tinner

I fished Palmer lake today from about 1:00 -5:15 and boy was it slow. I caught one 13" bass on a clouser deep minnow. The water sure seemed to be cold. The whole lake seemed slow. Some people on the bank that I talked to were getting skunked and there was a group of three guys getting out of their boat when I was getting out of my float tube and they said they had been there since 6:30 and only caught 5 fish between the three of them. Oh well it was nice just floating around in my tube. I will have to go back when the water warms up a little. It is a neat little lake.

I have never fished it before but have been wondering about it myself. I have found a little info from the US Forest Service site. It says it has largemouth, sunfish and catfish. It sounds like there are 2 other lakes nearby Howell and Parole that are smaller. I'm sitting here trying to decide where to go fishing in the morning. I was going to try the Current but with all the rain I may hit a lake with my float tube. If I decide on Palmer I'll give you a report. Tim ps. here's a link to the Forest Service site www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/recreation/fishing/

Looks fine........... If your a beaver.haha

I took highway 68 home this Fall when I went fishing at Loggers Lake. So I at least know part of the road down there. I will probaly go that route it looks like you end up right at Baptist and Tan Vat access. If it shaves off 15-20 minutes it means more time to flog the water.

Nice pic. Is the algae on the rocks in the pic the didymo that you were talking about? I couldn't help to notice you have a fish rule on the flyrod. Is that a sticker that you put on or from the manufacturer? Hope to get down your way sometime and use your expertise. Tim

Any specific flies for the emergers and pupa? I thought about trying an elk hair caddis and some kind of dropper. Is the streamside public ground or are there some private ground around the Current. From what I've read it seems like a lot of people park at Tan Vat access. How far down from Montauk is this . I hope to park somewhere and walk along the river but I want to make sure I don't trespass on somebody's land. If anybody goes down from the St. Louis area. What is the quickest way to get down there? I looked on mapquest and it says to go down I-44 to Rolla take 63 to Licking and then Hwy.VV. Other places it says I-44 to St. James to Hwy. 68 down through Salem and then Hwy.32 to 119. It even looks like you could take Hwy. 72 out of Rolla through Salem. Any info as always is appreciated. Tim

If everything goes as planned I'm planning on taking my first trip down to fish the Current and Montauk an 3/22. I have never fished either and was wondering how you would compare Montauk to Bennett Springs. Is Montauk as crowded as Bennett. I have been looking at past posts and other articles on both and somewhere it said that Montauk was the more rustic of the trout parks. I hope to fish the Current in the morning and hit the park for awhile on the way home. Hopefully you can get some elbow room at Montauk. I was looking at Weavers fishing report on their site and they had a picture of a place I was fishing this past C&R season and there were 9 guys lined up fishing that little area where I was. Nothing wrong with that but just not my idea of fun. Any input would help and if anyone is down there on 3/22, will have to say hi and put some faces to some of the names on here. I met RCGuy down at Bennett this winter and he sure was a good guy. Even though we froze to death that day.

It does have a nice clear creek runnning in to it. The site you mentioned is the same one I looked at before I went and under fishing it says smallmouth bass and sunfish. I was a little surpised when I got there and they had signs up about limits for largemouth and catfish. I hope the largemouth didn't displace the smallmouth there. I may have to try and get in touch with somebody with MDC and see how well it is stocked for smallmouth.

Has anyone ever fished Loggers Lake in Mark Twain National Forest outside of Bunker, MO. I fished it back in September and all I could get out of it were bluegills. The MDC website says it has smallmouth bass in it and also the campground attendent that I talked to said they were in there along with largemouth and catfish. I'm by know means a smallmouth expert but I thought they like fairly clear and clean water. When I went the lake was full of weeds especially the inlet end. The attendent said something about MDC dropping the water level because the kinds of weeds that are in the lake won't grow in the new water level. It is a cool looking lake and a nice quiet area but to me it looked like a classic largemouth and catfish lake. I hope the smallmouth are in there and they just outsmarted me that day. I would love to go back but it is a bit of a drive just to go for largemouth and catfish with similar lakes closer to my house. Hope somebody here has fished it can give some info on the lake.

My son got to see his first Blues game tonight. They put a thumping on the Blue Jackets. They had 3 pp goals and won 5-1. I think my son is going to burst from all the hot dogs and popcorn. It sure is fun to spend an evening like that with him.

I hope I never get one of those things. An old roomate of mine had one and the agony I seen him go through was terrible. Luckily he didn't have to pass it out the "twinkie" ha-ha . Iv'e never heard it called the twinkie. Good luck.

Great story.

