ozark trout fisher

Yeah... Unfortunately Blue Spring is so far out from anywhere, that any sort of bust like that would be unlikely. I don't know where the nearest MDC office is, but I bet it's a long ways away. What kind of enjoyment could a guy get from killing a little wild trout? I don't get it. I couldn't ever bring myself to kill one of those little jewels even if it was legal.

I sure wish I could have somehow reported the guys who did it. Unfortunately, cell service was non-existant, and I didn't really have any idea who had done it. But if they poach enough, they'll get caught. I view poachers as thieves.

One thing I've learned is that there will always be poachers. And I will never understand why they do what they do.

I got down to the area, and sure enough the Meramec was high and muddy... Not really fishable at all. So instead I went to Blue Springs upriver of the N slab. I brought my 6 weight along just in case the Meramec was up, and I was sure glad I did. I tied on a #14 Hare's Ear Nymph, and never had to change the whole day. I only caught five trout (the biggest was 14") but that's good enough for me on a little creek like that. The water was blue-green, right at the perfect stage for wild trout fishing. The brush made fishing more than a bit frustrating, but the rewards were definitely worth the trouble. On another note, I saw a dead, cleaned trout in a plastic bag just above the slab. Maybe 10" long. I didn't know who did that, and I'm glad. I'm not sure my self control extends far enough to be gracious to some one who did that. That pissed me off so bad, kinda ruined my day.

Welcome!

That's exactly how I view it. Since I haven't really lived in Missouri for all that long, I'll admit that I came to the area with some negative sentiments myself. But for the most part, those sentiments were wrong. Some of the nicest, most likeable people I know would be referred as "hillbillies" by most. But there actually more conservation minded than just about anyone else I know. They are connected to the resource, and they are protective of it. Of course there are plenty of slobs, just like anywhere else, that couldn't give a #!@% less about the resource. But that's true in STL as well. Some people care, and some don't. That's just life.

The answer to your first question is yes, you can park at Tan Vat and camp anywhere except right at the access. There are some gravel bars below there, and below Baptist that you could camp and fish off. This time of year, you'll see few other people. Obviously there's lots of browns and rainbows in that area, and they'll be hitting egg patterns like crazy in November.

The only real option for wilderness hiking/ trout fishing in the Ozarks is the Eleven Point River in Missouri. You could do it on the Buffalo also, but that's a smallmouth stream.

I may try the hopper dropper. I'm thinking a copper john might be a good choice for the dropper if the water is off color, maybe a pheasant tail or a hare's ear if it's a little more clear. I hope I can catch and release a couple of those wild rainbow... They're sure little jewels.

The reason I think she might be ready to go is the culvert on Thickety Ford Road might stop it from backing up, who know though. Anyways I'll probably be wading upriver from the N bridge anyways. Do you all think anything will be coming off, or should I just be nymphing?

Based on looking at the USGS water data for the Meramec, it appears it isn't gonna be back into floatable shape by sunday.So I'm thinking of fishing Blue Springs Creek instead, because I would think it will clear faster. Do you all think it will be ready to go by then?

Hey, don't worry about it. I was just kidding. On a slightly different topic...I was reading yesterday in Orvis's book about reading trout streams, and it said that trout live prefer to live in water no faster than 1/2 mile per hour, and almost never even to feed will they jump out into current faster than 2 miles per hour. Frankly, I'm not sure I believe this. I'm rather sure that I have caught trout in water a lot faster than that. I would have to imagine most of the riffles and shoals around here move faster than 2 MPH, and plenty of them hold trout. What's your guy's take on this? Also, I've always heard before that the water on the bottom of a stream usually moves slower than the water above it. It seems that the author of this particular book didn't put much emphasis on that, basically stating that trout cannot survive (at least for long) in water that, at the surface, moves faster than 2 MPH. Seems a little fishy (pun intended) to me.

Wow. This wins the award for the world's weirdest thread.

Like I said, I don't have any much better way to assess the volume of water than the mean Cubic Feet per second . I just kinda thought it was interesting.... Not meant to be anything definitive. In the original post I said there were a lot of reason this data isn't perfect. I just thought it was worth posting. My bad....

Yeah, when I decided to come up with these numbers, I knew these sort of problems were inherent to it. I just hadn't ever seen it done before, and I thought I may as well see what I found. I think it's at least a bit interesting, if not terribly useful. Although I realize CFS is a pretty poor indicator of stream volume, I don't know of a better measure. So you just kinda have to work with what you got, you know what I mean.

At your pond, fishing

Probably. I just couldn't find the data I needed for Taney.... They survey that in fish per acre, which really doesn't fit this sort of thing.

otf

I was doing a little number crunching a while back, comparing trout per mile numbers with different streams. I realized, that considering how much the size of trout streams in Missouri vary, it's a relatively useless number. So I thought it would be interesting to compare trout streams based on their trout per mile numbers, divided by their mean flow. Now I realize right of the bat there are a few problems with this. Mainly, stream flow varies greatly throughout the year. Still, I thought it might be interesting for some. Also, I should point out that shocking data is missing from some years. Also, I only got this data for a few streams (the ones I could most easily obtain fish shocking data for). I appreciate the Missouri department of Conservation providing that data. Mean Flow Rates of Four Missouri Streams 2001-2007 (Cubic Feet per Second-CFS) Current River above Akers, MO MEAN 328.1 Meramec River near Steelville, MO MEAN 506.5 Eleven Point River near Bardley, MO MEAN 729.5 Little Piney Creek at Newburg, MO MEAN 155.9 Mean Trout per Mile Numbers 2001-2008 Current River 467 Trout per mile Meramec 356 Trout Per mile Eleven Point River 752 Trout per mile Little Piney Creek 157 Trout Per Mile Number of trout in each cubic feet per second of stream (if you follow what I mean by that) Current River 1.42 Trout per CFS Meramec River 0.7 Trout per CFS Eleven Point River 1.03 Trout per CFS Little Piney Creek 1.01 Trout per CFS So just kinda take this for what it's worth, which I'm sure ain't much...

I have a feeling I know where Buckshot thinks the world originated from...... Crappie!

Somehow this thread went from asking for a river map, to arguing about hillbillies, to having a weird conversation about parenting. I'm so confused!!! You all lost me about 3 pages ago

Welcome! We appreciate your service to our country, and are looking forward to your posts.

Appreciate the compliment.

I understand you opinion Buckshot... But I do not like people that trash up the Ozark streams for everyone else. Same with those who keep stringers of smallies. the exception is those who really need the fish to get by day in and day out. I understand that. But he folks that litter, or just keep stringers of smallies to stock the freezer are selfish and short sighted in my mind. I don't want fishing information from them. If I could help you Buckshot, I would... But as I've said several times, I just don't know that area.

Good luck. Never been that far upriver, but I bet it's pretty down there. You'd think the fish would be a little less pressured.