Help! Big River Or The Gasconade River

[Greasy B]

Funny the way things work out. Last summer we had great fishing on the lower Piney, this year just so so. Who knows you could float a mediocre stretch and have the best fishing of the year. FWIW a few years ago I caught my two best smallies of the season on consecutive cast at the junction of Piney and G-nade.

[Al Agnew]

You might have some other choices in the Gasconade\Big Piney area. Might try calling Boiling Springs Resort on the upper Piney (not the one on the Gasconade) to see if they're still operating. It's small water up there, but can be good fishing. Or try LayZDay canoes and campground on the lower Piney to see if they will put you in a day's float above their place, which is upstream from Hwy. 66. You can Google both places. I've used them both a number of times, and they are good people.

At one time, I had the idea of having the Smallmouth Alliance contact every canoe rental in Missouri and ask them how much they were willing to work with anglers...whether they would do private shuttles, put in anglers at earlier or later hours than their usual rental crowd, stay open in the off season, etc. I even collected a list of all the canoe rentals I could find, with the idea of having different members contact them, and then put it all together in a booklet that would be updated each year. It never quite got done. But it would be nice if we could compile a list of angler friendly liveries on here.

[BassMaster#1]

Thanks Al, compiling a list would be a great idea. Most people may already know this site, but here it is for those of you who don't.

http://www.missouricanoe.org/directory.html.

I can say these outfitters are petty flexible with putting anglers in early with advance notice.

Maybe someone can start a separate thread and add to it with their experiences of differnt outfiters.

Meramec river area

Adventure outdoors or (Fagens)

Huzzah valley resort

Gasconade/Piney

Route 66 canoe rental

[Flysmallie]

Boiling Springs on the Big Piney are great to deal with. They will do what ever you want.

Gasconade Hills does a good job as well but sometimes get caught up with the rentals. Which you can't blame them since that's where the majority of their money comes from.

And even though James River Outfitters has increased traffic on my favorite stretch, they are really good people.

[Al Agnew]

Hey, I'd be willing to update my list of all liveries in Missouri and post it, if anybody else wants to help contact them and get the answers to the questions important to anglers. There are enough of us who float the rivers and use the liveries for boats or shuttles that we could recommend some liveries and not others, but it would be nice to have it all in black and white.

I'd propose the following questions:

1. What stream sections do you normally cover?

2. Are you willing to put in or take out boats in sections above and below your normal stream sections?

3. Do you furnish private shuttles?

4. If so, how do you operate those shuttles--do you move private vehicles, or do you put in and take out private craft with your own vehicles?

5. Are you willing, with advance requests, to put in anglers at times of the day other than your normal put in times--and how early in the morning would you be willing to put in anglers?

6. Are you more willing to cater to the special requests of anglers on weekdays compared to weekends?

7. Are you seasonal, or do you operate year-round--and if seasonal, approximately when do you open and close?

8. What kinds of watercraft do you rent--could you give the models of kayaks and canoes you have available?

If anybody can think of other questions, other than the usual ones about rates and services that can always be found on websites, feel free to add to my list.

[BassMaster#1]

adventures outdoors (meramec)

covers up from the springs to Indian springs

he rents canoes (metal or oldtown) , kayaks and john boats (or pelican boats)

He will put you in at sunup and operates year round

He will shuttle your car or take his car either way nice guy.

Huzzah valley

Busy in the summer

They have canoes, kayaks

Covers a lot of the huzzah and courtois river

Will usually only but in at 8 a.m, but will sometimes meet you in the morning at the end of the float to drop your car off and drive you to resort.

Route 66 canoe rental on Gasconade

will cater to just about anything

Guy has metal canoes and Jon boats

will shuttle anytime, but uses his own truck (one man show)

a little country, but cool guy

[joeD]

How about dropping the word(s) "livery" or "liveries" from our present day usage and lexicon? It is antiquated and useless at best. Though I am a language and grammar snob, and love words from times past, for some reason I feel the the word "livery" should be put unceremoniously to rest when it comes to referring to canoe and campground "outfitters" and the like. Trivial sentiment I realize, still, time for that word to go. It just doesn't work anymore.

Sorry for the interruption.

[Mitch f]

While you're at it let's drop "No No" for pitching a no hitter, poly sci, for political science, and bow for rainbow trout. It's not that big of a hardship to pronounce the full name.

[cnr]

Micropterus dolomeiu = Smallmouth, Smallie, Bronzeback, Brown Bass, Brownie, Redeye, etc. We love our nicknames and acronyms! Add in texting shortcuts and it's a whole new language.

[Al Agnew]

We had a discussion like this at some point a while back...but I have to admit I don't like the name "smallie" very much, even though I use it occasionally. Don't like "brownie" too much, either. "Bronzeback" is okay. But I tend to just use "smallmouth" most of the time...which begs the question of whether multiple bronzebacks are "smallmouths", which I don't much like because how do you pronounce it, or "smallmouth", which could be confusing.

And what about big ones? I've heard them called "pigs", but I don't much like that...big smallmouth aren't usually very fat, so not very pig-like, unlike largemouth. "Lunkers"? Nah, that sounds more like largemouth, too. I kinda like "horses", as in big, thoroughbred race horses...