Welcome aboard.

That's one thing I have to do more of this year. I need to get my kids out fishing more often. I have a 7 year old and a 4 year old so it's kind of tough with my work and my wifes work and baseball and dance and all the other stuff they're interested in. I have taken them to a few places here around STL but haven't found any place that the kids can consistently catch fish. You know how short there attention span can be. I am going to try a few different spots this year.

I love the forum. I think guest should be able to see the topics and threads before registering. I know I wouldn't have signed up if I didn't know what the forum consisted of. Thanks to all for putting on a great foum.

That's funny!!!!

I was down at Bennett over the weekend and needed a place to eat and seen this place and decided to try it out. It was excellent. I had a catfish and sliced brisket combo with 2 sides for only 9.99. I will be eating there again the next time I'm down there. It is on Elm St. before it runs into I-44.

Hey RC I hope you made it back ok. It sure was nice to meet you and have somebody to fish with. My hands are just now beginning to get the feeling back in them, but I'd do all again in a heartbeat. I had a blast. I can still hear that guy that fell in when he got out of the water....whoooaa whooaa. I stayed overnight and fished Monday from about 9:15 to 12:30. I would of been on the water a little earlier but my waders were frozen shut I couldn't get my legs through the foot part, the neoprene booties and gravel guards were frozen in a ball. Then I tried to get my boots on.... uh laces were frozen to the bottom of my boots and stiff a board. When I finally got everything thawed and got to do some fishing I did ok I guess caught 5. One was on a green copper john and 4 on some craclebacks. Thanks for the flies a darn tree trout got my last crackleback, so I tied on one of the ones that you gave me and caught a sucker or a chub looking fish that was rising ont the far side of Suzy's hole. Overall the weather was a little bit better on Monday 20's in the morning but more wind. Then around 11:00 the freezing ice pellets started and they were off and on until I had to leave for home. I hated to have to end the trip but You know the saying... all good things must come to an end.

Hey RC I drive a white with lower tan trim Mercury Mountaineer with MO plates and the license plate holder will have Dave Sinclair Auto something or rather on it. I was looking on the same weather report as you Sun. 38 and Mon. 40. The other one doesn't sound as friendly if the other one is right about ice on Monday I'll probalby will stay home. I will have to do some more weather homework.There's a big difference between 40 and ice pellets and windy.brrrrrrr

I'm with Greg I like the Glacier Gloves. The ones I have are neoprene on the outside and fleece on the inside. They have a velcro strap on the wrist to help keep water out and the index finger and the thumb have slits in them so you can pull them back and velcro them out of the way. They cost about $35. I also always have a hand towel or two with me so when my hands get wet I dry them off with the towel and them stick my gloves back on. I steal the towels from my wifey-poo's bathroom shh don't tell her

I'm hoping to go down this weekend and was just wondering if anybody else is going to be down there. It would be nice to put some faces to the names on here. Sounds like it might be a little chilly hopefully it doesn't affect the fishing.( I've never fished Bennett in the Winter.) Tim Brinkley

I'm hoping to go down this weekend and was just wondering if anybody else is going to be down there. It would be nice to put some faces to the names on here. Sounds like it might be a little chilly hopefully it doesn't affect the fishing.( I've never fished Bennett in the Winter.) Tim Brinkley

I'm planning on going down on the 20th and maybe stay the night and fish a little on the 21st. I have never fished Bennett during the C&R season. What are the hours that you are allowed to fish? Any must have flies for the C&R season?

I've had the pleasure of seeing one mountain lion in the wild before. A friend and I were fishing late in November one year in Colorado and we only lasted a couple of hours because of the cold. So we thought we would drive up through some trails. We were just driving along and talking when a mountain lion just crossed about 10-15 feet in front of us. It wasn't to scared really, just kind of trotted across the trail in front of us. We just looked at each other and our jaws dropped. It is rare to see them. I know when I was living in Colorado Springs they would have problems with them every once in awhile. I remeber once on the news that a mountain lion had either killed a mule deer or a big horn sheep in a subdivision on the west side of town. Another time I was working on the west side of town and I get to work and there are all these flyers posted. So I stopped and read one and apparently a mountain lion overnight had killed a deer on the grounds. I still can't get over how big those kitty's are I am glad I was in a vehicle.

I still haven't been able to find a Native Watercraft kayak around here. I have been doing some research online about solo canoes. I think the solo would hold gear more easily than a kayak ( I don't bring the kitchen sink, but close ). I looked at some Mohawk brands last night. If I can't find a Native Watercraft around here I will probably go with a solo. Thanks for everyones input.