Paola Cat

Brad ..... Here's my data dump on the Niangua from 30 years of fishing it. There's good fishing down around the MDC Barclay Access. I have caught lots of trout (including many browns) and smallies down there. The numbers have been good but I've caught more quality fish in the "upper river". I guess I like the "smaller" river and "skinnier" water in the upper part and maybe it suits my style of fishing better. I normally fly fish or use ultra light spinning gear. When using spinning gear in the upper river, rebel teeny craws and salt-n-pepper slider worms are hard to beat. We normally float in a canoe and then wade fish the holes and runs. Hico Slab to the MDC Big John Access is a good smallmouth float also. I have walked most of the length of Deusenberry Creek and it's a fantastic small stream fishery and in areas you can jump across it. Also, Greasy Creek down by Big John has yielded some nice smallies for me. I have floated from the MDC Moon Valley Access to BSSP. I have caught some qualty fish on that stretch of river but the numbers have been lower and the canoe traffic can be horrible on the weekends. I don't fish any further downstream than Barclay. PC

Brad .... I have caught browns up to 8 lbs. in the area just downstream from BSSP and a few rainbows just as large. Those are the exeception rather than the norm. It's good fishing in that area with a mixed bag of trout and smallmouth. I also frequently float the "upper Niangua" from the MDC Charity Access to the Hico Slab. Great skinny smallmouth water with fish up to 20" and overall great numbers. That's a real nice stretch of water and you rarely see anybody .... even in the summer. PC

Will be there on Friday. Gotta get some of those orange rubber worm droppers. Fish On! Son! LOL

Amen Brother!

Tinner .... Just like all of the trout parks, Montauk can get crowded on the weekends. I mostly fish the fly only area upstream from the dam. Sometimes, I fish the entire length of the campground area down to the park exit. You should be able to find some elbow room. Also, if you're fishing the river, you can start at Tan Vat and work your way back to the park. Make sure you bring some olive mohair leeches. I'll be at RRSP that weekend and can't make it. Good Drifts! PC

I've owed a LST and a TFO Pro for quite some time. I recently purchased a Launch. As far as the actions are concerned, the LST is the fastest and the TFO Pro is the slowest for me. The Launch is in-between for me. I actually looked at the Launch based on the recommendation of JobyKSU. Went to my local BPS and picked up a 9' 5 weight and convinced them that I needed to go out and cast it. From the time I picked it up, it felt great. Casting was effortless. I took advantage of a customer appreciation discount and ended up ordering a Launch from Feather-Craft. I found myself gravitating to this rod during the last part of the C&R at BSSP. I loaded it with a SA Mastery Trout DT and have absolutley no complaints. I own lots of fly rods .... including high end Sage and Orvis rods. The Launch is a great rod for the price. PC

I'm in for a weekday hook-up .... let's set something up. PC

Dove .... Trying to make it down Saturday. Looking at the BSSP stream flow gauge, I imagine the river is still up. PC

NL .... Nice report. Does'nt get any better than ..... "There was stretch where I actually was tired of catching fish. My arm was sore from landing fish". LMAO. PC

I don't understand the logic on why you can't fish a fly in Zone 3. It's always bugged me. I totally agree with JD ..... Zone 3 has some of the best fast water in the park. The bait guys fish the holes .... the fast water is left alone. Lots of good quality fish in that Zone 3 fast water. I totally enjoy fishing it during the C&R season and pretty much only fish Zone 2 and Zone 3 during the C&R. Also, JD I do the same at Montauk .... fish that olive mohair leech in the lower portions and tear them up! PC

Dove, Sounds good. If you pull into the Highway 64 Niangua River access on the west side of the 64 bridge, and drive all the way to end of the parking area .... there's a boat ramp. We call it the 2nd boat ramp. We walk straight out from the 2nd boat ramp to the middle of the river (if we can) and work the west bank downstream toward the first island and below the first island. Good patterns include glow balls, leeches, buggers, and slumpbusters. It's usually a mixed bag catch mostly trout and some quality smallies. PC

Dove, When you fished the Highway 64 access did you fish upstream or downstream from the "last" boat ramp? PC

FMM ..... Man, that stained water at BSSP can be good! Sounds like a great opening day. I've actually been twice (in my 32 years of fishing BSSP) and did real well each time. I'm with FFM and Britt on this etiquette thing. Etiquette and crowds are the main reasons why I don't go on opening day anymore and the reason why I try to stay away on weekends (except during the C&R). I've had that same "soft hackle" guy experience in the same spot as FFM on way too many occaisons. I've got some stories about fishing in this area that are just unbeleivable as far as etiquette is concerned but I'll save those for "road stories" or another occaison. I'm trying to get down on Friday ... hope the crowds are light. PC

Some serious licks in that race ... that hit Stewart took was pretty brutal also. PC

Thanks for pics. Tim. The KC paper reported over 2900 in the park. PC

Dove ... Thanks for the report. I'm going to try ot make it down on the 7th. It rained pretty good here (KC area) last night. Probably continued on east. Hope the conditions aren't too bad. PC

Here's a pretty cool place to fish ..... Lake Huites Mexico. I've been there 8 times. Attached a few pictures of some of the bass I caught last trip. PC

A couple of months ago, I purchased a Sage Launch 9' 5 weight per the recommendation of some of the posters on this board. So far, I think it was a good purchase. I like it. PC

I've got a Litespeed LS-2. I've never had any problems with it. For sure, the drag is super smooth. I am intrigued by the Konic and would like to try one out ... maybe convince the wife that I just gotta have one. PC

Good luck to everybody headed down for the opener! Looks like the weather will be good. PC

I agree with the other posters. It's real tough to fish. There are some giants in there. I've caught a couple on hopper imitations in the fall ... but most of the time it's not worth the effort and has been declining over the years. PC

The road to Barclay is a handful of miles west of BSSP on Highway 64. From the park head west on 64 and turn right (north)on Corkery Road (I think that's the road name .... NRO Sign) and keep going .... can't miss it. Last time I went by, the MO Barclay River Access sign on 64 was down. PC

RC ... When you headed down? I'll turn you on to some JDs. PC

I was going through the gear bag and fly boxes today and noticed I've got zebra midges and others like them all over the place. Looking for some recommendations for midge boxes to keep all those little suckers in line. I've been thinking about epoxying some magnets in some of my boxes to hold them. What do you think? PC

I agree with CJ ..... Swimbaits seem to work better for me on warm water, aggressive FL strain bass. I've just slayed them in Mexico on swim baits. I'm talking the every cast kind of thing. Using baits up to 8". I've used them throughout the midwest on northern strain bass with limited success in the under 4" size. I've primarily fished the Storm, Berkely, and Optimum baits. I fish them on 7' MH rig and fish them primarily with braid. Sometimes I add in a FC leader. PC