Ozark Fly-Fishing

February: Small Streams and Blue Ribbon waters

2012-02-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

February 6, 2012: I decided to try another small creek for trout. The nearest trout stream to Springfield is Crane Creek, about thirty miles from my house. The stream is very small with gin clear water. Much of the stream is no more that 6-10 foot across; during the summer with little rain, a portion of it is a losing stream. I drove to Wire Road Access upstream from the town of Crane and walked the bank and path upstream 0.6 miles before see trout.

I used a 12 ft spey rod with fly short line (3 feet) and ten-foot leader; my intention was to reach with the rod to fish the waters for trout. Working my way upstream with a weighted fly, was not productive.

It was after 4 PM and I turned around and went back down stream, tied on a dry fly and dabbed it on broken water.

It finally scored three small rainbows. It was after 6 PM, I was walking back to the truck and saw a near full moon coming over the trees. This mild weather has been great, how much longer? It is almost time for walleye.

January 2012: New Year at the State Parks

2012-01-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

Jan 2,2012: Hey it is another year, and back to Bennett Spring State Park. The morning temperature was in the low twenties with a robin blue cloudless sky. Rod Pennington, John Anderson and I left Springfield after 10 AM. We arrived shortly after 11 AM, with more fishermen than expected already in the water fishing (maybe twenty in zone 1). The stream was up nearly a foot before Christmas and was up a few inches this day. The stream was cloudy which is typical for Bennett Spring after a good rain. Unfortunately, the high and cloudy water, and bright sky made for a challenging day to take trout with a dry fly. Rod used a green grizzly wooly below the stone bridge with success; john new to fly-fishing had a few strikes.

Photo of a larger mayfly, possibly a Brown March

I did have a short time where the BWO were hatching near the bank and the breeze blew them upstream a ways until the trout discovered them. I used a short line and danced the fly on the surface, finding a few willing to take the offering. The cloudy water will last a few weeks, and hope to return on Friday.

Jan 6, 2012: Frank Moran and I planned to fish together at Bennett Spring State Park. I received a call early in the morning. It was Yvonne, Frank’s wife; she explained how Frank was ill most of the night and had to cancel our fishing trip.

I spent the early morning tying a few flies and quit at 9 AM, and decided to head to Bennett Spring S.P. The sky was clear with unseasonably warm temperatures. A mild wind, probably out to the southwest pushing the temperatures above 60 degrees. The park was crowded with more than fifty fishermen in the water from the spring to the dam (zone 1), with more fishermen unloading gear getting ready to start. There was a crowd in the water at zone 2 above the whistle bridge. I had some business to attend and made my rounds. Thirty minutes later, I looked over the situation and decided to retreat and left the park; not wanting to fish in a crowd.

I returned to Springfield, ate a lunch, called Table Rock Dam, no water running and headed south on Hwy 65. The parking lot was full at the hatchery, with most of the fishermen concentrated between the outlets and down to the rebar hole. I drove to the other side and fished the rocking chair hole, with two other fishermen within 100 yards. I took out a #16 crackleback threw it up stream, pulled it under and twitched it for a few strikes, and hook ups.

I waded across to fish near some exposed rocks and found a more trout switching to a #16 dry fly, then pulling it under and took a few more. There was a 90% moon rising in the east evening sky with a few hundred buzzards circling in front of the illuminating moon. It looked like Halloween. The sounds of peepers could be heard, they must be confused with the usually warm weather. I was still fishing after 4:30 PM, when Mike Allen called on the phone. I wanted to meet with him to discuss the trout habitat project for Taneycomo.

So, I left the water and talked with Mike for an hour. He said there are 213 rocks place in groups of three forming an equilateral triangle. The rock structures will direct the water and scour around the rocks, forming troughs for trout habitat. I was impressed with the amount of erosion that has occurred below the dam, many of these rocks are located where the water’s edge was five years ago.

Mike Allen will come to a MTFA meeting March 1^st to discuss the habitat project.

