hank franklin

Little Niangua?

I don't really have an opinion on brown trout in the Eleven Point. If the science is favorable, then it's probably OK. I'd want to see some pretty thorough science first though. If the MDC is watching, I want to see more attention given to smallmouth, period.

I found the actual statute. The wording clearly only applies to "tippy" boats. I imagine the distinction is there so lake-goers can drink Mich Ultra, Corona etc. in bottles. I'd like to see no glass apply to all riverways. The wording also clearly applies to glass beverage containers only. If you have a glass jar full of mayonnaise, that's ok, but you have to secure it. Vessels on navigable waterways, restrictions on transporting of foodstuffs and beverages--violation, penalty. 306.325. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean: (1) "Navigable waterway", any navigable river, lake, or other body of water located wholly or partly within this state and used by any vessel; (2) "Vessel", any canoe, kayak, or other watercraft which is easily susceptible to swamping, tipping, or rolling, but does not include any houseboat, party barge, runabout, ski boat, bass boat, excursion gambling boat as defined in section 313.800, RSMo, or similar watercraft not easily susceptible to swamping, tipping, or rolling. 2. Any person entering, traveling upon, or otherwise using navigable or nonnavigable waterways by vessel or innertube and transporting foodstuffs or beverages shall: (1) Use a cooler, icebox, or similar nonglass container, and shall not use, other than containers for substances prescribed by a licensed physician, any glass container for beverages on a vessel within the banks of navigable waterways; (2) Use a cooler, icebox, or similar nonglass container sealed in a way which prevents the contents from spilling into the water; (3) Carry and affix to the vessel a container or bag suitable for containing refuse, waste, and trash materials and which is capable of being securely closed; (4) Transport all refuse, waste, and trash materials to a place in which such materials may be safely and lawfully disposed; and (5) Shall safely secure any glass containers to protect them from breakage or discharge into any stream. 3. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a class C misdemeanor.

For you winos, the solution is simple. Buy a big plastic bottle of grape juice, drink the juice and save the bottle, then pour your wine into that. No glass on the river is a great law. One question I had from Wayne's post however is it seems to say no glass only in tippy boats, meaning the jet boaters would be exempt. Is this correct? I saw some jet boaters with bottles this weekend.

Thanks for the post Wayne. I didn't realize you needed to have a trash bag "affixed to the vessel." I always have a stream team bag, but not usually "affixed." I guess my glass water thermometer is okay.

Joplin airport recorded 1.5 +, Springfield also 1.5, Rolla a little less than 1, LOZ less than that, Spirit near St. Louis .75, Farmington trace. I'm going fishing today and checking the weather online. Go to noaa.gov. Big storms pushing through SW Mo. T-storms likely in the Meramec basin, where I'm going, but still hard to call. Probably a good fishing day. Severe storms not likley to be widespread. Also, for some reason the USGS river gages are all down?! Don't know what's up there. No readings since last night.

Okay, so I tried to think of anything at all I might carry that is glass. Two things: my water thermometer and the little percolator thing at the top of my coffee pot. Are they going to write me for that? I've been putting wine in plastic bottles since before the law came out. Learned my lesson once when a bottle broke somehow while stowed in my gear. Terrible mess. Reminds me of a Barbara Mandrell song: I was plastic wine bottle stowin, when plastic wine bottle stowin wasn't cool.

Rebel craw.

SealLine all the way. I've had one for 15 years and it's still first-rate. My other newer SealLine bags are excellent. Have a Northwest River Supply bag that's not as good, and an Ozark Trail (Wal-Mart) bag that's a step down from that. SealLine is a little more expensive but if you will use them frequently they're definitely worth it.

That article is just irresponsible. Can't believe a conscientious smallmouth angler would write it, much less a responsible editor print it. Cheap.

HEre's my bumper sticker:

We floated JF last year in a loaded canoe, Prongs to Bay Creek. USGS Mtn. View gage was 2.0 feet, 151 cfs. Never dragged at all. A little less flow would make for some dragging however. The JF in my opinion is the trickiest to navigate of all the Missouri float streams. (Saint Francis not included.) It will challenge your canoe handling skills. You need good teamwork between bow and stern in a two-man canoe.

Here's something I always wondered about: If you guide on NPS waters, do you need a license? Is there any kind of fee paid to the NPS to conduct what amounts to a business activity in a federal park? Same would go for the canoe outfitters. I gotta believe they have to pay a fee of some kind to do their thing. I certainly have nothing against guiding, or canoe outfitters, just wondering.

