River/creek Fishing On Fort Leonard Wood

[mic]

Has anyone fished the Piney, Roubidoux Creek, or Stone Mill Creek? Any luck.

[Gavin]

Its been years since I fished the Roubi, but it offers a mixed bag of smallmouth & trout. Usually more smallmouth than trout in the few times that I've stopped. A good place to stop on the way to someplace else but not worth a separate trip, IMO.

The Big Piney is a very good smallmouth stream....

I've never been to Stone Mill and probably never will.

[Al Agnew]

If you're talking about inside the fort, Roubidoux is mostly dry through the fort. I think it is still permanently flowing where it enters the south edge of the fort, but soon dries up, the water eventually emerging at Roubidoux Spring outside the north edge of the fort. Trout water in the short stretch from Roubidoux Spring to the Gasconade, smallmouth in the flowing portions within the fort. I've never fished it inside the fort, but have fished it upstream from the fort...beautiful water but the fishing was poor when I was there several years ago.

The Big Piney through the fort is very good smallmouth fishing, including some big fish. There are several long, shallow stretches, but even the fairly shallow water, which is very wadeable in the summer, holds fish. It gets some canoe trafffic, mainly from the canoe rental business at the rec center within the fort. Don't know how much fishing pressure it gets, though, because not many "outsiders" float it through the fort due to the logistics. One section used to be closed due to "artillery practice", and you used to have to get permission to float through the fort, but I don't know how things are now. I floated it through the fort a few years after 9/11 and did not need permission. Haven't floated it since.

Don't know about Stone Mill Spring, never fished it and don't hear much about it. At one time many years ago it was supposedly off limits to everybody but commissioned officers, but I don't think that's the case now.