Little Niangua Trip Report

[GloryDaze]

So me and a buddy took a trip down and gave the Litle Niangua a shot this weekend. We were originally going to float from Griswald Ford to Fiery Fork, but some folks convinced us to put in at Mule Shoe instead. Given my experience on the upper section, I came to a few conclusions (some good, most bad)

Good:

-Totally secluded and private, we only saw two other people on the river in 3 days

-We only saw two other people on the river in 3 days

-We did catch a lot of fish with a wide variety- hell, I even cuaght a catfish on a rapala crank minnow

-I wasn't working, therefore any time on an Ozark stream is a great thing!

-Did I mention we only saw two other people on the river in 3 days?

Bad:

-Portaging, then portaging, then portaging, and on........

-There were so many strainers and total blockages, I spent as much time carrying my stuff around the strainers as I did canoeing

- Water was very shallow, so when trees weren't blocking the channel, it was too shallow to float through

- The constant smell of cow crap, it seemed like this section was all along cow pastures and the cows had direct access to the river, as there were several sections where the banks were just destroyed.

- Had to go under, over 3 low water bridges

- Fish we did catch were not very big, biggest of the trip was the catfish I caught

Now, I have to admit, after we went under the bridge at Griswald Ford, the river really seemed to change in character. I really enjoyed paddling the last three miles to the take out. It seemed deeper, and more of what I originally expected to see on this trip. In the future, I hope to get back nd float that section on down to Fiery Fork.

Maybe I didn't pick the best time to float the upper section, maybe folks that know this river better than me know where to catch the big fish, I'm not really sure, but my honest opinion is I will avoid that upper section in the future and concentrate more on the lower section . I'm sure that many of you who do float and love that section are just as hapy to hear you will have one less person to compete with in that area.

I guess my question for you all who float this stream more regularly, is this about par for the course for the upper section or did I just have my expectations set too high?

Oh, I forgot to mention- about two miles from the put in we were fishing along a small bluff that looked to have a cave in it about 20 feet up from the water line. As we were fishing, I got hung up and as I started getting close to the shore line I began to here this really deep growl/hiss come out of the cave. We sat there for 20 minutes and tried to figure out what could have been making that sort of noise. The only time it made the noise is when one of us got close to the bank, or I would throw a rock in the general area. It was too deep for a bobcat, so we were baffled, My buddy took a video, but I haven't seen it yet to detrmine if you can hear it. If so, I'll be sure and get it on here- given all this talk about Mountain Lions on here lately, that was the only thing we figured would be big enough to make that sound???

[ColdWaterFshr]

Mountain lion mebbe, or perhaps a sasquatch.

[Trout Commander]

Mountain lion mebbe, or perhaps a sasquatch.

Definitely not a Sasquatch. Had it been a Sasquatch the rocks would've been thrown back. With fine tuned accuracy at that. It's little known fact that the Sasquatch can really hurl a rock and do some damage. Never throw rocks at a Sasquatch.

[Gavin]

Never throw rocks at a Sasquatch

....Dunno....Mountain Lion, Sasquatch...probably not a bear...maybe Gollum from the Lord of the Rings, touched in the head hill people, or a tweeked out meth head. I wouldnt go back.

[GloryDaze]

Had never thought about a sasquatch, man am I slow; however after a little more research I think I may have found the answer. I'm leaning towards a Chupacabra, but we may live a little too far north for those. Wonder if the MDC has any confirmed sightings in the past few weeks....

[awhuber]

Had never thought about a sasquatch, man am I slow; however after a little more research I think I may have found the answer. I'm leaning towards a Chupacabra, but we may live a little too far north for those. Wonder if the MDC has any confirmed sightings in the past few weeks....

I had a turkey vulture growling at me and the wife one time. It was sitting in a cave much like you describe.

[jim1]

I had a turkey vulture growling at me and the wife one time. It was sitting in a cave much like you describe.

Had the same situation, went and got flashlights was two turkey vultures. That happened over on Osage Fork.

[GloryDaze]

darn, that's what it was, a turkey vulture. Looked up the sound on you tube and that is definitely the sound. Man, that bird can sound pretty tough...

[oneshot]

So you only saw two people in three days?

oneshot

[dennis boatman]

I was curious...How many people did you see in 3 days?