Steel Creek area wading?

[Bdavis32]

The family and I, along w/ a buddy and his family will be heading down to the Buffalo in a few weeks.  We'll be camping at Steel Creek for two nights.  There will be a 3 month old, 6 yr, 8 yr and 9 yr old children accompanied by 2 sets of parents.  Looking to get in some fishing with everyone.  What are our best wading options near the campground or a short drive distance (say 30 mins or less)?  From looking back through old reports here, it seems the water is pretty low and clear in early Oct.   A couple people will be fly fishing and rest spin fishing.  I haven't seen too much info about wade fishing near Steel Creek so was hoping someone here had some advice.  

Also, hot flies to bring?  I've seen recommendations for clouser minnows and buggers.  Any other flies we should bring?  

Cheers!

[Al Agnew]

I can't say I've ever done it, but I suspect you'll be mostly disappointed in the fishing.  By that time of year, the river will be extremely low unless they get good fall rains...I'm talking barely a trickle, though there will still be good-sized pools.  More importantly, like most of the smaller Ozark streams, the smallmouth will have retreated to wintering pools and farther downstream.  To put it bluntly, MOST of the streams the size of the upper Buffalo are simply not all that great fishing by mid-October.  Plus the leaves on the water will probably make it difficult, with little current to push them to one side or the other.

As far as driving to other places goes, the upper Buffalo is surrounded by the headwaters of other streams, so nearly everything within a half hour's drive is no bigger than it is.

So...I wouldn't go to the upper Buffalo this time of year for the fishing.  But...the hiking opportunities are as good as it gets, period.  That's some gorgeous country, and it's absolutely spectacular in the fall.

[Bdavis32]

I appreciate that info Al.  We aren't going just to fish luckily.  More just to hike around and hang out.  I'm still gonna scout for some holes but not expecting much.  

Does anyone know if the foliage is starting to turn or are we still a ways out for that?  

[budman]

Take a drive back to Ponca, on Hwy 43 and look for Elk along the fields. The big bulls will be bugling and herding up their cows. You can also go to Lost Valley and take a hike up to a nice cave and go back inside about 75 feet and find a 25 foot waterfall at the back of it. You can either crawl up the creek bed, 3 ft high, or take a narrow slot on the right and come out almost at the back. You will need a flash light in the cave. The Buffalo will be very low and sometime it will be limited to pools separated by long sections of gravel where the water is not flowing above the gravel. 

[Smalls21]

you might as well go to whitaker point (hawksbill crag) while you are there, it is worth driving up the mountain to get to it!

[Bdavis32]

Thanks so much for the replies.  I've added those to the list of activities to do!  Getting excited. Really hoping the leaves start turning.

[Al Agnew]

Yep, Whittaker Point is a must.  But the best all-day hike I ever did (a serious one) starts out up on the mountain north of Ponca, the Centerpoint trailhead, goes down to a detour onto the Goat Trail, which goes across the face of Big Bluff.  We hiked all the way across the Goat Trail, then down an unmarked, obscure trail on down the ridge into the bottom, where it hits the Old River Trail.  Then we took the Old River Trail to its intersection with the trail that goes up Hemmed-in Hollow to the falls (even though it may be nearly dry in the fall), then back down and continuing on the Old River Trail, which crosses the river several times and ends up at Kyles Landing.  Run a shuttle or get the Ponca Outdoor Center to do a shuttle for you and do this trail one way...it's probably more than 10 miles.  And do it in the direction above, don't do it the other direction, because it will be uphill all the way and that's a lot of elevation gain.  And, don't do the Goat Trail unless you are completely sober, prudent, and not afraid of heights or subject to vertigo!  NO KIDS! So if you did it, it would just be some of the adults while the kids did something else with the more sedentary adults that day.  It's a narrow ledge, in some places no more than three feet wide, 350 feet up the bluff.  Falling would be fatal.  The view from Big Bluff is probably THE most spectacular sight in the Ozarks, and Hemmed-in Hollow runs a close second.

Of course, you can reach Big Bluff without continuing on, just go back to the Centerpoint trailhead.  And you can reach Hemmed-in Hollow from the Compton Trailhead.  But both entail a lot of serious uphill hiking on the return leg.

[TroutRinger]

I agree that the Goat Trail is probably the best scenery in the Ozarks whether viewed from above or below. Pictures don't do it justice. If you just do Centerpoint to the Goat Trail and back, it is only about 6 miles round trip. 

Hemmed-in-Hollow is also awesome.