FishinCricket

Thanks... Just depends upon how much the river went up, but normally two or three good days of sunshine does the trick. For instance, by today the gage at Windyville is back down to 3 feet, and I am sure it's just about cleared back up by now. Sure thing, trout perv.. LOL Any particular areas (like certain areas or zones in the park) that you would like me to check in on, get reports from the fishermen there, etc.. It doesn't seem like it would be too hard to find a fisherman in each zone that has a stringer and ask him what he was using.. Think I will start doing that so I can legitimately keep posting in the BSSP section (rather than the Niangua River section) I am with you completely.. Oh, and you ain't missing out on nithing with the not having ever eaten a smallie. All this "conserve and protect the smallie population" stuff would go rght out the window with many if they were a good tasting fish.. LOL Thanks for the support. I did see a guy at the mouth of the spring hook a 2 lb smallie and toss it back. He almost allowed me to take a picture, but decided against it when I said all I could do was email it to him. Too bad too, it wasw a beauty.. Hopefully I can catch it soon and take a picture so you can all see just how fat these smallies bellies are right now. Every one that I have hooked has been 50% belly, no joke.

Caught a little bit bigger one today, and took a picture. Interesting difference a little bit of rain makes though.. The river was up to 4 feet over night, and even thought it is dropping quickly it is still muddy and fast. Today I had to resort to marshmallow bait (pink) to get the job done. That's the main reason ikept the fish in the above picture actually, otherwise he was pretty enough I would have thrown him back, he fought really hard and jumped about 6 times. Anyway, hope you enjoy the reports...

Anybody feel like typing up their favorite recipes?

Ah, duely noted... (FYI to the original poster, He is referring to Gaston's Tackle out on 64 just a mile or so before the turn off to Bennett) Thanks Fishnwrench!

This one? It does look a little like guts, eh? Any chance there's some trick to the method? Or do you just flop it out there amongst the guts and hope for the best?

Welcome, bennett angler! Glad to see you posting, I am a local haunt from bennett.... (disclaimer: compared to most of the guys on this forum, I know diddly squat about fishing) There are a few shops there by the spring that have perfected the art of tying "gut" flies, I suggest you buy one and "reverse engineer" it, eh? (I am still learning about the many facets of flies and fly tying, so it's hard to give any better advice than that) FWIW I simply use the little white maribous with pink heads after around 9:30 or so (about the same time people start cleaning their fish).... though I feel it's only right to add (in the least condescending manner possible) that using gut flies isn't necessarily "common practice" by anglers at Bennett as much as it is a tool used by people who want to limit out quickly and go home (i.e. locals who are there more for the meal than the entertainment of tricking a fish into thinking your fly is real), and in my humble opinion it kinda takes away the fun of fooling the fish. But it does really depend upon what you are wanting to get out of the experience. I digress.. If you are interested in some of my "common practices" in Bennett or on the adjoining Niangua, you are welcome to call, PM, or email me... I like to consider myself a pleasant fellow and, being a local, I can at least steer you in the right direction... If not put you in the front of the boat and TAKE you in the right direction.. LOL Again, welcome to the forum.... Hope you get the answers you came for and you stick around for the pleasantry that is OAF. Happy posting and tight lines...

Hey, it's all good.. Go hang with your "real" friends.. LOL the river is gonna be up tomorrow anyways, I am just going for the challenge.. Never know though, it may suprise me.. We shall see. But thanks for considering it, definitely some other time...

No takers? (bump)

I got no fishing partner for Wednesday morning... Anybody wanna go? I got approximately 1 seat available in the front of my 4 foot wide 16 foot john boat. I am up for anything from a float from Bennett to Barclay.. To simply fishing below the spring like I normally do. Whatever works for you will work for me. Just gimme a shout, the number is below.. (First come first served)

Thanks for the answer, a potential ticket for a brown trout is the closest I have ever gotten to breaking the law on the river here, so I have just released them on the rare occasion I catch them.

Thanks for the replys, I was told that there are some collector groups taht are into these things, so I was pretty sure I wouldn't lose much. To be honest though, I like it allot. If I can find some way to register it I will attempt to. Sounds like if I am lucky the local sherriff (or conservation agent, my neighbor) knows what I need to do to get it set up. I will contact them, then I will PM you, fishinwrench, when I have decided what I will do with it. If I end up getting it tuned up, I would love to pay someone (you) to do that... It would be a great river motor, I think.

Jerkbaits, eh? Interesting.. Did you get any smallies to hit at all? Sounds like you weren't keeping anything, eh? Those bass should be warming up just as soon as the cold snaps go away, then the topwater action will be ON... Til then you are gonna have to shake those smallies loose with a slow mover, like one inch wonder swimming slow, a pig and jig or a maribou (all seem to do just as well for the trout).. Black and white seems to work good... I have started to see the trout shaking loose and following, so I was able to pick up a quick limit on a spoon (Kastmaster) yesterday, even during the slight weather that came in... Interesting report.. Glad to hear it, thanks.. BTW Don't the Browns have to be 18 inches on the Niangua? Or has that been reduced? Been a long time since I kept a brown.

