Trout Trip Recommendations

[chub minnow]

Something to keep in mind is that if you are driving from Oklahoma to the Eleven Point or vice versa you'll be passing within a few miles of Crane Creek.  If you've never been there and like solitude, I would recommend spending at least a few hours there on your travels if you have the time.   Capps Creek (and HIckory) will also be just a stone's throw off of your path, but if I had to choose one small creek it would definitely be Crane.

[DainW]

Yeah I've heard a lot of good things about crane creek. I've also heard some not so good things about Crane Creek, like the snakes. Crane Creek is on the list of places to hit for sure, but I almost want to fish that in the winter time. Not a fan of snakes personally

[grizzly]

On January 12, 2016 at 4:36 PM, DainW said:

So i've been fly fishing for a couple years now, and I've started to develop a routine on my local waters. In the warmer months, let's say May-October, I like to target smallmouth and I try to save my trout fishing for the colder months (with some exceptions). Reason being that I'm not a big fan of combat fishing and the trout waters here in Oklahoma that do fish year round, are usually slammed in the summer, and I prefer the quiet solitude of a smallmouth stream. Anyway being from Oklahoma, with all the recent rains that we've had, my winter time trout fishing plans have had to be altered. With both of my two favorite rivers completely blown out from all the recent flood and TBD as to when they'll be fishable again, I've had to look elsewhere for my trout fishing fix. I've found that the Ozarks region has some fantastic spots and a lot more to offer than just the famous white river tailwater fisheries. I had a great trip to roaring river state park last week and plan on going back before the end of C&R season (turns out it's about the same distance drive time to there for me as it is to my preferred OK river). 

Anyway, with all that being said, I usually like to plan a big trip around the middle of March and I've been doing a lot of thinking about this year's trip. I'd like to plan a 4 day trip where I can hit several different rivers in the Southern MO/Northern AR region.One of the rivers I definitely want to hit on this trip is the NFOW since I've never been there. Also thinking about hitting the current river blue ribbon section. Fished that last may and loved it, so I'm definitely gonna have to fish it again soon, although I can be persuaded out of that spot for this trip. Anyways does anyone have any suggestions on rivers that I really need to visit, especially that would be fishing well that time of the year? Not really asking for any hot spots or anything, just names of rivers. Half the fun is doing the research myself and then trying to figure out a new river when I get there. The only parameters are:

1. I'd prefer not to fish a trout park during catch and keep season. Just don't want to do the combat fishing thing, although I'm open to fishing below any of the parks. 

2. Not really interested in fishing any of the big white river tailwaters, for the same reason as above, plus I've been there before and my guess is we'd still be seeing heavy generation during that time period, which means I'd have to hire a guide. 

Side note, I am considering hiring a guide for the NFOW so any recommendations on guides here would be great. Let me know what you guys think. 

Thanks,

Dain

Why keep it limited to Missouri?  If you're only looking to MO and AR, then I would suggest these as a destination:  Crane Creek, North Fork of the White, Current River and Little Piney.  I haven't fished 11 Point and I'm ashamed to admit that.  

BUT, I've always been a fan of the White River.  Tom Smith is a great guide, PM and I can get you his contact details.  Look, taking a guide to have a shot at a 10 - 15 pound Brown is well worth it to me.  I don't know about you and the rest of the forum, but scenery and wildlife aside, I want to know of a better fishing river than the White.  Green River, been there and done that, great fishing, but too far away and caters mainly to fly fishing.  I'm mainly a fly fishing guy, but I do like to throw jerk baits.  Yellowstone, I love it.   Give me the Madison and Fire Hole any day.  Only down fall, fishing can go from great to poor in one day and the size isn't there.  Hebgen Lake is great, but you can only fish it in the morning as the afternoon tends to have excessive winds.  

I need to fish the Driftless Area, and I have a feeling that will happen this May or June.  But my money is on the White River below Bull Shoals everyday.  If the water is high, hire a guide OR fish Crooked Creek or the lake, drive to the Spring River. . . I mean the possibilities are endless.  

Obviously I love the White but if that ain't your cup o' tea, then the Current River and NFOW would be my second choices (a tie in my mind).  Only thing I don't like about those two rivers are the following.  Current River: Crowded on the weekends.  NFOW: need a canoe or drift boat to do it right and the river is crowded at the access points.  

Good luck.

