Hello

[DavidF]

Hey, everybody. Long time lurker...I posted a few months ago but never did introduce myself. I'm not much of an Ozarks fisherman. Im from NW MO but make it down south once or twice a year. A buddy and I started an annual trip to the Gasconade a few years ago and it's been a blast. A lot of the information I've found here has helped immensely. I started fly fishing last year so I'm looking forward to trying some of the trout streams and smallies on the fly.

A little backstory...

My love for Ozark rivers started close to two decades ago. Some highschool buddies and I did a float trip on the Courtois, Huzzah, and Meremac. Being a decent fisherman at the lakes up north, I decided to take a minimum amount of food, the idea being I could catch dinner for the three day weekend. I went pretty hungry on that trip. River fishing was a totally different animal.

Fast forward to October 2015, our second trip to the Gasconade. On the second morning of our float my ultralight rod broke at the ferrule on the first cast of the day. Didn't have a backup so I went about trying to repair it the best I could. Duct tape? No good. Whittled a peg out of a small branch. That went about as well as you can expect. So I spent the the day fishing with half a rod. It worked out and I caught quite a few small rock bass, spots, and little smallies. Toward the end of the float I put a diving craw right next to a big laydown on the bank in a long, slow pool. Felt a hit, set the hook, and started reeling. I got a look at the biggest smallie I'd ever caught. It was 17" at least. Started babying it up to the canoe and just as I reached down to bring it in the line popped. Broken rod and a lost trophy (would have been pics only) but it was still an awesome day.

Looking forward to this year's trip.