ozark trout fisher

Thanks Gavin and JdMidwest. I'll keep this in mind.

This one certainly won't happen this year, but I would like to see the White Ribbon area become a Red Ribbon area. Stock brown trout in this section, and I think you could get some real trophies, as well as happy anglers. Possibly stock a few rainbows too, but I would support a 15" length limit on both species in this proposed red ribbon area. I'm not sure if bait should be allowed. I think maybe it should, because there are no nearby trout waters for displaced bait anglers to go. I say keep the Blue Ribbon area the way it is. Currently, from the what I have read from the MDC, there are about 1200 Trout Per Mile in the Blue Ribbon area, and that seems like that is pretty good for a stream this size. Maybe I'm way off on this, because I have no personal experience on the "Point", but I would like to hear responses to this proposal. Just curious.

I was curious if there are any campgrounds around Little Piney that remain open in winter, private or public. I know that Lane Spring is closed, so I was wondering if there were other options.

I understand now. I was just curious.

Thanks. I found it.

I think it is just my computer. I tried that and it didn't work.

Tgard, how did you find this? I tried typing in the url listed, and nothing came up. In case you don't remember, what did it say about possibly new Crane Creek stocking? I think it would be a shame if they stocked trout that would dilute the genes of the Mcloud rainbows, as they are a pretty rare strain, and I believe Crane is the only stream that supports a pure strain.

When I lived there, the Yampa was a pretty amazing river. I must admit I never caught any five pounders, but nearly every trip would produce several rainbows in the two pound range. Where I fished in Craig, there were occasionally some brown trout caught, but rainbows made up just about all the catch. There didn't seem to be any cutthroat or cutbow that far downstream. I never much targeted the pike, as I am a trout bum beyond hope, but I have seen some big ones. I also accidentally caught channel cats and smallmouth pretty often while fishing for trout.

Great fish. All the better you were able to get him in the dead of winter, which is by far the hardest time to get bass.

I agree. I am definitely going to float it this spring/summer.

By the way, a little Jake is a small spoon. It worked great for trout in Colorado for me, but I've never used one here in Missouri.

I know. I was just pointing out that wild trout aren't always super wary mysterious creatures that spook at the sight of your 7x tippet. They are a different animal in Missouri for sure, in my opinion mostly due to the heavy fishing pressure. I also agree that resident hatchery trout are just about as game as wild ones.

This question is slightly off the topic, but I'll ask anyway. How come the special smallmouth areas allow bait fishing? The trout areas with restrictive length limits don't generally allow bait, and I would think it would help smallmouth survival if similar regs were put in place in the smallmouth management areas. If most of the fish must be released, why allow them to be caught in a way they're less likely to survive release? I say this as someone who prefers to catch bass on bait, but I just don't think it is the right thing for the fishery for bait to be allowed.

I just think that the idea that the fish was born inside the very stream it lives in, and has never seen the concrete walls of the hatchery, or been "domesticated". I think that just appeals to some people myself included, but I see your point. I like catching hatchery trout a lot too. And as to the fact that wild trout are harder to catch, I don't believe that wild fish are any harder to catch than resident hatchery trout. Fish some high mountain streams with wild cutthroat in Montana, and you will find that wild trout can be almost too easy to catch. But resident or wild trout just about anywhere in Missouri could be pretty tough to catch I would guess, because they see so much pressure.

