Smallies And Trout

[ozark trout fisher]

Yeah, that's about what it is.....an awfully fun diversion when you're in the area anyway. I'd never drive across the state to fish it if I lived, say, in the KC area, but being that it's a relatively short drive and near some good smallie fishing it's just a place I tend to end up at.

There are parts of the Meramec that I would put up there with any water in the state, but that's smallmouth fishing, and about 50 miles down the river. But then those areas aren't nearly as wadeable and don't serve as well for a spur of the moment trip for that reason.

[bikehikefish]

Yea, they stocked a bunch of browns back in May sometime, so fishing should be good for a while. Like CWF said, they will get poached pretty good during the summer, and the warm water will take its toll.

Fishing was much better 5 - 10 years ago when we could expect to catch some larger browns and rainbows regularly. Then we had some hot summers, big floods, and the fish disappeared. Fishing has been crummy for the last few years, so much that I haven't bothered fishing it much. The stockers are fun this year, but it remains to be seen how long that lasts.