CDC

Wow this thread took off in a hurry, I think March 28th sounds good (actually doesn't really matter but that seems to be working for everyone else) and I too like the Lim Kiln to Pipeline float. I have never floated that section before either. It was I indeed that said a state record goggle eye had to be in the creek. I pulled a 2 pounder out of Cherry corner about 8 years ago...at the time the record was only 2 pounds 8 oz. FishinSWMO, I hope you son catches it but if not I am sure you will have a great time watching him try.

Hey Chief, Thanks for the info. If I am reading it correctly you have the right to float and camp on a gravel bar that is in the river but it is considered private property on the banks. Is that what you are getting out of it? Spring floating sounds fantastic. Lets pick a float and plan it out.

How was the fishing? I missed reading the invite or I would have been in. I really wanted to join the river clean up last weekend but had some other plans already that got in the way. Let me know when you plan another one and I will do my best to make it.

Yeah that is where I parked for sure. Like you said, I know that I wasn't at fault. I would rather not have a confrontation with the guy but if it comes down to it then I will call the sheriff myself and claim that he is harassing me. I was surprised at how good the fishing was really. I am sure that we will run into each other on the river again. Wouldn't mind setting up another OAF float to kick the year off either.

Did a float down Shaol Creek today with a few friends. We put in just below where Hickory Dr runs into Old Scenic road and floated on down. This was my first time doing this float. Very nice stretch of water. We did pretty good on the fishing too. Started off slow but about half way down (where the river bends at the railroad tracks) we started catching fish. Between the 4 of us we pulled at least 10 bass (one of them a very nice smallmouth) out of the first hole and it just kept up from there. Ended up catching about 30 fish all together. They were hitting a little soft but are starting to get more aggressive. All caught on soft plastics. The best producing baits today were root beer centipede, pumpkin fluke, and crawdad colored culprit worm. A few real nice fish and a few smaller ones. On another note, when we picked up my truck from the put in a few guys bank fishing flagged us down and said some guy came by wanting to know who's truck it was parked there. Said he owned a 100 acres and didn't want anyone fishing there and threatened to call the sheriff. These guys apparently told him this was public property (i wasn't parked on anyone's land) and that he couldn't do anything about it but to go ahead and call the sheriff if he wants to. I know one of you guys on the forum fishes that section of river quite a bit (I think maybe fishinSWMO). Wondering if anybody else has had a run in with this guy. I am sure he didn't realize that we were floating the river and not walking across his land. Either way, I loved the float and want to do it again but don't want to end up with a flat tire or vandalized vehicle. There was a house near where we parked but the guys on the bank said that was a friend of theirs house and he didn't care if we parked there at all (like I said it wasn't on anyone's property anyway).

Looks like you did a little better then me. I floated with my cousin from Reddings Mill bridge to Wildcat park and we caught about 6 between the two of us. All on soft plastics...got one pretty good hit on a jig but other then that it wasn't producing for me.

I sure had a good time. It was nice to put some faces with the names on the forum. Didn't catch a ton of fish but I think we actually did fairly well considering how many people we had fishing that little creek. I got a few pics to show what I mean...

looks like the weather is going to clear up for us....may be some wind to deal with but it should be nice and warm and not too sunny. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

I did a short float from Reddings Mill bridge to Wildcat yesterday evening. Caught a few goggle eye and a few Largemouth on a soft plastics. Hooked a nice 17 to 18 inch small mouth on a spinner but she threw the hook just as I got her to the boat. Looks like you did a little better then I did.

Thanks. I haven't fished Elk in a couple of years (moved to Texas for a while) but I have been fishing Big Sugar a lot lately. I will give you a holler when i know more specifically when we will make the trip.

Crazy...can't believe someone would steal a bus...got what was coming to him. Nice small mouth..I am going to try to make it down there pretty soon. Was planning on this weekend but afraid that the rain is going to ruin the fishing for the weekend. How late in the year are you doing shuttles (I usually just have someone ride with me up river and drive my truck back to their camp ground)?

It is a great float. We like it so much that it took us 8 hours to do it. Several years ago I caught a 2 pound goggle eye on that same stretch...glad to see that they are still around. I am up for some fish fryin...just let me know when.

Looks like you guys had a great trip. I always enjoy fishing the most when I get out fished by my son. I avoided sugar this weekend to avoid the crazy canoers. I sure do hate to see those guys with stringer fulls of Small Mouth. Talked to an MDC agent out there a few weeks ago and told him that I thought they should extend the 18 inch 2 fish limit that is in effect on Elk river all the way up sugar creek. He agreed and said that there had been some talk about it...we can only hope. Hoping to make it out there with my son in the next weekend or two...hope he does as well as yours did.