Thanks guys, the kind words mean allot... I was much luckier than some, as far as grandparents go.. Up until 8 months ago I had all 4 still.. Now I am down to 2. People ask me what happened, and I have found the easiest answer is "He was 84.. that's what happened" Again, thanks for the kind words..

Nice report from a place none of us are allowed to go to, ya stinker.. LOL hehe just teasin' congrats on the "hamburger thumb"... I, too, love a good private pond.. What were the GPS coordinates to that one again? LOL

(This post is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, who passed away Sunday April 5, 2009 at the ripe old age of 84.. He was the greatest fisherman I ever knew..) There are so many things I could say about my grandpa, but I don't wanna get into that right now, I just want to relate a few of his short stories here, marked down for any fisherman who might enjoy them. I may be off on the dates, but the stories are all his and are true to the best of my knowledge. The Noodlers Grandpa took me to a pay to fish (per pound) catfish farm once. Me and a bunch of the cousins, in fact. In hindsight he was probably rushing around setting up poles and corraling us kids and I was driving him nuts, I am sure. But I was 9 and wasn't paying attention to that, I just knew that nothing was biting and it was boring. So I decided to walk the bank. As I was walking I came around the edge of the spillway and saw a SHARK in the spillway! Well I ran back and grabbed the pole and tried my best to get that fish to either bite my hook or *accidentally* get hooked so I could catch it. To no avail, it wasn't budging.. But it was only in 2 foot of water.. And so I began my noodling career. I am really suprised no one saw me down there thrashing around with that 29 pound channel cat attached to my arm, but somehow I managed to drag it to the bank unassisted. And then I dragged it over to where the whole family was fishing.. Not wanting them to think that I had somehow cheated, I told them that I hooked it and it was trying to get away. The next day, when we were cleaning it and the rest of the cats (grandpa always let the catfish sit in an airated tank overnight before he cleaned them) I told grandpa what I had really done. All of a sudden he let out a whoop and I thought I was in big trouble, but he just patted me on the back and laughed.. He explained that I had "noodled" it, and then he told me this story: When he was 25 he and his cousin used to go along the mudbanks of the river back home (I forget where, sorry) and feel around in the root wads in search of catfish. He would take a stringer and loop it through their gills and then tie that to a rope that was tied to a sapling. Then the tug of war began. When they finally got the fish, which more resembled a log on the other end of the line, pulled out of the hole it was backed into, the fight was on. The fish would swim back and forth and thrash around and just about rip that sapling out of the ground! And when the fish was done fighting they would drag it in and take it home to mom. I was absolutely mesmerized by this method of fishing.. and I realized right then just how brave my Grandpa must truly be, cause I couldn't (and still can't) see myself doing that! Feeding the Family Grandpa also told me about the biggest catfish he ever caught. The cousins had a cabin down on the river, and they used to stretch out logs accross the eddy in a lose bridge. Along the bridge they would tie limb lines with perch tied onto them. Then they would go up to the cabin and stay warm, play cards, etc.. Well one night they were up there playing a game of spades and they heard a commotion out on the water. Grandpa was the first one to the "bridge of logs" and he hopped out onto the logs to see what the commotion was. Halfway accross the eddy one of the logs pitched up when he stepped on it, and the rope that had tied it had come undone on one end. Grandpa slipped and caught himself on the two logs with either hand, his face pointed directly down at the water... and face to face with an 88 pound channel cat! It thrashed and the log jerked and grandpa slipped in with the fish.. At 2 a.m. LOL I asked grandpa if there were any pictures of that fish, and he replied that if the family had been able to afford a camera they might not have had to do quite so much fishing.. The Missed Trip The last opportunity I had to go fishing with my grandpa, I was 15. I had a girl (my ex wife, actually) on the brain, and told him and dad that I had other things to do. The two of them went to the pond accross the street from our house, It turned out to be the missed trip of a lifetime. The pond's about 3 acres and is mostly shallow and weedy with one 20 foot deep hole at the banked end. It has big channel cats and big bass.. And that's what they caught. At about 6 PM (an hour or so before dark) they had a full stringer of some nice bass and cats, and were about to pack it up, when grandpa's pole (fishing with live worms) took off across the pond. Grandpa said he was lighting his pipe and just grabbed it up in time. He yanked and a bass rose and jumped, dad commented later that it looked like a whale... Then apparently the bass turned back towards them, because grandpa said the line went slack and he thought he had lost him, as he reeled it in he realized that he was either stuck on the bottom, or had that fish still. It charged another 10 times before relenting, and grandpa said he coulda stuck both fists in its mouth. It had swallowed the worm and the line was so frayed that it snapped when dad used it to help the net in lifting the fish. Seven pounds and one Ounce, it wasn't the biggest Bass grandpa had ever caught, but he was sure proud of it. He would have been 70 then. I have still never forgiven myself for not going on that fishing trip with them. It's a memory I will never be able to get back. Anyways, this past weekend is the first time I have been able to get out and do some fishing since he died. In fact, the last time I was preparing the boat was last sunday, and I got the call that grandpa, who lives in the Boot Heel (Doniphan, Missouri), was deathly ill and probably wouldn't live much longer. Obviously I put the boat away and rushed right down to be by his side. When I got there, he was hooked up to tubes and hoses and the doctor explained to me that he was dying from an internal bleed and there was nothing they could do for him but make him comfortable. I stepped to his side and grabbed his hand and he stirred, looked me right in the eye and said with a faint voice and a grimace: "What are you doin' here, boy? Nuttin' Bitin'? hehe" I love you grandpa, and I will miss you dearly...