We floated the No Fo in March and caught a fair amount of smallmouth. Fair amount of trout too. I would've rather caught more smallmouth. The trout were rolling over and playing dead compared to the smallmouth.

Well, I have caught a couple nice ones, including a pair of big honkers caught on West Fork Black River in spring, 2001. Funny thing about those is I don't recall much about them other than they were caught on a Wiggle Wart out of a deep hole near Sutton Bluff campground. Both were released of course, one 18" and another 17". Caught a nice 16-eener out of the Huzzah last spring, on a Fluke just below the chute after the Narrows. A couple nice ones off the Osage Fork a few years back. This thread got me thinking of one of my favorite fish, which goes back to when I was in what I call my “student” days as a smallmouth fisherman. I had been reading Tim Holschlag’s first book and he was encouraging fall fishing for big smallmouth, so I decided to try a mid-October trip, which was a time of year I had never really fished before. Holschlag also talked a lot about reading water for hidden, or less-than-obvious, fish-holding spots, so I was making a point of looking for fish in different areas of the stream. Anyway, we were on the Bourbeuse River near Union and had just cleared a pretty nice long run and I spied a boil in otherwise quiet water just up ahead, right in the middle of the river. I was in the back of the boat and we pretty much floated right over the boil, so I really couldn’t do much but just drop my jig just upstream of the boil and let it sink into the suspect area. So I did and it sank quite a way, a lot deeper than I thought the water would be there, and when it got real low I felt just the slightest tap on the line. Somehow, instinctively, I knew that this tap meant “big fish” so I pulled hard to set the hook and instantly it pulled back and I thought I must be on a rock. Still, I wasn’t quite sure it wasn’t a fish. So I pulled again but it still felt like a snag, though it did seem to maybe be moving a little. After a couple more seconds, and as we were getting downstream, the line went slack and the suspense ended, at least momentarily, as I figured I’d got off the snag, or whatever it was I had hooked down there. But in the next instant I noticed my line was moving again and it was then I realized what was happening, that it was a fish and he was coming to the surface. I hadn’t said a word to my fishing partner to this point but as the line rose I said something along the lines of “dude, look at this” and all of the sudden here comes a giant smallie breaking the water and leaping skyward! It was really quite a show and of course from that point on both of us were freaking out, being somewhat new at this, and trying to figure the best way to get the fish to hand. The fish dove again and it was a struggle to bring him up, but we got to the side of the stream where I was able to bring him to hand. At the time I remember thinking that it must have been a four-pounder or so, maybe even five! but in retrospect I realize he was just a mid-monster smallie, probably 16 inches or so, maybe 17 max. It was definitely fat though, much more so than the summer smallmouth I’d been catching, and was probably the first smallmouth I’d caught that was in the “football” category. We didn’t have a tape or even a camera so we let him go with only the story to tell. That was my first really big smallmouth, especially one that had been caught using a little bit of finesse. And of course the experience sold me on fall fishing. Every year I seem to catch at least a few big ones that time of year.

Man, you guys are driving me crazy with this big fish talk. I still haven't joined the 19-inch club, but it could be as soon as this weekend!? One of my favorite fatties was on the Big River above Blackwell in a little chute with slick bedrock and weeds on the left bank. We had just turned a corner and this perfect scene unfolded, trees shading the chute and all quiet, water gently churning, and like almost every memorable fish I've ever caught you could just sense that this scene held potential. I was in the back of the canoe but threw my black-gold Rapala minnow ahead of the bow and ahead of the riffle V and right into a little side pocket just off the current. A perfect cast and as soon as the lure hit, Wham! it was on. The fish went downstream and of course the canoe started skidding a bit as we hit the V, and I was trying to find a way to control the boat and control the fish at the same time. As we swung past he took a jump and showed himself and it was definitely the biggest smallie I've ever hooked into, so big it was downright scary. What made the scene extra pretty was this was the golden hour, high twilight and everything had that added dappled bronze golden color, including the fish. Anyway we slide past and then he takes me upstream and of course by now I'm trying to figure a way to hold the line without breaking, and he takes me into some weeds and by then my options were gone as the line got hung in weeds. The line went tight and snap! I was sunk. Sad, I know. We beached just below the riffle to catch our breath and for the next few minutes you could see the fish splashing and jumping, trying to get the lure outta his mouth. I hope he did.

I've now floated the entire Bourbeuse from Hog Trough Road (below Highway 19 in Gasconade County) down to Highway 50 bridge at Union. Haven't been below Noser Mill however since probably 2000 or so. If the rains continue I might try putting in at Mint Springs.

