ollie

Get with Buzz or I and we can hook you up on the float. I went with him a couple of weeks ago and we did alright. The recent floods have taken a toll on the fish though or so it would seem. A couple of years ago we were hammering 14-15" constantly, now we get lucky to catch one that size it seems like. They are in there, but it just doesn't seem like as many. Terrierman is right about the 70's though. Hardly saw anyone down there floating because there weren't all the liveries like now. That and NWA wasn't big like it is now.

What color? Academy has them but multiple cor choices. I ordered my last pair online and it was a good experience. Also got a nice carry case and cleaning cloth that went with them. That and another coupon for like 20% off the next purchase.

Depends on your price point and what you want to spend. I found a pair of Peppers they are called and I love those. $50 a pair and a lifetime warranty on them if they break. Great polarized pair at that. Yes they are plastic at that price, but they float and trust me when I say I have lost them off my face on the yak into the stream. Always find them though since they float and you don't need a leash for them. I had a pair break on me once and I got another one for just the shipping with no questions asked. I am hard on things like that so these work for me just fine. And I can say that they are very much polarized and I can see bottom of the stream with no problems. JMO

Plain and simple, the fishing pressure wasn't there like it is now! A lot of people didn't know about the fishery outside of the midwest and the Branson-Springfield area still wasn't as big as now. I mean I think Branson had like maybe 3000 people and I know Springfield wasn't like it is now. Shoot, Battlefield Mall was like on the edge of town back then and there definitely wasn't the roads in place like now between them. If memory serves me correctly there weren't any brown stocked in there as well back in the day. Not as much competition for the bows either.

I can still fondly remember the old Fall Creek dock with the campground. Mid to late 70's we would always put in down at the Branson boat dock next to Sammies and go upstream. I remember that dock so well because of all the famous people with pics of trout on the wall! Wasn't uncommon back then to see many a lunker rainbow coming out of there. My dad caught a 9 pounder one day and in the same hole my mom hooked on to one bigger. She fought that beast on her Zebco 33 all the way to the boat until my brother got the net under it and it broke off and back into the depths it went. Dad is long gone, but mom sure does remember it well. Especially since it was bigger than the one Dad caught just less than an hour before. That and all the dock owners would let you tie up and fish when the water was running. Shoot, they would even come down and open up a can of corn and chum for you! lol

RIP. Never met him, but enjoyed his posts.

And poof! Just like that they dry up! lol Went down last night after work and put up a big ol goose egg. Great weather and the water was fine. Except I heard they were drawing down the lake so the water has been dropping out. I know the current seemed a little fast for where I was wading. Got down there and saw plenty of people enjoying the nice weather, but no one was catching. I fished for about an hour and half and think I saw only one caught. It looked promising going in as well since I saw someone coming back up the trail with a stringer of fish. It wasn't until later I learned it took the guy over 6 hours to come up with those. Not exactly on fire. That and the only fish I saw on his stringer were all males and not very big ones at that. I know you can still get into them right now, but it isn't on fire. At least I hope I didn't leave too early last night. How knows, maybe they turned on after I left, but I kind of doubt it. I was throwing rooster tails, small cranks, plastics, jigs, the kitchen sink and everything else to no avail. Oh well, it was good to get out.

I just read that. Pretty cool. Must have been the natty light in the boat that did it! lol

Went down last night after work and gave it a shot. Work is burning me out so I had to get out and fish! Got down there and not as many people like I thought there would be. Saw about a dozen rigs maybe and a few cars from people fishing the bank. I got my waders on and headed up to the gravel bar. When I got there I saw maybe 5-6 people fishing so it was promising. I was the only one out there with chest waders so I could get out further with my casts. That plan didn't really work out that great since no one was tearing it up. I fished for about 2 hours and only managed 6 to hand with about as many that got off. I kept switching it up with different colors and such, but it just wasn't on fire. Saw one other guy catching some small ones, but I don't know what he was throwing. Small inline spinner from what I could tell. The water level was fine, but we are supposed to get more rain today so who knows what it will look like this weekend. It shouldn't do much though since I don't think we are supposed to get that much. It was a peaceful evening for fishing and I needed that more than catching the fish I think.

Not all state parks are charging that. Only certain ones that have a higher usage I think. The only ones on Grand charging the $10 is Honey Creek and Twin Bridges. The one over at Bernice is not. Unless that has changed this year.