It was a good day to fish, unbelievable January weather and great places to fish

JAN 20: It was a day without sunshine, with a high temperature in the low forties. The late afternoon winds became calm, with a light mist moving in at dusk, the weather service gave a wintery advisory with possible freezing precipitation north of Hwy 60. Rod, Jacob Scheve, Jessie Scheve and I set a date the first of the year to fish this day and we piled into Rod’s vehicle at 10 AM for a trip to Bennett Spring State Park. There was a light crowd in the park on this Friday. No fishermen near the waters above the dam and it became my area to fish for the day. There was a small hatch of BWO and numerous #28 adult white midges on the water. The trout were coming straight out of water showing their entire head, my guess taking cripples out of the surface tension, and from the numbers of adults, probably midge pupa. The #20 BWO dry flies proved ineffective and worked better pulling them under and twitching them to attract a few trout. I tried a caddis pattern with little reaction from the trout. At 3 PM and pair of bald eagles flew over head and perched on a tree half way up the bluff and remained there until 3:50 PM. Then they flew overhead of me on their way down stream. We fished until the sound from the horn, indicating 4 PM and we reeled in our lines and called it a day of fishing. On our way home several groups of deer were seen in the fields, giving clue to a weather change. It must be January in the Ozarks

January 28-30, 2012: I took a few days off to fish; checked a Missouri map and decided to fish new waters near Newburg. Plans were made; calls and reservations had been arranged and off for three days of fishing.

Sean and I met at Montauk State Park on Saturday. He had a late start from St. Louis and I arrived several hours before him. I took care of the motel room, unpacked the truck, and sent a text to him providing the room number and where I could be found on the river. He arrived after 1 PM and found me in the waters near the lodge. I decided to take him above the dam and finish the day in zone 1, hoping to find some trout willing to take a dry fly. There was a white midge hatch with a few caddis popping out of the water after laying eggs on the stream bottom. There were a small number of mayflies near the aquatic plants. The day was much warmer than forecast, in the high fifties, which is not typical for January.

Sean and I returned to the lodge after 4 PM, had dinner in the lodge and returned to our room to add new leader to one reel, add backing and line to another reel and practice knot tying. We turned in after 10 PM.

The next day, we woke after 7 AM, made a pot of coffee. The ground was cover in frost, the sky was clear, with the air crisp and clean. Rod and his friend John Anderson planned to leave Springfield at 8 AM, and spend the day with us. We did not expect them until 11 AM.

Sean and I started above the dam and worked our way upstream. We fished some of my favorite areas and made our way to the spring, the origin of the Current River. It was almost 3 PM, and we retreated to find a spot to finish the day. Other fishermen occupied our most productive waters and we continued downstream and finally found Rod and John near the blue hole.

I hooked my last fish for the day ten minutes before 4 PM and called it last cast, last fish. Rod found one on a dry fly a few minutes after that and continued to fish to 4 PM. Sean said his had missed three trout looking for his last trout for the day with the siren sounding to end the day of fishing. Sean and I released twenty-eight for the day with many short strikes. Rod said he and John had a great day.

I was to stay another night at Montauk; Sean was to head back to St Louis and Rod to Springfield. The lodge diner closed at 2 PM, so we all caravanned to Rolla and stopped at Bandanna’s BBQ for dinner. After, dinner, everyone took off in different directions, and I returned to Montauk State Park and turned in for the night.

January 30, 2012: The next day I woke after 7 AM, made a pot of coffee and started to pack out. My plan for the day was to fish the Blue ribbon area on the Current River just outside of the park. In the afternoon, drive north to another blue ribbon stream, Mill Creek, south of Doolittle/Newburg.

It was a frosty day, with a clear bright sky and little wind. I parked the truck at the end of loop four camping area and walked down stream, past the water treatment lagoon. I entered the stream below the cabins, and tied on a small Clouser minnow pattern to search the stream. It took an only few casts before I hooked up, and released a 12-inch rainbow. There were several more strikes on the Clouser before it was lost to bottom. There was some surface activity behind a large rock, with adult caddis popping out of the water. I tied on a caddis imitation pattern, which was not good enough to fool with one take after an hour of fishing. I left the stream at 11:30 AM, wanting to get on the road and on to Mill Creek.

