ozark trout fisher

I'm with Al Agnew and Aftershock-it's the warm rains that will get the fishing going more than warm air temps. The low winter water just won't furnish much in the way of fishing until it gets washed out and replaced with warmer rain-water-the water that will be in the creeks after this thaw will mostly be snow melt, which isn't exactly what you need to get the warm-water fishing started. But as soon as the creeks settle down after the first warm spring rain, you can be sure that I'll be out there seeing what there is to see. I'm hoping that'll happen early on in March. That said, if you're wanting to look for smallies right now, you'll do best fishing in the areas that you'd normally target trout-they're attracted to the warmer spring water. In mid-winter I often have some success catching smallies in some pretty off the wall places-last year while trout fishing in January, I caught a bunch of smallies on Blue Spring Creek, and similar things have happened on the Blue Ribbon stretch of the Little Piney. This time of the year, when I catch smallmouth it's almost always on something like a woolly bugger dead drifted under an indicator.

As I sit here typing this, there are still 3-4 inches of snow blanketing the ground around my house, but the bite of cold air was missing today for the first time in weeks. The temperature today reached a glorious 38 degrees, and it's only going to get better. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 45, and the next day 50. There is not a single day in the 10 day forecast that is predicted to have a high of less than 45 degrees. Given the fact that it's mid-February already, I am beginning to wonder if this is just a winter thaw or the real deal-an early beginning of spring. It's easy to let hope of that run wild. It has been the hardest winter Missouri has seen in at least a decade, and possibly longer. Most winters around here there is snow on the ground for a fair percentage of the time, but not many days have gone by since mid-December when there hasn't been at least several inches of the white stuff on the ground. And we have had several nights where the temperature got below freezing-just yesterday the thermometer registered -4 just after dawn. So with some above average temperatures on the way, it can really set one to wondering if Old Man Winter has finally let go of his grip. Honestly, that's probably not the case. We'll have some more cold days, and possibly even some more accumulating snow. But the thaw is beginning, and in any case, spring isn't very far off. And spring in the Ozarks is a wonderful thing. As soon as we get our first warm spring rain, which usually occurs around the first week of March, the bass and bluegill awake from a three month long sleep. The first warm-water fishing of the year is inconsistent, and usually pretty hard work, but it can be very rewarding. The first bass or bluegill of the year is always a cause of great celebration for me. Then about late March, the wild flowers and the dogwoods bloom, and the trees bud out. This is a truly magic time of year in Missouri. The world is so full of color, so alive after seeming so dormant for so long. No matter how many springs you have seen, each one feels like the first, and this season of the year makes you feel more alive than at any other time. And by now the fishing is in full swing. The bass and bluegills are starting to take topwater flies in the evenings, and they are eager to take subsurface fare all day long. The air is supremely comfortable, neither hot nor cold, and the world seems pretty much perfect in all respects. Then it comes toward the beginning of May. All the trees are leafed out now, and the Ozark forests have begun to resemble a jungle, thick with all manner of underbrush. The fish have begun their spawning now. The bass are on their beds, and you get to see some of the largest fish of the year, right in front of your eyes and vulnerable. But I don't fish for them, for both fishery reasons, and just because for some reason I've felt pretty cheap the few times I have ripped the big female bass off their beds. But that ethic, at least for me, vanishes when it comes to the bluegill and redear that live in the ponds near my home. They are pretty easy to tempt with any manner of small wet fly, nymph, or streamer, and the big ones fight like good sized bass on my light fly rod. When I keep them, their fillets are crisp and delicious. Then there is the spring trout fishing. Spring can be the best and the worst time for trout fishing in Missouri. At it's best, spring fishing can offer some of the best hatches of the year, particularly caddis and olives, and the water temperatures will be perfect for the trout to be feeding actively. When this happens, the fishing is nothing short of glorious, and can produce the kind of days that you'll never forget. At it's worst, spring trout fishing can be non-existent, with the very real possibility of high and muddy water. But the good days usually make it worth it. The truth is, spring is not really a season, but a time of transition. The early part of it still seems like winter, still cold and dreary, but it slowly transforms into the time of budding flowers, dogwoods, spawning bluegills, and a great sense that the world itself is awakening from the great sleep called winter.

That's very sad to hear. Fly Fishing for Trout in Missouri is one of the best fishing books I've ever read-very helpful and well-written.

Me too. Since I haven't gotten down to the Current or anywhere much else lately, my trout box is unfortunately still pretty full, but my warm-water box needs lots of reinforcements before the real fishing gets started. I got the Woollies and the Leaches pretty much licked, but that's about it so far.

