ozark trout fisher

At this point I will agree to disagree. I've made my point as well as I can make it. Suffice it to say I will never give up my right to use navigable waterways. I respect the right to your land, but you can't own a navigable stream.

But if I stay below the high water mark on a navigable stream, I don't believe I'm trespassing, and I don't think a landowner has any right to kick me off. I'm not on his land. I refuse to ask permission to fish water that is/should be in the public domain. I'd much rather risk a fine or get yelled at by an angry landowner than give up my rights.

If the stream is clearly unnavigable, then I would certainly ask permission before fishing. I respect private property. However, if the stream appears navigable, then I don't believe the landowner owns the streambed, so permission doesn't seem necessary. Once again, I may or may not be incorrect by the letter of the law, but I am not hurting anything and will continue to fish the streams that are "gray zones". I will also continue to be respectful of the landowners who own the land around the stream. I understand that those who own property adjacent to a stream deserve special consideration. I am especially careful to release fish unharmed in such places, and to pick up any trash that less responsible fisherman have left behind. I will stay below the high water line,and restrict my fishing to those streams that I could get a canoe down a large portion of the year. I will go about it quietly, and I will not disturb the landowner's peace in any way. In short, I'm not hurting anything and I think I can fairly expect to be left alone.

I generally go the Rolla route, but that's just because I like to stop to fish Little Piney for an hour or so sometimes before heading down to the Current. Gene K's route will probably get you there quicker and it's more scenic.

I agree with part of your post and disagree with another part. If the stream that flows through your land truly is intermittent, then it goes without saying that it is in no way navigable. Therefore no one has the right to fish it unless they have your permission. And I truly sympathize with the problems you've had with meth heads and other trouble makers. But, if the stream is navigable (which, in my possibly incorrect opinion means that I can get a canoe down it a significant portion of the year), and I access the stream at a bridge right of way, and fish legally, then I don't think any landowner has the right to kick me off. I may be wrong legally on this. Frankly, I don't care very much about that. I am a responsible angler. I release all my fish, I use artificial lures and flies only, and I don't litter. I won't scream and yell and make a lot of noise. And I will never go above the high water mark without permission. So if the way I fish is illegal on a few of these questionable streams, than I am at worst, taking part in a bit of harmless civil disobedience. I'm okay with that. I'll pay the fine if I have to.

My humble opinion, sir, is that the streambed of any stream that I can get a kayak or canoe down is public land. If I'm wrong about that, then I'm more than willing to break the law. I'm not playing lawyer, I'm just standing up for what I feel to be my right. Civil disobedience is necessary at times. I simply won't allow myself to be intimidated by crooked county prosecutors or selfish landowners.

Otters are native to Missouri. If they cause problems, we'll just have to deal with it. The same goes with beavers and the dams they build. I'd rather be inconvenienced than have a part of our natural environment missing.

The thing that made the survival of these trout even more exceptional is that these water temperatures are not at all a normal phenomenon on the West Branch, so the trout presumably are not specially adapted to cope with ridiculously high temps. Now it is an eastern freestone stream, so it can get a bit warm, but according to what I've been told and read, there are quite a few summers that go by when it never cracks the 70 degree mark. Most folks I talked to said these were the warmest water temperatures they had ever seen. My guess is that they found some little spring seep or a tiny tributary coming down from the mountains, and pushed their noses up against it until the water temps came down and they could spread back out. It does show me that trout are a bit tougher than most of us give them credit for.

I realize this isn't a really important issue in Ozark trout streams, where water temperatures are constantly cooled by springs or cold flows from dams, but it is sort of an interesting issue that came up on my trip to the Adirondacks this year. On my trip, the weather was hot up there, and the river I spent the most time on (the West Branch of the Ausable) rose up to 78 degrees (that's the warmest I personally saw on my water thermometer, although someone told me they had seen it at 80 degrees). This seems like it would be lethal to the trout. But after a long stretch of these terribly hot water temperatures, there was a cold rain, and the water temperature dropped down into the upper 60s. And in the same stretch that had water temperatures that seemed like they should have been lethal just days before, the trout rose and I was able to catch some, including one of the incredibly temperature sensitive native brook trout. It was really a mystery to me how they survived. I didn't find any spring-holes or tributaries nearby, although they may have been there. The one possibility I did come across was the oxygenating effect of a mill dam a hundred yards or so upstream. Perhaps the white water coming over the dam had just enough oxygen in it to sustain the trout even though the water temperatures were too high. And maybe the white water from the many in-stream boulders helped to oxygenate the water as well. What do you all think?

