Smallieguy87

I'm a county employee so i wonder if that would help lol ?

All this fishing on the Black makes me want to head to Lesterville and give it a go.

glad you had no issues! How long did you fish there? I'm planning on giving it a try sometime this week. I'll keep my eyes out for the house...if it's that big I'm sure I won't miss it.

I'm almost certain they're contributing to the PA and sheriffs office. I could understand them not wanting the partying and litter as well. They (Wash CO. PD) not so artfully dodge the question of why vehicles are being towed when Kingston ranch doesn't have rights to the shoulder nor do they own property directly to the side or right under the bridge. I didn't think about it but maybe I should call the PA Monday and see what he has to say. All these calls I think I'm beginning to make a name for myself lol

Awesome report and some beautiful pictures. I was going to venture out today but there was just to much rain and the rivers were getting up quick.

I've heard the no parking signs are gone now. Possibly because Kingston ranch can't actually own the shoulder of the road since that's state property. The same for the easement under the bridge. The barb wire fence (it's been a longtime since I've been there so it maybe gone) didn't run across it just ran underneath the bridge on both banks. I recently found an article online someone posted about putting in there and the picture didn't show the fence anymore so maybe it's gone. I'm not sure how to post a link on it but I'll copy and paste it. https://fllog.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/float-67-mineral-fork/ It looks like it would be fine to access there but parking could be iffy. I've spoke with multiple deputies and a Lieutenant from Wash co PD but I can't really get a clear answer on the parking but they've all said they have towed vehicles.

I frequent streams the size of mineral fork and mill creek and I never feel that way. I'm usually packing a spinning rod from 6'8-7' in length and never have troubles. I can see why people like to use a shorter rod for that type of fishing but I don't feel that I need one and I certainly don't feel like I'm at any disadvantage.

Wow! I need to get out there and see that area for myself. Those pictures are great. Looks like you have it made out there! Are they primarily trout streams or do they offer up some other species of game fish?

Nice picture Ron.

The only portion of the black i have had the chance to fish was the east fork last summer. I caught plenty in the 12-15 inch range but nothing bigger. I do believe that the black river is most certainly capable of producing some 4+ fish. I currently reside in Blackwell MO. I'm literally a half mile from Washington state park, about 4 miles from Kingtson access, a little over two shakes of a midgets ear away from mill creek and the mineral fork off F hwy. The way some locals treat the Black isn't much different then how the locals tend to treat the rivers and streams close to me. I'm not going to say someone is wrong for keeping a 4lb smallmouth out of any of those waters if they aren't breaking laws but i certainly don't agree with it. In general larger bass spawn earlier and produce more eggs then smaller bass so keeping that trophy fish could hurt the population as whole.

I've seen similar things occur on the Fork as well as big river. I was out fishing the big with a buddy of mine and saw a guy gig a big crappie and a really big largemouth bass. I've also seen the hoosiers gig flathead catfish on occasions. I call every time i see something like that. I'm not sure if any of them have been caught but i will say i haven't seen that kind of activity on mineral fork or the parts of the big i've fished in some time though i'm sure it still goes on. It's a shame.

I spoke with Wash Co. PD again today and was told that the property owners have been prosecuting everyone caught there. I called the courthouse to see if i could find out who owned the property and was directed to kohner properties. When i checked their page it looks like they do a lot of different apartment complexes but it doesn't mention anything about Kingston ranch. I'm still looking into a few more leads and ill update this as soon as i get more info..who knows it maybe worthy of a new thread.

Awesome catch Joe! Thanks for sharing the pic.

I have some fond memories of fishing there when I was a little guy around 10 years old. It is a shame that you can't access it anymore. I agree on informing them before parking there and I do think it's a good idea to be gone before dark. As soon as I hear back from them I'll post on here.

Funny that you'd mention that because i'm waiting on a call from Washington county PD. I was told there's a "distance issue" in regards to where a vehicle can actually be on the shoulder and around the bridge. Anyway one of their lieutenants is supposed to get back with me. I know from an officer that i have worked closely with in the past that they have towed a few vehicles from the area.

Thanks! I've fished it a few times this spring and maybe it's just me but it seems like the size of the fish I've been catching is a bit above the average for me so hopefully that means people have slowed down on catch and keep and the stream in general is doing well.

Hmm...I'm rarely on 47 anymore but I drive past everyday. I may leave a little early one day on my way to work and scope it out. I used to have some great fishing wading up from the bridge. I wonder if the fencing is still underneath the bridge? I didn't think they could do that since there's usually an easement for work and repairs but I'll try not to delve to far into it and turn a fishing report into property rights etc lol

You heard correct. Last time I drove by there were no parking signs. I've heard someone (Kingston ranch?) ran barb wire fence underneath the bridge as well. Before all of that went down I used to park there and fish, I had a run in one time with a really over zealous land owner saying I was fishing from "their gravel bar" I politely told them that I'm covered in water from wading and they don't own a gravel bar... They threatened to call the police but hey I was done fishing anyway lol.

Well said. I tend to remove as much of the hook as i can. When i first started to fish tubes i had deep hook sets a few times but have learned to lessen them by using slightly larger tubes and jigs. I still deep hook a fish every now and then and can't say that i haven't regretfully killed a fish. So i tend to pack a simple set of wire cutters and i do carry some hemostats on the occasion that i feel confident enough to quickly remove the hook. I remember the first time i killed a bass by deep hooking it....it bothered me for days! lol it still does.

that's great advice Al! Thanks a lot. We had no issues wading at all. The significant storms we had did change it a bit but not in a bad way. All the fishable pools are still there some of which are larger now.

This guy right here used to fish the hell out of a beetle spin. Still carry a few of those around as well.

I've had a tough time when the water has been pretty low. I'm not sure what the big river gauges are showing but the fork looked great and seemed to have more then enough flow. I saw a handful of kayakers and spoke with them and they didn't mention having any issues.

I agree with you on that one. I do feel there are better lures for targeting smallmouth but I always keep a few handy just in case. If all else fails they usually tear up the goggle eye and sunfish of all types!

Yesterday I decided to do a little fishing so a buddy and I hit the closest place which lucky for us access to Mineral fork is only about 4 miles away. We got a late start and didn't get to the water until about 2:30 but I guess we got there at the right time. At first The fish were biting well but not on any one thing in particular. The first few fish came on rage grubs in green pumpkin and zoom finesse worms in disco violet of all colors! We came to a point where we both wanted to try some tube baits since my fishing guest had never fished a tube and wanted to learn. So I rigged up a Mizmo small jaw for him in knappy blue(some sort of green pumpkin blue?) and I tied on a watermelon candy BPS double dipped tube. Within just a few minuets he had already caught two smallmouth and I had a big goose egg with mine. We head further up stream and he proceeds to catch another smallmouth this one a nice 14 inch fish and the biggest so far. After no takers on my tube I decided to tie on the Mizmo as well and quickly evened the odds. It got to about 5 in the evening and we were both about done fishing but decided to fish a busted up low water bridge before we headed back. On the very first cast in I caught the biggest fish of the trip so far and would later turn out to be not only the biggest of the trip but the biggest I've caught on Mineral fork.

Thanks for sharing that trick! I'll give it a shot. I haven't used anything from panther Martin yet but I've heard some good things. I've found the larger the rooster tail the less I have issues as well. I've found the larger rooster tails don't have that problem as often but still do it more then I'd like so I think that may lend some merit to that added split trick.