Justin Spencer

Interesting, keep us updated about any findings.

Most of you probably don't care, but if you wish to keep up with what is going on on the NFoW, Sunburst Ranch is now on Facebook, and to see fishing reports and other things happening in the heart of the Ozarks you can check out my blog at justinsfishingpage.blogspot.com/ or access the blog from sunburstranchcanoe.com

I think the last time they stocked rainbows was back in the 60's, and there are plenty to catch. Kyle kicknetted a 1" rainbow this weekend so it looks optimistic for a good spawn this year. They are definately a little smarter than stocked fish but fight harder too. Best rainbow water is Rainbow Spring to Patrick bridge, they do stock browns on the lower end, best brown water from Patrick to Dawt. Bring your rod this summer and if you get out before the canoe hatch you will surely catch a few fish.

You had me excited with a local product you said was 40% the cost of these other boats. On two brothers website it said their boat was $950 which is higher in price or about the same as the others similar boats. These other manufacturers might have some boats that are 40% higher, but they are not the same materials, high density poly boats by old town and we-no-nah are more in the $700 range whereas the royalex may be a little higher. Glad to know there are some other local companies around, but a little out of most peoples price range.

Old town 169 or 158 are both good boats, for use alone I always turn it around and paddle from what was the front, puts your weight more toward the middle. I would get the shorter boat if you are planning on using it yourself quite a bit. The buffalo's and other royalex canoes are good, but due to their light weight feel tippier than the heavier poly boats. Depending on how you want to transport the canoe, might be worth getting a lighter boat if putting it on top of a vehicle is an issue. We-no-nah makes some great boats and the Northfork and Southfork are the equivalent of the 158 and 169 Old town discovery, I think they hold up a little better, may be a little more expensive. If you want to go the cheaper route I have some canoes I would part with from $100 for the ones in the worst shape on up,(have some old towns and buffalos) for most people money for a new canoe is hard to rationalize unless you plan on using it a lot. PM me if you have any questions.

I guess you could say I was at work since I work where I live, but I chose not to work, today I am afraid I will go back to tiling one of our cabins, if I start now might have time for some fishing this evening if it doesn't rain. I bet the cloud cover will turn the fishing around!

I guess I shouldn't complain, finally blessed with a beautiful day, but why can't the fish cooperate when the weather does. Fished out in front of the house for about an hour today. Fishing was slow, I caught one small brown on a golden stone. Creepy caught one small rainbow on a olive and brown rubberlegs. We then took the drift boat to Blair for another short jont back to the campground. We threw everything but the kitchen sink at them saw a few rising to a modest blue wing olive hatch, but couldn't get a take on anything. Quit nymphing and dry flying and went back to the streamer. We took turns fishing and after a million casts finally got a take but missed, the next fish flashed out from behind a big rock, stopped short and turned around, a quick twitch of the rod tip and it spun an inhaled the 3" Adam's spore (call T. Hargroves with questions about the fly, I don't know how to tie it). This fish gave the 10' 7 wt. I was using a good workout, and when all was said and done a nice 20" brown (yes I measured it) was my reward. Three hours of fishing by two guys with only 3 fish to show for it, a little slow but well worth the effort!

If someone wants to keep a fish and it is legal to do so I say go for it! I am however selfish enough that I hate to see a big fish taken out of my front yard (especially a streambred fish), but I can't get mad about it, not everyone is out for the same reasons. I will continue to harass and yes probably accidently kill a few fish year round, however I cannot think of a time I released a fish thinking it would probably die, if the fish takes a fly too deeply I just clip the line and evidently studies say it will rust out in a few days. Unfortunately most of the fish I catch or try to catch don't take it deep enough! There is no way catching a fish can be good for it so if you are truely worried about killing a fish you'd better go golfing.

I have yet to tie one myself, Steve tied the ones we were using, but it is tied with white maribou, white rabbit strips, and a head made of wool. I think it may be modified from other streamers, but with a little searching I'm sure you could come up with something. I'm sure other streamers would work also, but what was nice about this fly was it sinks slowly so can be used in skinny water, we added a little weight to get it down a little bit, the big wooly head really makes it come alive in the water darting as it pushes water. Fun! I think this high water all winter has made the streamer fishing great, in big water when all else fails, even when the river is muddy I think it is hard to beat a streamer!

Went fishing Saturday with Steve Farr in his drift boat. Floated Patrick to James with about 1100 cfs. The evening before we fished the mile from Blair to Sunburst and caught a few on Pat's and at the end around some big rocks we put on a big white wooly streamer that Steve calls the Adam's spore. He promply caught a 16" brown so that is what we started with on Saturday. Between Patrick and the first riffle Steve had at least 4 strikes throwing toward the bank over rocks and boulders. This is sight fishing, as you are able to see your fly as you give it quick jerks and strips. I have concluded that seeing the strike we more often than not pulled the fly out of the fishes mouth when we should have let them take it until we felt the strike. Anyway, I bet we each had 15-20 takes and I landed 3 and Steve landed 2. We fished a nymph a little bit and caught 1, but the streamer was just to much fun to abandon. Never have I had such a fun trip catching so few fish, we even had a couple smallmouth that we missed. If you have access to a drift boat or two man boat you can stand in this is a great way to fish. Reminded me of the time I spent in Florida fishing for Snook and baby tarpon around the mangroves, except for the snow flurries.

