Leaving the Ozarks

[Brian Sloss]

Start looking to the tribs of the Great lakes.  Pere Marquette and a number of good rivers inside 3-4 hours from the Michigan border

[Foghorn]

Safe travels and good luck to you! We met on the stream at Bennett I think many years ago.You were just a youngster and I was in my early fifties.Time really does go faster the older you get so find some new spots to fish and hunt and use some of that vacation time to come back home. After you've been to the P.M. you may not want to come back.  

[Kayser]

Thanks for the replies. I'll keep fishing, but I don't think it's going to be quite the same. Going to miss the hills and deep woods, and mostly the ability to just get away from the high-traffic areas. Wild trout in fast water are where my real passion lies, and that's a bit harder to find in this region.

Oh, there's fishing to be had, but I'll have to see what I can take with my apartment's living arrangements. I would like to take my kayak with me, but storing it can be a hassle when you don't have a house. Vacation time is very limited the first year, and I'm in some weddings later this year that will eat up a couple days. Heading back to the Ozarks might have to wait until next year.

I tried the steelhead runs a couple summers back, but I wasn't impressed with it. Something about not enough rain, or too much rain, or not enough food in the lakes meaning no fish came up. I'll look into rivers in MI, like the PM, or the St. Joe, but the Kankakee in IN is closest to where I'm living, and I just might try that out for smallies if it thaws (or ice fish the sloughs for bluegill).

Norm, I will definitely be asking for some advice on adjusting to winter, once it gets here. I haven't spent any cold-weather time north of St. Louis, so this could be a bit of a change for me. I might pick your brain about river access and bank fishing- no kayak, but good waders right now.

And Foghorn- I'm sorry I can't quite remember that trip. I've had the chance to meet a lot of folks on this forum through the years, and I'm thankful for every one of those opportunities. Only regret is that I didn't meet up with more of you while I was in the area. I'll keep posting when I'm able to get out, and hopefully I find some places to stay sane.

[Flysmallie]

Good luck to you. Just remember that no matter where you go there is always some place to fish. 

[Gavin]

Congrats on the new job, and good luck...I'm sure you find some good fishing & hunting within reasonable driving distances.

 

 

[moguy1973]

Look up the Muskegon River in Michigan.  The tailwaters of Lake Croton is supposed to be very good trout fishing.  2 1/2 hours from South Bend.

[Foghorn]

Think back to July of 2003 and a couple big browns caught at Bennett. And have fished the Muskegon below Croton Dam for the fall salmon run several timesGood looking water and has good steelhead fishing .Wife has family in North Salem ,IN and he claims they have decent smallmouth fishing in some of the local streams. 

[Deadstream]

Plenty of great fishing in Michigan within a few hours of your new fish shack.  Like Fog and Moguy said the Muskegon is a good one, another hour or so North you have the PM, Manistee,Platte etc.   Also Croton Dam backwaters has great fishing if like Crappie, etc.

[ozark trout fisher]

On 1/6/2017 at 10:31 AM, Kayser said:

After spending entirely too much time in school, I graduated and accepted a job in northern Indiana. I'll be moving up there Sunday, and starting the week after. Not much for flowing water up that way, but I'm taking some fly gear just in case.

I'm going to miss the fishing, hunting, and general accessibility to incredible outdoor opportunities around Rolla that I probably took for granted. But I'm going to miss this forum as much, if not more- you guys are top-notch, and the info you post on here is second-to-none. Trip reports, techniques, conservation, recipes & cooking, and just odd opportunities I would have never thought of. I can blame all of you for my obsession with paw paws, oyster mushrooms, and wild trout. And possibly a bout or two of frostbite from chasing winter smallies and trout.

So a big thanks to Phil and the other mods, and to everybody here, for making this place what it is, and helping others enjoy this amazing playground I took for granted for far too long. You are one passionate bunch, and I'm glad you choose to share it here.

See ya,

Rob

Huh, I just moved to northern Indiana. It is cold, but other than that not much different from home.

Driven down to Hoosier NF a couple times now. Not a short drive for me, but nice area. Very Ozarky. Lucky that my job will take me down that way a bunch in the near future.

I can't wait to head up north and chase steelhead here shortly. Definitely in the market for an 8 weight.

Gonna head over to Turkey Run SP a bit southwest of here to hike and get a good look at Sugar Creek, supposedly a nice little smallmouth  stream. Will let you know what I find.

[Norm M]

5 hours ago, ozark trout fisher said:

Huh, I just moved to northern Indiana. It is cold, but other than that not much different from home.

Driven down to Hoosier NF a couple times now. Not a short drive for me, but nice area. Very Ozarky. Lucky that my job will take me down that way a bunch in the near future.

I can't wait to head up north and chase steelhead here shortly. Definitely in the market for an 8 weight.

Gonna head over to Turkey Run SP a bit southwest of here to hike and get a good look at Sugar Creek, supposedly a nice little smallmouth  stream. Will let you know what I find.

 Get yourself a map of all the Covered Bridges in Parke County . A lot of streams to check out at the bridges .  Raccoon Lake[Mansfield Reservoir] used to get a good White Bass run below the dam .  Brown County State Park had some decent fishing back when I got over that way .

 Check out the Indiana Smallmouth Alliance forums for more water to check .  The Kankakee river is better on my side of the border as it has not been channelized . If you come east to Illinois to check it out , PM me and I'll point you in the right direction if I can't actually meet you . I've been kicking around that stream for 50 years .