laker67

Back to the topic subject, I would pick the very upper reaches of the Current River. The creek is small enough to allow you to fish all of the water on both sides of the creek. It is shallow enough for excellent sight fishing. It can hold some very large brown trout and occasionally a large rainbow. Over the years it has produced 2 of missouri's "state record" brown trout. A 15 pound fish in 77, and a 19 pound fish around 1990. I am recalling those dates from memory, so I may not be 100% accurate. The largest brown that I have ever taken from there, was right at 9 pounds, the largest rainbow was 7.5. The fish are very wary and offer a good challenge.

Very interesting, I forgot about the eagles and the ospreys. I would imagine there are several other critters that could call them "dinner".

I just checked MDC website, and it has been designated a blue ribbon area and is still managed for rainbow trout only, which means that it receives no supplement stockings. It is one of 5, wild trout management areas in the state.

Chuck Tyron talked about it years ago, but I do not know if it is still routinely stocked.

How right you are! I too am a life long resident of Missouri. I have lived in Camden County for 59 years. I think the first firearms deer season for this county was in 57. It was a huge event to shoot a deer. All of the lucky hunters got their picture in the local paper. They even dismissed school for deer season, which was a 5 day season back then. Any deer was legal. I did not see my first turkey until I was 16. We have become spoiled because of the excellent work and foresight of MDC. I count my blessings and feel privledged to live in this fine state.

A fish hooked outside of the mouth, according to MDC an IGFA, is not a legally caught fish. Judging by the length of the leader below the fly, I can't see it doing anything but foul hooking the fish. When the fish grabs the fly, the current will sweep the hook alongside of the fish. Just like a dropper fly that so many now fish, it's tailor made to "snag" fish. Did you know that any fish caught on a dropper rig cannot be accepted as a record? How many of you still want to keep fishing those dropper rigs?

What you refer to as a wild trout creek, does not exist. All of the areas are stocked with hatchery raised fish on a routine basis. And yes they do stock 20 inch fish on occasion. The majority of the fish are 12 inch because that's what they stock. Most never make it past 12 inch in the wild, because of predators, such as man, river otter, mink, and blue herons. The fish always go through the ritual of spawning, but very few eggs survive. Even fewer hatchlings survive.

It appears to me as a system for someone who is "slow" to make the hook set, or afraid to make the hook set because he is not sure if he got the bite at all. It appears to be the perfect system for foul hooking fish on the outside of the mouth, under the chin, or in the gill plate. You might as well put a treble hook dropper on what ever fly you fish. What ever happened to setting the hook before the fish spits your fly out?

Uhh Huh! You are already in the "dog house" Duane!

I'm here to qualify your mohair leech, DD. Over the past 15 or more years, I watched Stubby and Big Jim Murphy catch fish after fish on the mohair leech. Back when big browns were harder to come by, Big Jim catches the 15 pounder. 5 & 6 pound rainbow was a nightly occurance for that pair. I also had the privilege of being there when Stubby caught the big walleye on the mohair leech. Check out the picture in Michael's shop. 11pound 4 ounce. Give me a "mohair leech" and an"ace of spades".

Michael, Start it up! I enjoy hearing from your Dad. I miss not getting to fish with him and Big Jim like I used to.

wrench, This is what I heard from a reliable source. "In an attempt to turn zone 1 into a trophy brown area, the normal river stocking of browns was diverted to zone 1 this fall" It is rumored that they will stock 100 browns in zone 1 for the next few years. This is not saying that browns will no longer be stocked in the river. I can't see them "not" doing that. They may have had a poor year as far as egg harvest, just as Taney did. My thought on the matter is this, I think they are trying to raise some 20 pound browns in the creek. By putting them in zone 1, they do not have to run the guantlet in zone 3. There is some ideal water in zone 1 to make this possible. Also I suspect that RR might be doing the same thing with it's winter release of browns on the upper end. Tim might be able to shed some light on this.

If the fireplace is the only propane appliance on the system, I would consider running a new gas service to it. Abandon the old service and start over. The regulator should be at the tank, if not, check to be sure that it is properly vented to outside air. Gas is heavier than air, and will collect in your crawl space until it finds a source of ignition. Hopefully you have already solved the problem.

Page 39, Jan. 2009, Missouri Conservationist magazine.

Troutchaser, Mayflies hatch from March to Sept at Taney.

