Oaf Self Powered Fishing 'rodeo' Series 2011

[Stoneroller]

So I'm going to put together a 'rodeo' (for the love of god, do not call it a tournament) for selfpowered fishermen this summer. What is this? you may ask. It's basically a Catch, Photo, Release fishing event open to any self powered fishing contraption. (see redneck fishing chair) so you can wade, bring a float tube, a canoe, a kayak, a couple of 2x4's nailed together, whatever is self (or wind) powered. NO MOTORS OF ANY KIND. Artificial lures only, no "live" bait. you may use freeze dried or prepared baits, ie stink baits, dough baits, gulp, powerbait, etc.

More details on 'rules' later. there won't be many. unlikely to be any 'entry fee' either, unless some kind of sponsorship appears, but we'll deal with that when/if the time comes. (of course probably not any 'real' prizes other than bragging rights at first)

What i'm looking for now are some suggestions for either 'small' waters, or areas of larger bodies, including rivers where we can fish.

short list so far:

Council Bluff Lake

Duck Creek CA Pool #1

Glaize arm, LOZ

Niangua arm, LOZ

also looking at the following rivers (some will include a spotted bass roundup)

Big River

Meramec River

Gasconade River

Big Piney River

I'm trying to aim for places between spfld and st louis to make it accessible to more people, but i'm open to any suggestions.

[Smalliebigs]

So I'm going to put together a 'rodeo' (for the love of god, do not call it a tournament) for selfpowered fishermen this summer. What is this? you may ask. It's basically a Catch, Photo, Release fishing event open to any self powered fishing contraption. (see redneck fishing chair) so you can wade, bring a float tube, a canoe, a kayak, a couple of 2x4's nailed together, whatever is self (or wind) powered. NO MOTORS OF ANY KIND. Artificial lures only, no "live" bait. you may use freeze dried or prepared baits, ie stink baits, dough baits, gulp, powerbait, etc.

More details on 'rules' later. there won't be many. unlikely to be any 'entry fee' either, unless some kind of sponsorship appears, but we'll deal with that when/if the time comes. (of course probably not any 'real' prizes other than bragging rights at first)

What i'm looking for now are some suggestions for either 'small' waters, or areas of larger bodies, including rivers where we can fish.

short list so far:

Council Bluff Lake

Duck Creek CA Pool #1

Glaize arm, LOZ

Niangua arm, LOZ

also looking at the following rivers (some will include a spotted bass roundup)

Big River

Meramec River

Gasconade River

Big Piney River

I'm trying to aim for places between spfld and st louis to make it accessible to more people, but i'm open to any suggestions.

Mike, you know I'm down....but the first four choices are some places that will present a little challenge to produce some nice fish.The Bourbeuse needs to cleaned out of Spots, I have a really nice, big fry daddy for a fish fry but I won't eat those little bastards, the worms scare me

[Phil Lilley]

Sounds interesting. I'll help and participate all I can.

[jdmidwest]

Council Bluff would be nice, good camping spots and good water for self powered craft since it is a 10 hp limit on the big boats. Enough arm has a pit toilet and a nice gathering place with a ramp.

Duck Creek does not have much in the way of camping unless you have a mosquito net and a snake charmer.

Sam A Baker State Park and the St Francois River would be another nice option. Eleven Point River would be another option to make it more centrally located to the Spfd. guys.

[eric1978]

I'll make any of the river shindigs that I can. My first vote would be for the Bourbeuse for a few reasons...it needs as many spot roundups as it can get, it's a river without liveries so it's tough to float without private shuttles set up, which means I don't get to float it that often (which also means it won't be as crowded on a weekend), and it's close to me! But I'll travel as far as BP or Gasconade for a one day deal.

BTW, love the new signature JD. Now we're on the same page.

Of course he did blow his own brains out...

[Stoneroller]

i'm all about HP restricted lakes, they seem to produce better, maybe more opinion than fact, but that's my take on them. Bourbeuse is now on the list.

If I remember correctly, MDC just finished up or are currently finishing up improvements to the campsites down at Duck Creek. I'm mainly interested in going down there so we can see first hand some of the really awesome things MDC is doing to restore habitat.

500 acres or so is about the minimum lake size that makes for good space for say 10 fishermen or so. clearly we could hit smaller lakes and/or have more people, but at around 500 acres it would be rare to feel like someone is crowding you, or like there are only a few decent spots to fish.

[Gavin]

Not very interested in a copetive event....but a base camp float is always fun...No Plan Plan...show up someplace, go fishing, share some stories and some good food around a fire at night...

[jdmidwest]

The improvements to Duck Creek have been for water control and capture for the most part. Cleaning out ditches, cutting tree, replacing water control gates. Basically it is a big treeless mud pit now. I was not aware of any improvements to the campground, it still looked the same about a month ago. At that time, pool 1 was drawn down the lowest I have witnessed it in the past 30 years, which will have an effect on fishing for the next few years. The drought this year resulted in a lack of water to flood the area during waterfowl season. The only part that had any hunting water was the upper north west fields. Pool 8 and the lower area east and south of pool 1 were dry all season.

[jdmidwest]

BTW, love the new signature JD. Now we're on the same page.

Of course he did blow his own brains out...

Being forced to take life less seriously is just another freedom lost..... The end result was suicide.

Of course you could look at it as funny. He has some other notable quotes.

[RSBreth]

I'd be up for one in the Springfield Metroplex area. Of course Lake Springfield and Fellows come to mind.

The Hunter Thompson thing - you know it won't end well when someone's most iconic writing starts with "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold".