a bald eagle, kingfishers, ducks, squirrels, a heron and one turkey flew across in front of us. Definitely a great spring float on a beautiful Ozark stream. Thanks for the tip, CMAC!

I got out this afternoon for a few hours, putting in at Tecumseh and heading upstream. My buddy caught a 13inch smallie (which we threw back) about 50 feet upstream from the bridge, so that was a good start. There were a few boats where the two rivers meet, but nobody was catching anything. We continued up the Bryant around the bend. Beautiful day but no fish. When we went back, all the boats were gone. No bites for us the rest of the time. I guess I'll wait for a little warmer weather for the smallmouth to wake up a bit. Thanks for the info about the float above 95. I've only done south of there, so I might give it a try.

Hey, Hank, I'm in the same boat as you, I'm looking to get into these spring runs a little...I'm relatively new to it, too. When are you planning to go? My buddy and I are going to put in at Tecumseh and try to head up either the Bryant or North Fork a little, or maybe both, possibly even down towards the lake a little, depending on where the fish might be biting (and how strong the water's flowing!). We're looking at Monday, but it might be raining all weekend, so we'll see what the water level looks like. If you go before then, I'd appreciate some info. I'll post however we do, good or bad, if we get out. Fred

Thanks, Dutch...I see you've been busy elsewhere. After checking my schedule a little harder, it looks like I can't get out until early next week. We'll see. Hopefully something will be biting! In your other posts over the past few days you say you're using jigs. Mind me asking what size, color, etc? I'm new to the white bass, but larger jigs and crankbaits are my mainstay for the smallies in the rivers. From previous posts (and experience) those catch about anything that's hungry if it looks like their normal food. Fred

Thanks, Brian, that's a big help. I'll watch for (and will greatly appreciate!) your posts when the fish start moving. I think I've got spring fever!! Fred

I've floated several different stretches of the Bryant, and just love it. I'm mainly a river smallie fisherman from my canoe, but I've heard and read about the runs of walleye, stripers, hybrids, and whites going up the Bryant and the NFOW from the lake and would like to get into some of that. I've read enough here and other places to know it takes a few warm days and nights, but what really should I be looking for? I'm seeing mid-sixties forecast for most of this upcoming week and am wondering if that will kick it off? Also, what generally are the windows of opportunity for these runs? It also looks like the rivers are at relatively "average" or slightly higher levels, so how far up do you think the runs will go this year? Thanks for some hints, New guy Fred