FishinCricket

Someone was only half reading the discussion... Welcome, Mike!!

Yup, I'm painfully aware... lol :sigh:

Alrighty, so Mike gave you the hero or zero scenario (you know, go big or go home?), I'll simply suggest you tie on a rebel teeny craw or a maribou jig and cast EVERYWHERE.. You'll find packs of smallies at the head and tailing of each riffle, plus trout friggin EVERYWHERE... They'll tend to stack in the usual haunts, deeper blue riffles with some cover... If you're floating the stretch you mentioned I'll suggest that you utilize the gravel bar across from the mudbank.. It's about the halfway point, the "mudbank" will be on the right side of the river, it's a 10th tall, uhm, mud bank/cut bluff that'll be difficult to miss.. That mudbank is some great night fishing/early morning topwater... Best of luck, enjoy your float!!

Well I ain't smiling anymore... I can tell when I'm not wanted on a thread... My sincerest apologies to piglawyer for making jokes on his super-cereal thread... :neener-neener:

lol, some of us know better.. I make a really comfy nest in the back of my Tahoe... (ori rent a hotel!)

:sigh:

No worries, I'm sure we'll see you around eventually..

You're pretty well on the button with that assessment.. What the eagles can't get to, the giggers can when the river is low all winter... Lots of meat hunters around here.. I know one guy who eats 8 trout a week or more, and he LOVES hookin the bigguns... (he's poor and lives near the river)

Not sure what you mean, I don't normally keep fish... Oddly enough, this last report I was catching them for a charity event fish fry we are having.. Couldn't find anyone to take us crappie fishing at the lake, so we opted for Gogglies... (and a bass or two, who's counting?) Seriously though, feeeesh are tasty... But I only harvest smallies over 20 inches..

6 miles or so.... It's a 2-3 hour "paddle", a 6 hour "float", or it can take days if you know how to fish it..

Well smallies can't get into the raceways, and they don't stock them in the spring/river until they are at least 8-9 inches (used to be larger).. So I dunno how often a Smallie will get to the stocker rainbow population...

I hired a micro guide once.... He kept falling in to the livewell! lol

But, Eric.. The spring water that the trout occupy is the same spring water that the Smallmouth use as sanctuary during the cold months... This HAS to have an impact on a smallies habitat/ability to feed/etc... (just pokin, don't mind me... Let's go feeshin boys! )

He's either got webs on his feet or an extreme NoDoze habit.. Or both! lol Either way I've decided I'm stealing his homemade baits next time we camp together...

My Friday night looks awfully open all of the sudden....

Sa-weeeeet!!!!

Honestly my buddy whipped up on me with that teeny craw!! Or maybe it was his end of the boat.. Hmm, worked for you, didnt it? lol

I can just see you licking your greasy chops at the very thought...

Is it sinful that that sounds really good...

That's the plan for next sinday... I'd venture a guess that you recognize one or two of those smallies...

Uhm, yeah.. Because you know these local meat eaters are more than happy to volunteer information.. lol

Was supposed to meet with a buddy at hazelgreen at 7 to do the float so I decided to get there early and fish the access with the fly rod as the sun rose.. I hooked a big fish on my first cast with the pink clouser and it ran straight out into the current and broke me off.. Dunno what it was, I assumed a smallie at the time but now I dunno.. (more on that later) I tied another clouser on and proceeded to catch 4 small smallies in the riffles around the bridge pillars... A thundercloud formed overhead and a heavy wind began and I noticed that it was past 7 and still no sign of my friend.. As I walked back up to the truck my phone rang and he said he'd be another hour.. So I went and stood out in the river under the overpass and cast out into the rain for another hour, with no sucess whatsover.. lol Finally he shows up and we are on the road.. In the water by 9:30, we run upstream to the hole about gasconade hills first.. We start our day on our second casts with a double header: That goggleye is a prime example of what we took home today.. we finished the day off with a full mess of 8-11 inchers... We focused on "dobbing" the root wads and running swimming hard plastics (my clown x-rap and his teeny craw) and managed quite a few strikes and takes, here's the two I photographed: We got to the hole where the Osage Fork flows in and dropped anchor to work it over.. My second cast I snagged into what looked like a megaton largmouth bass! It turned and ran with that x-rap like the devil was on its tail, stripping out drag like crazy as I attempted to adjust.. Just like that, it was gone.. I could hardly believe it! Just then it dawned on me what it was!!!!! I refused to believe it still, so I cast out again: Holy rusted sheet metal, Batman!! I just caught a white bass in the upper upper Gasconade!! That means that last gargantuan fish really was what I thought it was, it was a monster hybrid!!!!!! We cast out for another 20 minutes with everything we had and couldn't get another strike, but as we floated over the hole, there they were.. 4 massive hybrids and about 20 smaller (whites?) chillin in the edge of the current... (and I didn't have my fly rod!!!) We pulled over to the side and let em sit for a good 20 minutes, then threw the book at em... No dice.. (betcha they'd have eaten a clouser though!!!) Anyway, all in all a great day in the Ozarks, paddling from root wad to root wad in 97 degree heat...

Tommy Bench is a local guide from Lebanon, he runs "Gasconade River Guide Service", his # is 417-718-7716... Can't say I've ever used him, but he's a heck of a fisherman and he spent enough on the fancy business card, I'd say he'll steer you right.. Dunno how far downstream he goes, though... Good luck..

Your stream definitely appears overpopulated.. I know a few meat hunters I could send that way, if you like?

:face_palm: