The Wilds Of Sw Missouri

[Chief Grey Bear]

Dylan, Buzz and I went on a bridge hopping tour Sunday. We didn't do as much hopping as we thought we would as we only hit two spots. But it was enough. If you can ever get enough of fishing a clear, pristine Ozark stream on a beautiful day. But then again, any day in the Ozarks is a beautiful day. The great fishing is just the bonus.

In all total we walked about mile total and picked up about 30 fish. All Brownies. Not even a Longear today. Dylan did manage to hook into one male Redspot Chub early in the day.

The water was still a little high, a little fast and very clear. The fish were chasing big time. All of my fish and Dylan's came on crawdad cranks. Dylan used the small, deep version and I used the larger deep diver.

I was using for the first time, a Shakespeare 5'2" Howald Wonderod. I just love them old rods. I put a Lew Childer BB-XLM spooled with 10 lb. I had more fun chucking that thing yesterday. Reading Al's post about the "secret crankbait" makes want to dig out my old Water Scouts. I haven't used one of those in many, many years. It sure did bring back memories though. Thanks for that thought Al.

Anyway, here are a few pics of the day:

(Update: I have been trying to post pics of this day since Monday evening. This is the only pic I can get to post for some reason. Buzz has the othes and maybe he will be kind enough to post a couple of them for all of you to enjoy.)

[Buzz]

This little creek has become my favorite smallmouth spots.The water is crystal clear and the fish are plentiful. Crawdads are the only bait you need to catch fish in this stream, at least as far as I'm concerned.

One of the nice fish that Chief caught.

My personal favorite.

Yeah, we got bluffs too.

This was Dylan's best. He caught it on a big old jig from under the bluff.

[Guest]

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[Chief Grey Bear]

Thanks for the kind words siusaluki. If at anytime you can get down this way, let us know.

[Guest]

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[swellcat]

All Brownies.

So, "brownies" are smallmouth bass?

[fishinSWMO]

Nice brownies!

Looks like you guys had a fun day on the creek. Did anyone try any topwater baits?

Fishin

[Buzz]

So, "brownies" are smallmouth bass?

That's what us S.W. Missouri guys callem'. I have refered to smallmouth as brownies since forever. I do sometimes refrain from that name sometimes because of the confusion it sometimes causes.

Nice brownies!

Looks like you guys had a fun day on the creek. Did anyone try any topwater baits?

Fishin

Nope, but I did take a few. I honestly couldn't get away from the old trusty crawdad. I do think they will be getting on it soon though. I really want to try some grasshopper patterns later this summer.

Fishin' I will PM you soon.

Buzz

[Chief Grey Bear]

Gotta go with Buzz on this one swellcat. I also grew up calling them brownies. Long before I even heard of a brown trout.

Other than trout fisherman, nobody I know of calles them "smallies". All the old timers that I grew up around on the river would give you a funny look if you called it a smallie and tried to "correct" them.

Try saying you caught a bunch of gog's, eye's, gill's or bill's, and you'll get that same squinty look. They'll know right quick you ain't from these parts. They just ain't up to speed on all these new hip terms. But then again, they ain't much on being hip either.

But to each there own.