After leaving Montauk State Park, I drove north on Hwy 63 to Edgar Spring. I turn left on State Hwy M and on to the community of Flat before hitting the gravels roads to Bohigian Conservation area. Mill Creek runs north to the Little Piney River through Bohigian. There is at least five miles of stream; much of the stream is very shallow with small pools and pockets near root wads. I do not know much of the area but plan to contact the MDC and get some history and details. I fished it until 5 PM and manage six trout using a wooly worm streamer.

The largest trout was fourteen inch taken just above a beaver dam. The other trout were in the 6-8 inch range.

I finished my drive going north to Doolittle and on to I-44 to Springfield. It was three days of good fishing, I plan to return to Mill Creek and check out Spring Creek along with the blue ribbon waters of the Little Piney River.

December: State park waters

2011-12-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was spent at Montauk State Park with Ralph Eichholz, Warren Wilkerson and Rod Pennington. There was a state MTFA business meeting on Saturday at noon, so we rented a cabin for two days; leaving three days to fish.

Dec 2, 2011: Friday morning, we moved into cabin 12, put items away and took to the water. Warren and Rod started below the lodge and fished to the dam. I started at the dam and worked the water up stream. Ralph came in later that afternoon and did not find us; so he drove up to the spring and fished the upper water. There was a Baetis hatch with the trout taking them cautiously, Rod fished with a white and cream dry fly and had better success than my BWO. Warren fished with a zebra midge and did well before breaking off. We did not see Ralph until after 4 PM; he fished with soft hackles and did well. He tried a rainbow of colors with the trout willing to take them all. He was thrilled with his success. That evening, we pan fried some quail that Rod and his son bagged earlier this year, with mash potatoes and peas. Dessert was a cake my wife sent. There was more than enough for everyone, with some quail left over. (It was served with breakfast on Sunday).

Dec 3,2011: Saturday, after breakfast we again went to the water. Ralph, Rod and I started upstream of the lodge. Warren went to the dam. There were fish moving on top with little success taking them with a dry. Upstream 50 yards, I saw a trout over 24 inches, giving chase to other trout. I took out a meat and potato fly and swung the fly in front of him and then stripped it quick. The trout gave chase four times and took the fly once only to feel his teeth and not setting the hook. It was after 11 AM, I had to stop for some time to conduct the state MTFA meeting.

After the meeting Ralph had to return to Springfield, Rod, Warren and I went back to the fly’s only area. I moved up stream farther that the day before. There were a half dozen fishermen moving down stream throughout the afternoon, with little interference. Again, it was hard fishing a take with many of the trout hitting short or I was too impatient setting the hook too quickly…hard to figure.

I quit at the sound of the horn, 4 PM and walked back to the cabin. Rod and Warren had already returned and out of their waders. That evening we had Alaska fish, coleslaw and fries. The rain was starting to fall and it rained through the night.

Dec 4, 2011: Sunday, we had our breakfast, packed out our gear and turned in the keys. We drove to the other side of the river. Warren decided to give the catch and release area a try. Rod and I walked back to the water and fished the same general area. I moved much faster up stream wanting to fish familiar water and find trout more willing to take a dry. Rod was fishing the weed banks and taking trout with a cream and white hackle dry, I was trying everything in my box; finding a few trout with a caddis. I saw two trout near 24 inches moving behind a down tree with a washed out trough. I switched flies and tied on a black jig with one of the trout giving chase and taking the fly.

The rain fell for a few hours and stopped after 1 PM. Rod had left the water and had to return to Springfield. I had moved up past the down tree and saw more Baetis duns on top. There were a few trout giving chase and I had only a few small flies left. Here I had some moderate success taking trout with a dry fly. The large sycamore tree is a roost for a hundred buzzards/vultures. The ground under the tree was white from the droppings and had a distinct odor.

I fished until 3:50 PM and decided it was last cast last fish for the trip and walked back to the truck. I found Warren fishing in the catch and release area, where he had a good day of catching trout.

Everyone had a great trip. Ralph has a blog with a favorable report of his experiences. I will plan another trip this winter back to Montauk.

