New to the forum. New to the Ozarks from MT.

[camburgersoup]

Hello there! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Tyler, I'm a late 20s guy that just graduated school and got a real job (in IT) in Marshfield, MO. I grew up in STL and have family up there. Most of my fishing in the Ozarks has been when I was little at ponds and trout parks.  I spent the last 10yrs in Western Montana fishing mainly for trout but also bass and pike. I learned how to fly fish and worked at a fly shop for 2 summers on the Missouri river. (Crazy to see the MO river with clear water and big trout) My favorite fish to catch is smallmouth. It heavily influenced my decision to move to the Ozark area.

I own a few boats, and if anyone has recommendations on where to take them to catch fish I would be grateful! (Especially the driftboat, anyone else have one around here?) I'm strictly catch and release unless we are talking catfish or walleye, maybe stocked trout too. 

The last 2 weekends I have taken my jet boat on the gasconade and put in at the Hazelgreen access. Last year I took it down to the White River and nymphed up some tiny trout with my fly rod. My GF and I took the kayaks down crooked creek in AR and that fished pretty well. I will definitely be researching these forums for suggestions on where to go. 

I joined hoping to find and share local fishing info... maybe find a fishing friend or two. I don't know anyone around here. 

I am going to attempt to add pics to this post... mostly as a learning experience (usually its a pain)... also some might find them interesting

Here are my boats:

16ft Alumacraft Aluminum V bottom with 25hp tiller

16ft Stealthcraft Jet Boat with 40hp

 

16ft ClackaCraft Headhunter Driftboat

12ft Alumacraft Jon boat with 9.9hp tiller

Plus 2 Kayaks for my GF and I:

[Bushbeater]

 

[camburgersoup]

Wow that sounds like fun. Unfortunately I will be visiting family in Ironton, MO that weekend. If it happens again I'd love to go.

[moguy1973]

That's a cool looking jet boat.  Lots of rivers down around you that you could take that on.

[fishinwrench]

That Alumacraft V would be a good one to fly-fish White bass on the Lake O flats this Fall.   Hit me up around Halloween time.     

Does it really need that shaft extension? Something doesn't look right.  Isn't that just a 20" transom?  Did that motor come off a sailboat?

[JestersHK]

Welcome!  Nice first post.  Plenty of water to get those boats wet on.  

[camburgersoup]

16 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

That Alumacraft V would be a good one to fly-fish White bass on the Lake O flats this Fall.   Hit me up around Halloween time.     

Does it really need that shaft extension? Something doesn't look right.  Isn't that just a 20" transom?  Did that motor come off a sailboat?

I will definitely be hitting you up, I've never caught a white bass.

The transom is standard as far as I know. I have no idea where the motor came from, it was on the boat when I got it. I'll have to measure to see if I need it. I've gone pretty shallow with it so I'm guessing it was a short shaft motor to begin with and was extended to 20".

[fishinwrench]

Looks like a standard 20" that was extended to 25".... But it might just be the angle of the pic.

[camburgersoup]

I can confirm, just measured. The transom is 20" and the motor is about 19" from where it hangs on the transom to the cavitation plate. So with the extension it appears to be a standard shaft length. 

[Greasy B]

That’s a fine fleet of boats, just about perfect for the Ozarks. Marshfield is a great location too, fish in every direction, all you need to do is go exploring. The only advice I can give you is to be aware of the scoundrels, lowlifes and thieves that frequent our River accesses, never leave anything you don’t want to lose in your vehicle.