joeD

So, is it wrong to drive 20 miles in a Honda minivan to a farmers market to buy organic eggs for 20 bucks? PS: We have no tattoos and wear age appropriate clothing, not from Goodwill.

This caught fish yesterday without modifications. Please explain.

Water is low for this time of year. Nice, but could use a nice infusion of rainwater.

Clear. Low for this time of year. Could use more water really.

Good job 87. Keep me, (ahem) us, posted. Chances are, they don't know. Would be nice to inform them beforehand that we are parking there (at 47) temporarily while we fish, and will be gone by dark. Whether wade fishing, or floating from someplace upstream. We didn't know how good we had it years ago with chain smoking Pat and her coterie of suspect men and women "workers." I would love to have Rivermont back.

So, if so many smallies are missing from this stream, where did they go? If the stream environment is so bad, where are all the reports of dead fish? You would think someone would see something given the water clarity. Or, maybe, just maybe, the reason there are fewer fish is because there ARE fewer fish. Due to humans taking them out. Taking fish out of an Ozark stream doesn't make other fish grow bigger. It just means there is one less fish in the water. If enough people take fish out of a finite and fragile ecosystem, legal or not, you will just have less fish in the water. We are afraid to protect our fisheries because we are afraid to offend a small subset of our population, We know better. Yet, are paralyzed by political correctness.

Has anyone actually talked to law enforcement for Washington County? With regard to parking and accessing the stream from 47?

Picture from yesterday around Steelville. Fish were biting and pretty aggressive. Topwater action deluxe. Other lures were effective also. Just one of those days when you hit it right. I spent the day with two old friends that I haven't fished with in ages, so, it was very satisfying to see them have a great day too.

I don't throw old time lures because I don't have any. So, I guess I'm stuck throwing new time lures. Obviously, my loss.

People hate and are afraid of ,what they don't know or won't do. The negative reactions mean you are on the right path Smalliebigs. Fortune favors the bold.

Maybe someone from this forum should go and comfort the family of the deceased, and let them know how he erred, and if he just woulda done this, he'd be alive, and that, WE, WE , would NEVER have done THAT. Right?

I put my pants on one leg at a time... WE NEED MORE COWBELL! C'mon fellas, lets go out and catch fish! Bruce Davison could care less about your dink sunfish and little trout! He makes GOLD RECORDS for crying out loud.

Trust the gauges. At Kelly, water above probably had not passed through. Not worth messing with it. Wait until everything calms down.

Zig jigs are great Keep using them. They catch fish.

Yes, it is correct. The area around Yellville keeps getting pounded with rain. The ground is saturated. So, any additional rain goes straight into the creek, via Georges Creek, and Turkey Creek and Clear creek. I wouldn't float above 12 ft at Kelly. Just as important, is the CFS. Anything above 400 is asking for trouble. I fished the White River the last week in January this year. Bull Shoals was very low due to lack of rain. Very dry conditions. A month later, Bull Shoals is over pool and keeps getting more water. Point being, the gauges are correct. CC falls quickly, but not recently though. Caution is advised.

NO NO NO. Limiting anglers on a public stream is pretentious at best, dangerous at worst. PLEASE. Look at the Current, Brute. It is an absolute spectacular trout stream in the middle of Missouri that, year in, year out, fishing pressure out the wazoo, droughts, floods, you name it, still produces quality fish. I can't say enough for the MDC and others who have managed this fickle and difficult and beguiling and rewarding stream. It is an unequivocal gem of trout fishing that most trout fishermen in the US know nothing about. I would say that 5-8-10 pound brownies are generally the max. On this stream, one could not ask for more. So don't.

Smallieguy, how did you know the Mineral Fork was running 20,000 cfs? I am unaware of a USGS gauge there. Do you know what 20,000 cfs looks like?

Good choice. So is using a kayak. The two streams are somewhat low for this time of year. You'll have plenty of water for sure, but, historically, the streams are generally higher this time of year. Fishing should be pretty good. Water temp is at the range where the smallies get active. I would use big streamers, big topwater, and maybe less big crawdad patterns for bottom bouncing. Fish everywhere. Never know where they'll be. Slower water probably.

