Troutnut69

This will probably sound like a dumb question , not my first or last I'm sure. I've got a couple days off coming up and was contemplating hitting one of our smallie streams in Southern Missouri on Friday for a short float. My question is this....looking at the weather forecast it looks like the temps are going to drop 20+ degrees between now and then and I was wondering how that will affect those stream bass. I've had enough lake fishing experience in my gear days to know that a coldfront like that can seriously put the fish in a holding spell as far as eating. Will it affect the stream smallies negatively as well or will the fish still be active? Just weighing my choices between taking my chances or hedging my bets and just hitting some trout water. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have....Jeff

Appreciate the kind words guys...glad to have something worth sharing with you all.

This last week I loaded up the truck and Joe and I headed up the Driftless area for several days of relaxation and fishing. I make this trip every year and it has become one of my favorite places to spend some time on the water. We hit things just right this year and the weather was fantastic! The crowds were non-existent as always and the fish cooperated enough to keep a smile on my face most of the day. No big fish...just small bows , browns and brookies in some of the most beautiful creeks in the midwest. Needless to say we had a great time! Full TR on my blog for anyone interested... http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Mine are ready and will go in the mail the first day I have off work (Friday). I'm not far from you so they should be there by Monday I would guess.

So let me get this right , as a floater I should avoid all skinny water areas with blind spots. And if I do find myself in these areas I should drop what I'm doing and pull my watercraft out of the water and stand on shore so as to avoid you running me over (or worse yet , get your beloved jet stuck on a shallow shoal). The way I see it , if you can't navigate a narrow , twisty section of river without running balls to the wall you probably shouldn't have that watercraft on said body of water. Sounds like common sense...I know. I'm sure there are rivers in Missouri suited for jets but on most of the waters we're discussing here they're nothing but an accident waiting to happen. Kind of like me choosing to drive a truck down a bike trail , and being afraid to slow down because I might get stuck!

Seven flies according to the sign-up sheet...is that correct?? I'll have them shipping by the 10th , not sure if you'll have them on that exact day though.

1)Blue Springs 2)Barren Fork Creek 3)Little Piney 4)Little Piney 5)Mill Creek 6)Spring Creek 7)Crane Creek 8)?? Looks like a great way to spend a Summer!!!

Like some of the rest of you , the way this post reads kind of makes me think that there are other alternative motives besides an introduction. Sounds more to me like a "non-confrontational" way to let a desired group of fishermen know that they are unwelcome on that 5 mile stretch of riverbank. Good luck with that...I know my rights and aren't afraid to stand by them when confronted. I float the Niangua a lot after the summer season is over , and most of those are overnighters. Like most of the guys on here I leave the river better than I found it and don't trespass on others property or rights...I expect the same of ignorant landowners that pretend to own the entire river. I refuse to let anyone take away a right that is inherently mine. I've camped on the riverbank within sight of the no trespassing signs from the Niangua Land and Cattle Company (never been approached by anyone) and won't think twice about camping on a gravel bar in front of your place either. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and hope that your intentions just came out wrong in your post , if not I'll probably be seeing you on the riverbank at some point...lucky , lucky you!! Sorry if I come off as an a-hole on this subject...but the truth is , I AM. (and if we don't stand up for what rights we do have ,eventually they'll go by the wayside as others have. History doesn't lie...)

Some of you sound like you'd like a rule or regulation proposed for every little thing you don't like or agree with. We don't all enjoy the same types of recreation and therefore in the overpopulated world we live in you may at times have to deal with other folks enjoying themselves doing something that may infringe on your enjoyment. It's a fact of life...get used to it. And if you don't like it , go somewhere else. I make choices every time I go fishing based on what type of people and crowds I might encounter. Does that mean I sometimes don't get to fish where I'd like , Yes. Do I sit around and whine about it , NO. Too many people in this world are concerned with what I'm doing and my safety....just worry about yourself and what you're doing and let the rest of the free-world take care of itself. Rant over , but man...some of you guys sound just like a bunch of whiny old women sitting at the coffee shop.

How anyone could read the statement that just ONE outfitter puts 40,000 people on the river in a year and not realize that there is a definite problem is beyond me. I don't know what the river and area around it were like 20 years ago because I didn't frequent them at that time , but I can tell you that in the last 10 years the numbers of people using the area seems to have boomed. If it continues to get worse in the upcoming 10 years (which it will unless something is done) I can definitely see it becoming a very beautiful area...that I have no desire to visit anymore.

Killer story and those poppers are the cats meow!! I'd love to have a few of those in my smallmouth bass arsenal for sure.

