SamC489

If you are wanting to avoid crowds, you can just put in at Current River State Park. No one is ever there, but it is developed enough and has a sweet cliff jump. This will also depend on your shuttling situation, where you are taking out and how long you are going to be on the river.

Really good morning (9-12) on 3-15, a dozen or so between us. Sun came out around noon and slowed everything down. Small yak hatch in the afternoon.

Day trip yesterday, only saw 1 other fishermen, total of 12 fish, mostly browns with a few bows and smallies. Not on anything specific, but they were hitting on top until all the haze was gone around 10 am, looked like a mayfly hatch. Biggest was maybe 15.

Fished Ashley Creek back to Baptist on the day after Christmas. Caught 2 bows, a brown and a few smallies, most on an olive wooly bugger. The water was a little bigger and more murky than the last month or so which probably helped.

I realize that this may not be the best subforum for this, but as I do 90% of my fly fishing on the current, there may exist a few nuances that are pertinent when measured against other waters. My crappy $40 hodgman waders finally started to leak, so I find myself in the market for a new set of high quality, durable, yet affordable waders. Should I go for stockingfoot waders, and buy boots, or is that not worth the cost? We do backpack in sometimes, so being able to pack them easily is also a plus. Insulation is not necessary. I may be able to push this back into being a christmas present, so I would say the ceiling would be around $200-$250. I would, however, like to have some asap, so if I can just pick up some quality ones myself for ~$89-$90 that would be a good option as well. Any advise is appreciated.

I hope so. We are going Baptist to Akers Friday-Monday. Looks like rain thursday, I think we will be ok.

Very helpful; thanks guys.

A few buddies and I would love it if the forum could answer a few questions: Can you physically camp at Baptist Camp? We have been there a few times, and usually put in at Baptist and get to Ashley Creek for our first night of camping, eventually taking out at Akers after 3 nights total, but may run into some time constraints that will allow us to get to Baptist just around dark, so camping at Baptist may be necessary. We wont need much outstide of a fire pit and some flat grassy areas to pitch a tent. Also, if we put in on our second morning (after presumedly camping at Baptist on night one), and wanted to take out on day four around noon, would Baptist to Welch work? Keep in mind that we would like to do copious amounts of fishing. I thought that camping at Baptist on night one, before Parker on night two, just after Cedar on night three, and hitting Welch around noon on day four may be doable? Should we just concentrate on fishing and take out at Cedar? I am aware of the regs, we all fly fish, but also may want to get into the white ribbon if we are having a tough time. Also, one of my buddys has built a crawfish trap and is dying to try it out. I am unaware of the crawfish habits, (if that even exists) and the likelihood of finding more on any one section of the river. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Recently, a buddy of mine had to cancel a week-long Colorado wilderness trip due to my his back going out, and as eager he was, and subsequently dissapointed he is, I thought I may be able to ease his pain with an ozark trail trip. Our knowledge of the ozarks is somewhat limited; we used to hike in at Johnsons shut ins and camp about 2 miles from the shut ins mosty to be able to camp away from crowds, yet still be able to enjoy the shut ins (I doubt they would let anyone do this post-flood). We have done on a several meremac and current river float trips (usualy 3-4 days). We are not averse to a good day of hiking, but do enjoy imbibing a bit once around the fire, so we can proably plan on getting in at most 6-8 miles per day. My main question is what is the best stretch of the ozark trail (~15-25 miles) that we can do in 3-4 days while also getting in a good amount of fishing in? We all fly fish, and in the last 7 or so years have integrated as much fishing into our camping trips as possible. Looking at the map on wikipedia, there seems to be alot of creek access near Huzzah creek and Courtois creek, which I have heard are good smallie streams. It also seems the area around Johnson shut ins has good access. Or is it best to just hike the current river/blair creek stretch? The eleven point river stretch also looks very inviting. I am unfamiliar with many of these creeks, and given how dry it has been would like to know what creeks/rivers are holding the most fish or even fishable. As of right now, we plan on going sometime in mid to late September. I appreciate any input. Thanks.

I was thinking about camping at Lane Spring recreation area to fish the little piney and mill creek. The plan as it stands now is my dad was going to bring his camper during the week, and I meet him up there for a three day weekend. I have tent camped at Lane Spring before, but it was several years ago, and I was wondering more about the electric sites at Lane Spring. Since he is going to be setting up the trailer by himself I was curious if the sites are nice and flat, or will it be a chore to level a camper? Also, there are conflicting websites that we found in reference to the ability to reserve these sites. Can we reserve the electric sites at Lane Spring? If not, if he got there on a wednesday, what would be the likelihood that they would be full?

So I have to wade in the stream? Can anyone give me a practical answer so I don't have to trudge through a giant deteriorated thread?

