A Perfect Morning

[WestCentralFisher]

It occurred to me that today I had about the perfect morning of fishing. This isn't to say that it was the best fishing I've ever experienced or in the most dramatic scenery. But for what one could expect in the northern Ozarks on a random Saturday in the midst of a heat-wave, it's hard to feel like it could have gone much better.

The stream I went to looks and feels like an Ozark stream, but like so many on the edge of the region it is a complex blend of habitat reflecting its surroundings. It flows through a watershed that has hills, caves, and springs that would belong in the deep Ozarks, but also plenty of row crop fields and swampy bottomlands.

The fish population reflects that. There are smallmouth bass and goggle-eye in numbers that aren't particularly large, but sufficient to make targeting them worthwhile. There are also lots of spotted and largemouth bass too. Based on the available evidence from a half-dozen or trips, I figure the smallmouth bass compose maybe 15-20% of the bass population. That isn't a whole lot, but their habitat is pretty distinct and easy to recognize, so it's rare I struggle to find them. The deep, slow holes where you find the largemouth almost all have a gar or two prowling.

In this setting, I fished about an hour and a half, covering somewhere between a quarter and a half a mile. The bass are naive, and will take anything that looks like a minnow or crawfish. I catch all three species of bass, but get the most excited by the one goggle-eye. Even more than smallmouth bass, their presence is about the surest sign available that I'm on an Ozark stream. I  play the fish quickly and release them without taking them out of the water. It's hot, and while the water is still pretty cool from the little springs that feed it, I don't want to stress the fish. Most fish come in easily enough, except a gar that knifes through the line almost immediately, and the biggest smallmouth of the day, which threw the hook.

The fishing never really tails off, but even though I've been able to cleanly release all my fish so far, that doesn't necessarily mean every single one will survive. Time has taught me how fragile these types of streams can be, and I don't want to take any risks here.

It occurred to me that the lady friend had requested a fish dinner. This stream wasn't going to be the place I accomplished that, so I drove on down the road to a bigger river. This one has smallmouth bass too, including some really big ones, but they're not easy to find or target. That isn't the objective today, anyway. I stopped at a gas station, bought some nightcrawlers, and drove to an access on a deep, slow pool. About 20 minutes later, two channel cats of the perfect size are on the stringer. As I load up and start driving away, big, dark storm clouds are rolling in. Perfect timing.

[BilletHead]

4 hours ago, WestCentralFisher said:

It occurred to me that today I had about the perfect morning of fishing. This isn't to say that it was the best fishing I've ever experienced or in the most dramatic scenery. But for what one could expect in the northern Ozarks on a random Saturday in the midst of a heat-wave, it's hard to feel like it could have gone much better.

The stream I went to looks and feels like an Ozark stream, but like so many on the edge of the region it is a complex blend of habitat reflecting its surroundings. It flows through a watershed that has hills, caves, and springs that would belong in the deep Ozarks, but also plenty of row crop fields and swampy bottomlands.

The fish population reflects that. There are smallmouth bass and goggle-eye in numbers that aren't particularly large, but sufficient to make targeting them worthwhile. There are also lots of spotted and largemouth bass too. Based on the available evidence from a half-dozen or trips, I figure the smallmouth bass compose maybe 15-20% of the bass population. That isn't a whole lot, but their habitat is pretty distinct and easy to recognize, so it's rare I struggle to find them. The deep, slow holes where you find the largemouth almost all have a gar or two prowling.

In this setting, I fished about an hour and a half, covering somewhere between a quarter and a half a mile. The bass are naive, and will take anything that looks like a minnow or crawfish. I catch all three species of bass, but get the most excited by the one goggle-eye. Even more than smallmouth bass, their presence is about the surest sign available that I'm on an Ozark stream. I  play the fish quickly and release them without taking them out of the water. It's hot, and while the water is still pretty cool from the little springs that feed it, I don't want to stress the fish. Most fish come in easily enough, except a gar that knifes through the line almost immediately, and the biggest smallmouth of the day, which threw the hook.

The fishing never really tails off, but even though I've been able to cleanly release all my fish so far, that doesn't necessarily mean every single one will survive. Time has taught me how fragile these types of streams can be, and I don't want to take any risks here.

It occurred to me that the lady friend had requested a fish dinner. This stream wasn't going to be the place I accomplished that, so I drove on down the road to a bigger river. This one has smallmouth bass too, including some really big ones, but they're not easy to find or target. That isn't the objective today, anyway. I stopped at a gas station, bought some nightcrawlers, and drove to an access on a deep, slow pool. About 20 minutes later, two channel cats of the perfect size are on the stringer. As I load up and start driving away, big, dark storm clouds are rolling in. Perfect timing.

                   Great synopsis of your trip. Thank you for sharing. 

[ness]

20 hours ago, WestCentralFisher said:

It occurred to me that today I had about the perfect morning of fishing. This isn't to say that it was the best fishing I've ever experienced or in the most dramatic scenery. But for what one could expect in the northern Ozarks on a random Saturday in the midst of a heat-wave, it's hard to feel like it could have gone much better.

The stream I went to looks and feels like an Ozark stream, but like so many on the edge of the region it is a complex blend of habitat reflecting its surroundings. It flows through a watershed that has hills, caves, and springs that would belong in the deep Ozarks, but also plenty of row crop fields and swampy bottomlands.

The fish population reflects that. There are smallmouth bass and goggle-eye in numbers that aren't particularly large, but sufficient to make targeting them worthwhile. There are also lots of spotted and largemouth bass too. Based on the available evidence from a half-dozen or trips, I figure the smallmouth bass compose maybe 15-20% of the bass population. That isn't a whole lot, but their habitat is pretty distinct and easy to recognize, so it's rare I struggle to find them. The deep, slow holes where you find the largemouth almost all have a gar or two prowling.

In this setting, I fished about an hour and a half, covering somewhere between a quarter and a half a mile. The bass are naive, and will take anything that looks like a minnow or crawfish. I catch all three species of bass, but get the most excited by the one goggle-eye. Even more than smallmouth bass, their presence is about the surest sign available that I'm on an Ozark stream. I  play the fish quickly and release them without taking them out of the water. It's hot, and while the water is still pretty cool from the little springs that feed it, I don't want to stress the fish. Most fish come in easily enough, except a gar that knifes through the line almost immediately, and the biggest smallmouth of the day, which threw the hook.

The fishing never really tails off, but even though I've been able to cleanly release all my fish so far, that doesn't necessarily mean every single one will survive. Time has taught me how fragile these types of streams can be, and I don't want to take any risks here.

It occurred to me that the lady friend had requested a fish dinner. This stream wasn't going to be the place I accomplished that, so I drove on down the road to a bigger river. This one has smallmouth bass too, including some really big ones, but they're not easy to find or target. That isn't the objective today, anyway. I stopped at a gas station, bought some nightcrawlers, and drove to an access on a deep, slow pool. About 20 minutes later, two channel cats of the perfect size are on the stringer. As I load up and start driving away, big, dark storm clouds are rolling in. Perfect timing.

Another nice write up. Thanks for sharing.