I'm in as long as you don't mind ugly flies! They have been known to catch a fish or two though...

"There will always be more. Always." I really don't give two hoots about you keeping your two stringers of quality bass , as others have said it's legal so out of my jurisdiction. The above comment made by you though is the same attitude that has resulted in declining numbers of fish and game everywhere over the years. I'm sure that at age 24 you might actually believe that "there will always be more" but history has proved otherwise. Your keeping a couple limits of bass from Stockton isn't going to hurt that fishery...I agree , but your attitude about it is flawed. Just some food for thought......

Sounds like you had a great outing , kind of what I was hoping for. I fished around the bridge and downstream as far as I could walk (had to keep my distance from other fishermen so I didn't fish the entire area). I didn't fish upstream at all , we hiked up a ways but the steep banks lined with trees didn't look conducive to fly fishing and I wasn't sure what kind of water was upstream if I kept following the trail. Sounds like I should have stuck it out and waited around til evening time. Good to hear though , I may be able to make it back this upcoming week sometime. Of course , this cold snap will probably push things back again!!

Joe and I headed South on Friday morning to see if we could find any whites down on the Sac. I had a feeling that it was still too early to be very successful and I was right. We spent the morning fishing the two main accesses in the area and never caught a fish ourselves or even saw a fish caught among the many people that were down there. We didn't get there until mid-morning so I'm sure our timing wasn't great either but if they were really going I would have expected to catch one or two anyway. Talked to a few locals who said that they expected it to get going any time now so I guess I'll just have to make another trip. We had a good time anyway , just exploring and enjoying the nice day.....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the information. I live in Kansas but wouldn't be opposed to buying a OK license , so if it works out I might just make the trip and give it a shot. I won't have a boat but as long as there is some bank fishing available I'd be happy. Thanks again...appreciate it.

Hey guys , hoping someone can give me a little helpful info. My wife has family close to the Baxter Springs area and is planning a trip down there either this weekend or next. I'm sure you can guess what my question is...would there be any reason for me to tag along , and possibly bring a flyrod and a few white bass flies? I've never seen the river or the area so I know nothing about it but I'm willing to give it a shot if there's a decent chance to get into some fish. I see there's a low water dam at Baxter Springs and wondered if that was a probable spot or is it too far upriver? I don't want anyone's secret spot , just an idea of whether it's worth my time to even go (I don't want to spend a weekend visiting family unless I can sneak in some fishing too!! Terrible , I know...). Thanks!!

Hey guys , Just wanted to throw some information out for anyone living in the Kansas City region who might be interested in becoming part of a developing TU chapter here in the area. A couple months ago I was contacted and ended up meeting with one of the regional directors of TU in regards to helping get a local chapter off the ground and then possibly taking the leadership role as it progresses. As you can imagine , the KC area has a fairly large amount of current members but no local chapter to associate with. After several discussions I told them that if there was sufficient interest and there were enough other people willing to step up and take leadership roles (I'm not about to undertake a project like this without knowing upfront that we have enough motivated people to make it a success) I would happily give up some of my time to try and get the chapter off the ground. After sending out a generic e-mail to current TU members in the area we were pleasantly surprised in the amount of interest and offers of support from local clubs and retailers. At this time we are working out the details for a first meeting (looks like it will be mid-April at this point) to get everyone together and discuss how we move forward. I just wanted to reach out to the folks that frequent this board , partially because I know a large number of people on here hail from the KC area , but mostly because I know that Phil has developed a great site where people who feel strongly about the environment and the fish that live there come to discuss issues. I am aware that as a group TU focuses mainly on cold-water and it's fish , but considering the crossover of many of our waters between trout fisheries and warmwater fisheries that sustain smallmouth and other gamefish , I think it would be logical for this chapter to expand it's role and simply be a promoter of all fisheries available to members living in the area. In my mind this new chapter will be a way to not only work on projects that will benefit some of our local waters and the fishermen that frequent them , but a way for like-minded individuals to get together and have a good time. Anyone who knows me or even just follows my blog can attest to the fact that , (A) I like to fish for just about anything that swims and ( I like to have a good time while chasing said fish. If we can get this chapter off the ground I intend to incorporate both of these ideals into this new group , after all that's really what it's all about. I will post my contact info at the bottom of this post and encourage anyone with interest or questions to give me a shout. You don't have to be a TU member to attend the first meeting , just someone who is interested in what we are doing and who wants to find out more. I hope to hear from a few of you who I know live in the KC area. Thanks.....Jeff Jeff House (913)638-8850 jeffhouse75@yahoo.com

