Jacks Fork Trip Report May 17-19Th

[moodyfour]

Floated on Wednesday and only saw 5 boats total... We floated from just above Rymers to Bay Creek... River is getting shallow fast... We walked several schutes due to either low water or brush in the way... We also like to walk them to fish them better... Fishing wasn't spectacular, but wasn't bad. Caught two fish over 2lbs and caught several 3/4-1lb fish. Just didn't catch the number of fish we usually catch, but it was the day after 2 cold fronts came through.

[steve l]

How do you float from just above Rhymer's?

[Scooper]

Many years ago, in the early '60s, my Dad took us down to Bunker Hill Resort, a facility owned by the Missouri State Teachers' Association located on the Jack's Fork. I didn't know if it still existed, but I just googled it and saw that it is still going strong. I was just a little kid back then and more interested in catching crayfish, sculpins and lizards, but my Dad was an avid fisherman. I accompanied him out one morning as he waded up from one of the gravel bars near the resort. I quickly got distracted by what I could find under the rocks in the river as he moved upstream. After flipping over a rock, some motion caught my eye and I turned my head. Like steve I described above, I found myself staring at a very agitated, reared up water moccasin with its "cotton mouth" open ready to strike. Scared the livin' hell out of me! I screamed for my Dad who came running down the gravel bar. He smacked the snake with his fishing rod and drove it away (didn't kill it). Needless to say, I avoided that area of the river the rest of the trip. I guess they're still common on the Jacks Fork. On those rare occasions I get back to my home state, I usually fish the Niangua. I've never seen a water moccasin on that river.

[moodyfour]

Put in at Ebb&Flow Spring... Not a traditional access, but you can put in there.

[Al Agnew]

The upper Jacks Fork may have the densest population of cottonmouths in the Missouri Ozarks. If you're watching for them, you'll probably see several per day on it. Not trying to snow job anyone or scare them, it's just a fact.

[Scooper]

Al, thanks for the info. Not surprising. The most cottonmouths I ever encountered in the state was during a weekend field trip in April, 1976 to the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge led by my herpetology professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Back then, there was a MU research facility near the Refuge that we used as a "base of operations." As we drove the back roads of Mingo, water moccasins seemed to be everywhere sunning themselves. From an ecological standpoint, it was a fascinating place. We caught species of snakes, lizards and amphibians that you'd expect to see in Florida rather than Missouri, including the very "tropical looking" green tree frog.

[countryred]

It may sound weird but I think those snakes are pretty cool. We have copperheads and a few rattlers up here and as long as you don't mess with them , things go fine. There are plenty of hiding spots along all those rocks and bluffs. My only concern would be coasting through a riffle and getting swept into a tree that has one in it

Scooper- our 10 acres is just up the road from Bunker

[joeD]

In the 1980s, we used to ......

My grandpa had a cabin on the .... and we used to....

I remember when I was a kid, we used to...

Years ago, the " " river never had people on it and the fishing was great...

Fishing on the " " river was awesome until they started renting canoes and rafts...

I remember when you could pull out 3 lb smallies at will....

I remember 100 fish days...

We used to tear um up years ago on that stretch of river...

We used to have a place on the " " river, and caught smallies anytime we wanted...

The river was great until they let those college kids in...

This river sucks, there aren't any fish...

We should make rules...

[Scooper]

Joe-

And your point is??

[Mark]

Some on this thread remind me of the golf country club members - they want your green fees but just not play when they are playing.