Phil should make t-shirts to sell: OAF Home of the Ned Rig. Good report Al. I've been out twice with similar results. Very hit and miss, with no lure or pattern especially better than another. I think better fishing is to come. Because, I believe, the current weather trends for the past few years are making spring fishing develop later. March is more wintery now, April slow in warming. Seems like May is the new April. We look outside and see all the greenery, and panic over missing the early season bite. Go past the city limits, and the trees are still bare, water relatively chilly, and the fishing sporadic. Missouri fishing per usual.

There is not an overpopulation of trout on the Current. Given known fishing pressure, catch and release is working. Taking a 16 -20 inch fish legally out this PARTICULAR fishery would do massive harm. Plus, there is no guarantee that the Current could even grow a 20 lb fish. In general, aquatic environment dictates size, regardless of human intervention. I understand what you are saying, and where "you are coming from." I just don't think it is sensible for the upper Current.

Replace the word "Guild," People will think you are tubby men with beards, drinking mead from chalices "hammered" from ancient ore mined by dwarves.

So, good obviously. But, where, or what area, does it have to rain for the upper Meramec and Huzzah and Courtois to rise and become muddy in a non fishable way? Salem? Cherryville? Rolla?

With regard to the Current, taking fish out of the water, regardless of size, harvesting, if you will, does not necessarily mean that other fish will automatically grow larger. It is not a logical, if A, then B, result, equation. Especially in nature. It assumes that less fish in a given area will have better access to available food. Thereby growing larger. But, what if those remaining fish don't take advantage of their bounty? What if they're dumb, and aren't so adept at catching prey? What if the prey was somehow smarter one year, and less likely to be caught? What if they fail to reproduce? What if, a dominant 18 inch fish in a certain stretch of water was legally harvested? And all that remained were 12" stockers. Who are the females going to procreate with? An 18 inch stud? Or 12" wimps? And what genetic code will be passed from the coupling of the female and 12" wussies? That's right. More wussies. If enough people, take enough large fish, legally, out of a finite and fragile fishery, there will not be anything left for others. Regardless of the amount and ease of food available to the remaining fish. The Current has a so many big fish. Catch and release has a lot to do with that. The competition is not below the water. The competition is above the water.

I lost my virginity to a 30 something mother of a friend of mine while I was a young teen. Apparently, back then, whatever I "had," worked. That was then. While I'm still the same person, I wouldn't expect the same result today (although I think I might last longer). The past is the past Leave it alone. Look what it did for Kevin Spacey's character in "American Beauty." Regress into teen awesomeness then get shot in the head by your neighbor. Point is, if your old rods and reels and lines and lures work effectively, then use them. Use your beetle spins and spoons and lucky whatevers and wooden crankbaits and dowagiac topwaters. But use them today as a legitimate means to catch fish, instead of a nostalgic reverie of "simpler times." I can honestly say I have not seen fishing martyrs on the water, with their wooden canoes and clumsy and ineffective tackle, being dropped off at waters edge by over alled hilbillys in a 1932 Ford. Airconditioned cars. Graphite rods. Lightweight smooth reels. Modern slick line. Sharp hooks. Great plastic. Durable, lightweight and easy handling canoes. Sunscreen. Coolers. Rain jackets. Bikinis. Paved roads. Bikinis. I'll take today thank you.

The Current is exceptional for big fish because of its (the rivers) nature. Browns and rainbows do not reproduce in this stream. That's a given. However, the fish that ARE there, thrive in a way that we just don't know about. The idea of "harvesting" fish, in order to "improve" the fishery, regardless of size, in this particular stretch of water, is without merit. The assumption that more, and bigger, fish will develop due to the "harvest" of other big fish is completely false. The number of brown trout caught, and voluntarily released and allowed to grow larger cannot be overstated. Fish can only grow and be caught as long as they are in the water. Period. There is also this, and it cannot be said more simply: Most people do not know how to catch big browns on the Current. The Current thrives because of sound management from the MDC. Admit it. Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, wherever,, all absolutely beautiful places to fish. You have a better chance of catching a bigger fish on the Current, in Missouri. (White River Arkansas is a different category) I don't think the Current gets the respect it deserves, given the amount of anglers who pound the stream on a daily basis, year in year out, without fail, yet, it still produces big fish for those who want it.