ozark trout fisher

The legislature taking part in fish and game. A nightmare if I ever heard of one. Like someone else said, just look at what happened to California!

The legislature in control of fish and wildlife. Now that's a nightmare. This measure must be defeated.

When I was there on Sunday it wasn't just me that was having trouble. One fly fisherman who said he had fished the park for ten years said he had never seen so few fish caught. But it might have been better on Monday.

The fishing is really picking up here in Sherwood. The bass and redear sunfish have moved shallow, today I caught ten nice sunfish and a 13 inch largemouth all on nightcrawlers, yesterday was about the same. It's exciting to finally be able to catch fish in 3 to 5 of water again. Haven't gotten a chance to do any boat fishing yet, I've just been fishing off docks.

A kayak is a great fishing tool, it might be my favorite boat to fish out of. Welcome, and tightlines.

Are you meaning to say you actually go in a kayak on that? If so, you are mighty brave (a little silly?).

Are you meaning to say you actually go in a kayak on that? If so, you are mighty brave.

I sure hope it's true, although Crane already has decent access I believe. It would be great if Missouri could buy land on a new trout stream altogether, and manage it as a Blue Ribbon Area. There are a lot of private trout streams out there that could be options if the MDC has a little extra money lying around to buy a mile or so of access.

I sure hope that's true. All in all though, Missouri has about the best fishing access of any state of ever been in.

That's a bummer you can't use them, because I just released a very nice bass on one today down at the marina. But I would use Berkely Powerworms, Red/Black 7" Texas Rigged, a Bomber Crankbait, or a mini strike king spinnerbait, and strike king bitsy jigs. I have had a lot of luck with those this time of year in Sherwood, but something else might work better.

I'm glad you told me, I hadn't thought of that at all. I guess I will have to sacrifice keeping any spots, seems kinda silly that there is a closed season on spots with them being such an invasive species in the river. I might just have to take a couple of channel cats home instead.

Oh yeah, I forgot one question I meant to ask. Will I need sinking or sink tip line, or will floating be okay? I kinda have trouble fishing sink tip line, so it would be great if I could just go with floating line and a long leader. But I know the Eleven Point is really deep, and the fish are usually near the bottom, so I'll do what I have to do.

I was considering in trying to do a little fly fishing for smallmouth bass in the near future. What flies should I try, and how should I fish them? I will probably be fishing the Meramec River. Thanks

Bring Berkely Power Worms, and Bomber Crankbaits. If the tournament allows it, use nightcrawlers. They're a great bass bait here in Sherwood. I live out here, and it is a good bass lake. You should have fun.

I will definitely do my best to see those caves/springs you mentioned above. I think It would be very interesting. And I'll also keep in mind what you said about the gravel bar. And thanks Brian Sloss for the fly and lure suggestions. Sounds like I'll need to bring a lot of lead.

Sound like you did well. I just really couldn't get them to respond to my jigs at all. I tried everything, jigging up and down, jigging side to side, just reeling them in, but the only way I had any luck whatsoever was to just let it sit dead on the bottom right in front of a fish.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I might hit that this June if ya'll think thats's a good idea. I'm thinking about a two day trip, first day Greer to Turner for some Blue Ribbon fishing, and second day Turner to Whitten. Is that a halfway decent plan? What baits, lures or flies should I bring along? I'll probably bring both a spin and fly fishing rod. By the way, I was planning on renting a canoe, but I was pleasantly surprised to get one for my birthday this year, so I'll probably use that. But thanks for the advice anyway.

Looks like a pretty creek. I might have to fish that sometime.

I have a couple of questions about the White Ribbon Area on the Eleven Point. First off, is there any kind of a summer fishery there, or does it warm up too much? Secondly, does the population get too depleted between stockings, or is there always a decent population around? I've noticed it gets stocked pretty heavily, so I was thinking the fishing might be pretty good.

Those wild rainbows sure are colorful. I think I need to get down there, as all I have caught lately are silver bullets.

Sounds like the Bourbeuse is doing great. I might get down there and try to catch some smallies this weekend. I also might try to get a couple kentuckies for the frying pan too.

Came down to Montauk this weekend. Got there on Saturday afternoon, caught only two on Powerbait, both in the campground stretch. At that point, I kinda figured, oh well, I will probably do all right at the buzzer tommorrow. It was not to be. I had a nice place picked out, and I saw quite a few trout, but someone waded right through two minutes before legal fishing, so I had to move. I ended up fishing up above the campground in a stretch that wasn't producing many fish. I was still fishless at 9:00 A.M when I headed down to a deep hole in the campground, and finally managed a 10" rainbow on a nightcrawler. After lunch, I headed up to the fly only area, where I caught one 12" trout on a jig. That was it. Very slow fishing.

I'd also suggest the Cotter area. Many less fisherman than just below the dam, and the fishing is excellent. I am from Colorado, and have fished some mighty fine streams there, but the White is the country's best trout stream, I just don't there can be much debate. So you will have a great time. Lots of big rainbows, and of course browns.

Just to clear this up, I think it is a great ethic to release large trout, bass etc., and I have released the majority that I have caught. I just don't think I should be judged for keeping the occasional brown trout over the length limit. I don't keep any fish in the fragile streams such as the Meramec, Little Piney, the Current below the park, because those are streams that could be adversely affected. But trout parks, the White River, Taneycomo, and urban trout lakes are places I go to have a lot of fun catching and releasing trout, yes, keep a few fish, maybe even a nice sized one. If it's legal, it's my choice. The law doesn't leave much ambiguity on that issue. And I don't think there is anything unethical about keeping a legal brown trout once or twice every year. If you kept a legal brown every week, then you might be getting into the territory of being unethical. Of course this is all relative. And I tip my hat to everyone here that releases every fish they catch. That is great, and I will respect you for it, so long as you don't force it on me.

Thanks so much for the response. I know Little Piney can go up at a pin drop, so I relieved to hear the Current isn't the same way.