trout_bum

http://plateauflyshop.com/2016/02/10/them-oklahoma-boys-can-fish/

Here's one for you. I tried to pull it off, but it was too well attached to the fish, and I didn't want to injure it. Many times they will let go when you net the fish.

I was planning a trip to the Current next Wednesday, and I was wondering if they weren't allowing access below Montauk due to the government being shut down. I don't want to waste a trip if they aren't allowing access.

See Justin's post from above.

I can assure you that this ol' boy is still swimming. I keep them in the water only to take them out briefly for a quick picture. I revived him for at least the same amount of time it took to land him. He swam away very powerfully with his big caudal fin waving goodbye to me.

Stripping a taney sculpin.

Between Beaver Dam and the Houseman access.

I had a chance to bring the kayak down to the Beaver Tailwater this past weekend. I traditionally only fish this part of the White River system only a handful of times a year when I don't want to make the three hour drive down to the more popular Bull Shoals and Norfork tailwaters. I must say that this fishery has changed dramatically since my last visit in a very good way. It looks like the new regulations that were implemented have improved the number of bigger browns that reside here as I caught one of my biggest brown trout of this year (so far). I was also pleasantly suprised with the rainbows that were caught. They ranged anywhere from 6" to 15" and had the same striking coloration as the wild rainbows found in the blue ribbon streams I frequently fish in Missouri. My only compaint about the trip was the number of people. They were apparently having a one fly slash one lure contest that weekend. Here's a picture from a wonderful weekend.

I caught a few waleye below the dam this summer on a fly rod. I wasn't sure what the regulations are for waleye below the dam or else I would have kept them.

It is the Scott F2 6'6" 3 weight. I'm lovin' it.

Phil, You're more than welcome to check out my photobucket Crane Creek album. There's quite a few pictures of some of the fish I've caught as well as pictures of the creek. http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z246/cwdou81/Crane%20Creek/

It's that time of year again, and the trout of Crane Creek are starting their spawn. I always like to take the opportunity this time of year to use this forum to remind people how important it is to watch where you are stepping when fishing Crane. If you must cross the creek or have to get in the water, please be aware of light oval shaped patches of gravel in the stream bed. These are trout nests, also called redds, and likely contain hundreds of fertilized trout eggs. They will usually be located in the shallow water at the tailouts of the pools. Also, if you observe fish actively fanning or guarding a nest, LEAVE THEM ALONE. Let them do their thing so they can repopulate. With that said, I had the opportunity to fish the lower access and also the city park area this past Sunday. I was hoping that the recent rains would have brought the creek up a little, but the creek was even lower than my last visit two weeks ago. I brought six very small parr to hand at the lower access and two in the city park. I hung around after the sun went down and was awarded with the rare 20 incher. Not a bad day.

That would be an accurate assumption.

Can't wait to see what the stream will look like when the water gets back to normal.

It was on the White River between Beaver Lake and Table Rock lake. I was using an egg sucking hare's ear.

Good to hear from you Don. I hope all is well with you. Tight lines buddy.

I don't fish the White below Beaver Lake very frequently, but today I met up with some fishing buddies of mine to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did. I landed this little guy and noticed a caudle fin sticking out of it's mouth. A buddy of mine pulled on it and this is what came out. ...and the release.

The water is very low right now and a few rainbows are showing signs of spawning activity. Be very careful were you step if you have to get in the water. There are many places where you can literally jump across the creek right now, so wading can pretty much be avoided. If you do see any rainbows fanning out redds, please leave 'em alone and let them do their thing so we can guarantee the next generation of wild rainbows in Crane Creek.

I've never thought about carrying a firearm with me while fishing, but after what happened I'm seriously considering taking some classes and getting a concealed handgun permit. You just never know what's going to happen out there.

That's funny because he had the screwdriver he was trying to pry the window open with in his hand when he turned around. I forgot to mention that.

It looked to be purplish brown maybe. Like I said, the paint was very badly oxidized. My adrenaline was pumping pretty good at that moment. My main concern was keeping my truck between me and him in case he might have pulled a gun or other weapon.

He scratched up the metal frame on the sliding window panels.

I recently took a weekend camping/fishing trip to Montauk State Park. I was so impressed with the quality and quantity of trout that this stream offers that I have made it my fishing venue for the last two weekends in a row. I focused most all my fishing in the blue ribbon waters below the park, and I must say that I now regard this part of the stream as one of my favorite stretches of trout stream in Missouri. However, this last weekend's fishing ended on a very sour note. I had spent most all of the day fishing from Tan Vat up to the park. It was getting late in the day and it was time to start my way back downstream to where my truck was parked at the Tan Vat access. That morning I had parked my truck just downstream from the main parking area next to the picnic table. I was coming around the bend about 150 yards upstream from the access and noticed another vehicle blocking the view of my truck. It was a dark colored dilapidated mini van. I reached the gravel bar at the access and made my way up to the main parking lot. I noticed there was only one other car in the parking lot. I walked around the front of the mini van to get to my truck. As my truck came into view, I noticed a man leaning over the bed of my truck at the back window. He hadn't noticed me yet and I could tell he was obviously trying to break into my truck through the back sliding glass window. I decided to approach my truck from the opposite side from where the guy was standing. I asked him with a forceful voice if he needed help finding anything. He jumped back startled and replied that he was looking for his screwdriver. I asked him why he thought it would be in my truck. He didn't answer. He just walked back to his van, got in and pealed out almost getting his van stuck in the soft gravel. I stood there for about ten minutes thinking about what had just happened and how it could have been a lot worse had I walked up to my truck after the thief had already made entry. The man looked to be in his late 40's to early 50's. He was about 5'9" medium build wearing a dark short sleaved T-shirt and faded camo canvas shorts. I can't tell you what make and model of mini van he was driving. It was in pretty bad shape and the paint was badly oxidized. Other than this encounter, it was an otherwise perfect weekend.

I was there on the 18th and 19th. Those were most definitely tricos. I fished mainly above Tan Vat the whole weekend. There were runs up there where the trout were literally boiling.

I fish upper Lake Taneycomo quite frequently. Just this past weekend, I witnessed something quite disturbing. They had been running one unit for two or three hours in the afternoon and I was fishing around the island across from outlet two. They turned the water off around 5:00pm, and I decided to call it a day around 7:00pm. I walked around the back side of island and saw dead trout everywhere in the slack water. There had to have been 20 to 30 trout belly up along the bottom of the channel. It appeared that most fish were in the 12" to 15" range with a few that were pushing 20". I can only assume that the low dissolved oxygen is to blame. Is there anything being done to remedy this problem?