bikehikefish

Nice looking crackleback SIO3

I used the string method twice; once on a kid at Bennett Springs, another time on my own son. Pulls the hook out cleanly with very little pain. It seems to be a better method than clipping the eye and pushing it through the skin. But I could not get myself to watch this video.

When they were considering paving it in the '80s they asked our local TU chapter whether we thought it should be paved. Our preference was to leave rustic areas, well um, rustic.

A couple weeks ago there were dozens stacked up where the Dry Fork dumps into the Meramec, just downstream from the pilings. +1 on the nylon rope gar fly. You don't need a hook.

Thanks Brian, that is what I thought from looking at the USGS site, but it is good to get a confirmation from someone on site. ...On the other hand, the gravel bar where I camped on the Current last week is probably under a few feet of water. What a year.

Can anyone tell me what shape the 11pt is in below Greer Spring? I hope to float and fish it this weekend, maybe an overnight from Greer to Riverton.

What the others say is true, marginal fishing, hard to wade. I put my kayak in at that access on Sunday afternoon. Three hours of fishing downstream from the access yielded one 9" smallmouth, one spot, a couple sunfish and a gar. The gar drove me nuts and cost me a $5 Rebel Craw. A couple guys in a jon boat were bowfishing for buffalo and pulling a few out.

Al, that is curious that Boiling Springs did not want to shuttle your vehicle. I used them this summer for a two day float from Boiling Springs to Slabtown, and they shuttled my vehicle to the takeout on the second day, so as not to leave it unattended for too long. Instead of the access, we arranged to leave it a the bridge about 1/4 mile past the access. They said they use the bridge because the FS wanted to charge them when they shuttle vehicles to the access. Whatever.

Yea, they stocked a bunch of browns back in May sometime, so fishing should be good for a while. Like CWF said, they will get poached pretty good during the summer, and the warm water will take its toll. Fishing was much better 5 - 10 years ago when we could expect to catch some larger browns and rainbows regularly. Then we had some hot summers, big floods, and the fish disappeared. Fishing has been crummy for the last few years, so much that I haven't bothered fishing it much. The stockers are fun this year, but it remains to be seen how long that lasts.

Put in two kayaks at Boiling Spring on Saturday about 10:00. The river looked to be at normal level and in good shape but fishing was slow all day with nothing more that some small smallies and goggle eye on a Rapala. The highlight of the day was the guy in a jon boat with his family telling about his property at Union that he would be willing to sell me for $10000. Didn't have my check book with me. While stopped for lunch the skies opened up and we had a good rain for about an hour. Only saw a few other fisherman in the afternoon and everyone agreed the fishing was slow. Made it a few miles past Mason bridge and set up camp for the night. I flunked the "remember to bring everything" part of the weekend. Somehow forgot the plastic connector pieces for the Eureka tent and we had to fabricate some from sticks and parachute cord. My friend Andy is pretty good at it and the tent didn't fall during the night. Cooking the steaks was interesting since I left the grill in the car. Some green sticks over the fire made a decent makeshift grill and we had only one steak fall into the fire. Sunday morning we paddled the rest of the way to Slabtown, catching some small fish and one decent goggle eye, one of the biggest I have seen for a while. Odd people were again the highlight of the day. Coming down the river we could hear loud arguing, with a female yelling "f---- you..." and an man yelling "well how many times have you called the sheriff on me?" When we got up to where they were camped, they were nice as can be, asking us if we had any cigarettes and telling us how stressful packing up camp is. I felt sorry for the kids. BBQ and a River Buck Ale at Missouri Hick in Cuba on the way home topped off a good weekend.

Good to hear the gasconade fishing was good. Big piney was slow. I will put a report on that forum

I haven't floated that stretch for a few years, but it seemed like the fishing was slow above Mason Bridge, but much better below it. I am going to do Boiling Spring to Slabtown Saturday and Sunday. Probably paddle through the deader water until I hit the bridge.

Thanks Seth. We were thinking about floating from Jerome to Belle Chute Saturday and Sunday and were wondering about how much traffic to expect, but it turns out we are doing the Big Piney instead. Good luck on your tournament. I looked at your schedule and saw a couple of the events will be at Belle Chute. I may have seen you guys there before when I was camping/fishing at Belle Chute. Fishing the pool at that access can be pretty good for a few days after your weigh-in.

Seth, how many boats in your tournament?

I thought that we have to stop fishing after possessing a limit, but after reading through the possess and limit section of the 2013 wildlife code, I do not see it in the rule. Wonder why I thought that, maybe it is a trout park rule?