drew03cmc

I know they are there, but honestly, I would rather catch a wild 5" fish than a 12" silver bullet.

Drum are a blast. I caught a 25" drum last fall on a #8 woolly. He hit hard, and bulldogged like a redfish (his cousin). I wish I had a river crawling with them...oh, yeah, I do, the Wakarusa east of Clinton Lake in Lawrence.

The only park that could arguably sustain fish in the Blue Ribbon sense is Montauk. Maramec couldn't get close, Roaring River lacks the gravelly riffles and is separated in deep pools IIRC, and Bennett, well, it's Bennett. There is a reason that trout don't spawn at Bennett, and if they do, it is in extremely low numbers. There is something missing. I would like the parks to stay pay to play, and personally, fish outside the parks for solitude and better fishing.

Hit any of the public ponds and lakes in St. Louis for a shot at carp, bass, panfish, catfish and anything else stocked. Otherwise, there are some tailwaters there in Illinois that are often reported on here and can offer some great fishing depending upon conditions. Definitely do not overlook warmwater fly fishing.

It is a trout park. What do you really want? If your goal is to have a 30+ fish day every time out, that is your best location in the state, however, for size, which seems to be a common complaint, you are catching test tube trout, stocked at supposedly a set length. At Bennett, I have never caught a 12" fish to be honest, even though "12" is stocking length." That is a joke. They stock fish from 9" up. I am sorry, to hear someone complaining about the size of fish in a put and take fishery, kind of irks me, but that is neither here nor there. These things go through cycles, and as far as I am concerned, it will bounce back. Now, on spawning in BSSP, I doubt it. I have caught one 3" bow with parr marks, but I doubt he was spawned in stream.

If you think that is bad, check out one of our wild trout creeks. You won't see many fish at all. The parks are ok for when you want to catch numbers of fish, but you don't get the diversity of sizes that you would anywhere else.

I chose the Ruby as a spot that the state manages. Crane is completely wild and therefore a different animal altogether. I think we should get together and do some wild hunting!

I haven't fished for trout in Missouri in a few years, nope. I would like to get down to Roaring River to play with my new 1wt, but I keep my ear to the ground regarding trout fishing in the Ozarks. I prefer wild, self sustaining fish (winter excluded due to winter lakes and the sort), but will chase stockers if I am down there. During the summer I will not drive down to chase trout, but will hit local warmwater creeks for native panfish. The Ruby does indeed produce 20" fish each year, in fact, Mill Creek produces enough that size to make you wonder. If I had to pick one off the beaten path trophy spot in Missouri, it would probably be the Ruby's Red Ribbon Area.

Channel catfish are one of the native fish that the trout fishery extirpated from Taney, along with most of the smallmouth and a decent amount of walleye. Go MDC!

One way to ensure they don't slip is to put it on the way you normally do, then twist the tippet and send the balloon back through. It will not move!

I hope they make it. They could make for some fun fishing, but I don't think I could drive the three hours over there to chase them when I have better fishing just one more hour away down in the Ozarks.

I have caught ONE brown in Missouri, but rainbows are about like brookies elsewhere. Yeah, in Kansas, they stock trout in winter, but fish summer over in the Mined Land Wildlife Area in Cherokee County, browns included, Lake Shawnee in Topeka holds a lot of fish all year (100-400 or so I would guess, all rainbows), and the Kanopolis Seep Stream is being renovated, and they are experimenting with browns this year to see if they can summer, some rainbows do.

