Hello From Springfield

[Trout Commander]

Hello from Springfield!

I have been a lurker here for a few weeks now and finally joined yesterday. I am by no ones standards an expert and unfortunately will have little to contribute but I got tired of not being able to see all of your guys' pictures of being on the water and catching fish!

My name is Jason, I'm 21 and have been fishing all of my life, I grew up fishing the Big Piney and the Gasconade, both of which I was blessed to live in a close proximity to in Cabool, Missouri. Now that I have gotten married, had a child and moved to Springfield in pursuit of an education several things have happened to really cut into my fishing. Namely, I got married, had a child and moved to Springfield. So now if and when I do find the time and a day pass from the Warden, er uh misses, to fish I don't know how or where to catch fish. That landed me here. In the short time here I have learned a wealth of information about the three Branson lakes I now live near, trout fishing and white bass fishing. Additionally I have been able to live a fun fishing life vicariously through you all. For this I thank all of you.

The type of fishing I do is all wade or bank fishing as I do not have access to a boat. This can be challenging in its self as all of you know, so the tidbits I pick up here and there from you is appreciated all the more.

I look forward to continuing to soak up all of the info I can from you all and contributing when and where I can.

Also I apologize in advance to you fly/trout fisherman for my stupidity to come

-Jason

[leo]

hello jason remember that most of the fly guys probably started with a can of worms and a cane pole we don eed to keep them humble

[Sharps4590]

Welcome Jason....and I'm now fishing your two rivers. After 22 years in Jeff. City and 3 in NW Wyoming we moved back to MO to Rolla. Good place to be for a variety of fishing and close to a lot of it. Good luck in your studies and take a little time off to wet a line!

Vic

[Trout Commander]

Thanks Sharps, you are lucky to be so close to those fisheries now!

[eric1978]

We got off on the wrong foot. Welcome aboard.

I was in your position for a long time with the boat problem. You should consider getting a canoe or kayak. They can be very cheap with the right deal and will open up a ton of otherwise inaccessible water for you.

[Trout Commander]

We got off on the wrong foot. Welcome aboard.I was in your position for a long time with the boat problem. You should consider getting a canoe or kayak. They can be very cheap with the right deal and will open up a ton of otherwise inaccessible water for you.

No hard feelings, my fault. Thank you for the welcome.

You are exactly right on the canoe/yak statement and I do have a flat bottom john boat at my parents house still, but storage and hauling are my issues now. When we moved to Springfield we knew we would be relocating temporarily to KC (or further away) for my wife to go to dental school in less than four years (now a year and a half away) so unfortunately we only rent an apartment instead of owning a house. Additionally my 3 series bmw or her grand am aren't ideal for hauling watercraft.

I have found a "packable" personal pontoon on Amazon.com but I can't find any solid reviews on it so I am not sure whether to invest in it or not.

Aside from that, I believe fly fishing is my answer! lol

[Flysmallie]

Aside from that, I believe fly fishing is my answer! lol

And it's a good answer. Not just for trout either.

There are a lot of places to wade around this area. Some are better than others and some are really hard to find. But the main thing to remember is that you have to get away from the regular access points and into some water that doesn't see a lot of pressure.

There are some good places out there in every direction.

[eric1978]

I have found a "packable" personal pontoon on Amazon.com but I can't find any solid reviews on it so I am not sure whether to invest in it or not.

I had one of those for a while...a Water Skeeter. It was a quality toon and fun on the right water, but a real pain in the neck. They're heavy, you have to inflate/deflate/assemble every time you use it (really a pain if you want to hit more than one access in a day), they aren't great for skinny water because they don't slide through obstructions very well, plus the rocks will wear the toons very quickly (and even the toughest material isn't impervious to puncture), and they are like paddling a barge through slack water.

If you get a rack, you can easily cartop a solo canoe or yak by yourself onto most any vehicle, and IMO, they are better than a toon for floating and fishing most of our Ozark streams. With a canoe you can carry more gear than with a toon, too.

[Trout Commander]

If you get a rack, you can easily cartop a solo canoe or yak by yourself onto most any vehicle, and IMO, they are better than a toon for floating and fishing most of our Ozark streams. With a canoe you can carry more gear than with a toon, too.

This is what I would ideally do, but the boss says the yak can't stand out on our balcony

I was willing to buck up and deal with the inflation/deflation and assembly issues but I am disappointed and some what deterred by the navigability and performance issues associated with the pontoon.

[Greg]

I'm in Springfield too. Lived here all my life. It's a great place to be located. 45 min to Taneycomo. 60 min to Bennett Spring or Roaring River. 30 min to Crane Creek. 2 hours from the Current. 2 hours to the north fork. Can you tell I'm a trout fisherman?

You can do just fine without a boat. In fact I much prefer to wade. The only time I miss a boat is when they are non stop generating at Taney. But then I just pick somewhere else.

Welcome to the forum.

Greg