ozark trout fisher

This just came to me. Fish after dark if you're gonna stay till midnight. Not many think of this, so it should solve all you problems.

If you want to fish seriously, I would fish in the river above or below stockton. I don't know the lake, but generally you find a lot less partiers and such on the rivers, and the fishing will probably be better, at least this weekend. You won't get as much free entertainment though

I couldn't agree with you more. I know that the Current, while I still like to fish it, is basically gone to the beer drinking crowds forever. But it sure would be sad if that happened to the Eleven Point, and the way F&s talked about it so glowingly, I'm afraid that might really put some strain on a river that doesn't need it. It makes me think of my home river in Colorado, the Yampa. It used to get no publicity, but then the word got out on it. Its not so much that the fishing suffered, because it really didn't. It was the wilderness experience that the river provided one that was sacrificed. I would hate to see that happen to our wild Ozark rivers. I'd prefer they always be kind of a secret. I just hope the tourists keep going to Taneycomo, the White River, and the Current like they do now. There great trout waters, but you expect to face crowds there. Thats fine, if it keeps some people away from wilder streams like the Eleven Point, Little Piney, Crane and such. There need to be a few places that most people just don't know about.

What he said................ Definitely two very different places. Trout at Maramec Spring Park, and smallies and catfish and Meramec State Park. This isn't the first time I've seen it confused. One time I had a friend ask me about 100 questions about how to fish at the spring park, and came back complaining that he had only caught bass and goggle-eye. Turns out, he didn't know the difference between the two, and ended up at the State Park, not the Spring Park. I got a pretty good laugh out of that. :lol:

I'm kinda new to fly fishing myself, but I've managed to catch quite a few bluegill on topwater popping bugs, size 12 woolly buggers, and 1/64 marabou jigs (I know these aren't technically flies, but they cast better on a fly rod, and the big bluegill and bass up to about 12" sure like them.)

I don't know Cardiac or suicide, but I have caught some decent trout down in the mile below the park, especially at Dry Fork about 1/2 mile downstream. The junction pool of the spring branch and the river is also an excellent place to catch trout. Don't know much about the hatches to be honest, the only flies I've ever caught trout on down there were woolly buggers, glo-bugs, and san juan worms. The CFS isn't ideal right now, but you could walk alongside the river and go down and hit the "fishier" spots. I believe it is public for a ways below the spring. Really though, you'll do better in a week or so when the water goes down. 550 cfs is generally my upper limit.

I waded downstream from Mayers landing about 1/2 mile. Water was muddy and pretty high, but still wadeable for the most part. Threw a rebel crawdad, and caught one bronzeback, a crappie, and a longear sunfish. Used a weight to get the rebel down in the heavy water. I was already wet wading, so it wasn't a huge problem, but I did accidently find a few deep holes I wasn't looking for or expecting. In all, I ended up going in above my head and swimming twice , one time through a pretty rocky riffle. The river was way high, and muddy, and that can translate into tough wading. But no harm done. Afterall, its just the Bourbeuse. Not exactly any dangerous areas there.

I waded downstream from Mayers landing about 1/2 mile. Water was muddy and pretty high, but still wadeable for the most part. Threw a rebel crawdad, and caught one bronzeback, a crappie, and a longear sunfish. Used a weight to get the rebel down in the heavy water. I was already wet wading, so it wasn't a huge problem, but I did accidently find a few deep holes I wasn't looking for or expecting. In all, I ended up going in above my head and swimming twice , one time through a pretty rocky riffle. The river was way high, and muddy, and that can translate into tough wading. But no harm done. Afterall, its just the Bourbeuse. Not exactly any dangerous areas there.

I waded downstream from Mayers landing about 1/2 mile. Water was muddy and pretty high, but still wadeable for the most part. Threw a rebel crawdad, and caught one bronzeback, a crappie, and a longear sunfish. Used a weight to get the rebel down in the heavy water. I was already wet wading, so it wasn't a huge problem, but I did accidently find a few deep holes I wasn't looking for or expecting. In all, I ended up going in above my head and swimming twice , one time through a pretty rocky riffle. The river was way high, and muddy, and that can translate into tough wading. But no harm done. Afterall, its just the Bourbeuse. Not exactly any dangerous areas there.

Yeah, the chute can be some trouble at high water. I've been able to walk around it in the past , but I hope I can do it today.

I got a question for you all. I'm going down to the Bourbeuse tommorrow, for a walk/wade trip at either Mayers landing or Union. USGS says its running a bit over 500 CFS. That sounds manageable, but I just wanted to check.

