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[Ill Trout Bum]

Congrats on a great year!!!!

My fishing suffered a little last year due to work obligations and buying the new house. I resolve to do better this year and have already made good on that by starting the new year with a trip to Montauk. I hope to follow with several more, including a trip in February, time permitting.

Let me know if you are interested in getting together and tying again.

[patfish]

Nice post SIU! I'm jealous...

[fishgypsy]

Fishing was good in 2009. No monsters, but I had a lot of fun, fished for a ton of wild trout, and got to see some places and things I'd before only read about in magazines.

Started off poorly though, I was skunked on a little wild trout stream. Made up for it later in January at the Meramec, I must've caught 30 fish.

Re-familiarized myself with the Current River this spring, going out once a week for about a month and a half. I caught a slew of fish, had a couple great days where I was in the double-digits fish-wise, and the biggest were browns and one rainbow around 16-1 7 inches.

Fished the North Fork of the White River for the first time in March and did pretty well. Caught a six-pound channel catfish on my flyrod in April, that was awesome. Only made it out smallie fishing once, and only wound up with a ten inch spotted bass and a pile of green sunfish.

Highlight for the year, by far, was fly fishing Wyoming and Montana. Caught the biggest fish of the year there (19" Yellowstone Cutthroat), as well as tons of rainbows, brooks, browns, westslope and Yellowstone cutts, even a couple grayling. Got to see mule deer, elk, black and grizzly bears, moose, bison, and even heard wolves. I got to watch an Osprey dive on trout twenty feet in front of me on the Madison. I got to watch fish smash grasshoppers and spruce moths. And I drank a lot of craft beer, too.

Spent a week in Yellowstone with college friends, fished more, caught more. Getting back together with those folks was an absolute blast.

Went to the Current in October and caught a brace of trout, a rainbow and a brown, each around fifteen inches. Slow, but fun. A coyote wandered across the stream about thirty feet downstream of me, and didn't notice my presence until I turned to look at him.

Fished the North Fork again this fall, and did well again, no monsters, the biggest fish were a brace of fifteen inch browns. Great fun though, and great company.

Solstice I went to the Meramec and caught a bunch of rock bass and striped shiners. Hooked a few trout, but brought none to net. Saw several eagles and muskrats, and deer were absolutely everywhere.

A few days before New Years I went down to the Current and fished. It was alright, a bit slow, only managed three nymphing through runs. It was a fairly nice day though, and a comfortable way to end 2009.

I'm looking forward to this year.

The photos from last:

[trout fanatic]

Nice post SIU, enjoyed it immensely. Hope your 2010 is even better. As for me, not as many plans as last year. Will still take my fall trip to the erie tribs for steelhead. I have vowed to fish locally more often, way too many local bass and bluegills are ignored because they are too close-I will rectify that this year. The plan is to get out at least one day a week (2 is better) until September. Then I retire, and I plan on fishing myself into a coma!

[vanven]

Great pics guys and I am glad to hear that fishing for some folks in the community was productive.

I found this year extremely frustrating for trout fishing. I did manage a couple days at Rim Shoals on the White and had a blast although most of the time it was pouring rain and I was dodging tornadoes and running back to the cabin. The fishing was still good and it was nice to visit a new river. For someone who has spent most of his life in the middle of Kansas visiting the White was a very amazing experience. I am not used to seeing rivers more than 50 feet across that aren't mud brown and worthless to fish.

The spring rains ruined most of my fishing this year. I typically make 6-8 fishing trips down from KC to the Ozarks every year. This year I managed two. Between flooding and high water flows it was very hard to find free time to head south. I had a great week at Taneycomo in late September but it was really too early in the winter for larger fish. Then the water started generating and it is just too cold now. Hopefully the weather will ease up in a month and I will find more time in the spring.

-Jerod

[Ham]

2009 was a pretty good fishing year despite weather and water issues. It cot cold early and too much water screwed up some trips.

Ended up catching 2206 fish total. 25 different species. I fished in 4 states (MO,AR,LA,TX).

I managed to go fishing 79 times.

I saw a lot of new water on Bull Shoals and caught fish out of it.

Fished a buinch of rivers,creeks,and streams that I don't care to name. Got to see some new water.

Big smallies, big trout, some big LMB, a big walleye.

Learned a lot about crappie on Norfork.

I didn't get to fish saltwater. I failed to make it over to TN. I didn't catch enough carp or catfish, but I have a plan for 2010.

I didn't do enough overnight/multiday trips, but I hope to do better in 2010.

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[techo]

Man o Man! Those are some nice photos. Im a bit envious....congratulations.

[Al Agnew]

Here's my report for the year--

Total days fished--44 (down from the last few years)

Colder weather smallmouth trips (mid-Oct. to April)--12

Number of bass caught--220+ (average of over 18 bass per trip)

Big fish--6 smallmouth 17-17.5 inches, 6 smallmouth 18-18.5 inches, one smallmouth 19.5 inches

Warm weather smallmouth float trips--7 (WAY down from past years)

Number of bass caught--315 (average 45 bass per trip, a little below my usual average)

Big fish--4 smallmouth 17-17.5 inches, 1 18 inch smallmouth, 1 19 inch smallmouth, 1 20 inch smallmouth

Small creek wading trips--8

Number of bass caught--214 (average slightly under 27 bass per trip (also down from past years, because my usual favorite creek wasn't as good)

Big fish--4 smallmouth 17-17.5 inches (also way below average, same reason)

Trout trips in Missouri--2

Number of trout caught--60+ (nothing big, but I almost got my hands on a 19 inch brown and a 19-20 inch rainbow)

Trout trips in Montana (and Wyoming)--13

Number of trout caught--65+ (nothing big there either, average of 5 trout per trip, but caught LOTS of whitefish)

I spent a lot of time in Montana during poor fishing times; June and early July, everything was flooded except for the Madison, and it was being pounded to death. Finally got to float the Yellowstone a few times in mid-July and caught some fish. I was out there again in September and early October, and caught few trout but lots and lots of whitefish.

Because I was in Montana so much, I missed much of the warm weather smallmouth fishing here in MO. My favorite small creek seemed to have a lot fewer fish than usual. I had good luck on another small creek, but it didn't produce really big fish. Weather and water conditions conspired against me for float trips.

All in all, it wasn't one of my better years of fishing. I expect 2010 to be much better. I'll be fishing Montana in prime time in late April, and again in September. Other than that, I hope to do a lot more Ozark fishing.