(Note: These next couple weeks I am harvesting stocker trout, and won't bother taking pictures, unless I can't a larger one (15+ inches), in which case I will try and get a photo, then I always release the larger ones if I can... I am keeping them because I have family that needs the food, so I don't wanna hear any crap about keeping fish. Just be happy I am putting the lunkers back and leaving the park alone.. LOL) 4-11-09 Got off work at 5 pm and had the boat loaded up and down below the park, in the water, by 6:15. I used my same old black and white 1/16th ounce maribou's and kept em right off the bottom. they started hitting them on a slight retrieve with a subtle, crappie style, bump at the end of the pole. They were actually picking it up pretty hard. I limited out in about 20 minutes. 4-12-09 It was looking horrific this morning, so I decided to sleep in with the beautiful wife (good decision, .... But at about 2 o'clock I noticed on the radar that the clouds had conveniently parted in a wide berth around Lebanon. So off I went, and glad I did. I had to get a little farther from the boat ramp, but that was OK because there was no one down stream wading, which is where I usually go, if I can. About 100 yards downstream from the mouth of the spring there is a ledge that runs out into the water about 25 years, it's the beginning of a fantastic holding area for stockers. I broke out the Kastmaster spoon and hooked up 4 within about an hour. The only bad part about the kastmaster spoon is that I lose twice as many fish as I get to the boat.. It gets frustrating, especially when you factor in that they always look bigger and meaner from 30 feet away when they are spitting the hook.. LOL

Thanks oneshot. I don't know if it was the desired or intended effect, but your post made me giggle til I wet myself. LOL

so a rubber tube would work? is it allowed to have a feather? Like a really small maribou jig with a rubber crappie tube shoved onto it? Not sure what you mean, how did you fish it exactly? I assume you guys liked to wade the riffles between all the holes that people congregate around in zone 3 now, right?

Don't fall for the wording, zone 4 doesn't exist. It's the open river, so no rules other than regular state regulations. As for using that Jig in Zone three if it had rubber legs, I think so, but I am not sure. I will find out.

My phone's map (mapquest) says it 3 1/2 hours...

Had a buddy that needed some quick funds and wasn't using it, so I scooped it up for what I consider to be a reasonable price. but now I have questions. Turns out that the fella doesn't know a whole lot about the motor, and it does have a few quirks. The friend says his grandpa bought it brand new back in the 60's, and the grandson was given it as a gift upon his grandfathers passing. He has used it off and on, but he sold his boat recently. Anyways, the motor doesn't have a known title, and I am hoping someone here can advise me as to what it does need to be legal. It is apparently a 1963 Evenrude 3 HP 2 stroke. It does have a serial number present... Did it even get issued a title back then? And does it need one now? What do you all think? Did I get a decent motor? Any suggestions for someone who may be willing to tune it up? Or repaint it?

Glad to hear the report. If you don't mind I will make mine here as well, since I didn't bring a camera either and you just happen to be using the same title I would be.. LOL However, as usual, my report is technically for the Niangua river, as I was fishing the "infamous" Zone #4 from my boat. And as usual I didn't get but about 45 feet from the boat ramp. I was there about 20 minutes and had my limit to hand. 1/16th ounce maribou jig, kinda stripping it like you fly guys would, but keeping it just out of view of the surface. I kept 4 for dinner tomorrow (inviting friends over), and was ready to leave when a guy came over and asked what I was using. I showed him my lure and he asked if he could try it. He had a park tag on his shirt, but as you know the "fly" I was using isn't legal in zone three, so I had to explain to him why I couldn't do that. then a lady asked if I could take her stringer out there and fill it up for her, and I had to explain why that wouldn't be right (or legal) either. then the eagle decided it wasn't happy with the Vulture that was eating fish guts on and it gave me enough of a distraction to load the boat up and leave. thanks for allowing me to post my report below yours, let me know if you ever wanna get in the front of the boat..

Well I know I ain't cody, but I can answer one question (the obvious one) Shoot straight down 65 all the way to Clinton Arkansas and then hang a left on the 16... Just keep on going until you see the water.. LOL Good luck in getting better answers, I have never been there.. But it sure look pretty.

Good for you! Do you fish from the bank? If so, where? Next to the boat ramp? And what colors did you use? Glad to hear a report...

(Joke) I think the most valuable people on this forum are the ones who catch fish EVERY TIME. LOL So I guess it's just me? LOL (joke over) Thanks for the report, I too am holding off on heading that way until the weather gets back to reasonable.. Peace, thanks for the report, sorry you didn't do better..