FishinCricket

Glad to see you out from behind the shadows.. and Welcome to the Ozarks.. Open invitation here from bennett springs.. Small stream fly fishing like you are probably used to up north... Your name is SciFi.. So One could only assume you like science fiction a little.. Do you watch or read? Lucas or Asimov I guess is what I am asking? Either way welcome to the forum from another sci fi buff...

Sounds really good, I will have to try it.. Thanks for the recipe!!

Yeah my feelings on the subject change drastically if there is a chance the snake will get past me and hurt a child.. If I am way off in the backwoods fishing by myself they usually get a free pass.. However if I am at a campground or near children they get dead....

I am suprised that this piece of equipment is still here.. My grandpa says that the older Mercory outboards are the best low HP outboards ever built.. He compares them to GM's 3.8 series of engines.. Bulletproof! Hope my grandpa's ringing endorsement helps.. I would buy it, but it would weigh down the 16 ft john just a little much...

I see you showed it no quarter.. Good for you if it was a threat.. I pass half the snakes I see and would pass the other half if they would just pass by me as well... My sister in law got bit down by Salem, MO on the Jacks fork by a 7 inch long baby copperhead.. Allow me to give you some free advice.. If you do rush to the hospital (not exactly necessary for a copperhead I found out) DO NOT allow them to give you any cottonmouth antivenon (may have spelled that wrong) to treat it... From what I am told they basically gave her a second (and later a third) mild bite, only this time it was with a cotton mouth! this thread makes me wonder though.. Do you anglers and conservationists kill snakes and creepy crawlies? I sure do, and I love the wilderness.. But if it tries to bite me or eat me, it's a gonner.. Or at least kicked or thrown accross the river!

I noticed and was trying to be nice when I asked if they had anything to cotribute to the forum besides their advertisments... If they were at least advertising anglers shoes it might be understandable..

Have you see nteh Blue Spring there? It's a hidden gem for sure.. I was floating past The Blue Springs cabin one year on our annual (back in the late 90's) and we noticed that there was alot of smoke coming from behind the cabin.. as we got closer we noticed that the whole shed behind the cabins was on fire and there was some young kid running around draging boats and fishing equipment out of it.. We helped him with what we could (did you know an aluminum boat siting in a fire can cause third degree burns? Go figure...) Sure felt sorry for that kid.. He admitted to us he had just put out a cigarette on the floor of the building... He was aparently assigned to watch the resort for the weekend..

Nice story.. I had just about the same experience today over at Bennett.. Dontcha just love this site? Do you tell everyone at the river about it? I just can't help but mention it to anyone that wants to talk.. Usually when you catch fish often people ask for tips.. And you know what I tell them? Ozarkanglers.com

Awesome! You did a great thing, and so did your co-worker! Did you throw his fish back, or did he let you keep them? I have had friends insist on cooking them for me.. that's always nice! It's a great thing that you got it all recorded, because even though your son will remember it forever, your memory isn't going to last quite as long! You may need the pictures long before he does...

The stretch of river Phil is requesting info on has 4 or 5 different public accesses and almost 15 outfitters (8 actual outfitter private takeouts that are shared among outfitters) When floating you can usually put in or take out at one of the public accesses, and if you are friendly you can put in or take out at any of the private accesses/campgrounds for a small fee. The list of outfitters is pretty extensive, but here are a few... Mountain Creek (my personal favorite take out) NRO (as metioned) Sand Spring Resort Fort Bennett Ho-Humm Fort Niangua Resorts RedBeards Ranch One Eyed Willies The Public Accesses are: Moon Valley Bennett Springs Barclay Prosperine Blue Springs (Is this a public access?) Leadmine uhhh.... I am sure I am forgetting some of them....

I have been working on this map as well, I will email it to you, Phil, as soon as I have completed it... I have floated the entire river from I-44 (wading with a canoe) to tunnell dam on lake niangua at one time or other.. Problem with marking the map is that the river changes with every flood... For these two maps I am working on (this one and the one for bennett) I am thinking of taking an image from google earth and putting it into a photoshop program or something.. Anybody out there better with this stuff than me?