In the summer of 2006, my family decided to take a one month long trip to Montana mostly, with stops in South Dakota and Wyoming as well. Our first real destination was the North Tongue River, which is located in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Small Mepps spinners and panther Martins were the key to duping this stream's cutthroat trout. Several small (extremely wild) tributary streams also fished well, with some pretty large cutthroat. Then we rented a Forest Service cabin on tiny Canyon Creek in the Pioneer Mountains. The cabin had no running water or electricity. The creek was full of brook trout, and more than a few cutthroat, and some pools were beyond beautiful, and produced very satisfactory trout action. The next stop was Middle Thompson Lake, a lowland lake that holds both warmwater and coldwater species. We caught pike and yellow perch, but couldn't land any of the Kokanee or rainbow trout said to be in the lake. Next, we headed to Cabinet Gorge Reservoir and had much better luck. Fishing mostly from inflatable kayaks near the inlet we caught tons of Yellow Perch and Mountain Whitefish, and some brown trout were caught also. We did keep some whitefish and yellow perch for the frying pan. With some corn meal added, they were very good. All in all, the perch and whitefish provided almost nonstop action on nightcrawlers, and the fact that some trout were mixed in made it all the sweeter. Next, and last fishing stop was Crazy Creek. This particular brook is full of cutthroat trout, as well as some brookies. They are pretty easy to catch, and they liked spinner-flies pretty well. I also landed some endangered Bull Trout, the largest was twenty inches, and closed to three pounds. This was all the sweeter due to the fact that Crazy Creek isn't stocked, and all the trout are wild. This was a great trip. No, we didn't fish the famous rivers, but the mountain creeks and lakes provided a lot of fun for trout and other species. Every trout angler should make a similar trip in their lifetime.

Wow. Forty fish, several over twenty inches. That is a a great day indeed. If I catch a few rainbows at Maramec Springs, and anything over 14" I am very happy. You must have figured them out. Sorry about losing the big brown trout. I have heard browns are getting pretty rare in the spring branch these days, so good job hooking one, a trophy too.

You are right I'm sure. I guess some stockers probably do make it up in high water. You're right, its not really worth arguing about.

I will certainly give it my best shot, but he might be more careful this time...

The Lane Spring White Ribbon area is no longer in existance. The White Ribbon area is now a few miles below the Vida Slab bridge, a sound barrier to fish migration upstream, so where I was fishing the trout would be purely wild.

Little Piney does recieve some hatchery fish in its lower portion, but it isn't stocked until you get several miles below where I was fishing. Plus the Vida Slab bridge is a barrier to fish migration, which I was fishing above, and no trout are stocked above Vida Slab. So it would stand to reason this was a stream bred fish. The section I was fishing is a Blue Ribbon area managed specifically for streambred trout, and there has been no stocking of trout in several years.

I was told the wild rainbow trout creeks rarely had anything over 12", until I saw that 20" beast on the end of my line. But that is the only one I have ever hooked there, so that might have been just a fluke. Didn't get him in though, which was pretty frustating.

The MDC may be the most funded department of it's kind in the nation, but it seems very worth it to me. For example, most states don't have to stock nearly as many fish as Missouri, due to our extensive trout management plan here. Personally, I enjoy catching those trout, (on the rare occasions I actually catch one), and am willing to pay the twelve dollars on my fishing license, seven dollars on a trout stamp, and $17 on a deer license. and the 1/8 of one percent sales tax I pay, or whatever it is. Seems like a small price to pay to support the part of government that makes hunting and fishing so possible. I am willing to pay it, although it does sometimes hurt the pocketbook.

I have only fished the Little Piney Creek Blue Ribbon area, and I really like it. I have actually never landed a trout from there, but I recently hooked and lost one about 20" and three pounds. It has only been a Blue Ribbon stream a few years (it used to be a white ribbon area), and the fishing has yet to reach its potential, I believe. Plus smallmouth bass are plentiful.

Just an update for anyone in Lake Sherwood. Fishing has gotten quite tough. It took me four hours yesterday to land one rainbow, and I had to head to an out of the way brush pile to get him. I haven't caught any over 11" yet. With only about 200 stocked, the population should be more than a bit depleted. The chocolate colored water doesn't help either... I should mention that the winter trout are not found in the main lake, but a smaller one called Lake Eleanor. The daily limit is three I believe, but I believe very few ever limit out.

I'm just curious, how long is Greer Spring Branch? Does it have much in the way of holding water?