Pretty good flow up there yesterday, Gavin? Lovely spot at Eagle Hurst, been a while since I've been in that neighborhood. That stretch just above Harper's Slab has always been good for me. Bourbeuse was in excellent floating shape, we only had two long dead sections out of an 11-mile float. I had never been on that stretch before. Not as much rocky substrate as I'd hoped, too many muddy banks. I would have to rate this stretch a little lower than areas around Tea, Shawnee Ford and Mill Rock. Still nice though.

Al, photo 2 is a dead ringer for the two fish I caught. I think id-ing them is in the "you know it when you see it" category. You look at the fish and say, it ain't a smallmouth, but ain't quite a spot. Must be both! The smallmouth I caught looked like photo 1, though maybe a bit lighter in color. (Which maybe means they weren't pure smallmouth?) I didn't catch any real dark fish. The pure spotteds I caught were unmistakable. Did you see fish on the beds yesterday? I really didn't, though the water was stained and low viz so it was hard to tell what was happening on the bottom. Fish I caught were generally in current. I didn't target obvious bedding spots, but definitely knocked on the door to see if anyone was home. Didn't find anyone. One other observation: I saw more people out than I've ever seen on the Bourbeuse. At least 5 groups of fishermen, several others out just messing around, people at the clubhouses. Spring fever in abundance. Great day.

Hit the Bourbeuse for an overnight last night. Fishing was slow and the spawn did not appear be in full swing yet. River was up and somewhat murky but rolling very nicely. Caught just a few fish, including two suspected hybrid smallie / spotted. I didn't get a photo, which is unfortunate, I was in bad position for a photo both times. I'm not 100 percent sure on how to identify a hybrid, but both sure seemed to be part smallie, part spotted. Both had the head and general profile of a smallmouth, no rough patch on tongue, but the coloring and markings greatly favored the spotted. Any help on this point would be appreciated.

I received word that Bob Dyer passed away. Here's a link to a story in the Columbia Tribune. I didn't know him personally but enjoyed his music and the stories he told with them. His collections of songs, "Songteller" is as good a collection of Ozarks and Missouri river songs that you'll hear. Rest in peace Mr. Dyer.

Al, earlier you mentioned a photo you have of a hybrid spot / smallie. Please post that if you can. We've caught a few suspected hybrids in the past couple years. Regarding Tavern Creek, never been there but have made some inquiries and have been told by decent sources that there's "no problem" with accesses, fishing, etc. Heard from one kayaker that it's a nice stream when the water is up. I'd like to go there too.

Al, We've caught spotted bass on the Bourbeuse from Hog Trough Road down to Wenkel Ford. Smallmouth are dominant in this stretch but spotted are what you might call "frequent." After reading this thread, I plan to take much closer notes in the future. Also am planning to float Wenkel to Peters Ford this spring, which is a stretch I've never been on, and I'll report on that. I do recall some spotteds above Highway 8 bridge on the Meramec in 2005 though unfortunately can't confirm that from my notes. Regarding Osage Fork, have only taken one trip, Davis Ford to Hull Ford in July 2003. Notes from that trip say "No spotted bass at all." That was a quite successful trip for smallies BTW. Coincidence? Probably not.....

Al, I hope you intend to publish this work someday. It needs a wider audience than this website. Excellent stuff.

Wow, thanks for the great information. Wish I had something to add. I kind of agree with you on the spotted bass and smallmouth numbers starting to even out, at least on the Meramec watershed. We saw a period a few years back where spotteds seemed much more common. On more recent trips we haven't seen as many. Though we don't keep close records (maybe we should start) I would estimate spotteds were about 75 percent of the catch on the Meramec, Bourbeuse and Big from say 2001-05. In the last couple years it's closer to 50-50 and on a few trips smallies were much more prevalent. Could be a lot of reasons for that however, as our "sample size" (number of serious fishing trips) is only about 10 or so a year. We've also seen evidence that spotteds are getting bigger. We used to catch mostly dinky ones but their average size definitely seems to be increasing. I really feel the catch and kill encouragement on spotteds comes into play here. We've both kept several limits of spotteds, no matter how small. We've seen spotteds above Tea Access on the Bourbeuse and above Maramec Spring on the Meramec. Regarding the Big Fish question, I've fished Ozark streams consistently for close to 15 years and my biggest smallie is still just 18 inches. Thanks again for all the great info....