Best creek, no one can really say.................. Here are some good ones Little Piney Creek (mostly below Vida Slab bridge) Huzzah Creek Courteious Creek Flat Creek Sinking Creek Beaver Creek Blue Springs (mostly known as a trout creek, but there are really more smallies than trout) There probably hundreds of other smallie creeks in southern Missouri. These are just a few I know about. FYI, I also wish he would name the river where he kept smallmouth. If it was in the Missouri Ozarks, we can at least all know, and I know I'd be willing to give the benefit of the doubt and call it a simple mistake. If its in Arkansas, then your definitely fine, although there are some who will still look down on you for it. Not me. By the way, welcome to the forum cavefish. No doubt there are some people who will be upset that you keep a few fish, but don't be discouraged by it.

Crappie, largemouth bass, kentucky bass, walleye, a few stray smallmouths, sunfish, channel cats, flathead cats, a few white bass, and lots of muddy to olive colored water. That should sum it up. Route 66 State Park near Eureka is probably your best access point. I believe you can get access at Fenton city Park as well. I would guess you would find most of the same species.

It seems that everything on this board has to turn out to be a catch and release debate. Its a real shame. The question that was asked had nothing to do with Catch and release and catch and keep, lets not make it about something its not............... I generally believe in c&r of smallmouth, but the fact is that has nothing to do with a question about parasites. This is the guy's first post I see. Rudeness like this will drive people off the forum. That's not what we want, is it? Sorry I can't help with the problem with the parasites in the smallies, I've never seen it before. I know with those sort of things it is usually alright if you thoroughly cook them, the parasite usually dies. But don't take my word for it. FYI, as someone said, if you are fishing in the Missouri Ozarks, Black Bass are closed until I believe this Saturday. I don't believe that applies in Missouri north of the River or in Arkansas, though. If you are in the Missouri Ozarks, since you posted this on a public forum, I will just assume that you didn't know the rules. I'm not saying that not knowing rules is an excuse to break them, but it does happen to the best of us.

Some nice bass you got there.

The Buffalo River is beautiful. I bet its about what the White River was before the dams. I know the trout fishing is great, and I obviously enjoy it, based on my username. But I sure wish those dams had never been built. No going back on it now.............. Thanks for the interesting report, awesome pictures, and sorry if I just hijacked your thread.

Looked at the Gauge at Byrnes, and saw it was running more than double its usual flow. I bet its a different river when the water is normal. Just a question for you all. Is the area below Byrnes where I fished really the best place to go? (I'm mostly interested in catching bass and crappie) Or is there somewhere better? Someone told me that Browns Ford and Washington State Park were good for smallies. Is this true?

Blue Ribbon is good like everyone says. Cedar to Akers is also good for trout this time of year. If you want to wade fish some, you absolutely have to try Montauk State Park. No floating there, but it is stocked daily with trout March-October, so you won't get skunked. You probably won't get skunked in Blue Ribbon or White Ribbon either. If you're looking for trout and not smallmouth, don't bother with the Current below Akers, or anywhere on the Jacks Fork. The Jacks Fork is amazing for smallmouth, and okay for largemouth. The Current below Pulltite works well smallmouth and Goggle-eye, and in the Van Buren area walleye fishing is pretty good, but you really won't find many trout below Akers, because they aren't ever stocked down there.

That's a pretty trout if I've ever seen one.

After having to run an errand down at Hillsboro, I decided that I might as well hit the Big River at Byrnes Mill on my way home even though it was completely blown out and muddy. I bought some nightcrawlers, and went to a nice eddy below the dam. I caught five crappie, three bass (one smallmouth, one largemouth, and one Kentucky), and countless bluegill. One of the bass (about a 15" largemouth) hit a spinnerbait, all the others hit worms. Saw a few other people catching fish, mostly crappie. Not bad for a river that is completely blown out. This is my first time, and I can't wait to get back when water levels are reasonable. If nothing else, it was a nice break from lake fishing.

I post some articles on hub, and some on ezine. I do it partly because I enjoy writing articles, and partly to promote my website. Good report. I'm also beginning to pick up the fly rod after being vehemently opposed to using it for years. I'm still in the stage where its a little less effective for me than a spinning rod, but hopefully that'll change.

The Big River, Little Piney River, Big Piney River, and the Meramec (although gradually) are just a few rivers in Missouri that flow north.

I know there are some big largemouth alongside the trout below Branson, but I don't know about Crappie.

I spent a month fishing the mountain creeks of Wyoming and Montana once. A great time. I never tied on anything but a #12 black woolly bugger when fly fishing (I mostly spin fished) , because thats all I needed. Those brookies, cutts, and rainbows in the mountain creeks are very easy to catch. Way easier than in any trout stream out here, even the trout parks.

Rim Shoals to Buffalo is good advice from my limited experience.