Troutnut69

I'll be down at Bennett for the circus next week , spending some time with family and friends just like every other opening weekend. I'm taking my pontoon along to float the river since I just don't get into fishing the park much anymore. I've always floated from the Bennett access to NRO or on down to Barclay but would like to see some different water this time. Looking for any suggestions on what section of river you would float this time of year , above the spring? Is there even any way to float down below Barclay? Trout , smallies I really don't care much about what type of fish (or how many) just looking to get on the river and enjoy a day of fishing like always. If anyone else is gonna be down for the festivities and is interested in getting away and floating with me ,I'd be game. Thanks......Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Nice fish Justin! Out in short sleeves catching browns on streamers...man you're killing me. Just curious what size browns do they stock in the river?? Are they the typical 6-8 inch fish like I run into on other stocked streams?

Ollie - it's a beautiful little stream and it won't be my last time down regardless of my somewhat unsuccessful attempts. The hardest part for me to understand is why the state dumps so many fish into a trout park setting or a mudhole lake in the city and yet can't keep a wonderful little place like Capps stocked with a decent amount of fish? I'm assuming it all has to do with the amount of use it sees (meaning dollars in their pocket!)

Honestly I went back down with limited expectations , knowing that it could be tough fishing. The part that amazes me is just how much quality looking water I covered and the total absence of fish to be found. I know that not all of those stocked fish go home in buckets , although a good percentage probably do. If it all looked like marginal water I could understand a little better , but Capps has some very nice looking water to hold fish over. I just kept fishing holes and pools that I knew had to have some fish in them , but couldn't even get so much as a strike. Kind of an off the wall question here , but I'm new to this creek in particular , last year when I made my first trip down I witnessed a guy in the park on a 4-wheeler tossing small buckets of fish food into the stream. Is this a common practice by the owners or managers? Not really any of my business but just wondered if that wouldn't keep a good portion of the stocked fish up around that section and make them more susceptible to going home on a stringer. It's really kind of sad if there aren't more fish in the creek than that , beautiful water...tons of food ( I saw more hatches and bugs on this river than many better fisheries in the state for sure) and just a few straggler fish every now and then that obviously never developed a taste for rainbow powerbait. Typical fisherman right....blaming his lack of success on the stream and not taking into account his own ineptitude! Addicted To Creeks - Thanks for the compliment , I do appreciate it.

Friday my best buddy and I took off from KC and headed down to spend the day on Capps. We got there about 8:30 and parked at the MDC lot beside the bridge by the Jolly Mill , I was going to fish the park as well but after reading the rules I found out they wouldn't allow Joe to join me so I decided to pass. Right off the bat I caught three small bows just below the bridge on a beadhead nymph pattern , unfortunately those were the only fish of the day. I fished the upper and lower area throwing wooly buggers and using a two nymph rig at other times. I probably spent most of my time downstream of the lower access at the bridge , some really good looking water down there and I was dissapointed in my end result. Not sure what I was doing wrong but there just had to be some fish in those holes , although I have to admit I didn't see any. We still had a great day on the water , but I have to wonder after my second trip to this river in as many years why I can't seem to have any regular success? I know I'm not a great fisherman but I can generally pull the blind squirrel trick out of my hat at some point. I'm not giving up though , that would be too easy! Full TR and pics on my blog......Jeff (It will be the second post as I've put something else up since Friday) http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

After looking at the two other posts recently on the White I had to think twice before posting this report , those guys had some great fish to show for their time and unfortunately I can't say the same. But hey , I pride myself on posting all of my trips whether I'm successful or not. If I didn't ,often times I wouldn't have anything to write about!. It's not the first time I've been outfished by better fishermen and it definitely won't be the last. Got an invite from Matt Tucker to hit the White River again this past weekend and try my luck at those big browns that eluded me two weeks ago. We had a great group of guys down , fishing out of three driftboats for the weekend. I wish I could say that we turned it around and nailed some big fish this go-round but it just wasn't to be. The first day four of us floated from the dam to Wildcat and everyone threw streamers all day. Ray and I didn't have a bad day , ending up with 7 browns and a handful of bows , but nothing was over 19". The second day there were seven of us doing the same float and the results weren't any better for the streamer guys but the ones who chose to use a nymph setup hammered the small rainbows pretty good. I chose to stick with chunking streamers and didn't fare nearly as well , with only a couple of small fish to hand for the day. That's the nature of streamer fishing , hero or zero so to say, and this weekend it just didn't come together. As you can imagine , when you get a group of guys together like that , we still had a fantastic time and I'm pretty sure no one left dissappointed with the trip. If anything it just gives me a reason to start planning the next road-trip , that next cast might just be the one! Full TR on my blog....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Looks like a great trip. Glad you guys got on some nicer fish , we weren't able to stick anything of any size so you did better than us for sure. Considering the traffic on the upper end we probably should have chose a different float for the second day , but hey hindsights 20/20 right?

