darbwa

Thanks for the report. We get too few of them for Grand. Unfortunately for me, those of you who do report are fishing "middle grand" which to me is north grand. I will be up there this weekend but I usually don't get too much fishing in on Holiday weekends.

Slow. I could just leave it at that but I know it wouldn't be very helpful. I joined a group of geologists (mainly) for their annual float trip. There were about 40 in the group including one gentleman from the Nature Conservancy who gave an interesting little talk at lunch about the work they are doing in the Kings river watershed. Between the geology lessons and the environmental lesson I felt like I was on a field trip, which was great. We floated from Marshall Ford to Dry Fork creek (about 5 miles). We left around noon and took off the river around 5. I threw everything I could but only caught 2 little guys all day. After the float I spent another half hour or so wading and fishing around Marshall Ford and caught 2 more little guys. I assume that fishing on the back end of a group that big made the fishing harder but I was surprised I did not have better luck. I was the only one fishing hard - a couple others were doing a little bit of fishing but I do not think anyone else caught anything. I will be back in a few weeks to try again a little farther down river.

I found a couple yesterday after work that were all died and shriveled. I'm just not sure if that means my season down here is over or if others might come up later.

This is my first year hunting Morels. I was finding them in here in Tulsa the last 2 weeks but have not been able to find any this week. Do you think it is over for the season? How long do they keep coming up?

My last rod purchase was a Falcon Bucoo Micro BMC-66MH or "Herm". I haven't thrown it a whole lot yet but so far I love it. Very interested in the 6' low rider LFC-5-16. I would like to get a better selection of shorter rods for the canoe. In general, I choose Falcon first. As an American manufacturer, the made in USA does matter to me but I realize that it is not as simple as that. My New Balance shoes say made in the USA too but I know that is only partly true. My Toyota was built in Tennessee and my friend's Ford was built in Mexico so go figure??? I do my part by completely avoiding Wal Mart...probably a dangerous thing to say around these parts.

I am way south. Honey Creek is way north for me. However, they should be hitting the banks with water temps approaching 62 but they aren't there yet. We caught some for sure, it just wasn't easy.

Hoping to get into the crappie this weekend but it has been slow going. I do not remember ever seeing the water this clear. I guess they need a couple more degrees of warmth before they move in.

Hoping to get into the crappie this weekend but it has been slow going. I do not remember ever seeing the water this clear. I guess they need a couple more degrees of warmth before they move in.

Wow! You have so many options that are even closer than the Jacks Fork I am not sure where to begin. You might start with this map http://missouricanoe.org/statemap.html It shows some of your options in Missouri. Additionally you might consider the Kings River or the Buffalo River in Arkansas.

Haith is getting an increase in pay to go to a school that made the tournament from a school that did not make the tournament. That is a step in the right direction. Neither team has ever made a Final Four so it is not as if either program can claim some sort of elite status. My main point is that Missouri is looking like a stepping stone for basketball coaches. Of course, I was kidding about Quinn Snyder. In his case I imagine MU fans would prefer to have a coach that was only stopping by on his way to something better. The fact that Missouri abandoned the Big 12 cannot be disputed. Therefore, they made the decision to end the rivalry. Ozark Trout Fisher, I am not a troll, I enjoy this forum too much for that. I am a Jayhawk and a Tulsan who loves Tulsa basketball almost as much as Jayhawk basketball. You said it yourself: "...the utter disdain between MU and KU will never fade." We can agree on that. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I think F2F has it right. Haith will have success at Tulsa. Additionally, I think Mizzou should realize that THEY are a stepping stone too. Just look at the past 3 coaches. Haith moved on up to Tulsa, Mike Anderson stepped up to Arkansas and Quinn Snyder stepped up to be a used car salesman. Well... that may be a lateral move. If he started selling new cars then it would be a step up. Maybe Haith just lost respect for a program that bolted from their conference at the first possible opportunity forsaking all other programs for the possible benefit of football. Who knows? But I sure miss the border war rivalry they walked away from. I remember those games fondly, especially that last basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I would love to get a report from anyone out there. I hope to hit the Kings soon and I am itching to know how hungry those fish are over there.

