Cajunangler

If you have a MDC state river access book I beleive they call it an access off of Hwy V. The locals call it marble ground but Hooten Town calls it Goff Creek access. It is not a MDC access but rather a rough access off of the road with a short hike (100+ yards) downhill on dirt to the river. I am sure if you look at aerial photos on mapquest you could possibly identify it. I think it is about 10-11 miles from Kerr access. I can usually make that distance last an entire day, but I definitely move slower than some.

Wayne, I have hit that section more than I would like to this year. I would prefer to be hitting different rivers around the area but the lack of rain and scheduling conflicts with my usual river partner I have been forced to use the HT shuttle services. I tried to hit Marble Ground to HL Kerr on Saturday but the HT shuttle service had two shuttle vehicles down and couldn't work things out to get me to that section. I won't say I have been struggling with numbers but overall size has been far smaller than usual. I am hoping to get to the Niangua later this week and see if I can find a few larger fish up there in the cooler spring waters. And to clarify why 2 nights should be fine on the James right now. With the lack of rain the flow is fairly slow and there will be several sections (50-150 yards) that will require pulling a loaded canoe at this time. I can easily see making it from HT to Galena in a day during early spring but right now that would require a great deal of paddling.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but going from Hooten Town to Galena in one day with any amount of fishing is crazy!! Sure, there are "floaters" that do it all of the time but they aren't letting their paddles dry off any. I recently did from HT to HL Kerr with one night of camping and adding the stretch to Galena for another night should be fine. Of course, it all depends on whether or not you are FISHING or simply making the occasional cast. If I did that float I would make sure my second night stop was prior to reaching Kerr. The only bad thing I can say about the James this year has been the size of smallie I have been catching. Not nearly as many keeper sized (over 15") and lots of fish in the 8-11 inch range. I know the James gets hit real hard and there is no doubt that some folks are keeping fish ( to each his own ) but unless I am just targeting the wrong areas I have seen a drastic decline in larger smallmouth. I wish I had another alternative with decent shuttle services but very few rivers offer those options within a 1 hour drive from Springfield. Good luck on your float.

My understanding is the $250 from FLW is the total compenstation for fuel, oil, etc. Even with the current cost of fuel I am hoping the guys I get don't want to run the entire 6 hours we are on the water. But if they do I only carry 33 gallons in my PII so that is their total amount allowed. If you have any additional questions you can contact Kevin Hunt at khunt@flwoutdoors.com Does anyone know if we will be able to utilize any boat slips at the State park for early launching? Kevin had suggested launching prior to a 6:30am meeting but I am not fond (nor willing) to pull my rig on the rocks. Just Curious what info others have heard.

Bill, I understand not wanting to make additional keys at $80 each BUT I can tell you that my good friend in AR has a 08' or 09' Avalanche and was able to get a cheap spare key from Wally World and while it won't start the engine it will unlock the doors. He keeps a couple of extra spares in different dry bags when we fish rivers as a back up. FYI I am sure you could do the same thing and use the magnetic holder idea to place one in a safe place under the vehicle. And if it did not work you would only be out a couple of bucks.

Good info on the Bama rigs. I am heading the Alabama to fish Lake Jordan and a few other private locations soon. I hope to try these things out in their home state. "For you Chevy Owners. Buster accidently locked my keys in the Avalanche at Buck Creek. Call my OnStar and they said my subscription expired, Dec. 12th. Said when it expires you have to go to the dealer cause they send a signal to burn out the receiving module. They could not unlock it. Had to go from Blue Eye to Buck Creek 2 times. Could be a deal breaker for me on the Chevy's I started out yesterday at 3:30 AM and got home and the boat put up at 8PM." I know this is sort of a side topic and can honestly say that some of the information shared (since I drive a Suburban) I wish would have been left off of this or any other public internet converstaion. ie. How to break into a chevy truck!! But Bill I just had to ask: What other company offers the ability to open your vehicle via a satelite feed? And would do so after the subscription expires? I also locked my keys in my suburban a couple of years back and was quite upset BUT I couldn't get mad at GM since it was an accident that I caused and I chose to drop the onstar thing after its initial 12 month period. Honestly, it didn't even occur to me to give them a call. It is too bad that GM hasn't adopted a policy to help out GM owners with a "lock service" program requiring a per incident fee, but I am sure their response was directly caused by individuals needing that service but not having a current subscription. I doubt very seriously any part was disabled since they can still track and disable vehicles when law enforcement agencies get involved. As Forrest Gump would say "-hit Happens! and we just have to deal with it and move forward.

