DainW

Thanks Greasy

Just out of curiosity, how do you know what the water temperature is at a river without actually going to the river and dipping a thermometer in?

Thanks for the info Al. It looks like that book is selling for 70 bucks on amazaon. I called the membership chair at Missouri Smallmouth Alliance, and he said he'd send me one if I joined at bronzeback level for $50, and all of that money goes to advocacy. No brainer there.

The thing about sinking line is that if your leader is too long and your fly isn't heavy enough, the line will get down, but not the fly. I usually like to go no more than 3-5 feet on my leader, sometimes you can get away with as little as 18" from fly line to fly though. You can do what Jtram suggests or you can just tie on a straight piece of floro. It depends on what you're fishing for and the size of streamers that you're going to be throwing. If I'm smallmouth fishing on a creek, I usually just tie on a 3 ft piece of 3x. If it's the high water streamer bite on the white or norfork, then you might go 0 or 1X.

Ok thanks for the information guys. Al do you have any small creeks that you would suggest as back up plans? Are some of these creeks tightly guarded secrets?

Ok so a couple buddies and myself are planning a Missouri fishing trip 3rd weekend of April. Just wanted to see if it's worth hitting the jack's fork this time of year? If so, is it an absolute must that you rent a canoe and float, or can you walk and wade and be successful as well? Just curious if I want to fish it, do I need to devote an entire day to getting a canoe and fishing it. Thanks, Dain

No problem. I saw a report on another forum that was right after the flood, and I think those guys did pretty well. I also saw the February report on this forum that I think you're referring to. Hard to really say off one report you know? I mean that could've just been a bad day, weather moving in, no bugs hatching, who knows. I don't really know the river all that well, but it seemed like I had to work a little harder this trip than last May. I don't know if that necessarily had anything to do with fish populations though. Could just be a time of year thing too. I mean they've only been stocking the park regularly again for about 3 weeks. I'm sure the more fish they put in the more fish will make their way downstream. There's definitely fish to be caught though.

I fished it the weekend of the eleventh. Fished from about noon to 4 downstream of Tan Vat. I caught about a half dozen decent rainbows and had a nicer fish on that I think may have been a brown but I lost. Talked to a couple guys that had similar luck between Tan Vat and the park. Last time I fished the river was last memorial day and the area between Tan Vat and Baptist has changed quite a bit, I think for the better. Lots of caddis coming off as well. River looks to be in pretty good shape, no idea on the fish populations though.

Ok so the camping on the river part, I'm not necessarily dead set on. I mean it would be nice, but aren't there public campgrounds and/or cabins available on the NFOW? What about from a fishing standpoint? Which river fishes the best that time of year?

Since I had to modify my plans due to weather/flows on the last trip, I'm thinking about making another trip to Missouri sometime in the last half of April. This time, a buddy and I are considering doing a two day overnight float, looking to getting into some trout. My question is, between the eleven point and NFOW, which river would you recommend for this type of excursion this time of the year? As far as fishing goes, which river fishes better mid-spring? Thanks, Dain

Gotcha. I was kind of just wondering though, I mean the way Ham and Wrench were talking about it, it's almost as if sight fishing is looked down on, even the kind I'm talking about. Just wanted to get people's thoughts on that, if there's something I'm missing? Also, yes JPB, safe to say I'm a pretty big dork lol.

I get that Mitch, but it's a little different than throwing flies you can't see at a fish you can and watching for a strike don't you think?

Is sight fishing frowned upon here or something? IMO there's nothing more challenging than sight nymphing a big, spooky fish (as long as you don't snag it of course). Is there something unethical about it that I'm missing?

Thanks for the feedback guys. Sounds like the rooms in the park aren't too bad. Like I said I don't usually care about the accommodations when I'm fishing, but I'v e made the mistake of taking my girlfriend with me on a trip before and staying in one of my "fishing hotels" and it's a mistake I'll never make again.

So I'm planning a trip to Montauk with my girlfriend around the first part of May. Normally this isn't the type of thing I care about, I usually just stay in the cheapest motel I can find. Unfortunately, since I've got my better half with me, I need to be cognizant of the quality of lodging. For the weekend I'm looking at, only the hotel rooms at the lodge are available There aren't any very good pictures or anything online. Just wanted to see if anyone has any experience staying in one of these rooms and rather or not they would recommend them? If not, is there any place to stay in the area that you would recommend? Thanks Dain

I'd like to think that the eagles and ospreys are at least eating the fish, and not mounting them on their living room wall, but who knows.

I just saw a FB post that this guy was mentioned in from a taxidermy company featuring a big brown this guy caught and brought to them, and how it would go well with the other 20 or so that he has brought them. Even better. This dude isn't even eating these fish. Just killing them for the sake of killing them. Literally makes me sick to my stomach to think that this guy has to kill that many big fish to get a skin mount, when he could have just as easily gotten a fiberglass mount that would look good and last longer, with the added bonus of not having to kill the fish.

4 fish a day in the park isn't enough for this dude? He has to come poach the blue ribbon section? What a tool. I commented on the pic of him holding two browns below baptist camp to let him know that it was illegal and being reported.

No that's Nathaneal Ferguson. I think he sometimes does some trips out of two rivers though. He did a great job we had a good time. Would recommend his services.

The water was pretty good. Kind of had a greenish tint to it from the rain, but still pretty clear. Didn't get to fish it as long as I would've liked though, so I only hit the first couple holes down from the parking lot. Definitely want to go back and devote a whole day to fishing it.

Ok just got back to Oklahoma City. Fished the norfork and the white Friday, then the little piney and current river blue ribbon section on Saturday. Had a great time and got lucky on the weather. Thanks everyone for the advice in planning the trip

Yeah I think that's kind of the issue. It looks like it could possibly rain every day next week. Guess I'll just have to keep my eyes glued to gauges....I'm wondering does Little Piney clear faster than some of the surrounding rivers due to it's size?

I'm supposed to fish with Nathaneal Ferguson on Friday. I talked to him today it sounds like he's thinking there's a pretty good chance we'd have to fish white or norfork, which is fine by me. I'd still like to venture up into Missouri though. Hopefully the current is still fishable or one of the smaller creeks.

Ok so the trip is scheduled for March 11-14. Planning on getting a guide for NFOW on Friday, then either fishing the NFOW on Saturday or heading up to the Current. Current again on Sunday then maybe head to Little Piney. The guide tells me that for NFOW to be runnable in his boat that CFS needs to be under 1100, otherwise we're gonna be fishing the Norfork or the White. Based on the coming forecast, anyone care to handicap the odds of NFOW being fishable on the 11th? Also, from what I hear about 250 CFS is the max flow for wade fishing on the Current. Hoping that river doesn't come up too much either. Anybody that knows these rivers well care to chime in? Thanks

Sounds like first move is to invest in some flouro tippet....