The catch and release area can be a lot of fun. There are some nice trout in the 3 to 5 pound range and plenty of smaller ones. The atmosphere is all wrong though-it's pretty ugly to be honest. If you do fish there, try a hopper dropper rig, with a Dave's Hopper and a small scud as a dropper. There isn't much if any fishing above the park-the headwater springs of the river occur in Montauk State Park, and the river (it's called Pigeon Creek I believe upstream from the springs) is pretty small and warm. I would try fishing the water just below the headwater springs on the river downstream to the old mill dam, if you want to fish Montauk. There is a lot of good water and good fish in that area, and the setting is much better than in the catch and release area. The area below Montauk is good too- I like to fish at Baptist Camp, 2 miles below the park, but the fishing is also good just below the park and around Tan Vat. If you are fishing below the park (which is what I would suggest), particularly below Baptist Camp, it is important to fish in the early mornings and evenings in order to avoid the canoes. If you're really wanting to park your car at Montauk, park it at the lower campground loop, and walk downstream until you come to the cable seperating the trout park from the Blue Ribbon area, and work your way downstream from there. That area is pretty productive most of the time. Bring lots of scuds, Hare's Ear Nymphs, Rubberlegs, and woolly buggers, as well as whatever other flies you won't be comfortable without. I'm speaking generally right now-I've been on vacation a couple of weeks, so I don't know what if any hatches are going on, although I would suspect a morning trico hatch, and you may do well on hoppers, ants, and other terrestrials. Sometimes egg patterns even work at this time of year, although that can be uncertain. The water levels are low according to USGS, so fish early morning and late evening and use a long, light leader. Good luck.

Navigable streams are public property. That is the law. With our judicial system being a bit biased towards the local landowners in some areas though, you still may get in trouble for fishing a navigable stream. You can let that deter you if you enjoy having having your rights trampled on. I don't, and will continue to fish any navigable stream, no matter what the landowner (or the county prosecutor) says. It's my right and I don't aim to have it taken away from me. The only way I'm leaving is if the landowner gets violent. In that case, I will be the one calling the sheriff.

River otters are a natural, native predator. They are not vandals, just a part of the ecosystem. I would suggest you re-read your post and see if it makes any sense to you-it sure doesn't to me. Human beings are the ones who threw the ecosystem out of balance in the first place, and so it is our place to try to put it back into balance. That applies to otters and all the other native species that we have extirpated. It really seems pretty cut and dry.

To look at some pictures from my trip, click this link- http://fishingintheozarks.blogspot.com/2010/07/adirondack-pictures.html

To be honest, I was probably fishing far upstream from where the best smallmouth water on the St. Regis was anyway, now that I have a chance to read about where the best fishing is. I just found a nice looking spot... It happened to be way up near the headwaters of the East Branch, far above where I'm guessing the really good trophy water is. Still it was fun-the fish only averaged about 10", but there were plenty of them and the setting couldn't have been better.

Same for me.I submitted five things I've written and got five different answers. That means I'm inconsistent I guess...

I just got back from the Adirondacks today, so here's the report I promised. I warn you this will be a long, and probably rambling report, because it was a long trip (3 weeks of fishing.) When I first arrived up there, things looked great, and fished great. The first evening, I hit the West Branch of the Ausable, which is generally considered the best trout stream in the region. It was then that I got my first view of the Adirondack High peaks (the mountains over 4000 feet), and I remembered how beautiful the country was. Indeed, the West Branch flows right through the heart of the high peak region, with it's headwaters coming down the slopes of Mount Marcy, the highest point in the state, and it flows past several others. And that first day, it treated me to some beautiful fishing. I drove to the catch and release portion of the stream, and found a spinner fall right in front of me when I arrived. I took the water temperature, and it was only 62 degrees, which is about all you can ask for during the summer on an eastern freestone stream. Without thinking much, I tied on a #14 Adams, and proceeded to catch four beautiful, if small browns, and one brookie. Finally the hatch fell off, and I switched to a Hare's Ear nymph. The trout didn't seem interested though, apparently full from the spinner fall. The next morning, while driving to the grocery store in Ticonderoga, I passed over a pretty low country stream called the La Chute. It is the stream that connects Lake George and Lake Champlain, two of the countries largest natural lakes. For being such an important artery, it was quite small and unassuming, about the size of the Current just below Montauk. Anyway, I decided to pull over and fish at an access point below a small mill dam. Not really knowing what species I was targeting, I tied on a #10 Brown Woolly. It worked. The first cast, I landed a 10" smallmouth bass, and on the third or fourth, a 10" rainbow. The good fishing continued for several more hours, with me catching good numbers of smallmouth bass and an odd trout in between. Finally, by about 11 AM, the temperatures warmed up into the 80s. The trout shut off and the smallies slowed down. That was a sign of things to come. The air temperatures soared to highs in the upper 80s and low 90s. This is unheard of in the north country, and temperature records were being broken all over the place. With the rising air temps, so went the water temps. When I next traveled to the Ausable, I arrived at a fly shop early morning to pick up a few flies, and was told that the water temperatures were well into the 70s. I bought a few flies, and headed back to camp, realizing that fishing would be useless and any fish I might catch and release would likely die. I was quite disappointed. After a few hours lounging around camp, thinking the situation over, I decided to go in search of warmwater habitat, and give the trout a break for a bit. I drove up to the St. Regis River, not far south of the Canadian border. The St. Regis is north of the true mountain country, and in the boreal north woods. I found a nice place to fish above an old mill dam, and took quite a few smallmouth and perch on a prince nymph. The highlight came when I hooked and lost a very large fish, of what species I am not sure, just before dark. I see that this is getting pretty long, so I'll skip a few days and move on to the wilderness paddling trip that I had a chance to do. It was a three day trip through the Adirondack North woods, through several small streams and lakes. The country is utterly wild and isolated where I went, and I would like it to stay that way. For that reason, I'm not going to give any details about the actual location I'm referring to. I had read that this area was pure native brook trout water, and contained almost no other species, and that even in summer, some nice fish could be taken by fishing spinners and spoons in deep water. As far as brook trout fishing was concerned, I was dissapointed. I learned from a local just before leaving that some bait bucket biologist had dumped both largemouth and smallmouth bass into the system a few years ago, and that devastated the brook trout population. He was right. I caught many fish, but they were nearly all smallmouth and largemouth bass- excellent sport fish under most any circumstance, but in this case, they were nothing more than harmful pests. Finally, though, in a small lake far in the wilderness, I caught one of the heritage strain brook trout. I was paddle trolling a small Panther Martin Spinner in deep water, and felt a hard tug. After a good battle, I had the pleasure of landing and gently releasing a 14" inch native brook trout. It was sort of the quitessental, perfect fishing moment, and I doubt I'll ever forget it's beautiful coloration. Anyway, after that, I managed one more trip on the West Branch of the Ausable. There had been a cool rain, and water temperatures had dropped back into the upper 60s. I got to the river about 7:30, and tied on an Ausable Wulff, a locally popular attractor dry. The water temperatures were still on the high side, and the fishing was difficult, but I did manage to land one beautiful brown and one native brookie. In all, it was an awesome trip in an awesome setting. I hope to get back soon. Pictures are coming soon... I drove 600 miles today and don't have the energy or will to get them on my computer tonight.

