OzarkFishman

If you take your waders, then there is plenty of room to fly fish.

I am lucky and have been spared any personal damage from the high water. To all of you effected, my thoughts are with you. Since most rivers are still flowing at a good pace, I decided to hit a local pond. Started throwing a carolina rig, but there was too much stirred up on the bottom and I was picking up stuff about every 3rd cast. Decided to switch to a white chatterbait, with a hint of red (paired with a white lake fork shad swimbait). Fished for about 45 minutes. Only had 2 fish, but neither were dinks. The smaller one hit when the bait hit the water and fought like nobodies business for a bass that small. The bigger one measured 19 inches and I am guessing somewhere around 4 pounds. I caught her right at last light. It was good to feel that weight at the end of the line. Hope all is well, OzarkFishman

Below Riverside. Went to the park this morning just to check the water. It was chocolate brown and moving. I wet a line for a while to waste some time. 2 ducks buzzed not 15 feet above me, which was pretty cool. The water will be into the park tonight if it isn't already. On a side note, I was on my way to Bolivar yesterday and saw 2 deer crossing 65. They were both in the median, when one decided to make a break for the other side ... wrong decision. It was like I knew it was going to get hit before it happened. I saw a semi coming (good thing it was a semi), and I knew what was about to happen. The deer just trotted right out in front of the semi and like a good semi driver does he just barged through the deer. The deer did a 360 and went probably 3 or 4 feet in the air and landed in the grass on the far side of the highway. While I didn't want to see it happen, it was neat to see. OzarkFishman

Got a few crappie yesterday in my kayak. The wind was brutal (especially the gusts). White was the winning color of the day. OzarkFishman

It was the same for us last night. We took a canoe and fished swimming minnows, BPS squirmin shad and stickbaits. We only boated 3 largemouth, none more than 13 inches.

Just a small plastic on a 1/16th jighead (light rod and 4 pound test). I got out of the current and back in some good slack water (it was stained, not muddy). The hook was right in the top of the mouth, so the fish more than likely thought it was food (not a reaction bite). Like RS said, the water color should clear up in the next few days (as long as we don't get anymore substantial rain). OzarkFishman

I hit the park for a few hours today. Only got one fish, but it measured 16 inches. Had a few other little nibbles, but no other fish committed. The river is up and moving (add shifting wind and boat control became a problem). Some of the water has a brown tint, while the rest was just stained. Water temperature ranged from 54.5 - 59 degrees. Good luck out there, OzarkFishman

Thanks for the advice (check your PM).

The goggle-eye bite is on. I went for 45 minutes and caught 4 goggle-eye and 2 smallmouth (1 decent, 1 dink). I am getting drawn to the goggle-eye bite and now want to catch a 10 inch ozark bass more than a 14 inch largemouth. It's time to get your lines wet, even with the cool down for this weekend looming. OzarkFishman

I waded a little on Saturday night. The only thing I caught anything on was a swimming minnow ... 6 ozark bass (2 decent sized) and 2 little smallmouths. All 8 fish came in the same hole. Should have committed to that hole and not lost my only swimming minnow. The fish didn't want anything else. Good luck out there, OzarkFishman

Only if you are a hardcore riverman. I still need my waders.

I took my 6 hp out on Sunday. I have an old, heavy 1953 semi-v (14 footer) with a deck on the front. There were 2 adults and my 3 year old. It pushed the boat pretty well. Like some have said, I would not trust it if the water was flowing very fast on a river. If I were you, then I would go for a 9.9 or a 15. OzarkFishman

Ya, they have been around. The night before I went, a friend of mine went fishing without his permit at Beaver (got caught and ticketed). Of course he tried to blame it on his wife. He said the agent was nice and respectful, and did his job very well. It is always nice to hear about law enforcement agents that can be civil and do their job. Good fishing to you all, OzarkFishman

I plan on taking my 6hp out on Sunday. I will let you know how it pushes my 14 foot rig. Mine boat is old and heavy with a wooden deck added to the front. I will let you know how it pushes the boat. Like you said, everything that I have read has said that a 9.9 will put a 14 footer on a good plane. The reason I went with the 6 is that Springfield Lake is a 6hp limit. OzarkFishman

