jdmidwest

In the past few years, I have had the pleasure to meet several on here in person either on the stream, in business, or at a meeting. I got to spend a little time with Tito from the Eleven Point River today and wished that I was not so dang busy I could have talked a little more. Thanks Tito. Look forward to crossing paths with you on the river this year. Being from the other side of the state from Taney and only fishing the river once, I never thought I would meet as many on here as I have. Just points out that with modern technology, it is really a small world.

Al, we are capable of creating the mess as humans and luckily we are capable of undoing the problems too. In my short lifetime of over 4 decades, I have seen improvements and declines in our natural world. I do have a kid, and a step grandkid now, so it is up to me and you and everyone else to protect it. I hope to see it improve because of us.

In the case of most of the streams in Missouri, Current River, Meramec River, Niagua River, Eleven Point River, White River, Norfork River, etc, all supported and still support Smallmouth Bass in the areas of Trout Management. You can catch Smallmouth Bass and Largemouth Bass in the Trout Management portions of these streams. Rainbow trout eat minnows, crayfish, hellgramites, and other insects just like a Smallmouth Bass. Rainbow Trout were introduced into these areas because water quality and temperature allowed them to survive and prosper. Don't get me wrong, I like to fish for trout very much. I also like to fish for the Smallmouth Bass too. Both are fished for with similar tackle and lures or flies.

Jann's NetCraft has moulds and materials to make your own. There is another site that carries about any mould you would need, I just can't think of it or find it in my favs. I have not done but just a few. I bought the stuff and found a mould for a jig body I was having a hard time finding and made a few. Then I found a source and have not made any since. I did not get too involved in it, one injection mould, some liquid plastic, a few colors, and some anise oil. Injection moulds are best but the one site I found had 100's of pouring moulds too.

All of the trout in Missouri and Arkansas are non native and have been transplanted here. Rainbows, Cutts, Brookies, and Browns were all brought in to compete with the native smallmouth bass.

We were there also on Sunday, spring was pumping muddy water. We took some pics at the Spring and looked around for a while. I did not even unsheath a rod. Of course it was the big 10 yr anniversary weekend so I behaved.

For the most part, there is a serious lack of Dry Fly Fisherman in our Drainage. The Mississippi Basin for the most part. Nymphs, jigs, and eggs.

What about man, the reason most of the species are invasive? If we had left them where they were, they would not be here now. Gray Squirrels?? I have not heard that one.

Thank God for the Urban Trout Program, it gives the Giggers something to do during the daytime... I drove by the Rotary Park here yesterday, some had busted holes in the ice around the edges and were fishing from them, about 20 people fishing out of 6 holes. You are not allowed to go out on the ice and fish, you can only fish from the bank.

Phil, its like everything else, you may have to shop around. Metz is an old name with some high quality genetics, but Whitings are usually longer and you use less feathers to hackle a dry. It is a matter of supply and demand along with production. The chickens are bred for the feathers and harvested for the feathers. They have to be separated to keep from damaging the feathers and the skins have to be dried and prepped by hand. A bad hatch could have led to a shortage of certain colors that drive up the prices also. Someone overseas could have placed a large order and dried up the market here. Of course, feed, transport, human labor are all factors. I have a selection of Metz necks from the 80's and 90's. I rarely use hackle in dry flies, mostly CDC and Hair, both of which I harvest myself during hunting season. The 100 packs are nice for most casual fly tyers. A full cape gives you a full selection of sizes, but the 100 packs are great if you only tye a few sizes.

When we left out yesterday morning, they were still running off into the median north of Jackson on I-55. Main roads were still snowy, side roads not even bladed. We changed direction and ended up in St. James/Rolla area for the night. Stopped in at Meramec Springs today and the spring was pumping mud. Maybe a dozen vehicles in the lots and few fishing. I did not even attempt to unholster a rod. Great days for Antique shopping and sightseeing.

Faststone Image Viewer does all sorts of image edits and its Freeware. You will need to downsize the image to 140 x 140 I think for a Avatar. Most images should post at 800 x 600. Here is a link. Faststone Image Viewers

Here is an article about the local trout pond. It is a good diversion in the afternoons after work. I fished it several times in November and early December. It was iced up most of Jan. and I was tempted to fish it this week, just never got the time. I actually caught more trout there than I did my last trip to the Spring River in Nov. Woolies and a green bead head softhackle have worked good this year. We caught several nice gills while fishing to the trout. One evening we even fished to some risers and had some luck. Come Feb 1 it looks like a mini Montauk for a while. Program allows anglers to keep trout caught in Jackson's Rotary Lake starting Monday Thursday, January 28, 2010 ~ Updated 2:52 PM By Brian Blackwell ~ Southeast Missourian Anglers are expected to line Jackson's Rotary Lake in the pre-dawn hours Monday for a chance to catch and keep trout in Jackson City Park. In its sixth year, the Catch and Keep program allows anglers the opportunity to catch up to four trout daily from the lake for free. While the program is scheduled to continue until Oct. 31, Jackson parks and recreation director Shane Anderson expects anglers to catch most of the trout by the end of February. "What's impressed me about the program is I see someone at the lake I haven't seen in years or even before they come out to fish for the trout," Anderson said. "They tell me the reason they come is because of this program. The goal of this is to use Rotary Lake as an interesting recreational way but also an added feature in the winter for park use." One-thousand pounds of trout were stocked in the lake weeks before the Catch and Release program, which allows anglers to catch the trout but requires them to release their fish back into the water. That season runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31. Anderson estimates that about 900 fish are in the lake. Eighty percent of the fish are 10 to 13 inches in length while 20 percent are 14 to 24 inches. Anglers from 16 to 64 years old must have a valid Missouri fishing license. A trout permit is need if anglers wish to keep their trout. The park is open 6 a.m. to midnight each day. The program is possible through shared costs between the city and the Missouri Department of Conversation. The cost is about $3,000.

