Goggle-Eyed Posted May 24, 2013 Posted May 24, 2013 The title might be a little confusing for newcomers to the Niangua, but it is basically from "the Niangua River Land & Cattle Co." property down to Lead Mine (A couple of miles above "Blue Spring". The river was UP and Murky, flowing over 700CFS and less than 18" visibility. I got my jet serviced yesterday and decided it needed a test run today!!!! I put in at the Upper Lead Mine access and ran up to Dampier's old place. I started fishing around 9am and it was very slow. I only caught about 4 fish from 9am until 12:30pm. 3 Smallmouth and 1 Rainbow Trout (he was lost!!!!). The trout came on an off brand Crawdad Crankbait. The first three smallies came on everything from a Mepps to a jerk bait. Around 12:30 it was like someone flipped a switch!!! At that point I was fishing a 3" Green Pumpkin Tube (VERY slow). Caught two back to back fish in about 4FOW in the slack water of a long eddy, behind a little sand bar (Thanks Al, for posting about fishing sand bars this time of year) I fished both sides of the eddy (low mud bank on one side and chunk rock and boulders on the current side). I ended up catching a few more on the tube then "running out of time" I accident hung and broke off the tube. I needed to be off the river by 2pm to make a meeting but the fishing was just too good!!! I broke off the tube around 1:30 and had about 9 total fish in the boat at that point... I decided to just fish a "white" X-Rap that I had tied on, since i was in a hurry! I ended up catching several more and lost track of count. Biggest fish in the boat was 14.5" and most were around 11-13". Almost all fish hit when the baits were stopped. On the tube bites I was just letting it sit and "tapping" the line when most hit. On the X-rap I was letting it sit about 5 seconds and just watching the line. It was weird, they wanted it twitched really fast and then would hit it when it was stopped for a long time... No bites if I kept it moving and no bites if I twitched slowly and let it set.... it was more of "jerk, jerk, stop" "twitch, twitch, stop" resulted in "nothing".... I got off the water by 2pm and made my appointment a little late, showed the guy my "sore thumb" and explained how the fish didn't start biting until 12:30!!! He laughed and we closed the deal!!! I was the customer in this case and now have a new truck!!!! Anyway, it is good to be home and good to be fishing again.
fishinwrench Posted May 24, 2013 Posted May 24, 2013 Nice ! Congrats on the new wagon, and I'm glad ya got the Honda straightened out.
Goggle-Eyed Posted May 24, 2013 Author Posted May 24, 2013 YA, it was a good "short day" on the water... I ended up just taking the Honda over to Marty. I told them not to worry about servicing the 'jet' and I would take care of filing the impeller and such... Larry, wasn't to sure about what needed to be done so I figured I could handle filing it!!! They did have a "change lower unit oil" charge on the bill until Larry noticed it and pointed out that it was a jet!!! No issues getting it removed and I know they don't deal with a lot of jets so they have a "standard" service charge... It was nice that Larry caught it and removed it before I had to "argue"... They cleaned the carbs (almost $300) for all 3... Boat ran perfect and I finally figured out why my father would beat me half silly if I didn't run all the gas out of the old outboards before i put them away... LOL, I knew/know better but was planning to run the boat one more time before I left for China last year, rain prevented that and I didn't think about it again until I got ready to use the boat this spring!!!!
Goggle-Eyed Posted May 24, 2013 Author Posted May 24, 2013 Well, I can't stand it, headed back to the river today! Checked the gauge this morning and my guess was a little low yesterday. It is actually flowing around 800CFS... Joe
Wayne SW/MO Posted May 24, 2013 Posted May 24, 2013 Like a kid that found his old favorite toy. :lol: Today's release is tomorrows gift to another fisherman.
Goggle-Eyed Posted May 25, 2013 Author Posted May 25, 2013 Wayne, you are correct!!! being home is like being in heaven!!!! Today was just crazy for a Niangua trip... The river was still up but pretty clear. Unfortunately, I got my butt kicked by my BIL. I caught 2 over 16" and my BIL caught four between 17"-18". The size of fish today is better than any trip I have had in the past 7 years. This trip was pretty quick, put in at Lead Mine at 9:45 ran up a couple of shoals above Blue Springs. ALL of my BIL's fish came off of a 1/2 ounce War Eagle spinner bait. Their was no pattern to the fish. A few came from fast water, a few from what we call the "gar hole" because it is almost stagnant looking water.... I managed to hook 3 rainbows, landed 2.... One was caught about 1 mile from Lead Mine (another one that was lost!!!). The rainbow I caught right above Lead Mine hit a 1/2 ounce Chartreuse War Eagle Spinner Bait, that was a first for me!!! Anyway, a great day to be in the USA and a Great day of fishing, even if I got my butt kicked (I even made him run the trolling motor), still kicked my butt. Joe
curtisce Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 What road do you go on to put in or take out at Lead Mine? The answer may not lie at the bottom of a glass, but you should always check
oneshot Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 Go on YY to Lead Mine CA Entrance follow the Main Road all the way to the river.There is another road going off the Main Road that takes you to the river,you can put in there too. It's all Good. oneshot
curtisce Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 thanks The answer may not lie at the bottom of a glass, but you should always check
Goggle-Eyed Posted June 14, 2013 Author Posted June 14, 2013 Curtisce, what type of boat and what are you trying to do. Both acceses offer good stuff but some is more pressured than others. If you let me know what your planning I can make a few suggestions as to which launch I would use... Joe
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