stlfisher

I would like to see that list as well. Any style of fishing can be seen as exclusionary given the right conditions. It seems trendy to pick on the big bad elitist fly fisherman. Can we put and end to these debates...it get's so old...and nothing is ever solved. To the OP, glad you had a great time at Blue Springs. I like the picture with you and your daughter. Sounds like full camo and crawling through the brush may be the way to go on this stream.

I would say stocking patterns and warmer water due to the high water levels the last couple years. I was shocked at how warm the water felt the last times I was there.

Great game for Mizzou, but lot's of work left. The game at Nebraska on Saturday is even bigger now. Gonna be fun to watch. I agree Gabbert is going to the NFL at some point.

You might want to re-read my post. You do realize that for the most part I agree with you right? Nowhere in this is thread did I challenge the right, legality, or method's of the snaggers. The only thing I mentioned was to practice common courtousy no matter what method you use. I never said anything about "superior". You just lumped me in with the crowd. It is your right to bash whoever you want, and is their right to defend themselves.

I am not concerend about the river being over run buy snaggers either, but it seems to me a lot of people just want to turn this into a let's bash the fly fisherman people. All anyone really said was if you are snagging in a crowded area do it a way that doesn't affect the other fisherman/floaters/swimmers on the water. I adopt that same philosphy with my style of fishing wherever I fish. I don't see how that is snobbery at all...more like common courtousy. Bashing the fly fisherman folk is the same as bashing the snaggers. You are guilty of what you are campaigning against.

The only real trick I think is to make sure your flies are on the bottom if nymphing. If you want to fish dries I would go really small. Streamers would work well for the bigger brown's this time of year, but you will sacrifice overall numbers. The whole stretch from the end of the park to below Baptist is great. Look for areas outside of the obvious hole's...there are a lot fish in spots that you don't think would hold them...and some really nice ones at that. Keep an eye out for paths along the stream if you don't want to wade up and down the stream all day. Eggs are always my backup pattern if nothing else is working. My favorite stretch is from the end of the park down to the "wall" below Tan Vat.

That is creepy and nuts.

The creepiest and coolest encounter I had happened in a city park at night. I was doing some night bass fishing and as I was about to release a fish I felt something cold and slimey checking out my leg. It sent shivers up my spine and I jumped back (nearly went in the drink). When I turned around there was a Fox. It just kind of stared at me and then the fish and then me again. It clearly wanted that fish. I let the fish go and the Fox gave me a "What the hell" kind of look. The Fox ended up following me around the lake for the rest of the night and over the next few weeks every time I went fishing he would show up. He would get real close often 4-5 feet away and always perked up when I caught a fish. This went on for about 2 weeks. It was kind of cool afer the initial "surprise attack."

Nice flies guys....they will catch some fish.

You can also drift small Maribou jigs in the mentioned color's under an indicator and then swing them across the current. My buddy does this on his fly rod all the time with great success. He likes his fly rod jigs to be 1/80 or lighter. Good luck.

I will say this...my buddy and I watched them from the woods a good 5 minutes and these guys new what they doing. They had only suckers on their stringers. I didn't see any accidental snagging of trout etc. We chatted with them for a few minutes and they mentioned it was perfectly legal. With that many fisherman on a Saturday I can't imagine anyone blatentley doing that if it was illegal. Way to many people out that would have turned them in if it was not. It does not seem as easy as it looked and one guy was putting his buddy to shame and letting him know it. It was definitely odd to see as I have never seen that before.

Use light line 7x fluorocarbon inside of the park and the smallest flies you have. The water is low and very clear. Lot's of fisherman out last weekend both inside the park and out of the park. The park fished tough due to all the people, but there are boatloads of fish in the fly only section. C/R during the winter is going to be stellar this year.

They might have been snagging suckers. I ran into two guys just below the wire doing this on Saturday. I was surprised to see them in that stretch and they had a stringer full of fish. All appeared to be on the up and up with this group assuming it is legal, but with all the people on the water this weekend I am sure they aggravated a few fisherman and spooked a lot fish. Wonder if it was the same group. Fishing was still pretty good for us...lot's of Brown's moving up.

I have tossed quite a few bluegill over my shoulder that way...always feel kind bad when I can't find them. As far as indicator goes I setup what I think will work, watch it drift a few times, and then adjust accordingly. I don't like spilt shot so I weight my nymph's quite heavily when I tie them, but my buddy uses split shot often. It all works depending in your preference.

yep me too as well as my buddy.

Any maribou jig will work...I recommend black and yellow hands down over any other color. Dark Olive works well too. However, I would practice fly casting at a local lake or pond before you hit the stream and keep your spinning reel at home (so your not tempted to pick it up). Took me about week of casting a few minutes each night to get the hang of it and I haven't picked up my spinning reel since. Don't try to learn to fly cast and fly fish at the same time...to much going on at once. Practice the basic cast and the roll cast and once you are ready hit the stream! You will learn in no time and a fly rod is much more fun.

I am heading down on Friday and Saturday with a buddy. I am expecting crowds now that the weather has cooled off a bit. It won't be as crowded as the park, but there will be people out.

I have contacted an old friend that is now in the insurance business and he is going to some leg work for me and get me a couple of quotes. I should have a little more information on the options in a week or so. I will be sure to post for anyone else that might be interested.

I agree with Buzz. As far as the White Ribbon Stuff at the Urban Lakes in Winter I love fishing the C/R lakes from Nov 1st to February 1st. The fishing is great, I have met some great people, and it is the only time I can drive 5 minutes to fish for trout. They might be fresh from the farm stockers, but I spend a ton of time at Forest Park and it is one of my favorite times of the year. I don't even bother after February 1st.

I am wade fisherman almost always and sometimes I can fish slow so if someone on foot wants to pass by and just politely says "hey mind if I pass through" or something like that I have no problem at all. It is all about attitude and intent. I might even share a spot with them as long as they seem polite etc. I don't mind a floater either...I am probably picking apart a spot and they are running and gunning. For all the times I experienced jerks I have had great conversations and met some nice fisherman of the "I practice etiquette" clan.

Those are some nice bow's! Need to go to Taney....need to go to Taney....need to go to Taney.

Nice pics....that last Brown looks nice and chunky.

Here are a few mostly warm water fish I have caught on a fly rod recently. Nothing huge but some bass, bluegill, and even a few catfish. A few bonus pics of the surrounding area included as well.

I like that analogy.