I have a FishCat Panther that I use on the local Missouri rivers for floating and fishing. The thing I really like about this version is that it has four low profile pontoons instead of just two larger ones. The purpose of this is to keep you low to the water thereby avoiding being pushed around by the wind , which believe me can be a real pain in a pontoon. I don't lake fish much but I would think it would be advantageous there as well. I know there's a wealth of options out there and it's a tough choice for sure , in my experience FishCat is one of the more well made brands for a mid-priced option.

Thanks for all the comments guys. Too bad it didn't work out where you could join us Justin , would have enjoyed your company and we obviously needed someone to show us how it's done!! Maybe next time.... Gavin - while I know you made those comments kind of tongue-in-cheek , I suppose that's just a classic example of why the felt sole laws can only do so much. I will say that I don't use felt any longer and I did dry out my boots and waders overnight (honestly more of a personal comfort thing than me being a good steward though I have to admit). I'd be lying if I said that the thought even crossed my mind as we dropped the boat into the NFOW River and waded in beside it. Not sure what we could have done differently except maybe stopping at a carwash on the way or simply not making the trip across the state-line. Something to think about I guess.....

Spent three days this past weekend on the White and NFOW rivers. The plan was to float and throw big streamers for browns , unfortunately we only got good floating water the first day on the White and then they shut it down pretty much. On Sunday we hopped over to the NFOW and tried our luck there. Again we did nothing but throw streamers and came up with two browns and three or four bows. While we didn't land any big ones we had some great chases and eats that we just couldn't seal the deal on. Fish were caught , but not the size we were hoping for on this trip.Maybe next time! Of course we had a great time anyway , anytime you float around 40 miles of river in three days...catch a few fish...drink a few beers and hang out with some great guys you can't hardly go wrong. Full TR on my blog......Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Got the opportunity to fish Taney a couple of days this last weekend. Somehow I lucked into no generation for the two day stretch and had some great fishing. I was hoping to maybe get into some of the larger rainbows that I know are residing in the upper end this time of year but that didn't happen. Fortunately the numbers of fish in the trophy area are incredible right now so the fishing was non-stop and more than made up for my lack of ability to catch anything of any size. I was using a pair of size 20 flies (grey bit scud followed by a olive g-bug) with a palsa indicator and 7X tippet. The old standby for Taney tailwater fishing for me and the setup didn't dissapoint for sure. Definitely the most fish I've caught in a two day stretch since my last good trip to Taney , when it's on the fishing below that dam can be incredible as everyone knows. Great time to get down and enjoy the river with some good fishing and fairly light crowds compared to the more "seasonable" months. Full TR on my blog for anyone interested.....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Pretty much everything XP590 said is correct , this little creek doesn't earn any style points . Honestly I can't tell you where to park and for sure not be doing something you shouldn't. I just take my chances and either park by the first bridge that crosses it when coming from 65 or in one of the gravel lots between businesses right there along the creek. I've only been run off once for parking somewhere I wasn't welcome......Jeff

Had some work to do on the boat this last week and got a little fishing in while I was down. They were running 3 light units and I found a good number of fish holding in some shallow riffles. They were obviously midging so I rigged up and then proceeded to get my butt kicked for the next hour until I got frustrated and left. Definitely humbling to see so many fish eating and not be able to catch them consistently. I also made it over to Turkey Creek for an hour or so and found decent numbers of fish , nothing really big but enough action to make it enjoyable. I lucked out and didn't have any company on the stream so it was a good way to finish out the day. Full TR here : http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Thanks for all the great comments guys , glad you enjoyed the pictures. It's an experience that I would recommend to anyone who's a certified diver and likes to trout fish. Obviously entering the cavern isn't allowed unless you're qualified but the spring is diveable by open water divers who can experience the clear water and chance to swim with lots of trout in an easily accessible area. You can only dive on weekends during the C&R season and you must call ahead and register with the MDC as well as proivide the proper documentation. Kayser - to answer your question , the sandbars pictured are surrounding the spring hole and are usually too deep to wade to but are within casting distance. The water is fairly shallow until you drop into the spring and then it opens up into a deep wide cavern , which is where the pics of all the fish come from. Lots of folks use heavy weight and big egg patterns or white yarn flies as evidenced by the miles of mono and hundreds of these flies that we drug out of the spring hole.....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

This past weekend I was able to do some diving at BSSP as part of the annual stream cleanup. Myself and two friends requested the spring hole so that we could do some exploring of the cave while we were there (we're all cave certified , just in case you were wondering). We had a great time , enjoying several dives and cleaning up our section of stream as well. I was able to take the camera into the beginning stages of the cavern and get a few shots and I also spent some time watching fish feed and move around in the section just downstream of the spring. If you're interested in seeing a few underwater pics of the spring hole and a couple of fish shots too I have a couple posted on my blog....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/