Drove down to 10C on Saturday hoping to wet a line, but man that wind was flat getting it on! That and I really wasn't feeling it once I got down there. Did see a couple of guys with yaks taking out though and asked them how they did. I was somewhat surprised they were even on the water with that much wind and all. Guy goes to the back of the truck and picks up a decent number of whites on the stinger! Probably 15-20 each for both of them. Said they had the best luck finding feeder creeks and any water going into Spring. They would just tie up there and fish for a while and then head downstream to find more. Can't tell you where they put in since they didn't want me to. Said just about anything they were throwing was catching them. I figured with the cooler temps and such no one would be doing that great, but those guys stuck it out and came out rewarded. Water still a little muddy, but I think it is coming back down.

Supposed to get more rain on the way today and tomorrow so who knows when it will stabilize.

Was by there this past weekend. Lot of circus sized tents everywhere in the parking lots. You will be walking aways if you want to park somewhat close. There will be LOTS of people there I'm sure.

Looks like we probably got enough rain the last couple of days to bring up the river. I can only imagine how many people will be at the Miami park snagging for bills this weekend!

Supposed to get more rain around here next week so that should help them out going upstream. One would think after next week if it doesn't get blown out should be pretty good.

Did you go above or below 10c? I wouldn't think them to be that far up yet, but ???

Good luck. As always you can never tell with the whites! I know they are up there somewhere, but I still think we need more rain to push them up further. Let us know how you do.

I've trying snagging a couple of times and that was only from the bank. I got bored with it. That and it seemed like a LOT of work for maybe one fish. I think I got tired and gave up the second time! lol

Funny they reported that one. Only because I know others have been caught that big out of Grand and not long ago. I think Rusty was guiding him so he did a write up for him? Either it is a huge fish and there are more in there like that I'm sure.

Quick update on the guy who drowned. The body was recovered, but not in the truck like you would have thought. Apparently, he was found several yards away from the truck. Only thing I can think of is he made an effort to swim out and hypo got him? They haven't released any other details yet.

Or 10C ramp, but that can get shallow. Oh, I don't know, a lot of people around the area have been complaining about the Twin ramp and rather large potholes in it. At least they were complaining about it since they had to pay the $10 and it still wasn't fixed. Maybe it has been since then I don't know. Too bad about the person dying though. I hate to see someone trying to enjoy a day out and something goes wrong like that.

Yep, I have been getting reports they are starting to go on the move now. Alabama rig was one of the go getters I saw and the other was just a simple chartreuse rooster tail. It is getting close to the all out run now. Although I hear another cold snap is coming so it might cool them down for a little while. The only way to avoid that $10 launch fee is go over to the Neosho side at Connors. At least that would be the closest place to get back up to spring.

Hopefully it will be better than last year. The year before was crazy, but no so much last year. Will have to wait and see! Still have some time though.

What defines fly fishing as "fly fishing" is the state law. It varies with location. Ain't that the truth! I was surprised and almost shocked when we went to CO to fish. Not knowing the regs completely we asked about them when we bought our license. Their state doesn't really clearly define what is a "lure" so we asked. Anybody who knows me or fished with me knows I throw jigs for trout and always have. So we wanted to clarify what we could throw. My buddy wanted to throw rooster tails and cranks and most of them all have trebles as you know. We asked and the guy told us we could use a lure for trout. So barbless or single hook I said? He looks me in the eye and says, "a lure is a lure with or without trebles". We would have guessed that CO would have had stricter laws like MO or AR but apparently not. My guess is the whole tourism thing.

Although mine was a buying experience and not selling, I didn't like it. I get why so many people like it, but not for me. Carvana has been hit with several lawsuits in the past year due to their practices too. My problem didn't happen until almost time to go get the vehicle in KC. I secured the loan and had all my paperwork completed with them only to get mad and cancel the whole thing right before picking up the vehicle. It all came down the title and paying taxes on it. When I pressed them on it no one seemed to be knowledgeable enough to help me. Enough so that when I finally did get someone that knew what was going on they still passed it off like no big deal and that I could pay up front all the money and they would reimburse me on the end side. It was very shady to say the least. They didn't get my invoice correct and then didn't want to change anything on it since I had already signed all the paperwork. All I can say is buyer beware like in anything else. I ended up going to a dealership and getting a better deal on a similar car and my experience was actually better. Better deal, better finance, better car with better options on it as well. All for a lower price to boot!