Weekend On The Little Niangua

[drew03cmc]

On Friday night, I met KCRIVERRAT to take the drive down to Cedar Camp on the Little Niangua River to float on Saturday with Chief and little Chief and WoundedOne and Ian. Friday night we relaxed, told stories and made a new friend.

Saturday morning with ambient temperatures in the lower 40s, we slept a bit and got on the water by noon following one of the best camp breakfasts I have ever had. The river was low, slow and crystal clear. The fish we were after were smarter than us apparently and fishing was slow until the latter 2 miles of our float. We picked up a few bass here and there while the kids caught bluegill and longear at a nice pace. We did not take a camera, or if we had one, did not take a picture, but the scenery, company and camaraderie made up for the lack of fish. In the four mile, seven and a half or so hour float, I personally caught 7 bass and I am unaware of how many everyone else caught, but these fish were extraordinarily spooky with the clear, shallow water. All three species were caught, one largemouth, one spot and five brownies. All of them were absolutely gorgeous and I am eagerly waiting to get back down there and float all the way to Fiery Fork with a night on a gravel bar or something. Saturday night after our dinner of medium rare ribeye and baked potatoes is kind of a blur, but it was thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. I do remember our new friend coming by Saturday night as well. WoundedOne and Ian got a new dog Saturday night.

Sunday morning was pretty uneventful and breakfast again was astounding. If any of you have the chance to eat Chief's camp cooking, don't pass on it.

Guys, thanks for letting me tag along and showing me a few new techniques.

[Wheatenheimer]

No Camera. No Pictures. No Dice!

I don't believe it happened. I bet you guys stayed home and played Halo this weekend!

Just messin' witcha! Sounds like a good time! Wish I could've been there!

[drew03cmc]

You should have been Wheatie. It was a fun time.

[ness]

Nice.

Tell me more about these terrific breakfasts, please. Always looking fer new ideas.

[Chief Grey Bear]

It was definitly a great time. What a beautiful creek. I will be hitting that one again. Yeah, the was slow but, I did complete the trifecta. Not something I thought would have happened on that water. And I did see some really nice fish, it was just hard to make a connection with them. And we had a really nice group of...uh...really well lubricated followers following us. Everytime we stopped to let them pass, they would stop just up stream. Then when we would take off again, here they would come. Then towards the end, we were all floating together. But I really didn't care. They were very nice and when Dylan had one on, they all started hooting and hollering. But the fish got off and everyone was disappointed. Later on, I was able to hook in to one and I stood up in the canoe and took a well deserved bow to the crowd.

When we got back to camp, we got down to business and began the evening meal. The menu consited of Ribeye steaks, baked tater, salad. With the fire down to good coals on went the taters. About 45 minutes later, on went the steaks. As you all know, everything taste better cooked out doors and this meal was no exception. We all ate like kings. And after a few night caps, we all turned in, well, KC went first, I hit the sack about 1:00 and who knows when Andy and Mike finally turned in.

Andy was the first up though. And he had me a perfect fire ready for cooking breakfast. Sunday morning we had pancakes, bacon, sausage, fried taters and fried eggs. And yes Andy, I have to agree it was pretty tasty. I think it was the secret seasoning for the taters that really makes it so good! We went through 2 dozen eggs, 2 lbs sausage, 10lbs taters, a couple dozen pancakes, about 7 lbs of ribeyes, and a few gallons of the finest imported whiskey all the way from Kentucky. Not to mention the shore lunch we all enjoyed on the float. Some of the best sandwiches to be found anywhere.

I can't wait to do it again.

[drew03cmc]

It was definitly a great time. What a beautiful creek. I will be hitting that one again. Yeah, the was slow but, I did complete the trifecta. Not something I thought would have happened on that water. And I did see some really nice fish, it was just hard to make a connection with them. And we had a really nice group of...uh...really well lubricated followers following us. Everytime we stopped to let them pass, they would stop just up stream. Then when we would take off again, here they would come. Then towards the end, we were all floating together. But I really didn't care. They were very nice and when Dylan had one on, they all started hooting and hollering. But the fish got off and everyone was disappointed. Later on, I was able to hook in to one and I stood up in the canoe and took a well deserved bow to the crowd.

When we got back to camp, we got down to business and began the evening meal. The menu consited of Ribeye steaks, baked tater, salad. With the fire down to good coals on went the taters. About 45 minutes later, on went the steaks. As you all know, everything taste better cooked out doors and this meal was no exception. We all ate like kings. And after a few night caps, we all turned in, well, KC went first, I hit the sack about 1:00 and who knows when Andy and Mike finally turned in.

Andy was the first up though. And he had me a perfect fire ready for cooking breakfast. Sunday morning we had pancakes, bacon, sausage, fried taters and fried eggs. And yes Andy, I have to agree it was pretty tasty. I think it was the secret seasoning for the taters that really makes it so good! We went through 2 dozen eggs, 2 lbs sausage, 10lbs taters, a couple dozen pancakes, about 7 lbs of ribeyes, and a few gallons of the finest imported whiskey all the way from Kentucky. Not to mention the shore lunch we all enjoyed on the float. Some of the best sandwiches to be found anywhere.

I can't wait to do it again.

The fishing was delightfully difficult. In the shallow, clear water we had to be stealthy and make casts into the thickest cover we could find which consisted of exposed roots, ledges, boulders, trees and deep green holes. It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend with good fishing on tough fish!

[KCRIVERRAT]

Yep... 'ol KC went down HARD saturday night. Wasn't pretty sunday morning as a result. I'll spare the details... most will get the picture! Glad the guys floated with me this weekend. Perfect weather!

Mike and Andy... PM's to follow.

KC

[drew03cmc]

KC, it was indeed perfect weather. I enjoyed taking a float on a gorgeous Ozark creek and cannot wait to do it again!

[WoundedOne]

Yes what a great time Ian and I had. Good food and new friend was made. Well as far as the dog is concerned he did not last long only about 2 months. He turned out to be crazy dog too unpredicatable for my daughter to be around. he attacked multiple times thankfully no injuries. Justdid not work out. KC had a blast and will do it again anytime with you brother.