Wow, the stream was up quite a bit! It took some work in my hip waders to get to the spots I wanted to on the stream, and then it took a bit of work to figure out how the park trout bite (which is weaker than a crappie sometimes), but once I got all that figured out... I limited out in Zone Two for the first time! I have only fished there once before and got pushed around by the bigger guys... Anyways.. The fish were staying deem out in front of the rocks and deeper holes... I was shaking the lure on the bottom of the deeper holes and the biggest trout in the hole would come down to investigate.. Half the time they would bite, half the time they would walk.. Or swim, as it were.. Biggest one I caught was just under two pounds and fought like a 12 inch bass with a stomach ache.... Interesting... Brought five pounds home to put with the rest in the freezer and the frying pan.. I haven't been eating all of them, but have been giving them to some of my little old lady customers.. You know how when a little tiny old lady gets so excited about something that she shakes her fists in front of her chest? That has got to be the cutest thing in the world.. MDC Agent Walt Hutton stopped by and walked down to say hi to me while I was cleaning my limit... He was friendly enough when I greeted him by name and asked how his children were on fathers day without their daddy... You gotta respect the guy for what he does anyway.. He happens to be my neighbor.... Of sorts.... I think somebody said that you don't ever see the agents in the park, but on Hillbilly days it's different I guess.. Anyway it started to get warm around 10 and the bit came straight to the top and I was out... I need to learn to fly fish so I can walk to the tracker and back and keep catching them! I am nuts about fishing, eh? No pictures cause I am lazy, and a trouts a trout eh?

Just so you know, I have started working on this today in Zone Two.. I already know most of Zone three, and the stream is up quite a bit, which changes the positioning of the fish and covers the holes. I will email this to you when I complete it.. If there is anyone else working on it or that has ideas to send to me, they are welcome to....

Maybe I can join you friday evening.. Which part of Zone 1 do you fish? I assume you will be using the fly rod, right? I don't intend to ask for much more instruction that letting me watch you cast, and maybe asking a question or two...

Let's all hope that the river is down enough to make the fishing good.. But the good news is that the spring is staying pretty constant, it's just running a little high and really fast.. The fish are biting deep until 9 or 10 am and then they come up all at once... Biting on yellows and oranges right now, and of course the Kastmaster I went to zone two in the park today, it was nice... The owner of sand springs resort is a good guy, I highly recommend them (as you must know) Are you and the girlfriend planning on hitting the river as well, or just staying in the park?

Not a problem at all.. Do you think (assuming my advice is good enough) that you might make this a sticky someday so that people might see it?

Looks like if we don't get too much this next week it will be ok for fly fishing here the weekend after next, but after all, it's missouri... If you think you know the long range forecast, just wait a couple hours...

How much does it cost to camp? And are you staying till sunday?

Welcome to the forum, Michael, I am Cricket Staggs.. I have had a similar childhood in the ozarks hills here in Lebanon, MO.. Have you been to our trout park, Bennett Springs, yet? You should take a trip up to mauntauk and bennett whenever you get the chance, it will make you miss the hills in NO CAL... Welcome again, and happy fishing!

And at least a couple goofs like me that are inadvertantly breaking the rules due to confusion... It looks like it would be a good time for the kids though..

Bring 4 dollars for a kastmaster spoon and be ready to catch some fish! Seriously though, I will be down on the river just past the spring wearing Hip waders, a red "beer nuts" hat, and and a goofy, toothy grin... Gimme a call to let me know if you plan on meeting me.. I usually get there around 7 and don't leave until I want to...

I think after a day like that the clients are probably walking on water!! Beautiful fish, wonderful day for you Bill... Congrats on being amazing at your profession...

Yes that is the Stock #... As I mentioned, it is definitely set up for rock crawling.. Terra low gears, long arm suspension lift, roll cage, etc... Here's a link with more photos.. http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/dda/deta...C&cardist=0 You may have to cut and paste it...

Oops, I found it... thanks Phil!

I am the same way, I spend all year waiting for the catch and release season just because the water isn't clogged with people...