laker67

Dave, Back then 100 people would be considered a large crowd. The earliest "no creel" permit that I can locate, with all 4 trout parks listed, is 1982. Can anyone out there recall when MDC added the other parks to the no creel season? At BSSP, as time went on, the other zones were opened to the winter season. 1978 was the earliest that I show zone 2 open. I can't recall on zone 3. Additional days were added to the season, first Friday, and then Monday. When the weather was bad, and the crowds were light, it could be some of the best fishing of the year. Thanks for your comments Dave.

AZ, A great story, thanks. I hope you get to make another trip to RR. It's 4:30 AM here, and I'm headed out the door to fish my 33rd season of C and R.

Thanks SIO3. Those yearly years were pretty spectacular. If the weather was bad, you could bet that not much of a crowd would show up. I'm not sure which year that zone 2 would have been open. Only zone 1 was open the first year. The 5 dollar permit was called a "no creel permit". In the early days, the park store was not open. The park store set next to the shed that you referred to. Can you imagine being the only people on the creek, this day and age? Thanks for taking time to respond.

Maybe no one out there can recall the first "no creel" season. I'll help refresh your memory. I had the privilidge of fishing the opening day of the first no creel season. It was Dec of 1976, I think the 11th. I cannot recall how many parks were open for that opening season, but I think that BSSP was the only one. Zone 1 was the only water that you were allowed to fish. You had to purchase a special "no creel" permit, and had to check in and out at the hatchery office. Fishing season was Dec and Jan only. I know for a fact that you could fish on Saturday, but I am not sure about Sunday for that first year.

How many out there can recall Missouri's very first "no creel" winter trout season? With no creel season upon us again, I thought it might make for an interesting topic. I would like to hear some facts and stories from some of the early days of "no creel" to the present season as we know it. There have been some changes and modifications along the way. Anything you can recall would be interesting. Thanks to MDC, we get the opportunity to fish areas that were normally closed from Nov to Mar every year. Tell me what you remember from your first "no creel" season.

USN 1968 to 1972.

Jeremy, You and I predicted three weeks ago that it was over. I'm still holding on that preditiction.

CC, Thanks for that info. I would have bet money that the fish in the picture was not the record fish reported by the paper. Seems they are one and the same as is reported. I'll say congrats to Jack, once again. I've watched this guy catch big fish for 30 years, and I'm still envious.

You are right Pat. I only considered the gas prices of 07 and 08. I completely overlooked the flooding problem. Thanks for your comments.

From what I understand, the same thing occured in "07". You guys that fish bennett, how did it effect this past season as far a fish numbers?

Congratulations to Ducky and DD! Glad to hear that you are "tying the Knot". And getting married in a Drift Boat, way cool! How are you going to get a bridesmaid, best man, Preacher, and the little guys for the ring and flowers all in that boat? I know it will all work out. Congrats to a wonderful couple! See you on the creek. Laker67

CC, Jack must have caught another, larger fish, that the Daily Record is reporting on. It is certainly "not" the fish that is pictured at the start of "this" topic. This fish was supposedly weighed in at Weaver's at 13 pounds. It looks to be a 12.5 to 13 pound fish. The net bag on Jack's net is the standard 24 inch bag. I would guess this fish at 27 inches and I would give it a 20 inch girth in relationship to the size of Jack's hand. 27 x 20 would put it at 13.5. A tremendous fish, but not an 18 pounder. I would like to see a picture of the fish they are reporting. It would be typical of Jack to catch two giant fish this past month.

I can see some ears buring on this topic, most likely they will be "yours" bigred.

John, Bravo to everyone involved, and a big "thank you" to our men and women of our armed forces.

Jon, The fishing reports, in most papers, are a Chamber of Commerce, "come on down" kind of thing. I've lived on LOZ for enough years to be able to compare fish reports with actual fishing conditions. If they always say that it is "good", then they are right a good percentage of the time. This smithville report is probably accurate. With water temps cooling down, those fall crappie should become aggressive again.

You know, dropper rigs are tailor made for foul hooking fish. Another problem, that could occur, is when you hook a real trophy fish. Most big fish, especially browns, will run the bottom when they tire. If you hook the fish on the lower fly, then the upper fly travels backward through the water and the hang-ups. Not so the case when you hook the fish on the upper fly. Mr. trophy of a lifetime of a lifetime has just broke you off and is trying to free himself from some hang-up. It could be a real slow death for that trophy fish. Let's hear some other thoughts on this subject. I've never fished a multiple rig just for those reasons.

10 Pointer, Derby day used to be a "bragging rights" type event, biggest fish, heaviest stringer, that type of thing. I'm sad to hear that it has turned into what you have just described.

Murdoc, Sorry I couldn't make it. I worked untill 6 pm Sat. and I was only 11 miles from the park. I was even too tired to make t-como Sat night. Kerry and I fished the lake today and caught 23 crappie that we had fresh for dinner. Hard to beat, crappie, cornbread, potatoes, and an apple pie. Those 23 crappie fed 6 people tonight. Later Murdoc.

Murdoc, Glad to hear you had a good trip.

