Back to the Ozarks for a bit

[ozark trout fisher]

One advantage of working on a region-wide research project is that sometimes that takes you to pretty cool places. That has already been the case the past few months; I've gotten to know the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio woods and hills better than I thought I ever would, for better or worse. It has been an awful lot of time on the road.

But sometimes it takes you right back home for a couple months, living and working in the Current and Black River watersheds, fishing your old trout and smallie streams on the weekends. Blessedly, that's my situation for the next few months, starting at the end of this one and into July/August. This wasn't a master plan to do this at all, or during smallie-fishing season, but it appears to have worked our pretty darn well all the same.

Can't wait to see my own hills and creeks. I miss them more than I'd care to admit.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Welcome back temporarily.

[ozark trout fisher]

Well, I am back. I will quite literally be living/working from a place a quarter mile from the Current River for the next two months. Much later start for my research work here than I've expected due to flooding and some other projects I had to help out on back in Indiana, but I'd hazard to say that life could be worse.

Now we need to get the lower Current's water level down so I can harass some smallies.

 

[MoCarp]

going back and fishing "home" is a wonderful thing...we moved from Mobile AL to Joplin MO in 75, right on the banks of Shoal creek.

as adults we had always went wade fishing shoal creek in August as omage to our early teens at least till My brother moved for work to the Atlanta area 17 years ago

.........We we lived in Mobile we camped at Flint Creek near Wiggins MS a Pat Harrison Water Dist. lake. often....fishing was good there we walked the reddish clay sandy shoreline, chunking yellow snagless sallies, rebel crank baits for green trout, red wigglers on bottom for bull bream, and in the fall under latern lights dunked minnows on long poles for white perch...fishing became magical.......hooked me for life 

 below is a list of what we caught in proper southern slang

"white perch" = Crappie,

"Bull bream" = bluegill,

"Goggleye" = warmouth

"stump knocker"s = spotted sunfish

"green trout" = large mouth bass

we kept saying we will make a bucket list trip there to reconnect to our fishing child hood, wondering how much better we could do with our knowledge now

[Mitch f]

You forgot shell crackers

[MoCarp]

never caught them in flint creek......but yeah shell crackers aka redears  we camped at arrowhead camp ground, near Maretta FL on Merritts Mill Pond, another bucket list place to return to, we paddled a canoe all over that small lake..'gators.. huge bass and world record class 'crackers.....spooky in that clear water would love a chance to try that place as an adult....divers go there to go into the cave springs there, ice age animal bones can be seen in those but not removed

place had snails in it big as a plumb, saw my 1st siren in that lake...below the dam was good fishing, it used to hold the world record redear..... FL set special regulations to preserve the trophy potential of that watershed

Merritt's Mill Pond

Special Regulation: Redear Sunfish (shellcracker) daily bag limit: 10.

Redear Sunfish less than 10 inches in total length must be released immediately.

[ozark trout fisher]

Well, the post-flood Current river watershed is as pretty as ever.

 

[Chief Grey Bear]

 Indeed it is!

[ozark trout fisher]

Well, I greatly enjoyed my time back in the Ozarks, hopefully I'll be back soon. For now my research is complete (it's hard to type "my research is complete" while not envisioning it being said in a sinister, sci-fi villain's voice) , and it's back to Indiana and the office for me...before likely getting sent out to Wayne NF (Ohio) or Monongahela NF (WV) to do the same kind of work.

Whichever it is, I'll be sure to burden you guys with a whole bunch of river pics.

[Mitch f]

7 hours ago, ozark trout fisher said:

Well, I greatly enjoyed my time back in the Ozarks, hopefully I'll be back soon. For now my research is complete (it's hard to type "my research is complete" while not envisioning it being said in a sinister, sci-fi villain's voice) , and it's back to Indiana and the office for me...before likely getting sent out to Wayne NF (Ohio) or Monongahela NF (WV) to do the same kind of work.

Whichever it is, I'll be sure to burden you guys with a whole bunch of river pics.

I'm a measuring guy by trade...what types of hardware do you use to measure a tree?