Roaring River Veteran

Anyone been up kings in the last few days? I haven't been up there since the high water. Just wondering if it is still log jammed?

If it were me I would stay at home. we have gotten 5+ inches of rain in the last 36 hours and over 7 inches in the last 4 days. all streams and creeks are rolling and a lot of them are out of their banks. with lots of floaters. just my 2 cents worth.

F&F. I can't answer the RR state record question. in my opinion catching a record out of RR is not really a record. If a state record deer escapes from a hunting preserve and is killed on public property it is not awarded the state record, but if a state record fish falls out of the spring pool at RR and is caught it is a state record... seems wrong to me. As for the guides and what they do for the corp or mdc... I agree they do a lot, But in the same respect, the lake is their business. If you owned a business you would want to keep it clean and pleasing to the eye or you wouldn't be open very long. As for volunteering to take people out free of charge, I would still like to see guides go strictly catch and release regardless of client.

I would have to agree with Al. let the fish go, especially if you are being guided or are guiding(for money).. If you want to eat fish go to a trout park where they are stocked every night. They aren't exactly a natural resource at that point.

This thread is not talking about taking a family member or friend out it is about guides accepting money for fishing assistance. I am assuming of course that you are an amateur fisherman. I would consider anyone being paid for that service to be a professional. and yes you can read a report or talk to a guy but that is still different from someone accepting $300+ to take me out and put me on fish. True RR is full of fish. however unless there has been a law change that I am unaware of you can not guide in RR. Anyone can catch fish there. my 8 year old can catch a limit there pretty well anytime she wants. As far as the Taney Shuffle goes... if you are there without a guide and you have the ethics or lack there of that allows you to feel that is okay then all I can do is talk bad about you for doing it. If guide teaches it to you then that is another topic to discuss.

Okay, I have lurked in the shadows long enough. I'm fine with Guides making money off of lakes/streams that all of our tax dollars including theirs, support. With that being said, I would also make the argument that being a guide means that you spend a lot more time on the water than a normal person and you should be able to stay on fish better than a guy like me that is lucky to fish once a week. or some guy from out of state that comes in once a year. So here is the next question in this thread... In that case should a client be able to keep a limit since they are not the ones finding the fish? I would like to see it be changed to let the guides make money but don't let clients keep fish on guided trips....

Okay so I pulled out the reg book and read the section on culling. The final line in the culling section states, " At no time may the daily limit be exceeded." This is after it talks about the bass tournaments etc. I use to work at Roaring River and I know it is a different world but it use to be that once you put the last fish of a limit in your possition(on the stringer or in the live well) you were done. I would believe that bass fishing would be the same. once the 6th fish is put in the live well you would be done. Most bass tournaments that I fish have a 5 fish limit so if an angler is fishing by themselves they do not exceed the limit and if there are 2 anglers in a boat they have nothing to worry about.

Sorry for the late report but had a lot going on the last few days. I made it down to the river for only the second time this year on Friday. I was on the water by 8:30 am and fished till about 10:30 am. I was wanting to fish a new rod that I bought off of Mark at RDP rods. I'm sure Mark will point out that I bought the rod several months ago. I had a lot of hits and realized that I was a little rusty. It took me 10 or 15 minutes to get everything together. I fished the top three holes of the fly area. I threw several different scud patterns in a size 16. The burlap seemed to be the scud of choice. I also threw a few red Zebra midges with a silver head and silver ribbing. I was fishing under an indicator about 12" to 16". I only fished fast water, where the easy fish live. I had at least 30 fish in two hours. It was a beautiful day, great weather, good fishing and the rod is great. I also took a couple of pictures to try out the camera on my phone. RRV

Went to the rock last night. We put in at Big M around 6:30. I have asked several question about drop shoting on this forum and have gotten allot of good feedback, I want to thank you all for your help, but I want to send out a special thanks to the guys at fin and feather in Springfield. I stopped in a couple of weeks ago and asked them about drop shoting. They pointed me toward the stuff I would need and explained how, where, etc. They were really very informative. Last night we decided to try it for a little while. The electronics that we have are not good enough to see the hook and sinker but it shows fish just fine. I trolled around a main lake point till I found some fish on the screen. In a matter of 30 to 45 minutes I had 1 keeper spot, 2 keeper walleye, 5 short spots 1 short walleye and 1 BIG perch. After that we went back to the old favorites of big worms, salt craws and jigs on secondary points and channel swings. we had another 3 or 4 shorts and each and my partner had a couple of keepers. We were gone by 11:00.

