tjm

Very informative thread now.

cool, got any pictures?

how tall is it?

I think I mentioned it has been a long time since I saw either pike or pickerel, my memory isn't perfect and I was never an ichthyologist so I reached out to the web and found the information for you. pike https://www.co.ozaukee.wi.us/DocumentCenter/View/2719/Casselman-and-Lewis-1996---Habitat-requirements-of-northern-pike-Esox-lucius https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Esox-lucius.html https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=676 pickerel; https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=681#:~:text= State , James 23 more rows https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Esox-niger.html

Pike can stand water of ~80F , if memory serves. Where I used to see them they preferred very weedy lakes and I think spawn in marshes/swamps. They eat every fish around including each other, so one habitat requirement would be huge supplies of prey. I've read of lakes that they were the only fish present having extirpated all others and more or less survive by cannibalism.

I just had a thought, in olden times (not sure how long ago) Z2 was Bass Lake and the water below the "Old Broken Dam" must have been quite warm this time of year, it would surprise me if they really did that basket stocking, sounds like a fish story.

I don't get around as well as I used to 20-60 years ago and coming back from down that stretch is a lot harder than it was getting down there so I'll likely just stick in Z2.

Actually the river is and has been flowing about twice as much as normal for this time of year, in the park last Tuesday the level was about where I like it ~80CFS rather than the normal 30-40CFS. It is terrestrial time there, with ants being popular, but I took the most trout on a dark olive marabou jig. I rarely fish RR before 10-11AM and usually quit before 5, those hours on a week day (any year but this) can mean very few other people on the water. I haven't fished below the park in many years but as I recall the parts I fished only held about one or two trout per 150-200 yards but the chubs were ferocious. Usually took a sculpin or two also. I'm not sure that area is ever actually stocked except with escapees. Was told once that the Z3 was stocked monthly and bait fishers would have them out in a day or two. Also have been told that there were either no trout or good numbers of big trout all the way to the lake and never put a lot of faith in either story. Stocking is typically done where it is easy to drive a tank truck. And in past years the river below the park has been quite warm to my hand, warm enough to make trout survival questionable. Link to RR gauge so you can check water flow before making that trip- https://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&site_no=07050152&period=&begin_date=2020-07-01&end_date=2020-07-20 I have never found a crawdad pattern that was effective for me really, and most a hard to tie, but marabou jigs, cone head woolly buggers, lead eyed bunny strips all seem to work as crawdad imitations if fished in the right area and with crawdad like movement for smallmouth, which really make up the majority of my fly fishing.

Some times the biggest fish will only want tiny flies and sometimes they will rise to ants or such, but moving takes energy and nature has taught big fish to seek food that has enough energy to pay for that used to catch it. The saying that big fish like big bait is true some of the time and should always be given shot. A fish just laying there is using almost no energy, perhaps saving it to chase a substantial meal, maybe. I don't always make the presentation directly in the fishes face either, I guess that if a fish is enticed enough to peel out and cross the current to grab a bite it will maybe be committed enough not to refuse when close. You asked about nymphs, mine are hare's ear, hare's ear, muskrat, hare's ear, and pheasant tail. I usually tie them shank weighted with lead and no bead and fish them singly. I'm suspicious that bead heads work best with a bobber of some sort and don't drift naturally if not suspended. The disclaimer is I am not an expert and the little I know was learned by trial/error ~50 years ago so may not be up to date. I don't even know how to use and indicator really. My trout fishing is mostly confined to RRSP nowadays, as the closest place. Much more fun with bass.

They were waiting for you ditch two fly thing and feed them 3" of marabou.

Gordon Roller (GL Custom Rods) in Cassville does my rod work.

It took nine years for the local telephone company to run a line 1/4 mile to my house, in the fifth year I demanded my deposit and construction fees back, ~$600, and years later they ran that line in one day when I wasn't home and never did charge the construction fee. They still don't provide good internet service. But during those no phone years is when my kids would have needed internet if the schools had required computers. The next door people came from the west coast and lived here over ten years with no electricity, both educated people, three kids grew up and are successful, the woman recently retired from teaching science; they just did not want to deal with "the grid". They finally had the power turned on when the school demanded she have internet for her work. Then he built a solar set up that allowed them to shut the electric off. REA won't run power to a place that doesn't have well, so any one starting out on new land isn't going to get power right away. We are only about 60 years into electric availability in rural areas and lots of places don't have power within a mile.

Shown as nonindigenous established in the James basin 2005- https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/CollectionInfo.aspx?SpeciesID=681&State=MO

MDC inventory of the Meramec shows samples of northern pike in the 1940s, '50s & '60s and also grass pickerel. It would be about the extreme southern limit of pike's native range although the Mo. river held pike historically. Pike have been stocked Lake Ozarks ('97), Miller Lake ('66), Stockton Reservoir ('75) and in the Meremec River ('67) according to USGS.

It's been 35-40 years since I caught either but that fish appears to have scales on the gill cover =pike and it doesn't appear to have the teardrop (black vertical line below eye) that pickerel would have, another pike characteristic is the rounded dorsal and anal fins compared with the pickerel's almost square fins. All these are visible in the images Seth posted. The dead fish is a northern pike, imo. As I recall these differences aren't obvious in fish less than 10'' or so, but I had both in some waters and they each had different regulations, so ID was kinda necessary. In that area if it was over 2' it was a pike.

2000 deer would feed 1200 people for a month or more what a waste of money. Average cost of ~$2150 per cut.

Crappy dogs have special protection Mo. because the Old Drum case Burden v. Hornsby I've been around working and hunting dogs all my life and a good dog is a treasure, rare as can be too. Pet dogs are nothing but aggravation to every one, the people that keep any animal as a pet are beyond my understanding and most don't have any idea of how to train an animal. When a dog bites someone the owner should have to pay restitution and undergo psychiatric treatment before being allowed another pet. Biting dogs should be euthanized after the first time.

Last week in zone 2, I wet waded the C&R stretch and they were liking terrestrials. I believe there is a piece or three of private land at the upper end of the CA, I don't recall any boundary marker but it was many years ago the last time I made that hike. Regulations and permits should be the same tho.

Trout get that mushiness and funky taste from being on a stringer, doesn't mater where they com from.

Trout being non native are only going to be found in easy access places, places that are basically drive to for stocking purposes. Even the few streams where trout are naturalized were stocked previously, so were accessible. If you target native fish that 30 miles of good water becomes hundreds of miles and chances of getting of the well trod path increase many fold. I don't believe you can get more ~2.5 miles from a road anyplace in the Ozarks, likely much less any place there is a stream.

have you tried this knot as a stopper? https://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/bobber-stopper-knot

There are a few thousand lawyers that want to talk to you and make you rich .

I have used up almost five colors of LC tying flies over the years and can tell you that about five to seven turns of the core lead is about perfect for most weighted flies. It's also useful as a sink tip on a fly line but can't be cast by itself. I don't troll but I have questions, speed? how did you measure the depth the lures reached? when did the LC tangle and on what? current?

I'd have to leave my five county area.

Yes, I have the perfume allergy and I can tell you who used hair dye this month. Some perfumes make me pretty sick, and funny enough skunk odor doesn't bother me at all.