Summer Trips

[WestCentralFisher]

The streams around here are muddy and largely unwadeable, throwing a major wrench in my Friday afternoon creek wading plans. So naturally, I'm thinking about high summer and floating, in the Ozarks and elsewhere. There is no particular purpose to this thread, other than to talk about my summer plans, and hear about others. 

The first big trip of the year we're planning is to northern Michigan. The streams up there, in many ways, are very recognizable to anyone who has fished in the Ozarks. The streams are clear and spring-fed, and the little 5-8 inch wild rainbow trout (baby steelhead in many cases) are not unlike what you'd catch on the Little Piney or Crane Creek. The Big Manistee in particular, which we plan to float, reminds me a fair bit of a north woods version of the Eleven Point, with its big water and mixture of trout and smallmouth bass. My heart has always been captured by the north woods in a way that is only eclipsed by the Rocky Mountains. That is a trip that will get me through many a boring day between now and then. 

The other one planned is the annual float trip with my Dad. That is usually a Thursday night to Sunday operation on an Ozark stream TBD, though there's a very high likelihood it'll be the Eleven Point or Big Piney. With any luck, there will be camping, some probably modest fish catching that will be slowly exaggerated in my own mind to epic fish catching, and mountain house freeze dried meals cooked over a one burner.

On the median trip, we'll probably dump the giant, over-burdened and unwieldy canoe once, and agree to simply tell others that "we had a little trouble in one spot, but we got it figured out ok." Which will be mostly true, because we'll have everything well-secured and in dry bags to guard against this likelihood. Some key item will get wet anyway. 

If course, those are just the planned trips. There will be many a Friday afternoon/evening trip to a a little smallmouth stream, maybe a weekday float on the Niangua if it can be arranged. Too many trips to count to the pretty little lake with lots of big redear and an occasional bass that's worth taking a picture of. That has already started; muddy water and all, the redears do not seem to care a bit. 

In fact, as soon as I'm done with work I'm going over there. Even when conditions are mostly a wash, there's usually still a loop-hole you can find somewhere.

(Note: third time is the charm, I guess. Not only did I originally post this errantly in the Conservation Issues forum, it somehow double posted there. Apologies for any confusion created by this. One can assume I am simply very excited for summer/floating).

[Flysmallie]

Sounds like you have some great trips being planned. But for the love of dog please leave those freeze dried meals at home! 
 

[WestCentralFisher]

1 hour ago, Flysmallie said:

Sounds like you have some great trips being planned. But for the love of dog please leave those freeze dried meals at home! 
 

That looks excellent!

That said, I actually don't mind the freeze-dried meals. I spent a good chunk of my 20s hiking/backpacking/mountain climbing out west and I essentially lived on them. They're no steak dinner, and there's a place for that on the river for sure, but I generally prefer to keep it simple. Also, less time cooking during the evening equates to more time wade-fishing around camp.