I'm sure I can't hold my beer like I could in my 20's but trust me when I say it would take a lot more than a 6-pack......

So my fishing partner and I made it down to Shell Knob last night. I'm sure he will post a report so I won't steal his thunder. What I would like to do is start a fun thread about things you see on the lake. For example public nudity is seeming to be making a comeback. Back in March we were fishing a small tourney on a really nice and warm Saturday. I was in the front of the boat when I turned to say something to my partner I noticed something over his shoulder about 60 to 70 yards out I noticed a pontoon with a gal standing on the front in a really nice skin colored suit. As we looked we decided that she may be naked. When she put her bright orange top on we realized she had definately been naked. Not a big deal no one was around really close it was just something you don't see everyday. Last night we fished till about 12:30 am. When we pulled up to the ramp at the Shell Knob bridge we noticed people swimming on the ramp I made the comment "I hoped they were smart enough to move off the ramp when I backed the trailer in." I should have said "I hope they are sober enough to move when I back the trailer in." They had their rig parked next to the ramp with the music going and seemed to be having a good time. I really didn't pay them much attention. I got to the truck rolled all the windows down so that I could see and began to back the trailer to the ramp. As I was backing the trailer down the ramp I heard someone say something I turned to look out the passenger side window to see a gal walking by the truck. I think she was trying to help me back in. Needless to say I was a bit startled because I didn't know she was there. It didn't help that she was naked as a jaybird............ My first thought was disbelief so I shook it off and looked again. Yep she was still naked but by now she was behind the truck in the backup lights....... directing people to get out of the way. I lost concentration and had to pull forward and back up again. (I never have to do that) by the time I get backed in she is in the water asking my partner if he can see her okay? didn't want to get run over I guess.... We promptly loaded the boat and got out of there. (we didn't want to stay and swim......) Just another boring night on the rock....... RRV

Joe, We were using 1/4 oz heads and still had a hard time keeping feel of them in the wind. We lost a lot of jig heads yesterday fishing the trees. We really like black heads made with good hooks (gamakatsu or a good mustad). Do you make your own or do you know somewhere that sells them in more than a 5 pack?

I need to first preface this report with, my partner and I are not great fishermen. We are usually happy to catch a keeper or two where most of the guys we fish with are upset if they aren't catching 5 and 6 pounders. So be warned you will probably have better luck somewhere else but we were thrilled to death. We fished the rock today. It was cold and wet and very very windy, It was one of those days when the fishing was miserable but the catching was hot. My partner and I fished from 7 am to 3 pm in a small tourney. we swam 4 and 5 inch single tail grubs all day mainly smoke with black flake but we also used a white with black flake a little. We lost count on the number of short fish we caught. If I were to guess I would say at least 25 to 30 a piece. They were biting lite and we missed a bunch of bites. We also weighed in a limit of keeps, but we weren't even close to placing. It took almost 22lbs to win. The winner was also swimming a grub but I'm not sure where. We were fishing chunk rock/bluff mixed banks with trees on main lake channel swings in the holiday island to mill creek area. We were positioning the boat in 40 to 50 feet of water. The fish were holding from 15 to 30 feet. We were throwing to the bank with a slow straight retrieve. Water temp ranged from 44 to 47 degrees. It has taken hours and a really hot shower to warm up, but it was worth every minute of it.............. Good luck and good fishing

My wife gets her 3rd and final treatment of chemo of her 2nd cycle tomorrow. She has been very sick for the last week. After tomorrow she will just have 4 cycles left. I just ask you to pray for her to receive Gods strength, and grace. and that she not be as sick this next week. Thanks in advance Gamon

The bass pro brand form the catalog outlet is often on sale and works well. You can often find an entire outfit for less than half price. RRV