ozark trout fisher

I'm thinking a bear. I've seen bear tracks before, and that looks like one. A pretty big bear too, I would guess.

I love brookies . My favorite kind of fish to catch.

Nice fish

Its pretty good from Welch to Akers, but between Cedar and Welch the fishing can be spotty. They usually don't stock the area between Cedars and Welch during mid summer because of warm temps, although they probably are still stocking now. Below Welch, the water is colder, and they stock all year long. Be sure to really concentrate on the area near the mouth of Welch Spring. Lots a trout there. Worms, powerbait, corn and minnows all work, if your looking to bait fish. Mepps spinners are also good. Good luck

Thanks. I hope it works out. If the water is decent, I probably fly fish. If not, I'll bust out the Powerbait

I was wondering how the spring was looking as of late. Is it high and murky, or has it recovered? Also, how do you all think the upcoming possibility of rain will affect things? I can postpone the trip to thurday or friday if the water demands, but if it isn't completely blown out on Wednesday, I'd like to give it a shot. I'll give a report after I go. Hopefully lots of fish pictures

I think the MDC could end this argument pretty quickly by just changing there definition of a fly to a single hooked artificial lure, with no soft plastic. The current definition is just too complicated.

I know lower taney and upper Bull shoals are full of carp

Yeah, no special permit just to fish............. But if you are as fond of grilled trout as I am, you'll need a trout stamp

I agree that you don't need to be legitimately fly fishing in this state to fish in a fly fishing only area. And thats how it should be. There are some states around where you actually have to be using a fly rod, and no spinners, jigs, or anything like that are allowed. My question to the people who advocate such regulations is, what's the point? I don't get it. I don't have a problem with Missouri's fly fishing areas, because I can still use a few spinning lures there, and be within the law. Your no more likely to deep hook a fish with a single hooked rooster tail or a marabou jig than a pheasant tail nymph. Which I assume is the point in making a stream fly fishing only. Also, I understand the reason why many people want fly fishing areas is so that people can fish, without sit and wait bait fisherman cutting off casting lanes. But really, jig or spinner fisherman don't cut of any more, probably as much, of a casting lane as a fly fisherman. Well I see I've fallen into another fly fishing/spinfishing debate. But they're so much fun

I think I might just do one of those sections instead. The Osage Fork suddenly sounds a bit less appealing

I'm not sure about crankbaits, but rooster tail spinners with single hooks are most certainly legal, because it specifically mentions them in the regulations as being a fly.

If its public land, you can probably camp on it, but if its private, probably not, as Mill Creek is not considered navigable. You won't need any kind of a permit, if it is legal. Honestly, as far as driving up to Yelton spring, I wouldn't bother. The fishing isn't much good until the creek's junction with Wilkin Spring. Really, if your gonna be traveling all the way from Texas, and want to experience good wild trout fishing, I would steer you in a different direction. The fishing has gone seriously down hill at Mill Creek, (during the droughts of a few years ago, it was all but dry) and there just aren't good fish numbers anymore. Especially in Late July, you're gonna be fighting an uphill battle. With that said, there still is a trout population, just not as good as it used to be. I would fish Little Piney Creek, and camp at Lane Spring, which is just a few miles away from Mill, actually I believe Mill flows into Little Piney. If you go, wade downstream from Lane Spring Rec area, and hit every good looking pool and riffle. The trout population is much better in Little Piney, and the access is way easier too, as its considered navigable. This means you can wade through private land, as long as you stay below the high water mark. Some of the landowners don't see it this way though, so you still have to be careful. Also, Little Piney Creek holds up WAY better to low water, which is almost a certainty in July. Because of this, water temperatures will be more tolerable. Remember, no matter which creek you fish, the rule is to look for the faster water the "frog water" doesn't often hold fish. Also, especially that time of the year, early morning and late evening will really be the only good fishing. Oh yeah, and if you want an idea of what the Little Piney looks like, the picture that I have up by my username is actually the from the Blue Ribbon section of Piney.

Yikes I'm thinking I'd better pick another stream

Sounds like you had a good time and caught some fish...........

The Current River at Montauk is fine right now for fishing. So without much more rain, you'll be fine to fish Tan Vat or Baptist. Anywhere below that, I'm not sure.

The average fish is about 12", with a fair number as big as 17 or 18 inches. At least 90% will be rainbows, although there are some browns too. The shop opens 30 minutes before the opening buzzer, so that would mean 6 AM now. By the way, the rain shouldn't hurt anything. Water flows are a little high, but still pretty normal. If anything it'll make the fishing better.