Sounds like a good day ( or few hours) on the water. I am curious and wanted to know if anyone fishing these rigs on Table Rock felt like they were getting bites but not hooking up due to fish hiiting the lures without the hook? Or if there was a good way to select which lures to have hookless to prevent that from happening. Thanks.

FYI I didn't look at the specific dates you are planning your visit BUT there is a small tourny put on by BASS Elite during the days of April 19-22nd at BS. I know that week fell into the days we were planning a trip there and since we like to fish and not be spectators we opted for different dates. I know they can't catch every fish in the lake (unless they are throwing A-rigs!!) but we still prefer less competition when we are out fishing for fun. Good Luck.

Sorry Bimmer, I intended to add a " " in my post but the new formating threw me off. I know a lot of folks winterize their boats. It is an inside joke between myself and my fishing buddy in AR that we should prep ours for the summer and not the winter since we usually leave the lakes alone from July until mid September. Just too much traffic and heat to be on the deck of the boat when wading streams offers more fish and less company. I am also spoiled since I keep my rig inside the garage and it is only subjected to the severe cold when I hook it to the back of my truck, and I definitley try and pick the days that offer more suitable temps. Luckily, we have had quite a few so far this winter.

dtrs5kprs, the lake just hasn't cooled as much as previous years. We have had above average temps and far less nights in the 20's and below to bring the overall temp down. Every time we have a cold front it is followed by several days of moderate to above average temps. And Bimmer, what do you mean you "winterized" your boat? I know I summerize mine when the hot weather gets hear and I start hitting rivers but it is rarely too cold here to completely eliminate fishing for any extended periods in the winter. There is always short stretches of colder than average days but at least our lakes don't usually become solid like the poor folks up north. I too got out on MK day and had fun fighting the wind. I caught 6 with 5 good keeper sized but should have landed another 4 or 5 that struck at my offerings. Still a great day to go in mid January and not have to wear several layers of clothing.

Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed or maybe something yellow ended up in your Cheerios? Sometimes it is better to take a deep breath and push the keyboard back. Just saying, don't let the chatter get to you like it has others in the past.

I need to know you definition of "soon". You've got relatives coming into town, a river camping trip planned, and of course work and family. I'm suggesting a spray bottle if you want your new cat to see some water anytime "soon" . Of course, that's my two cents worth.

Everyone seems to get a little emotional when it comes to which lake they like and why. But as to your question as to what to try when you are down, YOU'VE FOUND IT!! Several weeks prior to your trip down start looking at post on here and asking questions if you've got any. I'm all about planning ahead and for vacation time you have to plan that well in advance but picking lures and patterns will be completely dependent on current weather and water levels. Good luck and hope you catch a bunch. And HAM, shut up!!!!!!!!! You simply crazy thinking Bull Shoals is somehow better than the Rock!!

Sorry guys. I hate to tell on my fishing buddy but he actually LIKES seeing the spots and the otters. I think he was trying to use a little sarcasm and that is always a little difficult using the written word. I guess he could have added an emoticon to help with the translation. We did have a good time and prepared well with regard to food and drinks. My thoughts on why we caught so many previously hooked fish centers more on people staying closer to home with regard to R&R this year with the higher fuel prices. ALso, we have had warmer that usual weather during the latter weeks of May and early June. I would imagine that all of these factors have created more pressure on local waters. Ham and I have decided next time we will find a stream that has far less or even no local outfitters providing assistance with access points. This might help elminate some of the added traffic. With the heat moving in we are probably done until fall weahter kicks in for any more overnight adventures. If you've never been in a small dome tent during a severe thunderstorm I highly reccomend it. We didn't know if we were going to become airborne or if the tent was going to implode. Luckily, neither of those occured but it was a very intense 2 hours we would both like to have never happen again!!! Our wives probably thought we were simply taking a gamble but the truth is NO inclimate weather was predicted prior to our trip. Only small chances of rain and nothing about the possibilty of severe weather. Oh well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Ham's a little older than me and slept through some of the event but if it was my time to go I at least wanted to be alert when it happened. I was very happy to see the moon pop out after the trailing rain moved on and I was finally able to get some much needed sleep. I am blaming lack of sleep on why he caught a few more fish than me on the final day.

