Johnsfolly

Mike, There's a lot of good water around Ashley. Did you catch any smallmouth? I usually would catch a couple even in Jan/Feb below the cabin downstream from the confluence with Ashley.

Great fish and story. Were you fishing upstream between Baptist and Tan Vat or downstream of Baptist?

I appreciate your first goal. I wish now that I had spent more time with my dad. So I have to focus more on time with my children. I just wish that more than one of my three kids loved to fish like I do. Since I set my fishing goals based upon the Missouri fishing license dates, I'm still working on last year's goals and won't reset until March 1. I do know that I want to catch a shadow bass this year. So I may ask for more specific information from you on the general location where you caught them on the Current river last summer.

I set fishing goals every year that are mostly based upon fishing a new water, catching a new species, or a total numbers goal for a certain species. Instead of going on the calendar year I track my goals against the fishing license year. So my goals are typically set between March 1 and Feb. 28(29). Back in 2013 I set a lifetime goal of catching a trout in each of the designated trout streams/rivers including Lake Tanyecomo in MO and I am hpoing to complete that by the end of Feb. I'm down to the white ribbon section of the Current River and the blue and red ribbon sections of the North Fork of the White.I didn't include the Stone Mill creek in Fort Leonardwood because of its size and the access considerations.

Ham what was your 2014 species total?

I have seen MDC reports for Capp's Creek that indicate that the stocked brown trout hold over at a higher rate than the stocked rainbows. I would assume that a similar pattern would occur in the Roubidoux. The brown trout that I have caught there in the red ribbon stretch were between 13 and 15 ", which would indicate that they may have been in the river for a while.

I've fished it several times throught last year and caught and lost trout and smallmouth every time. So it's worth the visit. I also agree with Ness that there are other streams close enough to make for a good day or weekend.

JK Thanks for the information about a different access. I definitely want to get back down to fish this river again. If it only had browns. Smallies will have to take up the slack.

Brian I saw your Saturday report. I'm glad that I took Friday off and made the trip then instead of waiting for the weekend.

At the end of last year I made it a goal to catch a trout on each of the designated trout waters in Missouri. I finally made it down to the Eleven Point on Friday the 2nd. I don't have a boat. So I took the hail Mary approach and hoped that I could land a couple from the bank or as deep as I could wade. Once I had a good look at the river, I now know why most folks say that this is best fished from a boat. I like to fish a lot of very light jigs and the amount of weeds and the heights of the banks made it impractical to use light baits. I did get a couple of short strikes from trout in the boat access at Greer bridge using 1/32 oz white maribou jigs. They were just pulling feathers, but I would try them later using some microjigs. I caught a 16 inch chain pickerel downstream from the launch area where I could reach some deeper water. I fished a couple of other spots downstream, but the bank kept getting higher and the wading was too difficult. I went back up to the bridge. I switched to a Rapala countdown crankbait in a brown trout pattern and caught my first rainbow just under the bridge. Behind the bridge pilings I caught a 10" smallmouth. At the confluence below the bridge, I caught this 14" smallmouth. I went back to the boat access and switched to a reel loaded with 2 Lb fluorocarbon P-line and fished a 1/125 oz microjig and caught another rainbow. Due to an untimely dip in the water, I decided to head down to the Turner Mill access to try to catch a couple of trout in the white ribbon section of the river. At the access I found this tree and was able to catch a couple of rainbows on a 1/64 oz tan maribou jig in the deep water running above and next to the snag. After I landed my second trout, it began to rain again and with my waders and rain gear soaked from my dip up at Greer I decided to cut the trip short. I'm looking forward to a return trip and with a boat. With a 400 mile round trip, I will probably try to stay down in that area instead of making another day trip. Now it's on to the North fork of the White to attempt to finish my goal.

Nice fish. I love seeing winter browns, but mostly on the end of my line. Looked like a great second day. Congrats.

Definitely nice trout. I need to get back to the Current this winter. I haven't fished it in over a year due to focusing on other trout streams.

Great post. I have a 14 year old that wants only to catch one or two to appease dad and then go back to his videos or games. He doesn't like to hold the fish either. My youngest daughter is ready to pull as many in as she can and she is a pro at unhooking the fish.

Your great video makes me want to take to four hour trip back doen to Crane and fish it again. My wife will just love that.

I would suggest the clear line. That way you can fish any trout water without having to change lines.I prefer 2 lb line, but if you want to fish any small cranks or roostertail spinners go with the 4 lb. Trout magnet and microtrout magnet jigs fished 14 to 22" below a float will work well for the community ponds. I prefer pink, pink white, orange and yellow jig bodies. Good luck.

I took my daughter down to Bennett's on Sunday and she caught a dozen banded sculpin using a microgloball with a split shot. She had already acheived her goal of catching four trout and was fascinated by the sculpin or "bottom dwellers" as she called them.

Ham What is your species total? Catch any new ones in September? The two most unusual catches for me this year was the 8" goldfish I caught in Hickory Creek back in Sept. and two golden shiners (6 and 7 ") while fishing for crappie in March.

I have had bats hit my line, but have never hooked one. When I was living in Florida, I did hook a brown pelican. Anytime you threw out your bait or tried to land a fish this bird would dive on it in the water. I tried to pull out my bait as it opened its mouth and must have set the hook. It took 5 minutes or so to get the bird close. I eventually had to cut the line to keep from getting beaten by its wings. It went right back to the railing that it was sitting on when I made my cast. After meeting with me that bird now had four lines coming out of its beak.

Nice pictures. I would have been happy with the first one if that were the only musky I caught. That second one is a great catch.

Great goal to get done with your daughter. My youngest daughter and I have fished all four parks and my wife and my tow other children have fished thre out of the four, but not in a single year. Sounds like a plan for 2015.

Good Luck. I hope to see some pictures by Monday.

Bluebasser I would love to hear how you did and what they were biting on. I would like to catch a musky and Hazel and Pomme de Terre seem to be the places locally to catch one.

Here's a giant longear that I caught on the Maries river. I didn't have to resort to any fake hero shots to show just how big this fish was. I just have a hard time bending my right arm at times. Ham I agree with you that these guys are one ot the prettiest fish in our streams. I would love to set up a fish tank with them if I could figure out how to keep their coloration.

Wayne I have thought that the Niangua would be a good candidate river for the slam. I don't know how far downstream you would have to go to get into good largemouth bass fishing. I would not mind giving it a try.

Ham I haven't caught a sturgeon. I don't have a boat. So I have not been out on any of the bigger rivers. I still am trying to get out and snag a paddlefish. I just want to catch just one.