I doubt you could go under in high water, but I think it might be light enough to go over Patrick and maybe McKee depending on how heavy the frame is, sure would be easier than getting a drift boat over a bridge. The way the weather has been the river may never drop below 1000cfs again (that should bring us a drought).

I agree 100%, not sure how the timing of flood events affects spawns but the fish always seem to be there when the water goes back down. When you see some of these floods you would think all the fish would be down in the lake. Around 1000+ cfs on the North Fork is the best fishing in my opinion, but it is difficult to wade. A drift boat or pontoon and you can really get after them. I have considered getting a frame for one of my rafts which would turn it into an indestructable "drift boat". Would anyone be interested in renting this if it was offered up. Would probably have to charge around 100 bucks for it depending on the set-up we come up with. I may put this question up on another thread just to see peoples opinion.

Starting Friday at 1:00 the Greater Ozarks Region outdoor adventures Sportshow is being held at the Civic center in West Plains, this show will go until Sunday. If you have nothing better to do you might want to come by on Saturday and talk with Brian Wise as he will be doing a presentation 1:00 on Saturday. Hope it is okay I am telling this Brian. After enjoying the show and getting some tips from Brian, you will conveniently find yourself about half way between the North Fork and the Eleven Point (each about 30 minutes) and with a good forcast for Saturday could easily pack a fly rod and try your luck at either of these famed rivers. Gates open on Saturday at 9:00 but you can cover the good stuff in an hour or two they do have some good hunting and fishing talks usually. Check out www.outdooradventuresportshow.com for updated information. I have had a booth in the past but will not have one this year so I am simply writing this to spread the word. I may stop by the show if I'm not fishing, so hope to see you there.

Thanks for the info everyone I look forward to hitting the fork in the near future. Larry, we rent pontoons here and although we are set up for that kind of liability you would have to work pretty hard to get yourself in trouble on a pontoon. I bet if you rented them you would do very well. Fly fishermen here really appreciate that we offer them as we are the only ones I know of. We also rent rafts and I have considered buying a frame for one and renting it as a "drift boat" that they couldn't crack up. I also need to thank you guys at the shop for helping me get set up for my six year old to start fly fishing, we have been reading the kids flyfishing book, and I took him out the other day to practice casting, after a few minutes he was doing a pretty good job, and even was doing a roll cast standing on the shore. Do they make affordable childrens waders?

Just wondering if the Norfork has enough water at low flow to get a drift boat down it. For a good days fishing in a drift boat or pontoon where would one put in and take out and still make it somewhat convenient. Thanks for the help, believe it or not I have lived up on the North Fork in Missouri for 6 years and have never fished the tailwaters.

I don't know what the biggest caught is. I have personally measured (someone else caught it) a 28". We have a few people a year saying they caught a 30". Seems to be a good round number for huge browns. Maybe Brian or Kyle know of some big ones, if you watch when you float you will normally see some big big fish! I really don't know how big they will get in a river like this. They don't stock the big broodstock fish so they have to grow from 10" in a fast flowing river with lots of hazards, eagles, otters, fishermen. Plenty of fish push that 30" mark but not sure how much bigger they will go.

I was watching it snow on the river today and after feeding the livestock without freezing to death I decided an afternoon float and fish was in order. I aired up the pontoon and took off with a rod and a cell phone so I could call my wife to pick me up at a location to be determined later. I immediately hooked up with a small rainbow right in front of the house and would hook and lose a big brown just above fantasy island. The water is cranking at about 1500 cfs so all the fishing was done from the boat. Those first two fish took a yellow/brown pat's rubberlegs #6, and the big brown took it in some swift deep water filled with big boulders and snags. I had him on for a minute or so and he rewarded me with a big jump before I finally was forced to pull too hard trying to avoid a downed tree. The hook simply pulled loose and I was bested by yet another big fish. I reached Patrick Bridge without any more action and decided to continue on down to James Bridge about 4 miles downstream. By now I had lost all my yellow Pat's, remember you must get it on the bottom on the NFoW! I now had on a coffee and black Pat's (tied with a little bling)and quickly caught 2 browns in the water leading up to Riverside. Most of the riffles I was flying through out of control so I actually caught more fish in the slower water today. I continued to pick up brown after brown all between 10-15 inches until another big boy ate. As I approached the last riffle above James Bridge I snagged what I thought was the bottom, I set the hook and it flew out of the water and landed in my lap, it just so happened to be a sculpin. Being in red ribbon water I decided to leave the sculpin hooked up and drag it through the riffle (not exactly purist, but all the old timers say sculpin are the best bait). I flipped my rig over a shelf as I floated through and immediately saw a submarine come up and grab my "nymph". I set the hook and after a big tug my line snapped as I palmed the reel a little too hard. That's what I get for bait fishing!! What a wonderful 2 1/2 hours on the water. Nothing big brought to hand but lots of little guys, big clear water, only me the eagles and the deer on the river. If you've never fished in the snow it is an experience like no other, catching fish is just icing on the cake!

