ozark trout fisher

It's a nice little river, isn't it? My next trip down there is in three weeks, and I am looking forward to it like you wouldn't believe.. I don't do much summertime trout fishing anymore in the Ozarks because I mostly focus on smallmouth now, but this is when I will start the fall season on the Current, and I will be hitting it regularly between then then and about mid-April if all goes at planned. I think it's gonna be great!

That sounds like a very good trip. Yellowstone country is one of those places that is truly a world of its own. An amazing area for sure.

I would recommend Greer to Turner. That is the best trout fishing float I've ever been in the Ozarks, you sure won't be dissappointed with it. Since you are going the weekday, the Current would also be a viable option. Since you're fly fishing I'd recommend the float from Baptist to Cedar, or Baptist to Parker Hollow if you want to take it slow and wade a lot. On the Current this time of year, hopper-dropper rigs are where it's at. For the dropper I'll go with a Scud, Hare's Ear, or Caddis Pupae, usually #18. If you need to rack up some numbers, the smaller beadhead egg patterns they sell up at the park store will almost always get it done, just drift them under a stick on indicator and you'll probably do just fine. Doesn't seem to matter much what color-peach, orange, white, tri-color, it's all good. I can't even begin to express how crazy the rainbows in the Current are for egg patterns. On the Eleven Point you'll need to go much deeper, probably have to use lead. Stoneflies, crayfish patterns, etc. Another thing to keep in mind is you will have very little to no dragging on the Eleven Point below Greer Spring. The upper Current's best trout water above Welch Spring is skinny water this time of year for sure, so there will be some places you'll have to get out.

Nice fish! Jitterbugs are great, aren't they?

I haven't had the chance to spend much time in that part of the state. But there's plenty of of good trout water in that part of the Gunnison drainage there. That's right near the Taylor and the East, both of which are real famous trout streams. I can't say I've ever fished either one though, at least not yet. You know how it is in those kind of places though...If there is flowing water there are just about always trout.

I agree with you on that. Nothing like being out on the river when there is snow on the ground and the icicles are hanging off the bluffs, when you can still sometimes have the whole baptist stretch to yourself for a day or two. Those days don't happen that often, but when they do come they're worth it.

I've fished Stagecoach many times. It's a great lake, you're definitely right about that-it's got more than its fair share of fat rainbows. But since this was kind of a short trip, we sort of wanted to stay up in the high mountain country. I lived right on the Yampa for five years, a ways further down the drainage in Craig. I'll always miss the Yampa Valley and being able to catch trout and see mule deer and antelope right out the back door.

Welcome to the dog days of summer. October cannot come soon enough. Best trout fishing of the year, and most of the folks are gone.

That's a fact.

Yeah, you've got to love high mountain fishing. It's a whole different ball game.

There are pictures. I just posted them in my blog. In any case I am now in the process of trying to attach pictures. Just give me a minute.

I just got back yesterday from the Flat Tops Wilderness in Northwest Colorado. It was a great trip, with beautiful scenery, good trout water, and plenty of fish brought to hand. It was a relatively short trip, three days up in the mountains, but it was still awesome! That country up there is strikingly beautiful, as we saw the first morning as we paddled around in the canoe we had rented from Trappers Lake Lodge. Trappers Lake is one of the bigger natural lakes in the state, located at elevation 9627 in the Flat Tops Wilderness. It's full of cutthroat trout, but a tough lake to fish! That first day I landed one very nice native Colorado River cutthroat out of the lake, and that was it. But we fished in the North Fork of the White, a little stream that flowed near camp mid-day. The trout weren't big there, but we caught plenty of fish, mostly small brookies. The trout were partial to little beadhead nymphs, fished upstream through the riffles. The North Fork in that area is hardly a river, just a little mountain meadow stream, with enough willing brookies to keep you busy whenever you're in the mood. And that was a good thing, because Trappers Lake was consistently tough throughout our stay, so most of our fishing was on the river. And we were able to find reaches of the river that had some much nicer cutthroat and brookies, it just took some hiking into a canyon a little further down the river. Most of our trout were caught on small nymphs, #16 Beadhead Pheasant Tails and Hare's Ears being the hot flies, with #18 Green Caddis Pupae nymphs working well too. We'd either fish them under a small Palsa Stick-on indicator, or suspended under a dry fly. And speaking of dry fly fishing, that wasn't bad either. When you think of fly fishing for mountain cutthroat and brook trout, you probably think of big attractors dries. Not here! Dry fly fishing in that part of the Flat Tops mid-summer is a small fly game for the most part. #20 Parachute Black Gnats worked most consistently of our dry flies. Midge hatches were prolific in the evenings on both the slow meadow stretches of the streams and the lakes, and really got the trout rising. We did encounter one decent caddis hatch on the North Fork, where I managed to hook and lose on very nice cutthroat on an Elk Hair Caddis. But that was the exception, normally it was all about midges! Besides fishing, we hiked a lot and made it up an 11,000 +foot mountain- a real tough scramble but with a view that was worth it. It was an amazing trip in an amazing place. http://fishingintheozarks.blogspot.com/2011/08/colorado-trip.html If you want to read more about it and see some scenery and fish pictures, check out my blog entry here.

