SW Missouri River Suprise

[Johnsfolly]

Was able to get away to fish a couple of rivers in SW Missouri on Saturday. I had a plan to target catching a brown trout in Roaring River, a redspot chub in the Spring river, and an assortment of minnows and darters species that are only found down in that area of Missouri. Due to travelling out east later in June, my wife conceded to allow for travel expenses but no overnight stays on this trip. Left the house around 2:45 am and headed for the Roaring river. I fished outside of the park and was targeting brown trout using jigs and a Rapala UL minnow jerkbait. The water the running clear and the large limestone flats were really slick making wading a real challenge. I haven't fished this far down from the park before. So I looked for traditional brown trout habitat, deeper runs where boulders meet gravel, large deeper holes around root wads or large boulders. The first trout came out from under a tree running parallel to a boulder strewn run. It was a healthy fish, but the coloration was wrong for a brown. I landed this 15" rainbow.

Since I prefer to fish upstream when I can, I continued down stream trying to read the water for potential holding areas and skirting the water to not be seen by the fish in those areas. I finally got to a section of the river below several potential fishing spots and turned to head back upstream. The bottom in this section of river was fairly uniform gravel and not likely to hold many trout. However, I did see a bunch of darters and several minnow species. So I got into my microfishing mode and went after those fish. I caught several darters that were no longer in their breeding coloration and I really could not id real well. It's possible they were rainbow darters. Will have to do some more research. I did not have any trouble identifying this southern redbelly dace. I caught several of these minnows. I had put them on my list as being caught in the Current many years ago before I had the identification guides that I have now. So I recently questioned if the fish that I caught those years ago were really this species. So these few fish confirmed this species on my life list. My bag kept fogging so these pictures are not as good as I would have liked.

I also caught central stonerollers in this section. This duskstripe shiner was a minnow that I had hopes of catching on this trip and is a new species for me.

As I headed back upstream I switched back to trout fishing and put on a 1/16 oz tan jig. I spooked a nice fish in one run that may have been a brown trout. It headed upstream into a deep hole with  three really large boulders. I cast into the hole and landed another nice 12+" rainbow trout. I had another follow, but it did not take the jig. As I headed to the head of the pool, I hooked into this chub. Later I had to recheck the distribution maps to determine that this was more likely a hornyhead chub than the redspot chub I had come to this corner of Missouri to find.

I caught two more nice rainbows on the jig, but no browns. Since I was planning on fishing the Spring river as well, I headed back to the car instead of heading further upstream. I left the Roaring river with this shot.

 

The next leg of my trip had me heading up to Stott's city to fish the Spring river. I met up with OAF member Dan Hufferd to discuss this section of the river and strategies to catch a redspot chub. Dan provided me with several of his go to jigs and mentioned spots to fish that were likely to hold this fish. He headed to Stockton with his sons and I headed upstream looking for chub. I found one of the holes that Dan mentioned and had some taps on the jigs, but I just could not get a hook set. Probably not patient enough. I even switched to worms and only caught cardinal shiners and no chubs. After a couple of hours, I decided to head much further upstream where hopefully the water is clearer. It was great meeting Dan and I hope to get back and have him show me the magic with his jig fishing for these chubs.

I found a bridge crossing the Spring river that flowed crystal clear. I immediately set to minnow fishing with worms and small hooks and got hooked up with more cardinal shiners and southern redbelly dace. Lot's of darters, but I could not get a hook set in any. In a deeper run I saw a larger fish that I thought was a smallmouth bass take the bait. Even as I was reeling it in, it seemed like a 7-8" smallie. When I landed it I was shocked to see what appears to be a very wild stream bred rainbow trout, parr marks and all.

I had no idea that this river even held trout and would not have expected a breeding population of trout. This fish headed upstream towards the bridge after I released it. Around the pilings I saw at least one more trout. At 4:30 pm I called it a day, changed out of my waders and started the 4+ hour trip home. I didn't catch a Roaring river brown nor the redpspot, which means I will have to go back again soon. However, it was a great day, I did get to meet a great guy, and caught a confirmatory and a new fish species. As my wife says, I will always have a reason to head down to that part of the state. Next time will include a little overnight time at the Super 8 in Monett and possibly some gumbo at The Bayou.  

 

[ollie]

Where you under the Hwy 60 bridge when you caught the parr marked rainbow?

[Johnsfolly]

Ollie - I sent you a PM.

[dan hufferd]

It was great to meet you too John. You have the distinction of being the first OAF member that I have met in the flesh. Thank you for your help identifying the Logperch.

I can't wait to get together for a walleye trip, and turn some fish into food !

[Johnsfolly]

Looking forward to setting up a trip.

You mean I shouldn't be eating the shiners and darters that I catch? All you have to do is dredge them in flour and fry. Don't even have to clean them first. OK only kidding, but I have had a dish called whitebait in Ireland that was just fried whole minnows with a dipping sauce. It must be what they do with the leftover bait after fishing for mackerel. They weren't bad except the lens of the eyes were solid.

[dan hufferd]

On 5/31/2016 at 0:46 PM, Johnsfolly said:

Looking forward to setting up a trip.

You mean I shouldn't be eating the shiners and darters that I catch? All you have to do is dredge them in flour and fry. Don't even have to clean them first. OK only kidding, but I have had a dish called whitebait in Ireland that was just fried whole minnows with a dipping sauce. It must be what they do with the leftover bait after fishing for mackerel. They weren't bad except the lens of the eyes were solid.

Uh, Ok yuck ! Is there any lake fish in my area that you are missing from your life list? Other than the logperch I don't think I ever do that again.