Edward, 10 pointer gave you the correct advice. The easiest way to catch a lunker is to know where he is located before you ever wet a fly. You stated that you had tried fishing to a big fish a "couple" of times. Try that technique 98 more times. By then you should have had a dozen looks, a couple of takes that you miss, and maybe one good hookup that you will probably end up losing. After that point, things will start getting somewhat easier. On average, if you can hook one in 20, land one in five, you have done good. Guys like Jack, Jeff, Dave and the others that I mentioned, are willing to walk the creek bank for 8 hours and hope they find a fish or two to fish for. At Bennett, right now, that is as good as you can hope for. When I fished it in the, 70's and 80's, you could find 30 fish a day to fish for. Not so now. Roaring and Montauk have a "few" more big fish. In comparing "catching" large browns to large rainbows, there is no comparison. Rainbows are a "walk in the park" compared to a brown. And I'm not saying that catching a large rainbow is easy. Just easier than catching a large brown. The strain of brown trout in missouri is different than most. Most states have the "german brown", including Arkansas and the great lakes. Missouri has the "sheep creek brown", which is as shy and wary and more easily spooked than any other strain of brown trout. Guys like Jack and Jeff, are true artists in their pursuit of missouri's brown trout. I've been around for a long time, and in my opinion, they are the "best of the best". Each and every person, that I mentioned in a previous post, are excellent sight fishermen and have caught hundreds of lunkers apiece in the past 25 to 30 years. Most still fish the trout parks as they have done for years. Myself, Kerry, Dave and Jim, moved off to Taneycomo for the night fishing and the solitude. No solitude anymore, it is quickly becoming Missouri's largest "trout park". About Oct. each year, people come out of the woodwork in hopes of catching Missouri's next state record. They tromp around and pound the water so hard, that the waves roll upstream. It's like reliving opening day, every day. At night, they do the same thing, tromp around and shine their lights continually. I have night fished Taneycomo for the past 33 years. What was once solitude and pleasure, has turned into a Halloween nightmare. I have learned to adjust, outlast the crowd, and go with the flow. Edward, if you pursue the sight fishing, I wish you the best of success. It has been a most rewarding experience over the years for me. You need to set some goals and be sure and keep a log book. My first goal in sight fishing was to catch 100 lunkers, without a log book you might lose accurate account. When you catch a lunker, write down the date, where you were fishing, fly, tippet size, weight of the fish, whether it was kept or released, etc. I have always used a large net to land the fish, weigh him in the net, and release. I hardly ever touch or hold the fish. All is done in the water. The only time the fish is out of the water is for a quick weigh in with the scale attached to the net. Subtract the weight of the net, and there you go. Fly selections are a trial and error kind of thing. With your log book, you can look back and see some patterns developing after a period of time. I caught my first lunker on Oct. 18, 1975 and have kept a log book ever since. I caught him at the Sycamore hole, in zone 1, 2lb tippet on a salmon fur bug and the fish was kept. He weighed 3 pounds, 11 ounces. This is the kind of information that your log book will tell you 33 years later. Good fishing to you Edward. Laker67

Best make plans for Arkansas. With all of the warmer water temps at taney, the big browns have spawned up and moved back to the deeper water. Anyone that fished taney this weekend will tell you that anything bigger than 5 pounds have come and gone. The normal group of resident browns along with some new small fish is all that is left. Arkansas has the same problem with DO and water temps. This year, their spawn should occur in Nov and Dec. versus Dec and Jan. The big males will be on the move right now. I'm relocating to Norfork and Little Red.

Edward, Up to the time of the regulation change, Jack, Fred Grimes, Jeff Tiffenuer, Dave Bethurm, Kerry Daniels, Jim McGowin, myself and others, had a bonanza with zone 3. In August, large browns and a few rainbow would move out of the river into the cooler water of zone 3. We all caught large fish every year, mostly browns. Back then, all you had to do was spray some kind of scent on any fly to make it legal in zone 3. Rule of thumb, anything illegal in zones 1 and 2, was a legal bait in zone 3. Not the case now. Bennett is the only park that flies are illegal in the bait water. Jim Rogers stood on the band wagon to get that new rule change in effect, for what reason I do not know. We released all fish, so that we could catch them the following week. In the 15 years prior to the regulation change, several fish between 10 and 15 pounds were caught and released. The two largest browns caught at Bennett , one each in zones 1 and 2, were caught by Jack B. and Jeff Tiffenuer. Jack's fish was just over 16, and Jeff's fish was 16 pounds 15 ounces. Pretty respectable fish for a trout park. Several large rainbows have been caught over the years. In 1974, Bob Lamm caught a state record at 14.5 pounds. In the late 80's I caught a 14.5 and a 15 pounder. Both came from zone 2. Since then several rainbows 13 to 14 pounds have been caught. At least 4 of those fish have been caught by Jack. All of the fishermen listed above release at least 95% of the lunkers that they catch. Jack and Jeff have caught some where in the ball park of 15 to 16 hundred lunkers apiece. If Dave hadn't quit trout fishing 10 years ago, he would probably have 2000. Dave had the park record for most lunkers caught in one year at 89. That was at Bennett from march to october, winter season didn't count. I consider myself fortunate to have been friends and fished with the above mentioned fishermen. They are, without exception, some of the finest sportsmen and finest trout fishermen in Missouri. These guys wrote the book on catching large fish. A special thanks to Fred, who we lost a few seasons ago.

First off I would like to say Congrats to Jack! I've known Jack for over 30 years and I know the particular" fly" that is in question. With out giving out any of his secrets, I can quarantee you that it is a legal bait for zone 3. Jack is one of the original pioneers of the art of sight fishing in Missouri trout parks. He's been at it for over 40 years now. This fish is one of several, 10 to 16 pound fish, that Jack has caught in the trout parks over the past 40 years. After the regulation changes for zone 3, Jack has designed several baits that work effectively. This gentleman has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to catching large fish. Jack was the very person that inspired me to become a sight fisherman. In 1975, I witnessed Jack landing his 100 th lunker. At that point, I decided that "my" goal, was to try to catch 100 lunkers. I would like to say thanks to Jack and several others for showing me art of sight fishing.

Bman, Wow! Congrats! In about 2 years that fish will be pushing 18 to 20. Also congrats on the rainbow from an earlier post.