Wayne SW/MO

I'm not sure how this got into the discussion, but it never was part of my reasoning. The fact is that most poaching is done by locals who need no direction to any Honey Hole. My own reasons are simple, there are no secret smallie streams in this state, but some have limited habitat. Fishermen, including myself, add more stress to a situation enhanced by the natural climate change and drawdown of resources. I'm not going to remind fishermen, on a thread that can get over 1200 views, that a small stream exist.

According to who? Everything but the where is still valuable, and why can't someone "brag" about a good day? Take a look at some of the Views and compare them to the replys, notice the difference? You do what you want, but I'll leave fishing the smaller more fragile waters to those who do the work of locating and learning them by means other then a large public forum. I also have no problem sharing information by PM because its not wholesale advertising. Given the history of Crooked Creek and the fact it got nationwide attention as the poster child of the evils of gravel mining, it hardly qualifies as a small fragile eco system. Fragile yes, they all are, but small no.

Top 5, according to who?

There used to be a tree across the creek right above EE, I guess its gone now.

You can hardly compare an area stocked with trout to a small creek inhabited by native smallmouth. They don't replenish the smallies. The James isn't what I would call a small water and despite the many accesses and human population nearby, it holds up well. It is well known, going back to the days of Jim Owens and pre Table Rock. The Finley is as much creek as river, but hard to shuttle and doesn't seem to get the attention one would expect, again because of the location. The attention it does get seems to limit the fish size however, or so It seems.

I'm surprised he didn't demand to know whether you were in Laclede or Dallas before he talked to you. I agree with you that it reflects badly on the park when the ranger doesn't get up and running over a break in.

Not to mention that they have their hands full with the river floaters.

Several years ago Phil was very specific about the Spring crappie fishing out of Long Creek Marina, within a short time the ramp was unusable, no place to park! Catch and release of smallies is an intent, but in reality its not 100%. We all have a few fish that probably don't make it and if you multiply that number by a greater number of fishermen on a water of limited resource you have a problem.

That's not the point, the point is that some waters can't stand a lot of pressure. You can hardly compare the lower 11 Point to a small stream. As far as waters being public, you're absolutely right and anyone can do the research if they 'll get off their butts and do it. I don't see where criticism is warranted because someone doesn't want to expose a small water to hundreds of people.

On our second night out we were about 3-4 miles from the mouth, we heard a train whistle which quickly made us realize that we had not heard or seen any evidence of humans since shortly after putting in.

I don't know about a crowd on Labor day, we went in late July and saw two groups in the first couple of miles, one group drove in and were probably less than a mile below Rush. The second camp had an outboard and we weren't sure but what they were going back up river. We never saw them after passing there camp. The next time me saw humans was when we ran in to a couple who were 2-3 miles from the mouth and coming up river.

Doing the wilderness alone might be a little dangerous this time of the year. If you were to get hurt, or bitten, or sick, it might be a while before you would see other paddlers.

I doubt that local LE would want to be burdened with a new set of regulations, etc. As soon as you lessen the availability of enforcement the better the chance of some event happening that literally destroys the parks reputation. There's more than a few small towns in this country who can attest to what happens when LE is overwhelmed by a lawless group. Parks are for family's and they need more protection than one or two adults can give.

I would say this is the best way. It helps to put the line on correctly, but closing the bail by hand after proper installation is pretty much surefire.

I don't see anything unethical about hunting from a canoe, you don't travel that fast. I don't know if anyone mentioned the safety angle of road hunting, but it is something to consider. I seriously doubt that most road hunters know where all the buildings and livestock are.

Crappie, that's interesting. I've never caught one out of the Niangua. Were you fishing in the slough?

Braid with a fluorocarbon leader. The takes can be so subtle at times that braid can be a real advantage. The leader saves the braid, which can last for years, and offer some stealth. You can fit the leader size to water clarity. I like 6?20 or 8/30 TUFF XP braid, but Power pro will do. I don't like anything smaller for most fishing because the small diameter is hard on guides and hands.

Many years ago, 25 or 30, in the pre-sonic boom ban days they used to fly jets up the hollow out of Bennett Spring. They could really rattle some windows.

Nice!!

Don't worry, the hatchery has plenty. Its always hard to pinpoint an area, but if you want to move some, fishing the outlet to the Whistle always seems decent. I'm referring to the period after the morning rush. First thing the key is to be where the stocking truck has been, but the crowds take the fun out of it so I wait until mid morning. If you want to fish the siren, hit the Whistle, but be there early.

Watch out for the 4X4 truck traffic.

I suspect that if you put that to an 8th grade class 99% would have no trouble answering it. You have to wonder if given the fact that some, if not all, county judges are running for reelection this year could have anything to do with it?

No, maybe I'm not describing the process right, but it's different. Two things that are different is that you can join any lengths, the surgeons, I believe, requires you pull one line through and both are wrapped together. I'm not familiar with the J, but in looking at it it appears different. The knot I'm suggesting can be tied into any length of line and when the tags are wrapped through the loop in opposite directions you get a nice round, balanced knot, very similar to a double uni. I think it's easier to tie than a double uni.

I believe the No Name, I suppose that's a good name, knot is easier because by going around both strands you can make the loop large enough to fit the circumstances. It can be tied with gloves on actually, just by making a larger loop. The mechanics are very similar to the double uni however, but with only one loop and passes over both strands.

This reminds me of elk hunting in Oregon. It was illegal to carry a sidearm during rifle season, but inspite of the many did carry them because of the big cats.