creek wader

Thanks. i doubt if i'll make it down there. But, it sounds like it's hot right now.

Ok, you didn't say orange belly earlier. Longear sunfish would be my guess. They are quite common and have the orange belly. See here; http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx...h&mkt=en-us Also, a pumpkinseed has an orange bellie but not as common as the longear. Like I said, I would love to see a pic.

Welcome. Stick around for awhile, this site will grow on you.

I would like to see a pic of the fish that your talking about. Sounds like a flier. If it looks like a crappie and is green like a sunfish and is not a bluegill. That would be my guess. Look at a pic of them at this site. Click on the 2 pics posted. http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=150

Congrats on your retirement Gary. I've been on for 28 yrs., now. currently an engineer with the U.P. outa KC. Hired out with the MOP, up in Nebr.

I take it, that you fish the Elk, Sugar, and the surrounding streams?

Only made down there one time, several years ago. We were doing fairly well on smallies at the start, then we got caught in a torrential downpour and the fishing turned off. Always wanted to go back, but it's too far of a drive. Glad to hear your catching them. If you keep the reports up, I might have to find time.

Sounds like a hoot. What were you throwing at them?

Where abouts are you located?

I caught my first smallie on a fly rod on the Tavern Creek, just south of Jefferson City. I use my fly rod when I have lots of time. Which is pretty rare. I usually use an ultra light and carry a fanny pack of various lures. I travel light and fast. I try to cover as much water as I can, in the few hours that I get to escape.

siusaluki pretty well summed it up. It starts southwest of Vienna and flows to the Osage river, just west of Jefferson City. It's a smaller stream and yes, I am a soft plastic kind of guy. That's about all that I ever use.

How about the lower Current River?

Congrats on the catch and kudos for releasing it.

I debated a long time between the fold cat and the Sea Eagle inflateable 330 kayak. I bought the kayak and have been pretty happy with it. It's very rugged as I am very rough on my boats on the streams. If I fished lakes more than streams, then I would have bought the fold cat. Instead I fish the streams more, and wanted something more narrow with a lower center of gravity. As with all inflatables your subject to be a little wind blown. Sea Eagle makes a good product.

A coworker did real well on crappies on the main lake, right ahead of the front, Friday.

I did pretty good on the Maries River last week, it's already cleared up and the smallie bite is on, also, it had good water and flowing at a good clip. It's smallie time on the smaller streams.

then it's gotta be on the buffalo river

I went out for a few hours before the storm hit Friday. I didn't do as well as the first time out. I wound up catching 8 smallies, with the largest being 12 in. and the average around 10 in. Only 3 rock bass, but they were very stout fish. Also, a handful of sunfish. Was only able to fish for about two hours before the rain hit and boy did it ever. I made it to the suv just as a torrental downpour started and it had some hail in it. I had to pull over and wait it out. The temps dropped about 15 degrees after it blew through.

Jeff, it's just above hwy P.

Jeff, I believe that the Maries is one of the best kept secrets around. Please don't think that I am an butt, for not revealing the exact location. But, this is my go-to spot and could easily be fished out. I only C&R. I've covered most of the accessable water on the Maries, from the mouth upstream past Vienna, and this is my favorite stretch on the whole river. But, I will tell you that it is quite aways upstream from Westphalia. The further upstream that you get the water is much clearer, with more riffles and easier wading. It resembles more of an Ozark stream, then down by Westphelia. While on the subject, there is quite a bit of good water that I haven't been able to reach because of the distance between accesses. I've roughly figured out that it would take between two and three days between points, (allowing for time to fish and portages), via canoe. I've always wanted to canoe/wade it but, unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time frame when I'm in the area. But, if your able to do 2 or 3 day float, I've got some ideas for you. I'm sure that stretch would produce some top-notch smallie fishing, close to you. Right now, there is a good flow and probably the best time in several years to float it. I've never seen anybody canoeing it, so there should be some virgin water there. You'll be able to fish a lot of water that even the locals can't reach. In fact any of the locals that I've ever encountered on the Maries, were fishing for suckers, not bass. Little do they know.

What a great day it was today. Temps were excellent and the sun was shinning. I finally got a chance to get out and do some wade fishing. Waded the upper Maries river. Judging by the debris up high in the trees, it had recently been out of it's banks and raging. It took a good flushing and recovered nicely. The water was clear with a strong current. The water temperature was comfortable as I wore wading shoes and swim trunks. The flood had rearanged that stretch of river. The gravel bars shifted and there were many more riffles and rapids. Some of the old holes were gone and a few new ones created. I found about a half dozen springs that I didn't know were there. So the water table must be up. I fished for about 3 hrs and covered about a half mile of stream. I did fairly well for the first real outing of the year. I used 4" and 5" soft plastics, to avoid the dinks. I caught 9 smallies, 3 largemouth, 9 rock bass, and a handful of sunfish. ... Smallies; 1 @ 15 in., 3 @ 13 in., 4 @ 12in., 1 @ 8 in. / Largemouth: 1 @ 14 in., 2 @ 12 in. / Rock Bass; 3 @ 9 in., 5 @ 8 in., and 1 @ 7 in. ... That was the most Rock bass that I ever caught on one outing on the Maries. All fish had full bellies and were pretty hefty for their length. I don't think the fish had eggs, instead I think it was their last couple of meals. With the water being so clear, I saw many fish and they were activley feeding. I saw quite a few splashing in the shallows, chasing minnows. All in all, it was a good day. Next time, I'll have to take my camera. By the way all fish were C&R.

Ran down to the Maries river near Jeff, today. A big front is on the way so, I thought I'd give it a shot. The river had been out of the banks and looks like a torrent of water went through the parking lot last week. It's back in the banks, but still up a few feet. It wasn't muddy but, stained. It's dropping now and that's not usually good for fishing. I threw a 3 in. tube below what is usually a riffle but now just a bump in the current. No takers. The rains have already started and I'm afraid it'll go out of her banks again. Oh well, there's still May.

The Osage river, both upper and lower is a good flathead river. So, is the Moreau River near Jefferson City. But neither are good smallie rivers.

Nice fish. I always catch and release (except crappie). But, I would never chastise someone for keeping a legal fish. You catch em' he's yours. I used to keep and eat the smaller largemouth bass from my farm ponds. I have never eaten a smallie. But, thought about trying one or two. Can you tell a difference?

Good report Bittle. Looks like a possibility of more rain tonight, with a flash flood watch.