ollie

I remember as a kid we only saw them in pictures and never dreamed of them coming this far north. I moved away to St. Louis in '87 and when I came back to SW MO in '94 they were everywhere! A kid at work swears they got here form under truckers trailers. lol

On the same Spring River that eventually flows into Grand? I guess it's possible. They found rainbows below the falls in Joplin on Shoal creek some years back, but I know where those came from. How would rainbows show up in Spring River?

Great pics, I too like seeing them. At least I had parents and grandparents that could tell me stories of how it "use to be". I dig that kinda stuff.

That's a good looking rig Fox, but it wouldn't be practicle on some of my flows. I wouldn't want to portage that rig around any obstacle. Going upstream is good WHEN you have enough water. I'm lucky to have over 100 cfs on any of my local streams this time of year, yet alone any other time. Just like any boat, you have to give up something to gain something!

How could I have missed this topic! You mean some guys fish out of those little boats! I think Retro man and me need to hook-up nest time the Mulberry is around 2.5! I've had my Pam 100 for about 3-4 years now, had to patch a hole already, and have taken more productive fishing trips than I ever could have wade fishing. For day trips they are the bomb!

Great pics! Sad to see what has happened since.

Retroman, is that a Swifty? I have fished the tailwater in the fall with my neoprenes on and have never had a problem. Then again I have never tipped or even felt like I was going to unless you count the near miss on the Mulberry I had a few months back! Ecce38 you do have a nice set-up, but you wouldn't take that out on smaller creeks now would ya? I can take the yak out where ever I want to without any problems. Yes, it's not as comfortable or as stable, but it is faster between slow pools and I can paddle back-up stream to fish holes over and over or until my arms give out! lol Of course if I fished the tailwaters more I would probably have to get one of those! I do like how you can reach the cooler better..........hmmmm..........

I was wondering how it would go. I ended up taking the boys camping down on Sugar and the water was the lowest I have EVER seen. I did however manage to catch some fish and it didn't pour on us, so I guess I came out ok!

What! People fish out of those little things! Give me a pm sometime and I might be able to hook-up with you on the tailwater sometime in the fall. I fish out of a Wildie Pam 100.

bobbers right!, I never thought we would catch you old geezers. Don't let Wayne fool you, when we finally caught up with them they were gawking at some lady with big....uh ...hair! yea, that's it!

Hey, we have C&R on trout streams, why can't we have them on some of the smallie streams? I think we are looooong overdue for some changes on our streams. I know we have made some progress with length limits, but I have to agree with changes.

Wily, we put in at Ritchy and I knew that was the chance we would take with that part of the stream. Like I said, lived around here my whole life and I still don't like Shoal all that well. There are streams that are better to fish that are just as close to me. JMO

Trust me, you would have laughed after the fact. I know I would have.

Went down to Shoal creek early Sunday morning and just like clockwork it rained around 10:00. Not very heavy, but enough to take cover for a few minutes. Luckly I decided to bring a tarp just in case. I should have known the day wasn't going to go too good when I asked my buddy if he had the keys to his vehicle at the take-out. We were a good mile to mile and a half before we discovered this so we paddled back upstream to go get them. Ok, now were back on track and heading downstream and I'm catching a few g-eyes, but no smallies or greenies yet. Oh well, no big deal right? Then comes the rain and we find some shelter under a railroad tressel with a good flow around the pillars and some depth. I pulled out a smallie and a largemouth finally, but no big size at all. After the rain we got our stuff and moved on. It's around 11:00 now and we "think" we are about half-way through our float....... we find out around 3:00 we are just half-way! I was told and thought myself this was only going to be a five mile float, not 8! So now we are paddling like crazy to make our take-out cause we don't know where the h*** we are! On top of that we had to port twice around two huge log jams. The first one wasn't to bad, but the second one was a bugger! Up a five foot embakement of mud, then around and through the woods to make our own path. Finally back to the creek where we have another 4-5 foot embakement back down into shallow water. Buddy goes first and gets yak into water just fine then comes my turn. Just as I'm about to slide the boat down the bank the mud gives out under my feet and I end-up face down in to boat and rack my kneecap thinking it's broke! Let's just say I have had lots' better floats down better creeks. Mind you Shoal creek is only about five miles from my house, but I have never had the notion to float the creek. This was the second time I have ever floated it and will probably be the last. I know a lot of people like Shoal, but it's not for me. Lot's of long pools with stagnet water and the water is ALWAYS stained due to the farming done around it. I know there are big fish in there, but someone else will have to catch them! Oh yeah, black seemed to be the color we were catching them on.

Ozarkfisherman, you know ol Ed too? Went to school with his boy. Is there still a sign there saying it's Ginger Blue since they dozed it all down? Since it's a fraternity float I would suggest Sugar Island, I think they may be more tolerable to your needs.

Your talking about Eagle's Nest by the low water bridge right? I haven't been there in a couple of years, but I know the directions to where that is.

You would think the record would come out of a bigger lake like LOZ, TR, Truman, any of the bigger ones for that matter. That's pretty cool though. Over in Lamar there is a lake and at one time a little store of some sorts that had a huge crappie up on the wall caught from there. Think it was over #3 at least. Wonder why smaller ponds and lakes are conducive to bigger slabs? I don't normally crappie fish, but am curious as to why.

I'll buy it if you throw in the Mohawk and the Pam too!!

I had a guy in Carthage plastic weld my pam 100. She ain't a looker, but the weld is still good! ( $10 ).

Here's something in 1/16th.

Yes, the discussion has come up several times about it being like "RR", but not sure how they will do that. City still owns the park and most of the access, don't think they will give it up that easy to the state. I'm not sure if the hatchery has stocked anything for awhile. I do know the city has gone out of its way to make the park more acessible and more attractive to families for like picnics and playground equipment, so who knows about the "RR" theme.

tclubbs2, I have never fly fished on Shoal, but I have fished at the Lime Kiln access and at four or five other ones close by. I have only had good fishing in two or three other spots and they weren't close by Lime Kiln. I like upper Shoal a whole lot better than the lower section.

Pack-Rat is where I bought my Pam 100. Nice people and good service. ONly bad problem about testing boats there is the little pond. Still, it's better than nothing I suppose.

I don't think the best fishing has happened yet either. My report from earlier was also the smaller males that he was encountering. After these rains things should really heat up!

Yeah my boss went on Wed. and said he caught a bunch too. Most where small, but he said a couple were nice mixed in. Said he lost a real nice over the side of the boat on a head shake. Oh yea, he fished downstream from 10 bridge.