Thanks Don. I was a little concerned because Babler had said the "park" was closed. I guess he meant it was closed for camping activities. Thanks again. If I don't have to leave too early due to thunderstorms I'll try a post a quick report.

Don, thanks also for the reply. I too was wondering whether or not going to the lake was a good idea. Sorta getting cabin fever and need to go somewhere to fish but was curious about which ramps were currently accessible? I know during the 2008 event I was able to launch at Mill Creek and was wondering if it is useable at this point? And if you know any others that would be decent options for one person I would appreciate the update. Thanks!

If anyone thinks the comments Larry made are out of line you must already be outside the doors of KY3 here in Springfierld marching. They announced last night at 10pm that quite a few products that are made in Japan are probably going to experience shortages and that prices for these prodcuts will probably go up in the short term. They also added that simply putting off purchasing items that are not completely necessary would allow time for the supply chains to reopen and let prices return to previous levels. C'mon, if you've got any problem with Larry's comments surely you can't like what they said. And more importantly, don't shoot the messenger!!! This is supposed to be a forum about FISHING and fishing related topics and Larry was spot on, nothing more involved than that.

Very nice fish. And ain't it amazing how much one can weigh and still not be 15 inches long!!! I know it is longer than fifteen but so many spots seem to just stop right before that mark and turn into large footballs. Congrats!

Man, everybody seems to be only concerned with those toothy critters. I guess that just leaves more of the green & brown fish for us. As to water temps, depending on location (main lake or up a creek arm) and time of day we were seeing anywhere from 46 to 51. But with the current temps and cool nights predicted this week we'll be lucky to have them hold steady all week.

WOW!! You didn't even let me get home before posting a report. Besides, I was going to stop posting and just stay in the abyss like most of the others. Now Champ188 don't send me another comment about being negative, just a little ribbing here and there. And powerdirve, I have to apologize for Ham because he didn't specify this was a GREEN FISH report. I'll try and edgumucate him. I also fished Friday solo and tried a different area to see what was happening other places. I struggled for half the day and didn't even boat a fish until 11am. I guess you can't catch fish where they ain't. I finally figured out a few locations holding a few and caught a total of ten before leaving right before the bottome fell out. All of my fish Friday came on assorted jerk baits. Most of them were 14-16 inchers but I did have one that measured 19 1/2 inches. Good solid fish. With this cooler weather what little progress they have been making to look shallow will probably slow down again. Spring is gonna get here eventually!! Ham and I have another two day trip scheduled next Friday and Saturday so I'm sure one of us will post something. Isn't there some unwritten rule that the boat owner, not the passenger, should post first.

Tfsh4bass, good to see your still chunkin and winding. Still a little early for true early spring fishing but its coming soon. Shoot me a PM if you want to load up together and head that way this spring. Warmer weather is coming soon!

I guess its okay for some to make wise cracks but when they come back your being offensive. Trust me, absolutely nothing serious about my "negative" comments. Just a little ribbing that I assumed was okay since powerdrive sort of started it. I am a little surprised since powerdrive indicated he doesn't like fishing for green fish that he even re-visited the post to make any kind of rebuttle. Of course, powerdrive, if you visit again I like fishing for other fish as well so feel free to add post on when and what any fish are biting on. You didn't say exactly what you do like but if its walleye I like catching them too. The written word is harder to show sarcasm than when it is spoken but try and not take anything I write too seriuosly!!!

Well powerdrive, I guess like the song about the Streak says "Don't Look Ethel" but it was too late for her to turn away. I guess the temptation to find a report about whatever kind of fish you are hoping to catch was more than you could take without turning away. No worries, I doubt I bother sharing much info in the future which should be beneficial to all. I'll just lurk anonymously in the abyss like most others on the site.

Thanks Hogfan for the comment back. I wasn't "fishing" for a pat on the back but simply curious why others are more than willing to gain information but never seem to share. I know lots of folks fish tournaments and that tends to make them more tight lipped. I don't and like to offer help to others whenever I have a little success.

Ham, you took the words right out of my mouth on ( > 150 views and two comments. Hmmmm.) and with all of the other anglers I saw on Saturday and Sunday I would have figured there would have be several other post. I guess none of the one's looking at this post or Worley's are members that fished this past weekend!!! I guess the real reason is probably more like "Bull Shoals is the big secret located between Forsyth and Midway that no one wants to talk about." But based on number of boats I usually see there someone must be talking somewhere, just not here. Don't worry, I'll keep my comments and pics to myself next time. I wouldn't want the lake to get crowded.