.id like a lil more info on them before i head out though ..so anyone thats fishing blue springs and or little piney how is it? Little Piney is fishing well as always around the Lane Spring area. #16 Hare's Ears and Pheasant Tails under an indicator is all you need, except in the morning and evening, when you'll want a few Elk Hair Caddis and Adams dries. I'm not sure how Blue Springs is fishing, but I imagine it's pretty tough right now, although I'm sure you could catch a few on dries. And that's all the more I can say about the little creeks on a public forum in good conscience.. With that said, these links should help you out quite a bit. http://www.missouritrouthunter.com/LittlePiney.htm http://www.missouritrouthunter.com/BlueSprings.htm I've given up on pretty much the entire Meramec system due to the crowds, even though that is the nearest decent trout water to where I live. Just drive the extra little bit and fish the Current River or one of the wild trout streams. You'll be pleasantly surprised, I promise. If the fish aren't bigger, the experience will certainly be better.

I think it's important to wear a life jacket... Within reason. I wear mine when the water's up, when I'm tackling water that's on the upper end of what I usually do, or when the water temp or air temp is cold. But if I'm going down the the Jacks Fork River in normal water during the summertime, there's no way I'm putting one of those things on. It's more likely to cause me to die of a heat stroke than to save my life. I'm sensible about the dangers on our rivers, but I choose not to be paranoid. I do think kids, and those who are not strong swimmers should wear life jackets in all cases, even in the calmest of waters.

Yeah, I think it may be a good time. I just got word from a friend who lives up there that the big Hexagenia Mayflies are on in the local trout ponds- supposedly you imitate them with #6 and #8 dry flies. I think I'll have to look into that.

Thanks... I'm really looking forward to it. I'll report back with plenty of pics, hopefully including a couple nice brookies!

Well, I'm tomorrow I'm headed to Adirondack Park, in the North country of New York. I'll be in search of wild brookies and browns, as well as smallmouth. I'll be up there for 2 1/2 weeks, and plan to fish waters all through the park, including the Ausable, Boquet, upper Hudson, and possibly even the Battenkill in Vermont. But mostly I'll be up in the high country, in search of native brookies in one of their last great sanctuaries. I'll give a report upon returning, but with any luck while I'm up there, I won't be any place where a computer can be used. Only thing I'm sort of worried about is water temps-they have been having something of a warm summer up there. But we'll see...

Chief, I buy the stamp every year, and personally I think it's a good thing to do. And I wouldn't be that opposed to making it mandatory. I just don't think it's right to call Sharps selfish for not doing so-it sounds like he has contributed his fair share to conservation.

Oh yeah, I did forget about that... Really though- I have several trout park fish up in my freezer that I plan to eat soon, and I also eat a lot of bluegill from the local lake-along with a catfish every now and then.

Sounds like a good time. I've had the same problem getting around that area to fish downstream... I suppose you could bushwack around there, but it wouldn't be easy. I can't think of any other way besides swimming, which wouldn't actually be too bad in this heat

Stream smallmouth of course. I also really enjoy eating a largemouth bass from Table Rock that is just full of eggs.