ozark trout fisher

Just one more question. We're watching the water levels, and I'm having never been on the Big Piney before, we really don't know what to look for. The gauge below Fort Wood says it's running at 2600 CFS, I know that's too high, but what does it need to drop down to before the river is safe to float and decent fishing? The water does seem to be dropping quickly, so maybe there is still a chance...

I don't fish for bedding bass anymore, but I can't honestly say that I have any scientific reasons for not doing it... I just don't get any pleasure anymore from taking spawning fish. They were taking my lure not so much because they were fooled by it or because they were hungry, but because they had to in order to protect their nests. It just doesn't seem right to me to exploit that protectionary instinct. I'm not judging anyone, because I have fished for bedding bass in the past, but I do think we should let them be while they are protecting their eggs, especially in an area like the lower Meramec where the smallmouth population is having a bit of difficulty holding ground against the spots. I can't honestly say that I don't fish for bass throughout the entire spawning season, but I do try to target the fish that aren't on their beds. I'm sure I do catch some spawners, but I don't mean to. I will also point out that while the bass are bedding, the bluegill fishing is usually quite good. That's where I try to focus my attention when the bass are spawning.

Thanks. Now I just need some dry weather to get the stream back down into shape... The weather.com forecast for Rolla looks pretty favorable, but they are always wrong, so who knows.

Thanks a lot. I think I'll go ahead and plan on that stretch.

Next weekend we're floating the Big Piney for two days, spending one night on a gravel bar. We're thinking we'll run the Slabtown to Ross stretch. How's the smallie fishing up there? Also, it that distance about right for a 2 day trip on that river? I'm not sure what the gradient is like.

I tend to start thinking while I sit at my fly tying vice, probably too much actually. I was tying Woolly Buggers at cruising speed this evening for a smallmouth trip next weekend, and I started to think about how I view the world. More and more, it is through the lens of fishing. And I think fishing is a good way to look at the world. It places a heavy influence on the natural cycles of our world, and the long and incomprehensible connections that allow ecosystems to flourish. We learn a bit of everything on the stream, from entomology to hydrology. We learn how the mayflies need a clean, cold stream to survive, how the trout depend on the mayflies, and how the herons depend on the trout. We learn about springs, where water flows up from subterranean passages to the surface of the earth. We learn in a way that is too real and too tangible to be learned any other way than spending a lot of time on the water. And if you have curiosity, these things fascinate you to no end. They absorb you to the point where you can hardly think of anything else. Soon, every thought that you have will be filtered by it. Sometimes I wonder if this single track state of mind detracts from my enjoyment of life. It causes me to crave solitude, which some people don't think is a good thing. Still, I find that fishing instills poetry in my soul, and I can say without reservation that I love fishing more than anything else. If you ever feel this, you'll understand how some seemingly important things can become insignificant.

Like 3wt, I own a St. Croix Legend ultra, a 9' five weight. I think it's a really good rod, but I could be biased. I would certainly reccomend it though. They are definitely a bit on the pricey side, but I'd say they're worth it.

I couldn't care less about having more stockers. Once again, I don't like the camera idea, but if more stockers means more fisherman, than I think it's a bad idea. I coming more and more to the place where I think trout parks are just a waste of good trout water.

I guess I think the cameras probably not a good idea, but how many stockers do you need? I know at least the trout parks I fish (Montauk generally), I'd much rather have about half as many fish and half as many fisherman. If it keeps people away, I say cut the stocking numbers. I don't like fishing in a crowd, do you?

I think you'll really like Montauk. In my opinion, none of the other trout parks can hold a candle to it. Good luck!

That part of the river is pretty underrated. It's not as clear as other parts of the river, but the fishing can actually be pretty good when the water isn't muddy. You'll catch lots of largemouth and spotted bass, some smallmouth, bluegill, catfish, freshwater drum, crappie, and there is there is also a pretty good chance for hooking up with White bass and walleye. The times I've fished down there I've done best where the water is a little bit on the quick side.

Tan Scud Patterns, Pheasant Tails, Hare's Ears, and Prince Nymphs all in #14-18. Also bring along some Woolly Buggers-Olive, black, and brown work well #8-#12. The smaller egg patterns are good too in orange, peach, and tri-color. I'd also bring a couple of the little 1/128 ounce marabou jigs.The white/pink color is my favorite, but black, olive, and yellow all work at times. They are not technically flies, but they do work pretty well and are easy to cast. I use a 10 foot leader tapering to 6x tippet most of the time. Some folks prefer 7x while others go the other direction and used 5x or even 4x. 6x still allows you to land most trout park fish pretty easily, and I've landed trout up to 4 pounds on it. Too heavy of tippet is probably the biggest reason fisherman fail in the trout parks. Also, at least on your first few trips, I'd use an indicator. Guess the depth, and put your indicator about 2 times that far up the leader. The morning is best for sure, but you can catch fish all through the day in the fly area and the catch and release creek. The last half hour before the closing siren goes off is a great time to be on the water as well.

