Wayne SW/MO

I was wondering the same thing, at least now that they have reappeared?

The habitat isn't that bad. The more rugged areas of the Ozarks provide both food and heavy cover, but they also have many open areas for deer. Its quite a sight to walk up on a White oak with a heavy mast after a snow. The deer and turkeys make it look like it was disked. I know of an area in the west that has a Whitetail population that would make the Ozarks look like a city park, and the deer do just fine. The fact they aren't easy to find doesn't mean their numbers are low, that's a product of the terrain.

There was a fellow I knew who used to wade from Rockhouse upstream. I never personally did.

All the speculation is great, but unfortunately a quick glance at this map shows that the wildest parts of the Ozarks do just fine in producing deer. LINK>2009 Deer harvest by county

Overall, which the regulations address, there seems to be. When you can buy as many tags as is possible today, some areas must have an overload. I think I read recently that if you hunt all methods you can kill 11 a year. Makes you wonder with that many chances why someone would bother hunting illegally? I didn't say I hoped they wouldn't appeal, I simply speculated on a reason they may not. I'm not sure I agree with when it comes to the terrain limiting deer populations. Historically there were more deer south of the river than north, in spite of the agriculture in the north. While I don't doubt that poaching may be serious there and affect the population accordingly, there should be enough woods and White oaks to keep a lot of deer and turkeys happy.

I wouldn't bet on it today. There's an overload of deer, they don't like to anger the county judges who are the front line of their prosecutions, and its one more thing they don't have to worry about. Its not the same today as it was decades ago. At one time, even though each county only had one agent, the agent was likely a local and he knew who and where to look. Today the agents come from all over and the population is mobile, making enforcement 24/7 by a couple on agents very limited.

I couldn't agree more. If you've lived in this state very long you know that these county judges aren't the best stewards of the natural resources. Many would like laws written to insure that they get their share, at least.

Its pretty simple really. You cast an unweighted wooly, which should float, and then jerking it under the surface, then retrieve it by quickly stripping the line back in equal lengths. The fly should be just under the surface. It always seemed to me that the speed and cadence was important.

I've used a knot for decades that is easy to tie and works flawlessly on all lines I've tried it on. I not only use it to put leaders to braid on bass rigs, but heavy leaders to heavy braid on catfish/carp rigs. To tie it lay the two lines together in opposing directions, make a loop in them and then wrap one tag through the loop from the front three times. Take the second tag and wrap it from the rear of the loop three times. Carefully pull the four lines up tight and trim the tags. This knot, at least for me, has been so simple I can tie it anywhere.

Interesting, I've never been on that stretch.

Just be sure and list it as personal property, which is what you will be taxed on.

We put in at Rush and took out at Riley's Station. on the White, across from the mouth of the Buffalo. This worked well for us, we went to the station and picked up the owner who then went with us to Rush, after unloading he took our vehicle back to the Station where it was nice and safe. You may have to do some walking, we did in July a few years back. There are lots of gravel bars for camping and a thunderstorm on one of the days had no noticeable effect on the river. I would think that if there is no heavy front predicted in the long range forecast for the watershed you wouldn't have anything to worry about.

I got rid of my 3 wt because it seemed like there were to many days that the weather frowned on it. I have as much fun with my Orvis Adams, which is slow enough that you get good feel and the heavier line punches out a little better.

Nice!

I've had several and they, like all craft, have their ups and downs. They are not all created equal and the size of the individual and the environment should be taken into consideration. Their biggest drawback is two fold on a river. One is wind, they are more susceptible to it then either a canoe or a kayak. The other is that depending on design, they can become hard to manage in a strong current. If it were me I would lean toward a couple of Sit On Top kayaks in the 9-10' range. They should come in around 40#, be unaffected by wind, unsinkable and easy to tether when you're wading. Depending on the intensity of the flow, you can paddle upstream some distance, but that would depend on each persons physical ability. As too getting ashore, yes, just move towards the shoreline and catch an eddy.

I still doubt that they use it in the final rearing areas. The volume of water and the flow versus the number of fish wouldn't seem to offer an opportunity to be effective. Antibiotic's don't kill bacteria, so any thing they would use would be a "cide" and have to be compatible with the insect life in the stream.

I'm sure the sign on the box is in reference to the concentration of chemicals in the box. You would also have to know at what stage in their growth they use chemicals, if they use them. It would probably make more sense that they were used in the egg or fry stage, when they are in captive waters. I have no idea however, but you could ask the hatchery.

And if that doesn't work there are always Sammies.

I use braid exclusively on top water. I think it helps in hooking up because it floats and doesn't stretch. I also like the fact that I can generally win a battle for a $13 Sammie when a cottonwood is involved. I like to fish some slack with topwater, to add delay, and I think braid is more manageable.

Those pics bring back some memories. I haven't been on the lake in over 30 years, but I always liked it for the scenery, it never fished that well for me. When my kids, they're both in their 40's now, were kids we used to go to the park on occasion. The deer at that time were everywhere and malnourished with a heavy infestation of ticks. They would come to you begging. It was kind of a sad sight, but hunting in the park was outlawed. Eventually they started a controlled hunt and the deer eventually returned to their normal habits. They were still visible, but not at your feet. It was a good example of too much protection versus good management.

It's best described as a "circus". If you put in at the right time there will be enough canoes to almost walk across the river on them. It will be virtually impossible to do any serious fishing in that stretch. You have some options, you can get someone to put you in at NRO or Barclay and float to Ho Humm, you can do Moon Valley to the 64 access. The last option is to go elsewhere and then do the float this fall when the river is virtually empty. There's trout and smallies in the lower section and bass only now in the upper. Its a great river,but unfortunately when the state DNR should have been looking at restrictions to preserve the experience, they chose instead to go into the canoe rental business themselves. Oops, there is the park store and Larry's fly shop as you are leaving the parks east entrance. I would hit Larry's first.

You might watch the levels, we've got rain moving in.

Circle hooks, not Octopus Circle hooks, but the real ones. You have to let them take the bait seriously, even swallowing it. The hook set is to lower the rod tip to your side and give a reasonable pull. When you pull the hook out with the line coming out the corner of the jaw it will turn and hook.

The problem with circle hooks is that the gap has to be relatively open to work. If it isn't, the hook can't turn properly and hook the corner of the jaw. I've thought long and hard about how to use them with tubes, but while I have some ideas I've never tried them.

Taneycomo flooded a lot of bottom land and I'm sure when the current stopped, the river bed silted pretty fast. If you look at Table Rock and Bull Shoals you'll see that the prime smallie areas are where high, rocky ground was flooded.