[Al Agnew]

About snakes...I simply can't imagine why anybody would avoid a particular stream because of snakes.  Cottonmouths are present in most if not all the Ozark streams, and copperheads are in all the Ozarks and about equally likely (or unlikely) to be encountered on any stream; they are not aquatic snakes and are only found on or next to the streams incidentally.  You are far more likely to run across one on the path leading from the parking lot to the water than when you're actually fishing.  In all my years of fishing these streams, I have run across maybe a half dozen copperheads while fishing.

As for cottonmouths, while present, they aren't all that common anywhere.  I only know of one river where I can almost guarantee to run across one or more of them during a day of fishing.  I've seen up to 5 or 6 a day on it.  On no other river have I ever seen more than a couple of them.  And cottonmouths are just not really the kind of snakes that you stumble upon, seems to me.  Every one I've ever seen was sunning itself or swimming out in the open.  They have little fear of people, but they aren't really aggressive.  They WILL sometimes swim toward you.  They aren't charging you or attacking you--attacking something so much bigger than they are is not a survival strategy for a snake.  But they seem to be curious, and they also get fixated on where they want to go, and if you're in the way they kinda expect you to get out of the way.  If you're really worried about that, flailing at them with a good wading staff when they get too close is a good strategy, but chances are it won't be necessary.

At any rate, a healthy respect for them and most importantly, confidence in your ability to identify them are good things to have, but you're far more likely to slip on a slick rock and break a bone than you are to get bitten by a poisonous snake on the streams. Stop and think...do you know ANYBODY who has ever been bitten while fishing Ozark streams?

[DainW]

Grizzly thanks for the reply. I've fished the white and the norfork before and like both of those rivers quite a bit, As far as trophy browns go, White river is probably the best spot in the country. That being said, we're planning on hitting NFOW really because we like to see new water, with the added bonus of fishing for wild rainbows. We have gone ahead and hired a guide and I would think that the White or Norfork will probably be backup plans in case NFOW is blown out during the time we're there. 

Al, thanks for the info on the snakes. I think my biggest fear is probably from not being able to identify which species is which. I think it behooves me to go out and do some research on identifying snakes while out on the river. FWIW when I was in high school my dad and I took a float trip on the caddo river and our guide told us a story about his son being bitten by a cottonmouth and almost dying. I think that's also probably inspired a lot of my fear of snakes on the river. 

[Russell Doughty]

Dain, while a friend and I were gearing up to fish Crane, we encountered some students from MSU in Springfield who were catching cottonmouths for research. They had one in a bag and let us take a look at him. They told us when they want a cottonmouth they come to Crane, so the snakes are there, but more in fields around the creek rather than in the water.After all their diet is mice. The only other snake I've ever seen there was a harmless water snake. My buddy thinks they could bite through waders, but I don't think so.

[BFTMASTER]

The problem is not that the snakes will bite me, but that I might jump and run into a tree or rock trying to escape, therefore all snakes are deadly.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I watched a water snake swim up behind a guy who was waste deep at Bennett. 

I think the snake thought he was a log or tree and slithered up his back to his head. 

That dude went wild when he finally realized it. 

I could not stop laughing although I felt sorry for him. 

Pete

[BFTMASTER]

Kinda like when you see a horse fly on a fat kids back at the swimming hole about the time.....

[Al Agnew]

Yes, learn to ID snakes.  Far too many people don't have a clue what a poisonous snake really looks like, which is really ridiculous on copperheads because they are very distinctive in appearance from all other snakes.  Cottonmouths are almost as distinctive, but there is one kind of harmless water snake that looks a LITTLE bit like a cottonmouth.  However, if the snake is swimming it's still pretty easy.  Cottonmouths swim with their whole bodies floating, head usually raised at an angle, rest of the body atop the surface.  Harmless water snakes swim with just their heads out of the water and their bodies mostly under the surface.  Cottonmouths that are not freshly shed are very dark, almost black, unlike any of the harmless water snakes.  Freshly shed ones can be a fairly dark brown with blackish bands.  And one other distinctive characteristic is a dark horizontal band across the side of the head through the eye to the snout, with a very light lip area below it.  When one is swimming with its head up, this light marking around the lips is usually very noticeable (and no, you don't have to be within striking distance to see it).

I've had cottonmouths swim straight toward my canoe, a couple getting so close that I picked up the paddle and slapped it on the water right in front of them, scaring them off.  But the closest I've ever come to getting bitten was on a three day solo float trip a couple years ago.  I was walking along the gravel bar where I was camped, after dark, with a flashlight, shining it into the water to see what kind of minnows were along the gravel bar, and fortunately saw the snake coiled on the bar right in front of me in the periphery of the light.  One more step and I'd have stepped on it, and it was coiled and ready for action.