My cousin and I hit Shoal Creek this weekend. Started off Sunday with a float from Cherry Corner to Allen Bridge. Boy are there some nice Goggle Eye holes in that little stretch of creek...I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a state record in there. Although we didn't hook the record, we did land a few that would qualify for MDC Master Angler Awards (10 inches or more). Caught a few small largemouths and a few small smallmouths too but the goggle eyes dominated the trip. All in all I think we landed about 15 fish a piece...one on a jig, and the rest on soft plastics. Finished up Monday evening with a short float from Reddings Mill Bridge to Wildcat Park. Pulled in 5 Goggle Eye on a spinner a few nice largemouth (last two pics) and a few more goggle eye on the soft plastic. They sure were hitting this weekend but the small mouth avoided us pretty good.

I personally love shoal creek...and like the fact that most people don't like it very much. I might be up for meeting at Allen bridge one evening...I am afraid that I can't be sure though...depends on what time i get off of work.

Looks like some good fishing. What section did you float? Creek Wader, if I am not mistaken Allen Bridge is right off of highway 60. You should be able to do a search on google for MDC Allen Bridge (since it is a MDC maintained public access) and get pretty good directions.

Wow, looks like you had a good trip. I am going to try and make it up there in the next few weeks. I had the choice this last weekend but chose Indian creek. lots of fish there but none of them big...(at least not on the stretch of river i was fishing). What is that you were using? looks like a jig in the pic but can't quite tell.

I find that the soft plastic grubs tend to work better on that section of the creek but even then the fishing is somewhat slow right there (too many people fishing it all the time I think). Crazy about the snake trying to eat your fish. I once caught about a 15 inch smallmouth on Sugar Creek. When I let it go it acted a little stunned for a second and a 10 inch water snake came shooting out of the brush and grabbed a hold of it. That woke the fish up and she took off. What was that snake thinking anyway...there was no way it could have eaten that bass.

Those look like some nice fish. Fishin, I know that place too but I haven't fished that stretch of river this year. I plan on making it up there in the next week or two.

Floated a 3 mile stretch of Indian creek above Anderson today. The creek is pretty low but still floatable (only had to get out and push a few times). The fish were biting great but they were all pretty small. We caught about 9 a piece with only 2 in the 12 inch range..the rest were all about 8 inches. All of the fish were caught on soft plastics. Did manage to pull in a 9 inch goggle eye though. All in all it was a good day.

I bought one at walmart that looked a lot like the ones at bass pro in the first link. Payed about $12 for it and it is way bigger then I need. I just click the latch around the seat post so it stays in the boat if I tip.

I myself am a firm believer that everything has a right to live and serves an important purpose. I don't begrudge you for killing a snake but just remember that over 1/3 of all people bitten by snakes were trying to kill it when they were bitten. Most of the rest of the people bitten never saw the snake and stepped on it by accident (pretty common with copperheads as their defense is camouflage). What that means is that, if you see the snake, and leave it alone, you pretty much have no chance of being harmed by it. And to add to it, less then 1% of all people bitten by venomous snakes die because most of the time the snake doesn't even inject any venom...its just a bite to make you leave it alone. Some of the things that snakes do to help the environment: -Keep the rodent population in check (no snakes means an over abundance of rodents...and the diseases they pass on to humans) -Eat garden pests like slugs, snails, centipedes, -Serve as a food source for other animals (birds, fish, some mammals) -Run the swimmers out of my fishing hole There are others but that gets the point across. Don't get me wrong, if there is a copperhead in your house or back yard then you may need to kill it to protect the family but out in the woods or on the river, my suggestion is to just leave it alone and walk away...it will most likely do the same. I have been bitten by lots of snakes (i used to catch just about everyone i found) but have never been bitten by a venomous one and never by one that I wasn't trying to catch.

I have fished at the falls before with no problems. There are a few houses around but if you stay on the banks and out of the yards you shouldn't have an issue. It is pretty limited access though. I suppose you could also go down to Reddings Mill bridge or even Old 71 Bridge (the opposite side of the river from the trails). I float a canoe between the two of them with decent luck but the bank fishing is pretty limited at both of those spots and there is some private property near by.

Wow. I didn't know that they changed Elk river requirements to 15" minimum and only 2. Does this include Sugar Creek as well? I don't keep Largemouth or Smallmouth so it doesn't effect me but I see plenty of people going down the river with a bass that is even under the old 12" limit. I guess the big question is do you plan on keeping the fish. If you don't plan on keeping them then just get a fishing license and catch and release...no worries. Otherwise just keep a few goggle-eye for dinner. You only need about two per person and they taste better anyway. If you are going to be fishing the Elk around Noel, the only fish you are going to catch are largemouth, smallmouth and goggle-eye (and possibly some channel catfish). If you need some help identifying those just let me know.

Welcome to the forum. I am in Joplin too so if you ever need some ideas on where to go feel free to holler.