chub minnow

Actually, she choses her own setup, tied it and caught the fish while I was busy trying to tie on my fly for the third time.

The park was packed on Sunday afternoon so, as planned, the wife and I hiked down from the park. We didn't catch or see that many fish, but she caught the biggest rainbow of her life. It was over 19" and beautifully colored. It looked like it had been in the river for a some time. Watching her catch that big fish and being alone on the river made it one of my best days on the river even though I didn't have much luck (unless you count minnows).

Thanks Tim!

Does anyone know what the water level is like below the park? I'm thinking of fishing from the park down to the cemetery. If the water is high enough I might take my float to carry all of that "essential" gear you need when the wife is with you. Oh yeah, and how's the fishing in the white ribbon area been the last few days? Any browns down there?

If I could just keep those goggleye off of my line maybe I'd have a better chance. I've caught several smallies in the three pound plus range on Sugar but never on Indian. I assume you are still talking about the area below Lanagan which I really just have not fished that much. My spots are all above the old hwy 71(but we won't talk about that!).

I grew up fishing on Capps Creek. Mainly catching crayfish on worms off of the old (only at the time) bridge. Since I graduated a Wildcat, I'm all too familiar with Hickory as well. There were no trout back then but I have since managed to find most of the decent pools on Hickory. I thought everyone that knew about the Big Sugar knew about Indian Creek. There aren't really any sizeable fish (in my experience) until you near the confluence with the Elk. If you want I can show you where they are sometime.

So we can give up the Big Sugar but not Indian Creek? I just intereseted how small a stream must be before we don't talk about it.

BTW Turkeyhawk, I've had some luck on wooly buggers, streamers, and crawdad patterns. At daybreak and sunset hoppers and crickets can work near the shoals, now that's fun.

Not only do they not practice C&R, some people are regularly baitfishing the deep holes until there are no fish left. I was flyfishing near the state park, having little luck, when I encountered a family in a flat bottom boat. when he asked if I was having any luck, I replied "not much" at which point he lifted his stringer holding probably 12 kentuckies or LM and about 8 or 9 smallies, most over the length limit with some shorts for good measure. At this point he informed me that "They're biting pretty good on minnows!". Yeah I guess they are. I don't begrudge people the right to baitfish or take home some fish to eat, but does this family of three really need 25+ fish for one weekend? I just really wish the MDC would show a greater presence down there. Electrofishing recently showed this creek to hold one of the highest fish per mile populations in Missouri, but I fear without some enforcement we could lose this wonderful little fishery. It can be a little scary down there, but I try to "remind" people who are poaching what the length and creel limits are down there. If people would just stick to the limits and the goggleye for what they take home I think everything would be all right.

I did an overnight float from Powell to Pineville a couple of weeks ago while all of the smallies were on their beds. I saw some chunks but didn't fish too much, I'm trying to do everything possible to help preserve this creek. Beyond the fishing it has some absolutely beautiful stretches to float, especially around the state park. I have seen several instances of poaching that have led me to adopt a catch and release only policy on the Sugar. Enjoy it, but let 'em go, some of those fatties are my buddies!

I was up there last night and the river is up and a little cloudy but it should still be fishable, and you can probably get away with a little bit heavier leader and tippet due to the coloration and current. Tim can surely better tell you what to use and where, but it looks like a good weekend to me.

Might as well include the actual keeper that I caught on a crawdad pattern wiggle wort up past Viola on a point. This fish absolutely hammered the crankbait. It was definitely the most exiting hookup of the trip. No, actually I think that first small fish in the cove that I cast to while chasing shad that hit the swimbait as soon as it touched the water was more exiting. Anyway, I know it's not saying much but this is my best largemouth on Table Rock in a while.

Might as well include the actual keeper that I caught on a crawdad pattern wiggle wort up past Viola on a point. This fish absolutely hammered the crankbait. It was definitely the most exiting hookup of the trip. No, actually I think that first small fish in the cove that I cast to while chasing shad that hit the swimbait as soon as it touched the water was more exiting. Anyway, I know it's not saying much but this is my best largemouth on Table Rock in a while.

OOPS!---"I had almost the same experience last Tuesday. I wonder if it was the same cove. Right behind the lost hill island? I was catching the largemouth on 5" and 3" swimbaits, (wild eye swim shad) and having a blast. I also caught some white bass in same area you are talking about (stillhouse bluff). Here are the pictures of the bigger fish."

I had almost the same experience last Tuesday. I wonder if it was the same cove. Right behind the lost hill island? I was catching the largemouth on 5" and 3" swimbaits, (wild eye swim shad) and having a blast. I also caught some white bass in same area you are talking about (stillhouse bluff). Here are the pictures of the bigger fish.

I had pretty good luck on the sugar last week using green trick worms and stickbaits. The state park area has quite a few fish in it, but the bite is very soft. I had to pause the stickbait for about 20 seconds to get the bite.

might see you there this weekend, I'll be in my green Mad River Canoe with my fly rod. The recent rain should warm things up a little. Looks to be a good weekend.

I was up there fishing the Kings through Tuesday and the best action I found was actually up a cove early in the morning. The largemouth were feeding off of the top like crazy. Caught three fish in ten minutes on the wild eye swim shad. The best fish was about 18". I caught a bunch of fish around 15" over the four days. This population seems very healthy. Hopefully the fishing will continue to improve over the next few years.

For my light setup I'm currently using a St. Croix Triumph (the ones made in China, so they're pretty cheap) medium light action, 6' rod. This was only $60 and I almost prefer it over the G-Loomis. With the Pflueger President reel it has great feel and has caught LOTS of fish. It's cheap enough to take in the canoe and is the best feeling rod I've fished for the money.

I'll be up there this weekend. We'll probably fish as far up as we can with the boat and trolling motor, then we plan on floating stoney point to romp hole. Maybe we'll catch some walleye while we're going for those big King's River smallmouth. I'll let you know.

Viola Recreation area has a boat ramp and dock. It's a couple of miles from the mouth and 5-6 to 86 bridge I think.

Did you make up to the King's River Coyote? I'm planning on going up there next weekend some time and am interested to hear any reports.

I'll be in the needle's eye area on that weekend (thru Tues) but actually plan on doing some white bass and walleye fishing up the White and Kings depending on conditions. But if B&J burned down, that truly is disappointing. By the way my buddy reported catching a 4.5 lb largemouth off of needle's eye dock last Friday. Might still be in the area..

There are also many primitive sites just off of highway 112 in the National Forest. If you have a pop-up, some of these have nice views and are 5 minutes from the park.

I have fished Table Rock my whole life and it can be very tricky to even get bit. I have always had luck fishing on big points where tributaries come in such as the Kings River. If you want to ensure catching fish make sure you are using a good fish finder to reduce the amount of time "looking" for fish. Also, if the largemouth bite is slow, often you can hookup with spotted or smallmouth if you change your tactics.