Roubidoux Report 29sep07

[Greg_s]

Times fished: 0800 - 1230

Air Temperature: Comfy

Weather: Sunny

Water Level: Low

Water quality: Slightly Cloudy

What worked: Bead-Head Olive Woolly Bugger

The morning started by parking at the bottom of the bridge on Hwy 17, near the mouth of the stream. Driving past the Red Ribbon section, I'd always wanted to give it a try and today gave me the opportunity.

The stream was considerably lower than earlier in the year, but the flow was pretty good. Having never fished this section and not sure what to expect, I tied on a BH woolly bugger I've grown fond of in this area. This choice proved to be the right one and it never was changed until it became too tattered to use. Even so, it was replaced with the same pattern until I ran through all that I brought with me.

This stream holds a very healthy population of rock bass with voracious appetites. Not only that, but their size is good too. The largest of the morning was a fiery 10 1/4 inches. He hit like a small mouth and ran just as hard making for a good fight. The total count was about 28 ranging in size from 5 inches to 10 or so, with an average right around 7-8.

Next is the pan fish. There are a lot of them here, but nothing very big. The largest was around 6 inches. Keeping track of pan fish is like counting the bread crumbs in a bakery but to guess, a total around 3 dozen sounds about right.

Everything liked that bugger today, even 6 small drum. The largest was about 10 inches and the smallest around 8. What can I say, they're drum.

The smallies were few, but those I did catch were good fighters. The largest, a 13 incher, was a good fight. He hit hard while I was picking on a pool of rock bass and managed to wrap me up on a submerged log. With a little finesse, he came untangled before the 4x tippet popped. Total count was 3.

Finally, the trout were also elusive but both were good fighters. The first was hooked in the same pool as my largest rock bass of the morning. He shook his head like an angry bull when the hook bit into the corner of his mouth and never stopped until released. The second was taken from underneath a fallen tree in another pool and he put up an equally entertaining fight. Pics of both are below. I definitely need to start bringing my real digital camera with me.

Overall, this is a nice stream to just relax on and seems underutilized compared to the Gasconade that it flows into. It's simple to fish and with a variety of species, you'll never get bored.

[creek wader]

Does anyone know if they've stocked the Roubidoux, yet this year?