ozark trout fisher

Just an aside, but I've never understood people using facebook as their platform to debate politics/anything else. It is potentially the worst platform in existence for that. Combine the nastiness that often comes from the ease of a few key-strokes with everything being attached to your name/essentially public record, and it's just not the place.

Obviously this is a lesser concern, but I always find it amazing that stream fish, by and large, seem to survive their rivers becoming 100x bigger, faster, and more powerful. I know there is always some mortality, but never what you'd think based on looking at so much as a single photo. At the risk of sounding weird, I wonder what a huge flood is like from the underwater perspective. I'm always secretly a little stunned when they don't all end up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Another "release" technique with a similar mortality rate:

One of the benefits to my move to Indiana is that I've made a friend who can not only identify morels, but somehow collects them in industrial quantities. We have developed a great barter system: he gets some of my bluegill fillets, I get some of his morels, and we're both very happy this time of year. We've reinvented capitalism, circa 700 AD.

Welp, I was all set to begin my summer research work in the Ozarks this weekend, but that clearly ain't happening. Best of luck to all in the path of this, and stay safe. I'll be sticking in Indiana for a few more days.

If your house gets flooded it's fair to say we're all in a bit of trouble.

Always live on a hill. Saves a lot of stress this time of year...

Oh, yay, guess who gets to be doing field-work outside in the middle of nowhere right in the middle of all that. I should get a lot done.

Personally I'm partial to salmon salad made from bull trout with just a touch of ground Niangua Darter mixed in. Goes great with an entree of bald eagle. (over under set at 12 minutes before the USFWS is at my home checking the freezer. You will find a bunch of venison and a few bluegill fillets, but not much else, guys.)

Wait, is that not how we were supposed to be fishing for smallmouth? That along with the ol' dynamite 'n dipnet are the staples. It also works great for wild trout in small spring creeks. Especially the really rare ones. Those taste the best. (Necessary disclaimer in case law enforcement decides to check in today: I only fish with dynamite. Gigging is far too inefficient.)

The funny thing for me is my premier "big fish I actually caught" story is nowhere near as memorable as a number if fish I've lost. It basically amounts to, I threw a Mepps spinner out into a north woods lake and by the time I reeled in there was a very large smallmouth bass attached. What made it far worse is that these lakes were one of the last havens for a rare strain of brook trout and smallmouth were locally considered a nasty invasive on par with flying carp. They had been introduced only a decade and a half before by some jerk with an agenda. So I couldn't be all that happy about it, although that was the first (and last) time I ever ate a smallmouth bass.

Here is my best "the one that got away" story. I'm on the Uncompahgre River in southwest Colorado, and it's near the end of a long trip out west. The fishing has been okay; I've caught plenty of fish that on the smaller, less known streams in the area would have been worth talking about. But this stretch of tailwater is known for one thing; the presence of a number of absolute pig browns and rainbows. And I'd still not found one. I'd given up on it, was totally fine with the smaller rainbows and cutthroat, when all of a sudden it happened. Indicator goes down, set the hook, and there is just this dull weight on the end. I thought it was the bottom at first but nope. He started swimming downstream, towards about a 3-4 foot tall rock dam. It soon became clear that this was not an ordinary lunker; this guy was in the 8-10 pound range, for a guy like me, the unquestioned fish of a lifetime. I became painfully aware of the diameter of the tippet, and the certainty of what would happen if I let this fish get any further downstream. I waded out deeper, trying to redirect the fight to calmer waters. The Uncompahgre, while not near as intimidating as some western rivers, is still plenty big, fast, and cold. And if you are not thinking about that while fighting a huge fish you are liable to lose your footing and start filling up your waders. That's what happened. I lose my footing, get drug down to the lip of the rock dam, while my big brown is in the same spot laterally but 3/4 of the way across the river. My feet were braced against one particular boulder on the rock dam, all-too aware of the probably not deadly but definitely super painful consequences of going over, while still really not wanting to lose this fish. I took one deliberate step after another, crossing the river while braced against the lip of the rock dam, moving towards my now mostly stationary fish of a lifetime. I could see him clearly now, a brown, at least 30 inches, and I'm being conservative because this is on of my few "big fish" stories that does not require exaggeration for full effect. The brown didn't appear any more interested than I did in going over the dam, and I figured if I could get a little bit closer I could probably close the deal, and figure out how to get to shore later. And then it happened. I was getting really close, starting to think about grabbing my net, and bringing him in the last few feet. The line went slack. It hadn't broken, somehow. Hook hadn't even straightened. Just slipped out, the same way it could have if it had been an 8 inch brookie. That somehow added insult to injury. Defeated, I managed to limp my way to the opposite shore and pull myself out of the water. I look up, and there is an old fishing guide type standing back about 20 feet laughing himself half to death. I ask him how much of that he saw, and he just grinned and said, "Enough".

Beautiful pictures. If someone does me the courtesy of showing me one of their favorite streams, and it's not either huge or super famous, I usually wouldn't reveal it without their permission. I might even have one or two "definitely not secret but still not naming it on a public forum" spots in Northern Michigan. The problem is that even though most places you are actually fishing are very rural, you're often in day-trip distance of Chicago, Detroit, etc, and very closer to smaller, but still sizable population centers like Grand Rapids and Muskegon. In that context, if you have a smallish stream that not just everyone knows about, people tend to be a little bit protective.

LOL, it happens. And it can be much worse. Based on an experience on a sports blog I frequent, I will just say that if you are on your phone, and trying to post the acronym "SEC" you should always check and make sure auto-correct didn't go with another word sharing 66.7% of the same letters. That will get you some funny responses, especially if it precedes the word football and said site doesn't have a "Edit post" feature.

