Fishing Firsts

[Chief Grey Bear]

Had the great pleasure of entertaining drew03cmc today to some good ol' Missouri Ozark creek fishing. Buzz, Little Chief (Dylan) and I met up with him at Capp's Creek this morning about 7 am. And boy, you just couldn't have asked for better conditions. Cloudy, cool and rainy. The only thing we didn't have was wind. Thank goodness!

We decided to try our luck for a little trout action first. Andy had never fished Capp's before and we started at the lower access. After making all of the introductions, we soon were suited up and fishing the first hole. Action was pretty slow. Little Chief had the first two bites but was not able to hang on.

We soon started our migration up stream. It wasn't long and Andy had his first Capp's trout. And then another. And another. Buzz ended the day with two and Little Chief and I both had two. One of mine was a Brown.

After finishing up with Capp's, we decided to take Andy over to some water on Shoal to get him his first Neosho strain of brownie. We didn't have him on the water very long before he had that accomplished. It wasn't long after that, that he connected on another first. His caught his first Ozark Bass. It was a really nice big, beautifully colored specimen.

In all he caught 3 species of bass, one species of trout, and a real nice creek bluegill. Oh and 1 rainbow chub.

Good going Andy, hope to fish with you again someday.

[eric1978]

I guess what I thought was a mutated goggle eye was what you called an "Ozark Bass?" Never seen one before. That thing is wild looking. Nice job!

[Dan Sweeney]

We call 'em "rock bass" down here, although they aren't usually that splotchy looking. They can be as they can blend to match whatever is around. They are some of my favorites! They are as good to eat as crappie, and are fun to catch on a light fly rod or ultralight spinning gear. Nice fish!

[laker67]

Way to go drew. Is the bottom picture of shoal or capps creek?

[eric1978]

We call 'em "rock bass" down here, although they aren't usually that splotchy looking. They can be as they can blend to match whatever is around.

Yeah, that thing was camo'd out for sure. Really cool looking.

[bigredbirdfan]

Thanks for the report. Is that rapala weighted or a floater?

[ness]

Wow -- that Ozark bass is wild looking. I've never seen one either.

[Wayne SW/MO]

An Ozark bass is similar to a G-eye, but its a more uniform pattern. I don't know if that picture makes that fish look different or if it is a mutation? It does look like a G-Eye in the water, but not out of it? There's also the possibility its one of the odd strains of Rock bass. There are said to be three, and all are suppose to be very close in appearance, but I would dispute that because the Ozark is easy to spot, say compared to a Niangua or Gasconade G-Eye.

[KCRIVERRAT]

I'm thinking (for once!) there are actually four strains of goggleye; i.e. rock bass. Chief or somebody will probably clarify...

[drew03cmc]

Thanks all! To answer all the questions, the Rapala I was using was a floater in the 2" size. I removed the front treble hook to ease release of fish, and haven't lost a fish after solid hookup yet. The picture of Little Chief and I fishing the creek was on Shoal IIRC. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for Buzz and Chief's hospitality and cannot reiterate enough that if you have a chance to fish with these two (three including Dylan), please do not pass on it. You will regret it. That Ozark Bass was fun to catch as he smashed that Rapala then gave a nice account of himself in the fast water. We caught over 8 or 9 species of fish between the two waters and four of us including a couple of NICE largemouth and at least one really nice smallmouth. This was the most fun that I have had fishing in a long time and cannot wait to fish with you all again!

Thank you again guys and we have to plan a float as well as some more crick fishin'.