Did a little float on the Castor today, it was in the upper part of the river. My buddy and his family were in a Mad River canoe and I had the yak. First run produced a large sycamore obstacle portage. The rest of the float was low and dragging, even in the yak. Spring rains have been nice, but the water table is still low.
Fishing was slow to fair. Some dinks, longears, voracious green sunfish. Nothing large. Smallies were skittish, striking short. We did see 2 of the bounty fish as we floated over them. Sores on the back and a yellow algae coated piece of plastic dragging along side of them. Small fish about 10".
We got to the nice hole that has all of the new signs to "Release a Fighter" on the trees to find a nice new huge house being built and alot of gravel work done. Enough gravel and some concrete to revert the course of the river back to an old channel on the west side of the river along an old bluff. It cuts about 20 minutes off the float and dewatered a swimming hole used by campers at a near by resort.
Conversations with the locals verified the stream diggings as legit. It was approved and planned by the Corps of Engineers and Jefferson City. Lots of new gravel washing downstream, about a 1/4 mile of stream bed that is just bare gravel and dozer tracks now, one bank completely destroyed. Thanks city boys....
Did I mention how much I love how the management is taking care of a stream I have fished for about 40 years...