Aaron, The only difference between winter and summer fishing is the amount of clothes that you wear. Speaking of clothes, always carry an extra set of everything in case you get wet. The trout have to eat 12 months out of the year, so the same flies you use in July, use in January. As far as tippet goes, if you use 7-6-and 5x all year, then you're set for every situation. I have never had good success with shock tippet. Usually you get a poor hook set with shock leader attached to the light tippet. Learn how to set the hook for the size tippet you are using. With 7x its a movement of the wrist. It won't take long to get the hang of it. Sowbugs, wooly buggers, zonkers, and egg patterns will catch fish anywhere, anytime, night or day. As far as landing big fish on light tippet, I like the challenge because it makes you play the fish and not try to hoarse him like you would a bass. I have landed 28 fish over 10 on 7X, and one over 20 on 5X. With the rainbows natural instinct to move upstream in the fall, fish near springs and other tributaries in the winter. As Zach or someone said, the crowds will be lighter in the winter, at least on the streams. Your chances of finding undisturbed fish will be better. Winter fishing is a most enjoyable experience. Good luck and keep us posted.

Congratulations are in order for DD & DD'sMC. Married on this fine day in history, December 31, 2008. DD just landed the catch of his lifetime. Congratulations and Best Wishes!

Bman, Congrats to your son Matt. It's always good luck to buy something new like the net, or a reel, or a new fly rod, etc. That's what I tell my wife everytime. What color did you say that egg was?

Michael, Very impressive! Gary Fisher does excellent work. I bet you already have your sights tuned in on another record come March. I saw your name today in the 2009 IGFA Book of World Records. Congratulations to you once again. Laker67

Carl Herbert, from Herbert Construction and Plumbing was the owner. I think it was his father-in-law that actually operated and lived at Trout Glenn. His name was Miller. Russell Foster was the president of 1st Nat. Bank. His name is also on the TU memorial at Bennett Springs. Harry Nelson, J BAR H Rodeo, was another long time, and accomplished, trout fisherman from this area. Glad to see you out there enjoying the sport, Aaron.

Murdoc came up with this blue heron formula. It would be safe to say that there could be 200 blue herons between Taney, Crane creek, and lower Roaring River. 200 blue herons eating 2 trout, each, per day, times 365 days, equals 146,000 trout eaten by blue herons each year. In perspective, that would be 20% of the total number of trout stocked in Taney each year. That's also enough trout to finance the urban trout program for 3 years. It might be safe to assume that all of the other trout streams, outside of the trout parks, are losing fish at the same percentage rates. I'd say we already have a problem.

Aaron, Ha Ha Tonka was a trout stream years and years ago. It was called Trout Glenn. It was well before your time but I'm sure your parents would remember. It was private and held several large rainbows. History claims that a 25 pound rainbow came from Trout Glenn. There used to be a sign by the spring, that told the story. I'm not sure if it still is there. My very first lunker was hooked and lost there in the early 60's. It was owned by the Herbert family and operated for many years. People like Lee Farmer, Russell Foster, and Frank Sallee all had pictures of the large rainbows they caught. The pictures were displayed at the old lodge. I know that you will recognize some of these names. After the state purchased the property, a petition, to re-stock trout, was circulated by some of the local business people. The state did not stock any trout that they would admit to. But in the mid-eighties, myself and friends caught several brown trout from the spring branch. Mike Parker caught the largest at 6 pounds. After a period of time the trout seemed to disappear. Caught and kept no doubt. I hope you enjoy this little bit of Ha Ha Tonka history.

I definately say "yes". In the past 9 to 10 years populations have soared. Prior to that, kingfishers and a much smaller wading/fishing bird were all that you saw. I do not know the name of the smaller bird, but there are still several in arkansas. It's about 1/4 the size of the heron. I first noticed the increase in herons on the Norfork in the late 90's. It seems they have migrated north from that point in time to Taney and other waters in missouri. We now have hundreds of them at LOZ. Right now on the Norfork, I bet you can't walk from goats bluff to rip island without seeing 30 herons in addition to the smaller wading birds. Taxidermist stated that they are in abundance on the white as well. I think that they are well on their way to being out of control in the near future.

Thanks for the info Phil. At least they are addressing the situation in the hatchery. Those cannons always caught you off guard at night. I've been "jump started" more than once.