I just got back yesterday from the Flat Tops Wilderness in Northwest Colorado. It was a great trip, with beautiful scenery, good trout water, and plenty of fish brought to hand. It was a relatively short trip, three days up in the mountains, but it was still awesome! That country up there is strikingly beautiful, as we saw the first morning as we paddled around in the canoe we had rented from Trappers Lake Lodge. Trappers Lake is one of the bigger natural lakes in the state, located at elevation 9627 in the Flat Tops Wilderness. It's full of cutthroat trout, but a tough lake to fish! That first day I landed one very nice native Colorado River cutthroat out of the lake, and that was it. But we fished in the North Fork of the White, a little stream that flowed near camp mid-day. The trout weren't big there, but we caught plenty of fish, mostly small brookies. The trout were partial to little beadhead nymphs, fished upstream through the riffles. The North Fork in that area is hardly a river, just a little mountain meadow stream, with enough willing brookies to keep you busy whenever you're in the mood. And that was a good thing, because Trappers Lake was consistently tough throughout our stay, so most of our fishing was on the river. And we were able to find reaches of the river that had some much nicer cutthroat and brookies, it just took some hiking into a canyon a little further down the river. Most of our trout were caught on small nymphs, #16 Beadhead Pheasant Tails and Hare's Earsbeing the hot flies, with #18 Green Caddis Pupae nymphs working well too. We'd either fish them under a small Palsa Stick-on indicator, or suspended under a dry. And speaking of dry fly fishing, that wasn't bad either. When you think of fly fishing for mountain cutthroat and brook trout, you probably think of big attractors dries. Not here! Dry fly fishing in that part of the Flat Tops mid-summer is a small fly game for the most part. #20 Black Gnats worked consistently well when the trout were rising to midges, which was the only significant hatch that we encountered up there. Midge hatches were prolific on both the slow meadow stretches of the streams and the lakes, and really got the trout rising. We did encounter one decent caddis hatch on the North Fork, where I managed to hook and lose on very nice cutthroat on an Elk Hair Caddis. But that was the exception, normally it was all about midges! Besides fishing, we hiked a lot and made it to the top of an 11,000 +foot mountain- a real tough scramble but with a view that was worth it. It was an amazing trip in an amazing place. If you are interested in reading more about it and seeing some pictures of the scenery and fish, check out my blog post here. http://fishingintheozarks.blogspot.com/2011/08/colorado-trip.html If you want to read more about it and see some scenery and fish pictures, check out my blog entry here.

Yep, I can believe that. And if so, your grandpa probably caught a lot of fish! I always figure that if a lure has been around and popular for 50 years or so, there is probably a good reason for that. I'm the same way with fly fishing too. My fly box usually has Elk Hair Caddis, Adams, Ausable Wulffs, and maybe a few hoppers during the summer and early fall for dries. Then for nymphs Hare's Ears, Pheasant Tails, Woollies, and egg patterns. If figure if I have the basics, if they're biting and if I'm doing a halfway decent job I'll usually get them. If not then any amount of fly boxes floating around in my vest aren't gonna do a thing to help with that.

I love native spotted bass too!

Wee Craw, teeny craw, I always get them confused. I usually use the littlest ones though, whichever those are. And yeah, I forgot about Rapalas, sure. Got to have a few of those for sure. Plus a Rebel Pop-r, a Devil's Horse, and a Jitterbug or two for topwater and you're set.

I will report back with pics. It is really pretty country up there, which is as much as any reason why we're headed that direction. The fishing can be kind of hit or miss, we'll just have to see.

Time to get out of this heat. I'm headed to Northwest Colorado tomorrow. Plans have changed somewhat, we're planning to spend the whole time in the Flattops Wilderness at Trappers Lake elevation 9627. We've got it set up to rent a canoe for two days to take out on the lake, and maybe we'll hike in one day to a certain little mountain lake a little above 11,000 feet. Will report back.

Well I wouldn't leave home without a decent selection of other lures either. But often the little Rebel Teeny Craws are about all I end up using in a days fishing, especially when I'm after smallmouth. I would say that they are probably the most versatile lure for fishing in the Ozarks, with the possible exception of Rooster tail spinners (also known as sissy lures:) and small leadhead jigs. Now if you have all three of those then I would say your about set for a day of fishing on just about any Ozark stream.

Looks like a good time. Got to love the Rebel Craw. You about don't need anything else for fishing Ozark streams in the summer.

I don't think anyone reasonable is going to take you task for that. If you are actually going through the effort to fillet the fish, and throwing out the ones that aren't edible, fine. The law says that you must eat all edible portions of fish or game. If it's 90% worms like some spotted bass are, then it ain't edible, at least not under most peoples' definitions. But if you are just throwing them on the bank that is wanton waste of game, certainly illegal, completely unethical, and it goes against every sporting value that most of us believe to be important. I won't get into the otter thing past this post, but they are a native species and belong here, period. Even if they screw up our smallmouth fishing. I know it sucks, and otters have devastated a few smallmouth streams. but when you take a stand that native species should be maintained and reintroduced whenever possible, it is a position that you have to hold even when it is very inconvenient as an angler. It was human intervention that caused them to be extinct, so it seems only right that it was human intervention that reintroduced them. It seems that all the MDC was did was heal a harm done over the years by folks who trapped and shot otters out of existence.

You'll have a good time. If nothing else, the river and the scenery on the upper Current is nothing short of stunning. It's worth the trip even just for that.

The Bennett cam still works. I looked at it today. Here's the link. http://mostateparks.com/page/58502/trout-cam

Obviously I meant that I eat any of them that are edible. Most of the time the worms are few enough that they can be picked out with the fillet knife and that's what I do. Sometimes it is to the point where you simply cannot eat them. But that is still a far cry from just throwing every one you catch on the bank, which is what I was referring to.