unmarked wild trout streams

[hawgslayer]

any body know of some unmarked trout streams in missouri. the ones i know of are quorcicana[i think thats how its spelled] which is located near purdy MO, the spring river in MO, flat creek and little flat creek, a creek near Fair View MO, and shoal creek has a few seemingly wild trout thanks to capps creek and one other creek that dumps into it.

[drew03cmc]

Wilds in capps? Does MDC know about it? Well, I would guess you did your homework if you already have all the named creeks.

[hawgslayer]

i know people who stock each of the creeks that i have listed except for quocicana. i have caught trout out of there though.

i dont know if the trout are trully wild. i just know they have been in there a long time so they are a little on the wild side

[Randall]

are they public or private?

[hawgslayer]

all private land except for shoal and i dont know if the spring river has any public areas. i just know the fish in the spring rive are from a closed trout hatchery. and shoal creek trout are mostly around where capps dumps into it at.

the flat creek does have a trout fishery thats open to the public[its in cassville city limits]. but its very small. its also really expensive.

flat creek has one more place further down stream that stocks trout. that part is loaded with them. but its all private land.

[bikehikefish]

Get Chuck and Sharon Tryon's book "Fly Fishing for Trout in Missouri". It contains an extensive list of creeks and rivers that hold trout. Some of the descriptions a a little vague, you will have to do some scouting to find where they are.

[drew03cmc]

I would love to hunt down some wild trout, but unfortunately time and money are required to do so.

[hawgslayer]

i think i read about some crreks around branson that people stock with trout

[hornyheadchub]

No doubt there are dozens, if not hundreds, of miles of stream and creek in the Ozarks that hold trout (many of them with naturally reproducing populations) and I spent the better part of five years exploring many of them while I was in school at SMSU. But only my best fishing buddy would I ever breathe a mention of them to. If you find a nice little creek that is spring fed, and holds even a few trout, do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself. The magic of the kind of stream you are asking people to divulge the location of only exist because they are 'unknown'. As soon as you advertise it here or in your local fly shop, !poof!, it'll be gone.

One way I narrowed down the search is to realize that in order for a creek to hold trout year-round there must be a few criteria met.

First and foremost is that it, or at least significant stretches of the creek must hold water year around- even in late August when everything is dry.

Next is that there must be a spring or at least spring seeps in the river bottom. This is only determined in the warmer months and only by wet wading.

Another cue is to look for signs of old hatcheries, private, state, fed, whatever.

And don't hesitate to bug your local Conservation Agent, afterall, they are paid by our tax revenue.

Winter time, with leaf-off is a great time to explore- no bugs or snakes, no stinging nettle, and clear water. Best of all is that there's no competition.

There is at least one good spot I know of near you, but I found it the hard way and so must you. Remember that the streams that you already fish may be fed by other tributaries that are spring fed (hint), and also dump into other rivers (hint: where does Capps creek go?) You should never expect to find huge wild trout, but rather revel in the exploration of new water, be ecstatic when you catch a palm sized, stream born rainbow with all of its parr marks, and keep a journal to remind yourself of places you can escape to when everyone else is bumping elbows at a state park of or shuffling at Taney.

Good luck and happy hunting.

[hawgslayer]

shoal creek has trout everywhere in it thanks to a bunch of little creeks that hold trout dump into it. but you will have to do a lot of searching to find these creeks.