I am planning a day trip this saturday down to the little piney, most likely the white ribbon area. I fished Lane Spring one time, a few years back, but dont really know the area that well. I will be fly fishing and had a few quetions. What is the best overall access? Milldam Hollow, or somewhere else off of CR7460? I have read a few other posts about private land owners being confrontational, and I know that the stream and its immediate bank are considered public land, but I really want to avoid getting run off by an armed Newburgian curmudgeon if at all possible. I have been fly fishing for a few years now, but I also would like to avoid (if possible) areas that are ultra-tight as far as casting is concerned. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

I am assuming there is no shortage of gravel bars to camp on, and all the shoreline is ozark national waterway. Is this correct? Are there some not-to-miss spots along our route the we should look out for?

Blue Springs isn't bad, but depending on the water depth, you could have a hell of a time finding some good pools to fish in, and a hell of a time stomping through the woods getting there. That being said, the fishing can be good, and you may be lucky enough to land a native trout, which is an accomplishment all by itself. I can't remember the exact name of the road (I think it is N) you will cross a bridge and later go over a pipe that the creek runs through. The biggest fish I have seen were is a pool near the first bridge as you turn towards the campground that is near the creek. Have a good time, personally I would just drive to the springs and fish the end of the park and down the river towards Fagan's.

You said it. I'm glad you are proud of your accomplishments. I just couldn't figure out what the hell you were talking about after re-reading it a dozen times. How much good is a heads-up that you can't understand? Thanks for the link.

Ty, saluki. As for the original post taxidermist, I would at the very least have included some reference to the article about which you were calling the author an idiot. Let me know if you really want the punctuation and capitalization errors cleaned up, I would be glad to actually make your post understandable, (therefore relevant to this forum) with an article reference. 20 posts now, holla!

I enjoy bold letters, bad punctuation, deplorable grammar and general inability for anyone to understand me as well. [x] lolwut?

[x] lolwut?

[ ] helpful [ ] funny [ ] constructive [x] none of the above

I got caught in the water last november w/ the gf. I have been fishing on the norfork ten or twelve times and heard the horn blow maybe, MAYBE half of the time before the water starts coming up. The time we got caught, she had just hooked a fish and I noticed the water start to rise. She was fairly new to trout fishing, so it took her a little while to land the fish, as I tried to guide her toward the shore. We started getting out as fast as we could, but got swept up and floated a way downstream before we got to the shore and told we were idiots by some guys in a boat. The people who let the water out of the dam know that the Norfork is a very popular trout stream, so why not give adequate notice when water is going to be let out? Put multiple horns up along the bank instead of one (seemingly) hidden so it is hard to hear throughout the river? I am far from inexperienced on a river, and I got caught up in it. I have seen many novice anglers on the Norfork for the 4 years I have been going there, who could really find themselves in trouble if they panicked. It seems like an easily remedied, unnecessary risk that is being taken. Monday morning rant over; good to hear you and the vet. did so well, and caught the Norfork low for a few hours.

Thanks alot Gene. On a side note, what is that poker chip avatar of yours? Is there an operating cardroom in the Ozarks somewhere? I play alot of poker online and at the St. Louis casinos.

Thanks guys, what do you think about camping at cedargrove and hiking upstream to camp? i kind of wanted to be able to access the white ribbon area in case the gf gets shut out on artificials we could go downstream and bait fish, or is it just party central there this time of year?

My gf and I were thinking about going camping this saturday night and I wanted to try out fishing the upper current. i have fished at Montauk and don't really like to fish the trout parks, so that is pretty much out of the question. I have been to both baptist camp and Tan Vat in he past, but these are day use areas. I would really like to park at one of these access point and hike a few miles downstream with our camping gear and set up camp in a more remote area, but I am unsure if you are supposed to do this or not. So what I think we are going to do is camp at cedargrove campground 9 miles downriver of Montauk. I noticed that the low water bridge is the cut-off for the blue ribbon trout area, so I was thinking we could fly fish (rooster tails for the lady) upstream from the bridge during the day to avoid people canoeing out from cedargrove, and fish with worms, crawfish, etc. downstream toward Big Creek (?) in the white ribbon area closer to dusk when there are fewer canoes in the water. If anyone has any tips or pertinent info about the campground, it would be very much appreciated. We usually hike in to our camping spots, so "roughing it" is no problem. Also, if anyone knows of a place to hike-in and trout fish around this area, that info would also be great. Thanks in advance. Sam

Did you wade the entire time? I am going to Gene's in a few weeks and it looks like I am going to have to rent a boat at least one of the days I am down there. The slam is awesome, congrats.

Me, my Dad and my sister's boyfriend are going down to the norfork and staying at Gene's on Aug 9th. I realize that all of the water is high and have been down to this area several times, however we don't really want to get a boat, and would like to wade fish. I have been looking at the generation chart and it seems that recently, the mornings have been wadeable (sp?) on the Norfork. I was wondering if there are any spots within 25 miles or so of Gene's on the White that can be waded. Maps or links would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Sam