Hidden Gems

[WestCentralFisher]

When I started regularly traveling to the Ozark hills with my parents around age 11, Rocky Falls really was a hidden gem. It was this beautiful waterfall at the end of a road in the middle of nowhere with water that was too chilly to be totally comfortable in the summer, but that somehow I never actually wanted to get out of. It wasn't that it was totally unknown, it was still a swimming hole in the middle of a national park, but usually it was just a few friendly locals. 

A couple weekends back while rambling through the hills after taking out on the Eleven Point a day sooner than expected, I tried to drive down there. There were so many cars along the road I just turned and left. I didn't want to see it like that, really. Nonetheless, I still did. In a Facebook group I'm a member of, several people posted pictures of their beautiful Saturday at the falls. It looked roughly like the parking lot outside the Mizzou football stadium on a fall Saturday.

But that's the thing; they were having fun, in a public place, and at least for the most part doing absolutely nothing wrong. Impossible to fault. Yet, you can start to feel like the walls are closing in a bit.

Over on the Eleven Point, the "quiet" Scenic Riverway, both the Greer and Riverton parking lots were 90+% full by the time we took out on Saturday afternoon, and those are not small parking lots.

Admittedly, there were times and places the river was appropriately quiet and serene, but there were several folks who were visibly disappointed that we had tents set up on our gravel bar already, because all the float camps were full and they were having trouble finding a place to camp. One group came by at 7 pm looking particularly desperate, and we begrudgingly offered to let them share the large gravel bar we set up on. I'll admit I was happy when they turned us down, but I felt a bit guilty when we caught back up to them the next day and they said they'd had to set up camp next to what seemed to them to be a very large river-based frat party.

Around home, it's much the same. I don't even go near the rivers with canoe rentals between Friday afternoon and Sunday at noon (one of the few tricks I still have up my sleeve is that most people really want to be off the river by Sunday afternoon.) Even on the small walk and wade streams, some creativity is needed; the areas around the low waters and other visible places are pressured and slow fishing. 

That said, it's not like there's nothing left to be explored. The night after that busy Saturday on the Eleven Point, we stayed in a well-maintained public campground in one of the most beautiful places in the Ozark hills on a Saturday night, and there was no one else there. This was our original spot, going back decades, and if that had been full of people, it might actually have broken me. 

No, I'm not telling you where it is, naturally. 

And on my favorite local river, the visible spots get pressured, but there is a stretch where the only way to legally access it is via a short, but relatively difficult hike, and the trail doesn't quite lead to the river, so you have to do some light exploring. That stretch of river is usually empty, save an occasional kayaker on a multi-day trip. 

I'm not sure what my point is here, except that if you do have a spot on a small stream that isn't really known yet, maybe the fisherman's impulse to stay a little vague about it is more important than you think. Because I find these places go through a usual progression: initially, it's just known by a few folks who live within a mile or two, and you, the lucky angler (this isn't the Alaskan wilderness, there are no actual secrets).  Then you tell a few buddies off the record "hey, keep it low-key but this low water bridge is worth a look."

Most will have discretion, but one won't, and they'll post it by name here or on a Facebook group, the 2024 equivalent of telling the guy who runs the bait shop. Then it becomes an open secret. Eventually, you show up and the access is either blocked off, or it might as well be, because all the parking spots are taken, and the fish are skittish and small now anyway. 

I know, because I've done this to myself before. 

Anyway, this afternoon/evening, I'm off to fish the stretch of smallmouth stream that requires a little hike in. Maybe I'll post some pictures, but I'm not telling you where it is. 

[ness]

Excellent post, @WestCentralFisher! Well-written too! Thanks.

[snagged in outlet 3]

You’re better off not chirping up any location on the internet these days.   Trust me.  It will be overrun in due time.  

[WestCentralFisher]

2 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

You’re better off not chirping up any location on the internet these days.   Trust me.  It will be overrun in due time.  

I don't. Or more precisely, I only mention by name the places that are already overrun. 

[bfishn]

43 minutes ago, WestCentralFisher said:

...Maybe I'll post some pictures, but I'm not telling you where it is. 

Be sure to wipe the metadata from those pics too.

[WestCentralFisher]

1 minute ago, bfishn said:

Be sure to wipe the metadata from those pics too.

Yeah, I almost always take a screenshot of the pictures, crop them, and post that. It makes the file size smaller, and eliminates the location data. 

[WestCentralFisher]

4 minutes ago, WestCentralFisher said:

Yeah, I almost always take a screenshot of the pictures, crop them, and post that. It makes the file size smaller, and eliminates the location data. 

Also, having just checked it looks like my phone camera doesn't have location enabled anyway. Don't remember if I did that at some previous point for this reason, or if it was the default setting.

[Terrierman]

You should have seen Horse Creek Saturday morning.  We were there to pick our boys up.  Glad they got theirs done without having to deal with crowds.  Thing is they were nearly all kayaks - 50+ I'd guess - and not a fishing rod in sight.  A zoo for sure but a well behaved one at least at the put in.

[WestCentralFisher]

7 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

You should have seen Horse Creek Saturday morning.  We were there to pick our boys up.  Glad they got theirs done without having to deal with crowds.  Thing is they were nearly all kayaks - 50+ I'd guess - and not a fishing rod in sight.  A zoo for sure but a well behaved one at least at the put in.

Yeah, when we were on the Eleven Point, I'd struggle to think of anyone particularly being obnoxious or rude or anything. Everyone seemed well behaved, there was just too danged many well behaved people.

The only thing I'd nitpick is that it seemed like whenever it would be helpful if someone either sped up or slowed down a bit so we could each go through a tricky shoal one at a time, everyone seemed to feel as if they were legally obligated to do whichever of the two caused more issues for everyone. 

Of course, if I thought everyone else was wrong, that usually points back in a pretty specific direction.

 

[Flysmallie]

51 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

A zoo for sure but a well behaved one at least at the put in.

my wife and I float around there a bunch because of the easy shuttle but it has turned into a zoo the last several years. But everyone seems to be a lot better behaved too.