All Day Saturday Trip: Where To Go?

[jimithyashford]

I will be waking up nice and early Saturday morning and heading out to fish pretty much all day. I am limited to bank fishing and wade fishing. I would very much like to get on some bass and crappie, and if I get tired and want to sit and have a lunch or rest a while, being in an area with viable catfishing would be a nice bonus.

So, if you had a free Saturday morning and could get to any water within about 2 hours of Springfield for a whole day of fishing, where would you go, what would you bring, and how would you fish it?

I have heard Taneycomo suggested enough times that I am giving it a serious thought, but can anyone suggest a specific spot? I don't wanna blow my whole morning hunting an unfamiliar lake for a good spot ya know? Also I've never fished Trout before, but I'm willing to give it a try.

[Feathers and Fins]

Taneycomo would be my #1 pick especially for bank anglers, Roaring River #2.

If you go to Taney go to Lilleys Landing and ask what to use and then head up to the hatchery and fish from below the dam downstream

If you go to Roaring river stop off at Tims Fly and ask Tim.

If there was any for sure bites in the Ozarks for land based fishermen those would be my two choices.

[Flysmallie]

For me it would be a warm water stream looking for a smallmouth.

Probably the lower James, lots of different accesses with plenty of wade-able water. Probably not going to find many crappie but the bass and catfish should be plentiful. Kerr access has always been my favorite. You can go a long ways down river from there and quite a ways up. That also gives you the option of hitting every other access on your way back to Springfield.

[jimithyashford]

Those both seem like very viable options. I was alos considering the Upper Jack's starting at the Baptizing Hole (just down from blue Spring campground) and wade fishing down to Jam-up cave. This late in the summer it should be good wadeing and I think the fish would be more concentrated in the holes. Also there is the benefit of the best scenery in the whole darn state,

BUT, I've never fished the upper Jack's fork and I don't really have a good sense of how good the fishing would be there.

[Evolution]

I would hit up truman dam if you are limited to shore fishing. You get into all those fish species you mentioned plus white bass and hybrids on topwater this time of the year.

[MOsmallies]

Elk River