Wow, I wish I would have read that before I bought my 1969 Johnson 6hp. Then again, it is going on a 1953 boat. The two look like they were meant to be together. Thanks for the replies. Good fishin, OzarkFishman

Got to Beaver about 6. We fished swimming minnows the whole night (1/16th ounce jig). I started out with smoke and picked up my first fish about 6:30. Caught another 5 by 7:15, then another 6 by 7:45. During this time I lost 2 fish when I reached down and missed lipping them and they shook the hook. There for a little while, it was a fish every few casts. After 7:45, the bite slowed. I missed some bites and one fish broke me off big time (walleye is my guess). One guy I was with caught 8, mostly on blue and the other guy only caught one (he is admittedly novice at fishing). The biggest fish I caught was 18 inches (which is my personal best). The single fish in the picture was my second biggest, which was by mistake when I picked the wrong fish off my stringer. I was rushing to get a picture before the light got too bad to take a picture with my crappy cell phone. On a side note, I saw a guy that I thought was fishing a casting spoon on baitcasting tackle. For a while he was catching a fish on every cast. This morning I talked to one of the guys that went and he thought he saw a snagging hook on the guy's line (a casting spoon could easily snag fish). Either way, I don't think all the fish were caught by the lip. Good luck to you all, OzarkFishman

I am looking for a small outboard for my jon boat. I need it to be a short shaft. My budget is only $300 - $400. I understand that it will be a used motor, but it needs to be working properly. The boat it is going on is a 1953, so the motor doesn't have to be pretty (as long as it runs strong). Thanks, OzarkFishman

8.06

Sorry to hijack the thread, but hopefully the answers will help you as well. Like you, sself1, I am a bass fisherman that is trying to get into the fly/trout thing. Like RPS stated, it seems that natural colors for jigs are the best. As for technique, how are they fished? 1) Do you just cast out, let some line out and then drift with it keeping a little contact with the bottom? 2) How about casting the jig out and jigging it back like a bass jig? I would assume that you would want to use smaller jerks so that the very light jig just comes off the bottom 6 - 12 inches. 3) How about the float-n-fly method? How deep should the jig be set? I know it will vary, but what depth is a good depth to start with? Would it be a good idea to float two jigs under the indicator/bobber? Thanks for any information, OzarkFishman

Sounds like a plan RS. I fish with 8 lb Floroclear a lot, so I will have no problem with that. Thanks for the offer, OzarkFishman

Just went with the Hobbs Creek 9ft 6wt outfit. This allowed me $$ to buy nymphs, streamers, elk hair caddis and wooly buggers. Then added the Flambeau Streamside Fly box. I am just going to use 4 lb P-Line Floroclear for my tippet. Should be ready to catch some bass this spring. Can't wait to catch some whites on the fly. I also have some micro jigs I bought from Lilley last year. I should know if I like the fly fishing thing by this fall. I am excited about this year. Last year my goal was to learn Springfield Lake and by time Fall rolled around I had confidence everytime I took my boat to the lake. My goal this year is to learn how to warm water fly fish. Hopefully I can have some success this year as well. Thank you all for the information. OzarkFishman

CrappyKing, I had a good feeling about yesterday. I just didn't have an outboard to make it possible. I wish I would have shown up after you, then I would have just followed your path. I'm glad you caught some fish. OzarkFishman

Crappy day for me. It looks like the lake is open from the highway, but once I got the boat in the water and down river it was frozen up. I thought it would be really thin, but it was too much for us to get through. Got the boat out and then headed down to cooper creek. Only caught 2 small fish (no generation + high pressure + blue skies = sucky fishing). Came back and put the boat away and then headed below springfield lake dam with my waders. Caught one 11" largemouth and missed a bigger one. It was a beautiful day to be outside. OzarkFishman

Then, it seems I read something into your post. My bad. See you there Saturday.

I don't think anyone said anything about you posting too much information. And I don't think that I said anything about a dire situation. It's all good, you read something into my post and that is your perogative. Good luck on Saturday. OzarkFishman