ozark trout fisher

Yeah, I forgot about hoppers! What was I thinking about?!? I don't think you could ask for better hopper fishing conditions than what is happening right now. Also like Jah said, Orange and peach glo-bugs are a must have, although I prefer to use more natural flies when the water is low and clear as it is now. Glo-bugs really come into their own when there is some water in the river. And when you're nymphing there, I just can't put enough emphasis on getting deep. It's important everywhere, but in those deep pools down below Baptist, you just aren't gonna catch many fish if your fly isn't down there where the fish are.

An overload of deer? There may be in your neck of the woods, but not in Reynolds County (or Carter, or Shannon.) There really aren't that many deer down in that area already because the mountainous, rugged country just doesn't support a large density population. Those deer doggers are really hurting a population that isn't all that numerous to start with. I really hope the MDC appeals the ruling.

The area around Baptist is my favorite water on the river, but it can be tough. One day you'll go down there and catch two dozen trout without much problem and the next day, with pretty much identical conditions, you'll do all you can and get skunked. My best piece of advice is to get deep, especially in the fast runs and deep pools. Those big guys that lie at the bottom of the deep, fast moving water aren't going to move far for a fly-you've got to put it right in front of them. It's a great place to fish deep nymphs, although I have done well there on dries when there's a good hatch on. But those fish aren't easy to fool with a dry fly. The drift has to be darn good and the fly has to be pretty close to the naturals in size and color. It's easy to watch the surface just full of bugs and rise forms, and fish a close, but not close enough imitation throughout the whole thing and not get a single rise. Trust me. Of course fishing being what it is if the fish are in the right mood, sometimes you can catch the things on a #12 Royal Wulff during a midge hatch. It's a better nymphing river than a dry fly river on the whole though. Try Hare's Ears, Pheasant Tails, Princes, and maybe even a big Stonefly with a good bit of split shot.

I got out this evening for a little fly fishing on the local lake. It was really good, probably because of the cooler weather. I was catching a mixture of bluegill and small bass, mostly bluegills though. The coolest thing was that they were all on a dry fly, a #12 Ausable Wullf. I was reminded tonight of how enjoyable dry fly fishing is, even if you're mostly catching bluegill.

Okay, now you're going off against people who own pets? I understand that the people who buy dogs at pet stores drive the puppy mills so that's not where I get them. Instead I have gotten all of my dogs at the Humane Society where all the dummies who do buy their dogs at the pet stores drop them off to be put down more than likely. "We raised coon hounds in kennels with nice open runs. They were trained and controlled and cared for very well, just like other livestock on our farm. What did your pawpaws pa do?" Dogs aren't livestock JD, not in the United States.

I don't shoot the dogs under my stand just because I don't have the heart to. I'm not a violent person, and the idea of shooting a dog is just well... I'm not going to do it any time soon. But it is very annoying, and I know some folks that would shoot a dog if it was under their stand.

I hunt every year down in Carter county and the deer doggers are a huge problem. I hunt exclusively on public land and just about every year a dog comes under my tree stand and ruins the hunt. I can't believe that judge said the regs were vague. They seem pretty darn clear to me. Now it just happens that they aren't generally followed in that part of the state, but that's a different issue entirely. I don't know anything about that judge, but I'd say it's a pretty good bet that he has some buddies that dog deer and he wanted to help 'em out. The politics in south-central MO are a little interesting to say the least. No wonder the deer population isn't very good down there.

I don't know Crane Creek, but I do fish some similar wild trout streams quite a bit. One thing to think about... If you can see the trout, they can probably see you. That's not a problem for stockers in some places, but for wild trout in a heavily pressured stream at low water-if they see you, you are probably not going to catch them. You have two choices on the little wild trout creeks when the water is low- you either sneak up on the pool on your hands and knees and get close (that's the way I like to do it because it's easier to get a drag-free drift) or you walk upright and make really long casts, which is usually pretty difficult and ineffective on the little brush-lined creeks where wild trout live in Missouri. So you really got to sneak up on them-even in fast choppy water. And by the way, the fast choppy water is usually the best place to fish on the wild trout creeks I fish (it could be different on Crane). They like the added oxygen that riffled water provides especially in the summer. August is a tough time to fish for wild trout anywhere. You'll do better in fall, winter, and spring.

By the way, what size tippet were you using? Did you have to go down to 7x with the low clear water?

Nice pictures and fish. I'm glad to know that the Current continues to fish well. For some unexcusable reason I haven't been down there in over a month.

Plus they have a real fly selection unlike Maramec, and sometimes there is even someone there who can tell you which ones are working. I feel like there store has more of a "fly shop" atmosphere than those at the other trout parks, notwithstanding the fact that they sell Powerbait... The restaraunt does have good burgers, I know that.

I had a 3wt for about a month and bluegills were a ton of fun on it. Unfortunately it went the way of all flesh on the West Branch of the Ausable in New York(the same river that I lost a digital camera on two years ago, it's one of those wading rivers where you may as well jump in at the beginning because you are going to fall) ... Tripped over a slippery rock, fell and broke the tip off. I am incredibly hard on fly rods, the poor little 3 weight never stood a chance. I like the 5 weight anyway though, because you don't have to switch rods when you want to throw something like a #4 Muddler Minnow. That's a good thing because it's now the only fly rod I own.

It really is true. Go to the old iron bridge pretty much any day of the week and you'll see people up there snagging fish. You are also more likely to get chased out of a spot at Maramec than any other park. I hope it doesn't disappear though, because it serves as an excellent filter for most of those types of "fisherman"

Nice looking bluegills. Those things fight pretty hard for their size don't they? Sometimes I'll think I have a nice bass and end up netting a 7" gill. stlfisher, I also like to throw a hopper for the bluegill sometimes. They seem to go crazy over those, especially right when the light is coming off the water. I'm partial to a #8 Dave's Hopper, kind of big for bluegill but it works really well. Sometimes you'll pick up a bass on it too.

