Its Spring! Time To Float!

[CDC]

Sounds like a plan. The only thing I am trying to figure out is if I can float and be back home by around 5:00. I haven't floated this section of river before (and I tend to float pretty slow) so not sure if that is doable or not.

[CDC]

Looks like I won't be able to make this one. Too many things to take care of tomorrow....responsibility sucks.

Hope you guys have a great time.

[Al Agnew]

First a little history...My wife and I had almost floated Shoal Creek a few years back. We had been visiting people in Wichita, and I'd thrown the canoe on the car for the drive over to Kansas specifically because I wanted to float a SW MO stream I'd never done before. When we came back, we were going to spend the night in Joplin and float Shoal Creek the next day. But that evening, while driving around and looking at Grand Falls, we discovered we were having engine trouble. A call to my brother, who was an auto mechanic by trade, resulted in the advice that we oughta drive home as soon as possible and hope the car didn't totally throw craps before we got there. So we didn't get to float Shoal Creek, and I had wanted to float it ever since.

I met FishinSWMO and his family at the put-in at Lime Kiln a little before 9 AM after a pleasant drive across Hwy. 60 from Springfield, where my wife was getting together with a bunch of friends for the weekend. According to the USGS gage, the creek was slightly above normal, but it was reasonably clear, visibility about 3 feet or so. Water temp in the mid-50s. Weather was sunny at the start, but WINDY. During the day it would cloud up and then clear off, but the wind was a constant, mostly downstream blow up to 30 mph.

The fish just weren't doing much in the morning. By the time we stopped for lunch, I think SWMO had caught two bass and I'd caught nothing, zip, zero, nada. But finally in the afternoon the sun came out strongly and the water warmed a bit, and we started catching a few fish here and there. I'd only caught one very small spotted bass before I found a quiet backwater that had a school of largemouths that really liked a black tube, and caught 4 fish there, the biggest about 15 or 16 inches. A bit farther along we came to a big, gently swirling eddy lined with logs at the bottom of a riffle. I hooked a real nice fish that looked like a largemouth in a tangle of logs right at the edge of the riffle and lost it when it hung me up in the logs, then caught a smaller largemouth and a nice goggle-eye in the same place before the wind caught the canoe and pushed it too close to that spot. But I let the canoe hang up in that tangle and was in good position to fish the rest of the eddy. In total I caught 3 smallmouth, biggest about 12 inches, and several more smallish largemouth, along with some goggle-eye, on the black tube.

SWMO had been steadily catching a fish here and there. I probably didn't see all of them he caught, since I was in my solo canoe and he in his Tarpon so we were separated part of the time. I think he was catching a lot of his fish on jerkbaits. I caught one more really nice largemouth, 16 inches or a little better, on the tube, but by that time we were getting pretty close to the take-out and when I broke the tube off on a snag I was too lazy to tie on another one so I picked up my jerkbait rod and fished a Pointer 100 the rest of the way, catching a couple more largemouth on it. So total I caught about 14 or 15 bass and some goggle-eye. I'd guess that SWMO caught a similar number of fish.

All in all, a good day other than the wind, which was a real pain. I saw a big tom turkey pretty close-up, which was a nice bonus. I was impressed with the difference in Shoal Creek and the more typical Ozark streams I'm used to fishing. No bluffs, no rocky banks other than a few rip rap areas, very few slow pools, lots and lots of logs to fish. The danged trains were noisy! An interesting stream to fish, and one I'd like to re-visit in the summer when the water willow beds are green and the stream is down a bit to make the best fish-holding areas more obvious.

Thanks to SWMO for showing me this section of Shoal Creek!

[brownieman]

Are you guys strictly fair weather fisherman or what...some of my best trips have been on those more undesirable days.

Used to I would fish no matter what the weather was...guess I'm more of a fair weather fisherman than I used to be, lol...may be mistaken but I feel age has a little to do with that. Just not into sleeping on a gravel bar and waking up so bug bit I look like I have the measles, lol.

IMO only one exception to that fair weather fishing is trout...nastier the weather the better the bite is...far as trout fishing I won't even bother on those bluebird days unless I have driven to a destination and have no choice, then I have to make the best of it, ya know.

[fishinSWMO]

It was my pleasure Al.

Boy was it windy! We have had some squirrly weather down here, and I think that had the fish holding back a little.

Hopefully it will settle down into a warming trend around here.

I have some pictures to post, but the picture uploader is not working right now. As soon as it gets going I will post them for you guys.

Al caught a few more than I did, but it was fun watching him pull them in.

Fishin

[Buzz]

Besides the wind it sounds like a pretty good day. Wish I could have been able to make it.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Despite the weather, it sounds like you two had a good time anyway. I wish I could have been there with you. I know Buzz does too.

I hope you get back this way again Al, it would be a real pleasure to wet a line with you.

If you like, we could take you on an awesome flyrod wade trip for Brownies.

[fishinSWMO]

Here are some pictures of the float.

[creek wader]

Love the pics. Looks like it was a good time. I did however notice more spots and lgmouth, than smallies. Is this the norm for Shoal? Or just for that day? I've noticed this in most Shoal Creek posts. Reason why I'm asking, is that were trying to plan a smallie, float trip in May. Chief suggested this stream along with the Big Sugar and Indian Creek. On most streams we floated, the ratio is much higher for smallies. Nothing against spots and lgmouth. We'd just prefer to hunt smallies.Thanks wader

[GloryDaze]

I would go to the Big Sugar if you want more smallies- If you take a look at the link for that river you will see there are alot of good fish caught on that river!

It's also my personal favorite in SW Missouri-

Have fun!