Funny how a little snow is a major event in the news now, and for that matter, all this week they have been crying about it. I think we are going to get a few inches of snow here. Most of the crew was discussing how they probably would not make it to work in the morning. All own 4wd and live on paved roads, lol. I am planning a trip out of town this weekend to get away, Better half thought the storm would keep us home. The 4 Runner has a nice set of agressive tires and I like sightseeing in the snowy countryside. Unless it is ice, the trip is on.

I was up 2 weeks ago and posted a report. Crowds were light and fish were taking the usual suspects. It warmed up that day and they started looking up some. River was in good shape before the rains, should be back down now. I will be in the area if the roads are good enough, it looks like most will go south. I will fish a while Sunday.

Nice chart, thanks for the info.

Last year, several hunters confused Trumpeter Swans with Snow Geese and killed a few illegally. If we use the analogy of most on here, Snow Goose hunting would be eliminated. Has anyone ever fished a small stream and watched the fish in a stream. I have noticed that Smallies for some reason will school with the suckers in a stream. So I can see a pattern as to why that they may get stabbed while gigging for suckers. But they should know what they are stabbing at. Frog giggers in streams will target bass also, but we don't need to abolish frog gigging. I have observed it and Al's statement confirmed it, Greater Blue Herons will stab a fish larger than it can eat for some unknown reason. When they stab a fish, it usually kills it.

Was it murky or muddy? Spring River almost never runs crystal clear, it usually has a milky greenish tint with good visibility. If it is up, it would have been brown muddy. I was just wondering how it was, thinking about heading down next weekend. Was the campground very full or did you stay in a cabin? Its a good river to float and fish, you can rent canoes from Riverside or they will shuttle you if you take your own. This time of year that would have been a good trip and you could have seen more of the river.

That really does not look like a gigging scar since most gigs are 3-4 pronged if I remember right. It would have been hard to stab a fish in a side angle attack as the wound shows and not hit it with other prongs. I read a paper a while back that lampreys were on the rise in a few rivers, could that have been a culprit. The wound does not rule out a Greater Heron beak either. I don't gig so I don't have a dog in the hunt to protect them. But I don't like to attack other sportsman that legally enjoy their sport. I don't see how that could have been caused by a fish gig. Anyhow, nice fish.

I agree with most, it is dry except when the Mississippi is up and backs up into the canal created for the river. When I was young, it was call River De P_ee_uu for the Monsanto plant and the sewage smell as you crossed it. I have never thought about fishing it. But if the river is up, I am sure carp and other fish run up into it. I don't think there would be any laws against fishing from its banks, but the city may have some. Pack a weapon, you may encounter unfriendlies in the area.

Per Smith and Wesson when I sent mine back for repair, no problems found, shoot CCI Mini Mags. Amazing that someone would develop a 22 lr pistol to only shoot one type of ammo. It was certainly not the quality of the Walther PPK 22 lr that I grew up shooting on the farm. I have owned several Ruger 10-22's, all have shot well out of the box. I have owned one for 33 years now and will still shoot nickle sized groups at 40 yards just as it came out of the box. A Ruger 22-45 is a nice 1911 trainer, same grip and control locations. There is a Glock 22lr clone made by some company.

I own a P-22. It only shoots CCI Mini Mags, all the rest have problems jamming on the second round. It is not very accurate. Get a Ruger MK2 or 3, Browning Buckmark, or Single Six for some good accurate shooting. Or get one of the Heritage 22's, they work good too.

According to MDC, trout do not successfully spawn in the Current River, so why would they close it for that reason? I think it may have to do with the stocking and control of the additional river miles. They may have to staff more people to manage it.

That's just the way it has always been, no rhyme or reason, it ends at the first low water bridge. I would like to see the whole park open for C&R season. I like the campground stretch myself. Its probably a number of fish reason or feeding the fish problem. I think they feed the fish in the stream during C&R season during the week at least once. At least they put a few fish in the lake this winter and I got to fish it again. In the past few years, the lake has been void of any fish every time I go thru. They used to keep some nice ones in there.

Tournament fishing sucks. Fishing should be for fun and relaxation. Add money and competition then it becomes work........