Spring is coming here pretty soon, and the forecast is reflecting that-highs in the upper 40s all the way up to 60. All the lakes and ponds around my house are now frozen solid enough for ice fishing and it got down to -4 today at my house, but within the week they will almost surely be free of ice. Then rain is predicted for next Wednesday, when the air temp is supposed to be in the 50s. That's important, because a warm rain will flush out some of the cold winter water of the lakes, ponds, and streams, and bring in some new, warmer water. And late February around here is usually the time that you can expect to catch the first bass and bluegill of the year, especially if we have a warm-up like they are predicting. It'll be slow fishing at first, but still fun. It's been a tough winter, but the thought that I could be catching bass and bluegill within 10-15 days seems almost too good to be true. And the thought that within about a month and and half, it will be late March, which brings some of the best bass and bluegill fishing of the year. So here's to spring coming here pretty soon, and here's to hoping that the fishing gets going a little earlier than usual this year.

The answer for me, is I would never dream of taking my cell phone anywhere near a trout stream, but if I did it would certainly be off. I understand that it would be good to have a cell phone if I got in an emergency situation, but I figure that folks have been out fishing, hunting, camping, and hiking for going on a millenium or so without cell phones or other technology, so I can probably manage too. My father spent most of his life in the interior of Alaska, hunting and fishing in the type of wilderness that makes anything we have around here or anywhere else in the lower 48 seem like a city park-all without a cell phone,GPS, or any other kind of technology, and he managed to always make it out okay. I don't believe having a cell phone on when you are on the stream is a "breach of etiquette. I just think it is a sign that you are affected by the the inability to concentrate on one thing at a time that is so prevalent in this day and age. I say this as a relatively young person who sees the lives of those around me pretty much controlled by phones and other such things. I just don't have any interest in being like that. I only have a cell phone at all because it's absolutely unavoidable. I was a holdout on getting one in the first place, and I still wish I didn't have to have one.

I am glad they are doing something to make it easier to prosecute those who kill Mt. Lions. I have been getting extremely fed up with the MDC about the way they have been handling that over the last couple weeks. About bear season... In the area I deer hunt in South-central MO, I see plenty of bear sign on a regular basis-this particular area is known as a major stronghold for bears. But I hope it is never opened to bear hunting. It would attract too much attention to a part of the state I would like to stay as unnoticed as possible. There's plenty of good hunting out there for deer, turkey, upland birds, and small game. We don't need anything else to hunt. Even though I am an avid hunter, I really kind of hope there will never be a bear season in Missouri-and I feel the same way about the elk they are introducing at Peck. No offense intended by the way I am putting this, but as soon as we start telling some of those hillbillies down there that it's ever okay to shoot black bears for sport, some will be dogging them year-round just like they do with deer. But I have a feeling we will someday have a black bear season, and probably not that far off in the future in certain parts of the state.

You all are using some heavy tippet/leaders-I've never used a leader bigger than 3x in my life except one time when I was fishing for stripers in Maine. Must be catching bigger fish...

Hey, just poking fun Trout Commander/Snagged In Outlet 3. But ya'll sure make me feel glad I'm not married.

I usually just use a 9' tapered leader. What it tapers to depends. For small pond bass and bluegill, I usually go with 5x, (I think that's about 4 pound test) and for larger bass and stream smallmouth usually 3x or 4x. I use mono usually since I do much of my warm-water fly fishing with topwater stuff, but sometimes flouro if I know that I'll just be fishing subsurface. It totally depends what species you're going after, the depth you're fishing, and how large of fish you can expect to catch in the given body of water.

Right. Any fisherman who keeps a cellphone in their pocket while they fish is not worthy of the name. I don't know about other folks, but that's half the reason I'm out there in the first place, to get away from technology and all the other crap that makes life stressful.

True...I don't really mind twisting the truth a bit about it, it's just more convenient if there isn't service at all.

I wish they would not have cell reception anywhere I trout fish. I like to be able to say, "I can't be reached" with some level of honesty. As it is now, with reception in all these far-flung places, I have to lie most of the time.

The end of winter is in sight though. Just about three weeks until the warmwater stuff starts. The lakes around where I live usually start to give up some bass and bluegill about the first week in March, and sometimes even the last week of February if we have a warm spell...Now warm-water fishing is pretty touchy stuff until about late March, decent one day, really slow the next, but the thought of it is still just enough to keep me in pretty good spirits now. This winter has been a terrible one for me in the way of trout fishing. I've been so busy that I have not been stream trout fishing in two months...The only reason I still have any marbles left is due to squirrel hunting and pond trout fishing. Also, I've been spending a lot of time lately tying up warm-water patterns-the season is almost upon us and I still have lots of empty space in my box. It's been a tough winter, but it's almost done. Hard to think about that now with a windchill of 4 degrees. I have a feeling everyone on the board will be nicer once the fishing gets going.

