Niangua 12-22-15

[podum]

Fished today below the 64 Bridge and at some private water downstream.  The weather was an early Christmas present.  Late December never felt so good.  The river is in fantastic shape.  Flows are up, but the water is clear.  When we arrived, we heard from a couple of locals that the fishing was great yesterday, but slow this morning.  A day late . . .  Story of my life.  Went to work with small caddis and mayfly nyphms (#16 and #18).  It was slow but there were fish to be had.  Needed some shot as you had to be ticking the bottom to get bit.  The several rainbows we caught were fat and very spunky. Later in the day we swung and stripped streamers.  Again, not great action but there were some fish.  Got a great surprise late this afternoon, a solid 17 inch Brown!  Haven't seen a good one in a while and this one was a football.  I hope everyone gets out to enjoy the weather.

Merry Christmas.

[H20 Dawg]

Great to hear.   I will  be fishing that area for the first time ever Sunday on my way back from Arkansas after Christmas.  I have always wanted to fish the Niangua trophy section,  if the flows aren't crazy high. Offhand, does the spring rise much slower than the river after a big rain?  I know many spring branches that can be fished a couple of days after a huge rain until they start to get huge cfs flow and murky.   Just wanted to at least get my line wet if the river is blown out if I am stopping anyway.........   Thanks for the tip!

[podum]

The spring rises more slowly and comes down much quicker than the river.  The river below the spring is susceptible to quick floods and muddy water.  It drops and clears fairly quickly but can be a waste of time for a few days after a big rain.  The spring is almost always fishable.