Dogwood Canyon ?

[jeff]

Has anyone ever fished Big Cedar's nature park, Dogwood Canyon? I've been there a couple of times just to look around, but never fished there. We went on a Saturday in the summer, and the people we saw fishing were surrounded by onlookers. Would the crowds be smaller during the week and in the winter? Is the fishing worth it? A friend and I were looking at trying one of the pay to fish places this winter, and Dogwood looked like the closest to Springfield. Thanks.

[bobber]

save your cash for a pair of waders !and go below anyone of the dams in the area!( anyone of them) you'll do much better! dogwood you're kiddin' me right!

[troutgal]

It depends on what you're looking for, really. My dad and I fished at Dogwood last thursday. My mom and daughter were bored and wanted to do something different ( they don't fish) so we agreed to go to dogwood so they could rent bikes and picnic and we could at least wet a line.

There is of course the $30 or so fee to catch and release, and it is definitely not a challenge to fish, but it sure makes for a fun day if you're dragged away for other reasons, like ours from Taney.

We probably landed 75 trout in a 2 hour span, most around 2 lbs. To give you an idea, my knees were bruised the next day from kneeling down to release so many fish. We also caught 5 or 6 bass! One nice thing, there was not a single soul fishing other than the 2 of us, so it was very relaxing. The area is beautiful, clean, and well maintained, too.

It just depends, like I said, on what you're looking for. It would also be a good place to take a kid or adult to introduce them to the "feel" of landing lots of fish.

[Terry Beeson]

Is the one on "O" hiway west of Highlandville still in operation? That would be a lot closer to Springfield.

I agree with both of you to some degree. IF that's what you want... yes, to introduce a kid to fishing, a trout pay to fish would be OK... OR... if you just want to go catch a bunch in a hurry...

But... for any kind of fisherman, I would not even pretend to want to fish one. Not with Taney so close.

[Danoinark]

Terry, I think that is Rockbridge. But if I recall its catch and keep only, so take a fat wallet.

Dano

[Randall]

Rockbridge is where i learned to flyfish... its a super nice place, but unless you're ready to eat trout for the next year you can only get about an hour on the water.

i'm not sure where highlandville is, but we used to stay in gainesville which was only a few minutes from the trout farm.

On their site they said they are working on a catch and release area, but it hasn't been updated in over a year, so you might want to check it out...

www.rockbridgemo.com

the name of the place is the rainbow trout ranch

they also have sporting clays and bird hunting if you're into that

[Gavin]

I think Spring Valley trout farm is in Highlandville but I havent been there. Rockbridge is a really nice place though. Good food, nice bar, decent accomodations, sporting clays, wingshooting, etc. Last year they were charging $95 a person for C&R fishing. Accourdingly, my wife and I decided to catch & keep and we ended up spending around $100 on fish. Might check out Windrush or Westover Farm near Steelville. Both allow C&R and the fees are in the $50 a day range. Cheers.

[Randall]

windrush is nice, but the brush seemed really tight when i checked it out last year... i think springrise at westover was sold and is now privte

[Gavin]

Your right Randall. Springrise was sold, but the new owners have done a lot of improvments and reopened as Westover Farms. Check em out at...

http://www.westoverfarms.com/