Hey guys , Just wanted to throw some information out for anyone living in the Kansas City region who might be interested in becoming part of a developing TU chapter here in the area. A couple months ago I was contacted and ended up meeting with one of the regional directors of TU in regards to helping get a local chapter off the ground and then possibly taking the leadership role as it progresses. As you can imagine , the KC area has a fairly large amount of current members but no local chapter to associate with. After several discussions I told them that if there was sufficient interest and there were enough other people willing to step up and take leadership roles (I'm not about to undertake a project like this without knowing upfront that we have enough motivated people to make it a success) I would happily give up some of my time to try and get the chapter off the ground. After sending out a generic e-mail to current TU members in the area we were pleasantly surprised in the amount of interest and offers of support from local clubs and retailers. At this time we are working out the details for a first meeting (looks like it will be mid-April at this point) to get everyone together and discuss how we move forward. I just wanted to reach out to the folks that frequent this board , partially because I know a large number of people on here hail from the KC area , but mostly because I know that Phil has developed a great site where people who feel strongly about the environment and the fish that live there come to discuss issues. I am aware that as a group TU focuses mainly on cold-water and it's fish , but considering the crossover of many of our waters between trout fisheries and warmwater fisheries that sustain smallmouth and other gamefish , I think it would be logical for this chapter to expand it's role and simply be a promoter of all fisheries available to members living in the area. In my mind this new chapter will be a way to not only work on projects that will benefit some of our local waters and the fishermen that frequent them , but a way for like-minded individuals to get together and have a good time. Anyone who knows me or even just follows my blog can attest to the fact that , (A) I like to fish for just about anything that swims and ( I like to have a good time while chasing said fish. If we can get this chapter off the ground I intend to incorporate both of these ideals into this new group , after all that's really what it's all about. I will post my contact info at the bottom of this post and encourage anyone with interest or questions to give me a shout. You don't have to be a TU member to attend the first meeting , just someone who is interested in what we are doing and who wants to find out more. I hope to hear from a few of you who I know live in the KC area. Thanks.....Jeff Jeff House (913)638-8850 jeffhouse75@yahoo.com

Appreciate the comments guys , it's always nice to hear that someone gets a little enjoyment out of my rambling!

I made my annual trip down to BSSP and the Niangua River last weekend with the usual group of guys. Crowds were low most of the weekend and the fishing was pretty good, for me anyway. Good food, good friends and a long weekend of chasing a few fish , what else could a guy want. I've got a full TR up on the blog for anyone interested.....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Grizzly hit the nail on the head...Taney used to be one of my favorite bodies of water to fish until it got so bad. At this point the only major difference between wading upper Taney on a nice weekend day and fishing one of the trout parks is the $3 tag. When I would see a group of shufflers doing their thing and pulling half the fish off a particular area by shuffling I got to where I just wanted to go grab one and hold his head underwater until he saw the error of his ways...which is why I spend most of my fishing time trying to avoid those kinds of people.

Fly Guy - Hillsdale is definitely one of the better Walleye waters in the area , as are Melvern and Clinton. For white bass I would give it a much lesser grade. Clinton , Pomona and Melvern all have better established populations of whites and even hybrids than Hillsdale does. Fishing the tailwaters during water discharge is always a good option for catching multiple species of fish , walleye and whites included. Glad I could be of a little help to you....Good Luck!

I have lived close to Hillsdale all of my life and have fished it since it was first flooded. Before I gave up gear fishing I chased walleye all over the state and particularly in Hillsdale since it was so close to home. The lake has a great population of eyes but they can be very difficult to catch during the spawn. There really aren't any tribs large enough to draw spawning fish into them , and on top of that these are mud lined small creeks which offer no rocky areas for spawning. They will congregate on the dam and also on the rip-rap on some of the larger bridge causeways when the time is right. First full moon in March always seemed to be primetime for that lake. If the water is just right you may find some whites up in the tribs during the spawning run , but it takes some additional water to draw them in. Hope that helps you out.....

Managed to get out this past weekend with a good buddy and chuck some big flies for awhile. A great weekend to be on the water and we made the most of it , fishing hard for the chance at that one streamer fish that would make the entire trip. Unfortunately it didn't happen for us this time, though we had a couple of shots that could have changed that. We still caught lots of fish but none of them touched that magic mark on the old ruler. All in all , a fantastic trip that I look forward to repeating again very soon. There's just no where I'd rather be than on the water hucking streamers for big meat-eating browns! Full TR with a few pics on the blog... http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/