With this rain, I think we're gonna postpone this a week... Luckily though, I have a couple friends who want to go as well, so we'll be able to shuttle my boats without paying for a canoe rental. They want to float the Big Piney, so that's where we'll be headed instead.

You did list one bass fly. The Woolly Bugger. There are plenty of other flies that are worth having, but I'm of the opinion that a Woolly Bugger is about all you really need the majority of the time... There are lots of times when other flies work better, but there aren't many instances where you can't catch a few on a woolly of some size or color. Bass, trout, bluegill, goggle-eye, even catfish, they work for just about anything. I feel strongly enough about it that I carry one big fly box with nothing but woollies of various sizes and colors, and then one smaller box with everything else.

I had a pretty frightening experience with lighting a couple weeks ago. I heard the thunder rolling in and didn't leave soon enough. The lighting got close and I knew I had no business waving a 9 foot graphite fly rod in the air. There was too much open ground to run across to get to the truck and it was on a relatively exposed ridge line, so I instead hunkered down on some low ground and hoped for the best- until there was a break in the storm. Kinda scary, but I learned my lesson. My biggest problem is that I know from experience that the fishing is often wild just before a strong storm. The temptation is pretty real to stay out there until the last possible moment. I have to stop that though-if I don't it'll catch up with me some time.

Maybe not, but I'm gonna keep doing it anyway

If Bennett is so bad, you have 10 miles of real trout water in the Niangua. Why crowd the 1 1/2 mile spring branch? It kind of reminds me of how the folks pile into the social hole at Montauk. They'll complain about how bad the fishing is and how crowded things are when there is 9 miles of Blue Ribbon water and 7 miles of White Ribbon water a couple miles down the road.

Sounds like no one likes Bennett anymore... Maybe I should plan a trip down there and have the whole place to myself. I can understand the frustration with a fairly expensive security camera going up at the same time the hatchery is struggling to put out enough fish.

I like general fly patterns. For me it's the Elk Hair Caddis for dries, and the woolly (preferably with a light brown body and a dark brown marabou tail, a nearly perfect crayfish imitation) for nymphs/streamers. If I could pick a second for the nymph/streamer section, I would have to throw in the Hare's Ear. It's my go to fly on a lot of the trout rivers around here. Another favorite is a little creation of mine with a peacock herl body and a bright yellow marabou tail, tied on a #14 or #16 nymph hook. I love it for bluegill, crappie, and small bass, but I've also done well with it down on the Current.

I see what you mean there. A day trip for me on the Current means getting up at 3 A.M if I want to hit the prime early morning fishing, and getting back at about 11:30 P.M after I've fished the evening rise. It's worth it, and I do it often, but it does kinda wear on me when I do it a couple weekends in a row.

Come on. You have never been out west, have you? In my time out there (spending a pretty fair amount of time in prime bear country), I never had any really frightening encounters. Deer kill people here in Missouri. They get in the way of our cars, but I don't hear folks saying we should get rid of all of the deer. Bears look a little scarier, but at any density they are likely to reach in Missouri, the will never cause more injuries than good old whitetail deer. If you're scared of bears, carry pepper spray. It's more effective than any gun as bear protection.

Powerbait, rainbow and orange. #10 or 12 single hooks and plenty of split shot.

I have to admit I've sort of quit going to the Red Ribbon Area/Maramec Spring Park. The red ribbon area isn't bad at all, but the Current isn't that much further, and I like it a lot better. It's running 848 CFS at Steelville. It'd be fishable in the park, and there would be a few places you could wade just below in the river down to Dry Fork (aka the piles), but it's probably not worth your while until it drops. I'm sure Cardiac is too high to wade with Dry Fork coming in above it. If you do go, I'd have plenty of eggs, San Juans, and Woollies. They work pretty well there when the water's up.

That'd probably be a good idea. There was talk of putting musky in to manage the sunfish, nothing came of it though.

It's a privately managed lake, so the MDC doesn't directly manage it, although the folks who do manage it get most of their info on fishery management from the MDC. I'll try to find a link, but all I can tell you now is that there is a big sign with fishing regulations at every access, and under the picture of green sunfish, it says " Keep all, do not return to lake". They don't enforce it, (I've never seen the folks who run the place enforce any fishing regulations, but that's a different story), but it is, at least technically the rule.