A Couple Questions

[3wt]

It's rare to get skunked if you resort to drifting the mohairs under a big indicator, and make sure you are bumping bottom a lot. When in doubt go deeper. If you're loosing a lot of flies, you are probably doing it right. This usually gets a fish or two to take in the water that is within a mile or so down from Baptist.

That stretch is my "happy spot" to go to in my mind when I need to relax.

[Ill Trout Bum]

Ill Trout Bum,

That little white church on the left is really a old one room school house. Stop in a take a look around, its open to the public. Many years ago I was fishing out at Busch Wildlife area in St. Louis and met a man that went to school there.

STLfisher, when you go past Baptist turn off the next right, is a small gravel road. right as you turn on the road there is an old barn

and most of the time a camping trailer. There is a pasture with some big draft horses there. Follow that gravel road and it gets narrower and narrower, one comes upon a very nice log cabin, on the left, that back in the day it was called Loves Cabin. This is private property, do not trespass. 30 yards down the gravel road you are in the Scenic Riverway land. If you would go straight you will still be in the Scenic Riverway land but I think there are some cabins there that have the lifetime lease/easement from the Park service, kind of like the cabins just below Montauk. Just after Loves Cabin I say by about fifty yards you can take a left down an old logging road/goat path. This is a very rough road, but it will take you down to the river right were the old logging road comes out from Parker Ford. If you do not have a truck/jeep that is set up to go off road DO NOT ATTEMPT!!! Many people cross the river at Parker and walk up the old logging road and fish their way down, I guess about 2 to 3 miles above Parker.

The second right from Baptist is the turn off to Parker. Its about a 15 minute drive down to the river. You follow an Ozark ridge for the first 10 minutes, then the last 5 minutes you drop down into the river valley. I have gone down this road in a ford escort, a corolla, all the way to a built 4X4. You should have no problems if you use your head. The road down to Parker does go through to Cedar Grove. If you have a standard cab 4X4 you can make it to Cedar Grove. I would not take any double cab from Parker to Cedar Grove.

I was down at Parker in late June when the temp was around 100 degrees. I have to say that the water was not chilled as I have remembered it. Fished for one hour with no hook ups.

Hopes this helps and remember, do not try the Loves Cabin road with a standard 4X4 pickup!!!

Fisheye,

Thanks very much for the additional info. I was told by some of the locals the white building was a church. thanks for setting the record straight!

[bronzeback miner]

Fisheye,

Thanks very much for the additional info. I was told by some of the locals the white building was a church. thanks for setting the record straight!

Many of the one room school houses doubled as churches on Sundays

[brittsnbirds]

III Trout Bum,

Several years ago I was down at Parker. Stopped at a old partially restored homestead on the left (North?) side of the road. Walked down the drive approx. a mile to the farm. The park service had some information signs and pictures of the old place as well as the family. Do you know anything about this place as it drew my attention back then and I think about it and the lifestyle often.

On another note. If you make the drive to Parker be sure your vehicle is in tip top shape. My truck was in good condition when I went down. However the unimaginable happened. The fuel pump decided to die on the sand bar. I walked out at 10 o'clock at night to the blacktop. Felt like it took forever. Met some really nice folks that lived on the south side of the blacktop/curve. The lady (Julia, I think)worked at the lodge as a waitress and her husband had some draft horses cross. They gave me a ride back to my trailer. Next morning I walked up to the lodge where a young man that worked in the shop hooked me up with his brother who had a tow business. We retrieved my truck (with no additional scratches) and he towed me to the Licking Chevy dealer who installed the new fuel pump. Luckily the mechanic at the Chevy shop was also a pretty good electrical mechanic as the original problem was found to be a faulty ground to the fuel pump causing it to burn out prematurally.

All in all a good trip but I'm still a little nervous about heading down there again! I frequently review my pictures of that trip as it is the most "back to nature" trip I have made trout fishing Missouri!

[fisheye]

All

A little history about the homestead mentioned by brittsnbirds:

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow204e.htm