The Bourbeuse around St. James is mighty small. Not saying you shouldn't fish there. I am saying I'm not certain you are in the legal right if you do on private land and without permission. As someone who has spent a ton of time fishing wadeable smallmouth streams in the Ozarks, it is touchy, and you ultimately have to make your own risk/reward assessment. I've always been firmly of the belief that flowing water and the streambed under it ought not be something someone can own, unless you own all of it, because flowing water is by definition and necessity a public resource. To me that is something pretty near a universal truth. But it's one that doesn't align with law. If you go for it anyway, be quiet and a little extra careful with trash, etc. And be friendly as hell if you are confronted. That can solve a lot of problems. There have been a few times where I've talked my way out of a potentially sticky situation and by the end of it was just talking fishing or cattle or whatever and getting told where the next really good pool is. There are usually better options than going straight into a pitch about stream access rights. In fact, that's basically never going to work out, even if you are 100% in the right, legally. And if none of that works, apologize and get the hell out of there however you have to. Once again, even if you are 100% in the right, legally, in practical terms it probably won't do you any good. But I wouldn't try mushroom hunting on the banks. There is no legal ambiguity there.

If Mizzou gets either Knox or Tilmon, that really fills the last big hole on the roster. Get both and well, who's to say what might happen? When he got hired, at first I thought Cuonzo was a massive upgrade, but still just sliiiiiiightly disappointing after all that Tom Crean talk. All he's done in the weeks since then is drastically raise the talent level on the roster. He is seriously threatening to get Mizzou to the top half of the SEC in Year 1. After 3 years of being dead last, that would be incredible. So he is well on his way to proving that initial skepticism was unfounded. Here is the only potential problem: if we now "only" double the win total and go, 17-15, and, like 7-11 or 8-10 in conference, that will now officially be disappointing. Even though given the past few years it should be a huge success. Oh well, high expectations are usually a good problem.

Yesterday, I worked a 11 hour day in the woods (finishing a lovely 65 hr week) and instead of going home I hit a small national forest lake near my work site, and fished 'til dark. I don't have a point, except that I woke up in camp in the middle of nowhere this morming because of that instead of my warm bed and the largest fish I caught was a 9" bass, plus a couple bluegill. Who cares, it's beautiful country, the stars were bright, and I caught all of them on a pretty wet-fly my late grandfather taught me to tie a little over a decade ago. And for some reason I do not fully understand or condone, I have enough reception to post this. Life is good. No need to overthink this stuff.

I can verify some small errors in from using them for various purposes in field research. But not the kind of errors that could get you lost or even turned around. Totally different scale. I am also insanely picky about maps to the point where I basically always just make my own using GIS software. A product of trying to find very specific areas in thick brush. So take everything I say with a grain of salt.

I wish, but no. Those were two separate (and in the latter case , supremely accurate) monikers I picked up over the years from posters on here. I generally prefer to steer into the skid. I remember someone once called me (not so endearingly) his "bloviating little oracle friend." 10/10 for word choice and creativity. In hindsight that is probably my favorite post ever, regardless of who it was directed at, but at the time I believe I failed to see the humor. I regularly cringe when I remember posts from years ago. Goodness have I been insufferable at times. I often wish I could nuke from outer space every single post I made before, say, 2012.

I certainly don't claim to have some zen outlook on life. No, not at all.But I do think fishing is where I get the closest to that. It is certainly a time when I try to turn my brain off and enjoy my surroundings. I work often 60+ hrs/week, so when I'm on the water it needs to be something that is the opposite of that. We all approach it our own way, and as long as you enjoy your time on the water you are doing it right IMO.

Well crap, I'm exactly the guy that drinks crappy gas station coffee on my way to go catch small fish, with my PBJs packed away for lunch. And maybe some Fireball if it's an overnighter, if we're being honest. I thought had that was a phase and a result of not having two pennies to scrape together...but one respectable job later, I guess I honestly just don't give a monkey dodo. (EDIT: I endlessly am impressed at how curse words get corrected on here. WAY better than the original version)

I won't say they are bad, but yeah I'd agree that taking those topo maps as gospel is a bad idea if a high degree of precision is required. Speaking from experience.

This basically summarizes all of my thoughts on this. Too many people are worried about who is better than them at any given thing. It's at least a little understandable when you are talking about job performance or something along those lines, but on the river, well, I don't get it. I know some fishermen who always have to catch more fish than you and if they don't they'll be sulking by the end of the day. And I'm always just like, why? There are so many other things that are better suited to competition than angling. Or, alternately, go compete in a tournament where everyone agrees the size and number of fish is the point. But please for the love of all that is good and holy, do not act like that in the front of my canoe. I have a very good friend who is just awful about this; he's a good enough fishing partner in every other way that I mostly put up with it. But I don't get it, nor do I pretend to.

Wow. Whoever that guy is better keep his license up to date and play by the letter of the law. I have no doubt he has the MDC's attention in whatever county this occurred in.

I am pretty sure that I am a bad fisherman in almost every sense except that I really like it. I have absolutely no desire to improve. I get on the water a lot and get exactly what I want out of the experience. Sometimes that is getting out of the water and going for a hike. Sometimes it is switching to something smaller because longears are pretty and I really want to look at one. Sometimes darn it I'm on a smallmouth stream but I still want to use that Ausable Wulff, so I do and catch small sunfish all day long. When you legitimately do not care it frees you up to do things exactly how you see fit any given day. What is a "good" fisherman again, and do we really hope to objectively answer that? There are enough things that are "important", that we have to do well in, without bringing one of my few, pure, true loves I have left in this world into the equation. Sorry to get all philosophical on you, and this is in no way directed at you, Al, or anyone else. Just my personal musings.