Warmwater fly fishing is one of the great joys of the sport. Not sure about down there, but up here it'll only be a month or so until it gets going.

Troutfiend, I understand what you're saying and basically agree with you. The laws have to be "no exceptions" or else poachers would take advantage of them as you said. But if I spend a half hour trying to revive an under-size fish (which I will if the situation calls), and it simply will not revive, am I just gonna let it drift downstream to rot... I don't know. I understand the law is very clear on the issue, but I don't think the ethics of the situation are nearly as clearcut. I'm not sure, but I may break the law in that situation, quit fishing, and go home. If I am caught, then I would tell the Conservation agent the truth and willingly pay the fine. I've only had this situation occur to me a few times in the last few years, and each time I really have to debate what I am going to do. It's not black and white, and I'm honestly not sure what the right answer is.

I don't care what vegans do just as long as it doesn't prevent me from eating a big old steak or making rabbit stew.... More meat for the rest of us As a matter of fact I am glad that there are the holier than thou vegan/PETA types. I get great pleasure from annoying/ offending them.

That's what I meant in the end of my post when I said it wouldn't last a year. That stream floods worse than any other I've ever come across. One minute it will be running at 90 CFS and the next half hour it can be at 50,000. That knowledge always makes me a bit nervous when I camp at Lane Spring. You're right about it being ripped up. It's amazing that the Little Piney is as productive as it is given the way it's been abused over the years, both by cattle and by gravel mining. Given the fact it's a decent trout stream now, imagine what it could be if the landowners along it hadn't trashed it. It could be as good as the Current River and possibly better. A little off-topic, but that is why I am so unsympathetic to the landowners along the creek in the Vida Slab area trying to keep fisherman out. They trash the creek allowing their cattle to wallow in it wherever they please, eroding the channel and causing there to be a bunch of high mud banks, and tell responsible fisherman to go away. All legalities aside, that's BS.

Hey, whatever floats your boat........

That is a tough one. It's really hard for me to release a fish knowing that it's going to die, and it is the only situation in fishing where I may seriously consider breaking a game law. I just about can't bring myself to release a fish bleeding from the gills-it just seems wrong, no matter what the rules are. I will not say that I have actually done that, but I would not look down on someone keeping an undersize fish that is clearly going to die. But giving up live bait in the last couple years (except in the winter for pond trout which I always keep anyway) has pretty much eliminated that. It's a bad situation to be in, and I think it's the responsibility of every fisherman to insure that they don't get in that situation any more than is absolutely necessary. I'm not saying it can't happen with flies, but it's considerably less likely to happen than if I'm using bait or treble hooks. I haven't totally given up the use of treble hooks for bass, but I know I should, and I am heading that direction.

I have long thought that Little Piney would be a good candidate for stream restoration. It's suffered so badly from gravel mining that it just doesn't have much depth and cover any more... It could sure use some lunker structures, and other habitat work similar to what they did at Mill Creek. It's a good wild trout stream now, but it could be so much better. But I'm not sure how well that would work come to think of it. It floods massively every single spring and most falls too. I bet that any stream improvements wouldn't last a year. And what in the bloody heck is that avatar Outside Bend?

Thanks for the report...My sporting activities over the last couple months have been pretty much confined to ice fishing for stockers and squirrel hunting, so it's good to hear someone's still getting some good sport out there, although it makes me kinda jealous too. I hate being so darn busy.

I can't quite tell if you're kidding, but if you're not, then I don't quite know what to say... I was going to go on a bit of a rant, but I won't on the off chance that you were kidding and just trying to stir the pot. But if you aren't kidding, say so, and then I'll tell you just what I think of your world view.

I will no longer speak in the defense of the MDC. This is absolutely inexcusable. They apparently have no courage, and they sure seem fond of taking the easy way out... They are afraid of prosecuting trigger happy people who shoot a protected species because they are scared of public opinion. And twice in what, two weeks? Absolutely sickening. To think I defended them on so many issues for so many years. No more, if they don't file charges in this case. They are not doing their job. Mountain lions are a native species- they belong here. It is not the MDC's job to restore the species that are convenient to re-introduce. It is their job to restore Missouri's ecosystems to something like what they should be. And it seems they are failing here, or more accurately, not even trying. Elk are pretty, graceful, and pretty harmless. So let's reintroduce them. But those mountain lions are kinda scary, and it might make some people mad to truly protect them in a meaningful way...So who cares about 'em. That is what is going on here.

It is a lot of fun. I have a .22, but this place I hunt isn't as far out in the sticks as I'd like it to be, and a shotgun is a lot safer than a rifle in this case.