My favorite trout creeks are warm and low right now, so I've been perfecting my warmwater fly fishing skills a bit over the last couple days. It's easy to forget how much fun it is to fish for bass and bluegill on a fly rod. I've haven't really fly fished for bass much lately as I have been busy fly fishing for trout and smallie fishing with the spinning rod, but I'm really enjoying it. I guess I like it because it's simple. You don't have to worry about 7x tippets and #20 flies like you might on trout waters this time of year. I think I've found the system that works about perfect this time of year. I start out fishing at about 7 PM, just as the heat starts to let up. When I'm starting for the evening, I'll tie on a #12 Soft Hackle on a 12-14 foot 5x tippet (the long tippet isn't so much to avoid scaring fish as it is to allow myself to fish a little deeper). I'll fish that until the light really starts to come off the water, catching a bunch of eager little bluegill and a few small bass. Then when the light is coming off the water, the Soft Hackle comes off and I tie on a #4 Muddler Minnow with a big, black, bushy marabou tail, greasing it so it will stay on top. I let it sit there 15 or 20 seconds, and as often as not, a nice bass will come up and grab it. A lot of the times I'll mess up and strike too soon or too hard, but sometimes I time it right and hook up. Now the ponds that I fish aren't particularly fertile, so it's likely to only be a 12 or 14 inch fish, but it will be fun and a real handful on the 5 weight. If I don't get a take after letting it sit a while, I'll slowly wake it across the water until the fly is at my feet. I'll do this until about 30 minutes after the last light leaves the water, and head home. It's not difficult and it's a lot of fun. Anyone else going after bass (or bluegill) on a fly rod now?

I have never heard of them doing that, but it's a good idea. Montana makes a practice of closing their best rivers to fishing when the water temperatures are staying above 72 for more than 8 hours a day, and when water temperatures only reach 72 during the afternoons, they leave the streams open to fishing only in the mornings. Maybe the MDC could consider a similar approach on our Blue Ribbon streams. Until then we'll have to do this voluntarily.

If I'm drawing attention to these streams, that certainly was not the intention. I'm just hoping people can give them a break until this heat-wave is over. Maybe most won't listen, but if because of this post a couple people don't come down and rip the poor things from their thermal refuges, then it will have served it's purpose. This post is nothing more than a reminder of what these small stream trout have to go through when it's this hot-just something to think about before you choose to fish one of these streams right now. There are other trout waters nearby (Montauk and the Current for example) that are still in pretty good shape. Why not fish them until things get better?

Why not wait till it gets a little cooler? They'll take hoppers around here until mid-October most years. I'm sure fish can be caught right now, it's just a matter of whether it's good for the trout population given the conditions.

A few stockers do move up from the White Ribbon area on Little Piney, but at least up in the Lane Spring area most of the fish you catch are clearly wild (perfect fins, most of them smaller than stocking size). But that's not really the point of my post anyway. All I'm really trying to say is that folks need to leave the trout on these streams alone for awhile as they are very stressed from low water and warm temperatures. When conditions are like this, catch and release survival goes way down. There will very likely be good fishing in all these creeks come September, just please give 'em a break until the weather cools off a little and things get back to normal.

I'm not sure about the Roubideaux... I think most of the trout in there are stockers although there are probably a couple wild fish. Honestly, I was more concerned about the Blue Ribbon stretches of Little Piney, Mill, and Spring, which aren't stocked and rely either mostly or totally on natural spawning to sustain the trout population.

I've eaten plenty of trout park fish and have yet to die. We'll see though. Wild trout are poisonous though-don't ever eat one.

Maramec Spring is fed by losing streams (losing streams are where the water goes underground to emerge in another area or watershed), primarily Dry Fork Creek, but others are involved too. Therefore, whenever the water levels spike on Dry Fork and the other area losing streams, that water finds it's way into the Maramec Spring system, the flow from the spring spikes big time. Why the main river floods more and stays high longer than the upper Current is pretty clear- it's not located at the head of the watershed like Montauk, but below many creeks that tend to flood heavily when there is a lot of rain. I'm sure land use has something to do with the clarity as well (and improved land use would be an excellent thing for the watershed even if it didn't effect the fishing on the Meramec), but I think that it's location in middle of a large watershed-instead of being at the upstream end of one- is the main factor at play.

The water levels are getting pretty low on the Gasconade basin trout creeks and the air temperatures are high. These fish have plenty of things to worry about right now, including the predators they are more vulnerable to this time of year (otters, herons, etc), low oxygen levels, and warm water in some areas. Please, until we get a nice cool rain to pep these things up, don't fish them for awhile. There aren't that many breeding sized fish in these streams and they need to be carefully protected. So if you could direct your angling attention elsewhere (Upper Current, Big Piney, or Eleven Point for example) for a bit, all of us who love this creeks would really appreciate it. Thanks.

No problem.

I have never been on the Big Piney on the weekend. That said, there are only a couple canoe rentals on the Big Piney compared with zillions on the Niangua or Meramec, and the rentals on the Big Piney are pretty small-time I think. I can pretty much say with 100% confidence, that while you're likely to run into some other folks, it won't be anything like the Meramec or Niangua on a weekend. The Big Piney is also much more remote than either of those rivers and I imagine that reduces the crowds further. I only saw two or three canoes each day on a Monday/Tuesday float, and while you're likely to see a few more on a weekend, I can't imagine it would be too bad.