Yeah, its gone way up. You could fish it, but it'll be muddier than Hershey's chocolate. Dangerous too at that level. You might do better down at Pacific, as the channel is wider there, and high water isn't quite as dangerous, although it can still cause problems. Down there, the fish are also more used to murky water. Its a good place to get into all three species of black bass, as well as catfish, drum, white bass, crappie, walleye, and panfish.

Yeah, its gone way up. You could fish it, but it'll be muddier than Hershey's chocolate. Dangerous too at that level. You might do better down at Pacific, as the channel is wider there, and high water isn't quite as dangerous, although it can still cause problems. Down there, the fish are also more used to murky water. Its a good place to get into all three species of black bass, as well as catfish, drum, white bass, crappie and panfish.

Throw away my spinning rod..... doubtful. Fly fishing is a fine method to fish, not knocking it. I like to do it myself sometimes...... I can cast a fly rod adequately, and have used jigs on a fly rod. I just don't like action is well, plus its a whole lot of trouble. There are some things you can do with a fly rod and not a spinning rod, I'll admit, but there are also plenty of things you can do on a spinning rod but not a fly rod. They are both just tools in my mind, to be used in there capacity when they are more likely to catch fish. I'm really not trying to start a fly fishing vs. spinfishing debate. That is an argument that no one ever wins. In my mind, fishing is fishing, and fisherman are fisherman, no matter what kind of rod is used.

Looked at the water gauge, despite the gully washer last night the river is still falling......Still pretty high though. Its running 819 CFS You might still want to go, but be careful. The Meramec can get a bit dangerous at these flows. If you go, have a good time, catch a lot of fish, and be safe.

Not familiar with any good books on Crappie an Panfish. Of course that's probably because no one really needs to read a book in order to learn how to catch them

Yeah, thats how I understand it as well. It seems kinda silly to me that a single hooked rooster tail spinner with a couple of feathers, or a marabou jig IS legal, but a single hooked crankbait isn't. Oh well. As for casting bait from the fly fishing area into the bait area, it might be legal, but why do it? I say if you do that kinda thing you are just asking for trouble. There are some many places to fish bait in the park where you aren't inviting trouble, so why cast from there? Why not just fish from below the dam instead from above it? That way you are not in any kind of legal gray area. And of course I could learn to fly fish, but the jigs seem to be working just fine now.

First time trout fishing..... I believe I have the prescription for you. Buy a jar of orange or rainbow colored powerbait, some size eight single hooks, and split shot. Tie the split shot on 12 or 15 inches above the hook, and ball up just enough powerbait to float the hook off the bottom, and to cover the hook itself. Get there at the buzzer (its at 6:30 A.M now), at go just above or just below one of the mill dams on either the spring branch or the main stream (make sure your in an area where bait is allowed). Cast out, and let it sit for a minute or two. Do this, and there is little to no doubt in my mind you'll catch trout. By about 8:00 AM, the fishing will get a bit tougher. At this point, you might want to go up into the artificial only area, because many more fish tend to hold over there throughout the day. It says its fly only, but you can use any artificial that doesn't have a treble hook or soft plastic, and a spinning rod is okay. Your best bet will be a white or pink 1/32 ounce marabou jig (they carry them at the park store). You'll want to buy a pair of polarized sunglasses, so you can see the fish better. Pick a school of fish, and repeatedly drift the jig past them. You'll want to try it a few different ways, including a dead drift, reeling it straight in, jigging it up and down, or just reeling it slowly on the bottom. It really just depends on what mood the fish are in that day. But if you want to guarantee yourself you catch trout, fish a deep hole in the bait area with powerbait just after the buzzer. Anyone can catch fish that way. By the way, I would suggest the first hole below the dam that divides the bait and fly area. I almost forgot the most important advice I could possibly give you. If you use line any heavier than 4 pound test, don't expect to catch many fish. These trout park fish are super line shy, because of the clear water. Even if it means spooling 4 pound mono on a medium action, that is better than using heavy line. It'll be a bad match if that's all you have, but it will work, because long casts are almost never necessary.A light action or ultralight would be better if you had one. Line is really the one thing that can kill you in the trout parks.

Yeah, the fish swallowing the hook can be a problem if your off on your hookset. I try to steer towards artificials when possible (especially in smallie streams), but when the water gets high you have to do what you have to do