Why a trip to Arkansas? If you are looking to fish a free flowing stream, you are passing up some of the best right here in Missouri. I happen to be on the North Fork in Missouri above the lake, and besides the scenery being much better than the Spring or the tailwaters, we have some big browns, and beautiful wild rainbows. The Eleven Point and Current are two other nice rivers on this side of the border that are worth checking out. Most of these rivers need to be canoed to get you to the best spots, but that is half the fun. This time of year you are likely to be the only ones on the river, and most rivers have cabins that can be rented near the rivers. We have several to choose from that are right on the river depending on your budget, we also have a mile of good fishing right here. Get some new friends that aren't scared to canoe, and come down and give us a try, I know you will love it. Check out sunburstranchcanoe.com to see what we have.

One downfall of living right on the NFOW is the lack of high speed internet. Maybe you could just come show me some live footage so I don't have to spend 2 days downloading the video. I hear DSL is now within 10 miles of us so maybe someday I will no longer have to deal with dial up anymore. Woah is me.

Glad to hear someone had luck this weekend, I took a trip to a friends farm near Jonesboro this weekend and we hunted a pit blind in a flooded rice field. He said he had never gone that long in his life in Northeastern Arkansas without seeing a duck. Just glad I could be a part of history. Day 2 we thought we might have seen a duck. Twenty degrees is pretty cold when you are not shooting, but that's part of the game. Guess I should have stayed closer to home, couldn't have done worse.

Max It was great meeting you guys, hope you enjoyed the river despite the slow fishing. One of the guys staying here the day you fished around Sunburst said he hooked about a dozen fish and landed four, and he is usually a 20 fish a day guy so the fishing was slow for more than just you. More than any other river, I think the north fork has a steep learning curve but as you can see from some of the pictures others have posted the rewards can definately be worth the effort. Just so you know I fly fished this river for 3 weeks before I caught my first trout, still can't figure out how I didn't at least snag a fish before that, but without having any advise or prior knowlege of this river it was kicking my butt. You guys were doing everything right as far as how you were rigged, and the only way to improve fishing this fast water is to do it, and you did it at about the highest level for being wadable. Not to mention it was right around freezing. Hope to see you back soon and Happy New Year.

I second the thought on pullover mittens on the fingerless gloves, I would rather have no gloves than fingerless only, my fingers get twice as cold as with no gloves, but the pullover mittens work great to keep in heat, and I just open and close them as needed (got a pair at the dreaded wally world the other day for $6 or so, great in a deer stand as well, and will have them in the duck blind this weekend). I love a face mask when it's really cold or at least a stocking cap to cover ears. Good socks and good fleece lined jeans or wading pants to go under waders and you will stay plenty warm. I'm amazed how I don't get cold even when the guides on my rod are freezing up, but the key is to keep hands, feet and ears warm. I agree on spending a few bucks on the hand warmers as they can save a trip, you're spending money on gas and food make sure you spend as much if not more on staying comfortable, if the fish are biting you won't feel the cold, but at some point there will be a lull in the action and if you are warm that can be the difference between a fun trip or a miserable one. Loved the idea about the loop to loop on tippet and having flies pre-tied could have used that the other day!

Nice fish! Nice story. Let's do some fishing around Christmas, should be some big fat red "Santa Claus" rainbows looking to eat over the holidays! Did you notice if they are still spawning?

I don't know anything about the different strains of rainbows and would assume that some grow better than others, but certain individuals are going to outperform others in any given strain. I think that if they continue to use the largest females to take the eggs from, which I bet they already do, they will continue to improve the genetics of whatever strain is being used. I assume that growth rates of Missouri trout are more a result of how quickly a hatchery raised fish figures out how to survive in the wild, and then how abundant a food source is in it's particular environment. If you want big fish quickly you cannot stock thousands of fish per mile and expect them to grow fast, there is just not enough for them all to eat to achieve maximum growth rates. I do agree that I would rather catch a 20" fish than a 12 inch fish, but rather than blaming the strain you just have to get lucky and put in your time, those fish are there. I think we all want to catch big fish, but what I was trying to get across was that if the success of your trip is measured by the size or number of fish caught, we are going to be disappointed more often than not. If that is your goal go to Rockbridge!