I generally fish the southern half of Grand but what I look for is structure that is close to drop-offs in depth. Many times this is a dock that is baited near a channel. Or just good looking points that have some gradient or change in the rock structure, like an area that looks like solid rock that transitions to gravel of some kind. It takes quite a bit of time (and some luck) to find the places that have structure that hold fish. A guide is not a bad idea if you want to save some time and find good spots quicker than trial and error.

There is a $250,000.00 fish in the game!

Glad I read this. I walked out of my office in Tulsa and through some trees and found a few during break time. Is there a better time of day to go hunting? I have never eaten morels that I have picked. Is there any chance of me picking something I should not eat if it looks similar to what I have seen in these photos? Anyone have any favorite recipes they would like to share?

That is what it is all about isn't it!?!? I dream of days like that. Good for you!

I think the claim is world record brown for ice fishing. Ice fishing being the key qualifier.

I love to fish fast moving lures but most of the time I just don't do as well with fast moving lures. I like the 5-8 mile range for a full day on the river. However, I have bitten off far more when I was willing to sacrifice some fishing time to see more of a particular river.

Wow! I am very surprised that you didn't get any response to your post. I would love to hear how your trip went, if you pulled it off as you planned and if the distance you covered was right for two days. I have not done the Kings but I am eyeing a trip this spring.

Four of us hit the river on Wednesday morning at Baker Ford. We were trying to avoid the muddy, high water that the previous day's rains brought to many rivers in the region. The water was on the rise as the heavy rains from upstream made their way down to us. When we got on the river the water was flowing at about 425 cfs on the St. Joe gage. We began our traditional wager of first, biggest, most once all were geared up and floating. Andy, in boat 2, got on the board first with a little guy but it did not take long for boat 1 to overtake the inferior fisherman in boat 2. On day 1 we floated to Gilbert and set up camp. The totals on the smallies was as follows: Boat 1 Ryan - 5 fish Bobby - 9 fish (big fish - 15") Boat 2 Andy - 5 fish (first fish) Dan - 2 fish Most were in the 10 - 12 inch range with a couple over 12" like the 15 incher in the photo. On day 2 we shoved off from Gilbert not long after the river crested on the St. Joe gage at 1700 cfs!! We floated and fished down to Maumee with about the same luck - a handful of small ones with a couple nice ones mixed in. I had one of 14" and Bobby caught one that was 16". Day 2 totals: Boat 1 Ryan - 11 fish (first fish) Andy - 1 fish Boat 2 Bobby - 14 fish (big fish - 16") Dan - 2 fish We decided the fishing just wasn't good enough to keep us on the river for the third day so we hit the road and headed to Grand Lake to catch some largemouth and whites over there...which we did.

We were watching the water levels close on every river anywhere close. The water was rising quickly everywhere so we made a last-minute change in plans and headed over to the Buffalo. My thinking was that the Buffalo had been a little drier than most so it would soak up a little more of the rain. Also, it is a much larger river that would be able to handle the rain with less muddying (is that a word - muddying?). I think we made the right choice. I will post a report under the Buffalo page.

Al, Thank you for the cooler wisdom. Any thoughts on the stretch of river that we are looking at? Anything we should know? Are there better stretches for fishing? On a separate note, I was looking for an old post of yours that I remember reading regarding paddling techniques. I think you were referring specifically to ferrying? If I remember correctly you even had illustrations. Any chance you could direct me to that again? Thanks.

I will be heading out for a 3-day fishing trip down the Kings next Wednesday with 3 or 4 others. I think our plan is to float from Marshall Ford down to King's River Outfitters at Trigger Gap. None of us has ever had the pleasure of floating the Kings before so I am looking for any advise/tips that you might have for me (fishing or otherwise), a fishing report, or anything else that might be helpful. I promise to report back after our trip. Thanks in advance!

I would agree that an overnight is well worth the effort. However, if you only have one day you can put in at Baker Ford but it is a pretty short float to Tyler Bend unless you are taking it easy and doing a lot of fishing. I have been dropped off at the Margaret White pool before. If the water is moving decently you could get down to Tyler Bend in a long day from there but in June you never know. Odds are that the water will be slow and you should opt for the shorter float and take it easy.

The Elk on a Saturday is crazy. It is like a partying traffic jam on a river. Plenty of friendly people though.