I most certainly am. We have HOLDOVER fish in Kansas in at least three locations. One is Lake Shawnee where fish are known to at least summer over for two summers, probably more. The state record bow was over 9# from Shawnee. Is a gut feeder a large trout? Sure is. Now...I consider a trophy rainbow from a park 25", from a stream that isn't a park, 20" or 18" in some waters like Crane. For brown trout, a true trophy is 30"+. Smallmouth, anything over 20" is nearly trophy size. Largemouth, add about four inches to that and it's close, depends upon location. How many 15# browns have you caught? Enough to become jaded by them? I doubt it. Fish like that are rare most places. 10# rainbows are not near as rare as one might think. They can be caught in MANY streams around Missouri, definitely all along the west coast from Oregon through Alaska. Asia holds many streams harboring rainbows of that size, many of which have no names. 15# browns, on the other hand are not common anywhere. You can undoubtedly catch them in Europe, probably the Isles, and occasionally in the Smokies, foothills of the Rockies, spring creeks in the Driftless Region and tailwaters. The brown is also more skittish by nature than the rainbow.

Is that why there are 20" browns that come out of this creek every year? They must stock them that size in the Red Ribbon Area where there is a 2 fish daily limit. Hmm...

Dang that place is perdy this time of year!

Hey all, I have a neat old cane rod for sale that can be fished RIGHT NOW. It would make a nice light bass rod or a really nice tailwater trout rod. The rod is a Folsom 8.5' 3 piece/1 tip rod. This particular rod was made by Heddon in the first half of the 20th century, has been rewrapped, and is ready to fish. I have been told the rod is likely a Heddon #14 series that has been relabeled for Folsom Arms Co, but definitely made by Heddon! I liked it with a WF7F, but your mileage may vary. The nickel silver ferrules fit together nicely and pop very well upon disassembly. The sections are all straight, without sets, and the stripper guide is agate or agatine. I have a nice aluminum tube for this rod, but it is not original (would have been a varnished cardboard tube), and I do not have the original sock. Here are a few snapshots. Now, I would like to get $110 shipped from this rod, but would be open to trades or partial trades for UL fly reels in exchange for this rod as well. The reels I would be interested in a trade or partial trade would be a Battenkill 3/4, Orvis BBS I, Lamson LP-1 or similarly sized reels. I also have a reel and line I like on this rod for sale and with the rod, would want $140 for the rod, reel (Made in USA Pflueger Medalist 1495) and line (Orvis Green Mountain WF7F, brand new, only cast on lawn). The reel can be seen here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=150326281847 I will sell the reel for $30 shipped with the line on it. Let me know via PM on here if you are interested. This rod will go to ebay on Sunday if there are no takers.

Someone said that an 18" fish shouldn't weigh 3#, but I caught a 17" fish Saturday at Lake Shawnee in Topeka that was WELL over 3#. This fish was built like a football and fought like one.

God that is a gorgeous fish!

Pat, you are half right. Cabela's Prestige Plus is the SA Trout taper in a different color. Their Prestige line is a Cortland product, and I like it better. The taper of that line is their Rocket Taper. If you keep your lines clean and lubricated, they will all float for awhile. I have noticed that SA products, even with the streamlined loop, the tip sinks FAST! The Cortland lines I tend to use, I keep them clean and lubricated, and they float well enough for me, and if it sinks, retreat it. Carry the green box with you on stream.

Also, the motor is a 4.0L Inline Six, but I was just wanting to help you out. I love Jeeps and if I were in the market for one, I would probably jump at this one. It sounds like a real peach!

I prefer Cortland products on my sticks, of course, except for the latest line I bought...it is an SA product for Orvis...who knew? You should check flyshopcloseouts.com before picking up a new line. I got an Orvis Green Mtn WF7F for $8, and for that price, I can't complain. I will be sealing the ends of my lines with Knot Sense to keep water from wicking up the core, but honestly, I probably will not buy another SA branded line for issues like yours. A sealed tip sinks? Hmm...

There are holdover fish in the stream, along with smallies and rock bass! I say check it out and see what you can get.

Not only do the legs make that fly illegal in many places, but the stinger hook does as well. Nonetheless, it looks like a fly that would catch some monster fish!

Very nice!

Take your spinning rod for the first few hours on Sunday. Otherwise, you are going to have a hard time not pissing people off fly casting.