DEC 9, 2011: A trip back to Bennett Spring S.P. The day was cool, the radio reported a temperature of 33° F at 11 AM while driving I-44. The sky was overcast with a light breeze. I did find several cooperative trout; a dozen above the dam. The wind was blowing upstream and blew the Baetis mayflies back into the slough. After 2 PM, the hatch had diminished. I moved to the stone bridge and fished back to the dam. The trout were more cooperative and I took trout to 4 PM; I had a trout on when the horn blew. I finished with 34 trout to hand for the afternoon. I did see eagles flying high, deer and turkeys on the drive home. There were maybe a dozen fishermen seen for the time I fished, for most of the time I fished with no one in sight. Good day to fish.

Dec 16, 2011: It was a cloudless day with early temperatures in the mid-twenties. When I arrived Bennett Spring State Park at 10 AM, it was already above freezing with a predicted high of forty-five degrees. A student from MSU, Zach Schmitz met me at the park. Zach had finished finals at school and had a day to fish before returning to his family’s home in Kansas City. This was Zach first experience winter fishing and has some concerns keeping warm.

We were in the water by 10:30 AM; a mild wind was blowing upstream. There were a small number of midges (white) and small mayflies (BWO) present in the slough in the aqua vegetation. I started with a #18 caddis imitation just to try something different and made two casts and released two small trout. Zach fished with some #20 BWO patterns. We both found some cooperative trout taking flies and fished the area above the dam until 2:30 PM. We walked down stream to the stone bridge and worked back to the dam. The light was very bright in our eyes and it was difficult to get the trout to see or take our flies. We caught a few more trout and finished at 4 PM.

Zach had a good day of fishing and managed to keep the cold away. It was a decent day of fishing with a fair hatch.

November: Winter fishing at Bennett Spring S.P.

2011-11-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

I enjoy Bennett Spring State Park in the winter. There can be an outstanding mayfly hatch that appears in the afternoon and at times will last several hours through mid-January. The trout have been in the stream long enough to recognize these insects as food and will actively seek them out along the edges and near the aquatic plants.

The number of people fishing may be a crowd of twenty on a Saturday afternoon in zone 1 or a stretch of water all to you on a Friday or Monday. A snowy day may find you all alone in the park with a few eagles perched on the Sycamore tree over the stream.

A mayfly hatch is common with a #20 BWO; imitating celery green body, a white tail and white legs Baetis emerging from the slough or back waters near the concrete access structures. I use a 4 wt 10 ft rod with 6X or smaller tippet. You will find me wading upstream looking for trout hunting these insects. Even if you never tried to fish a dry fly, these trout are blind to the many mistakes a fisherman starting out may make.

For more information of these mayflies check out: http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/180/Mayfly-Baetis-Blue-Winged-Olives

Nov 14, 2011: Rod Pennington and I made plans to fish Bennett Spring S.P. I called Frank Moran and invited him to fish with us. Since, I have not been at the park recently, there was concern if the BWO hatch would be present. Monday morning, I woke at 6 AM. Started some coffee and tied a few flies hoping to match the hatch of the day. I met Frank at 10 AM, with Rod driving alone since he would have to leave early. We fished Zone 1, just above the dam. The water level was normal for this time of the year with some changes due to erosion and the holes in front of the dam filling in. There were a few BWO seen throughout the day, with a minimal hatch event. The trout seem to be looking for duns. There was a mild breeze blowing upstream, providing some cover for the trout with a cloudy day. Frank’s first cast of the day, brought to hand a nice 14-inch rainbow with others to follow much smaller. Rod and I had a good day with a total of 25 trout released. Rod left early, Frank and I stayed until 4 PM. An eagle flew into view at 3:30 PM and perched on a limb over the stream. I was able to walk to him and capture a nice video of this eagle in flight.

It was good to get back to the stream and hope to get back at least once a week.

Nov 21, 2011: Rod and I made our plans and returned to Bennett Spring S.P. There was a light mist with a dark sky. The wind was light with a smooth stream surface. The temperature was in the mid-forties. There were few a fishermen around with no one in close proximity. I returned to a pattern of habit and started at the dam and fished to the concrete access ramps. A pair of eagles were seen near the spring on our drive in and later sat on the Sycamore tree across the concrete access ramps.

There was a sporadic hatch with low numbers of mayflies. The dreaded white midge was present and we saw a few black adult caddis. We released from hand twenty trout with most of my hook ups on a #20 parachute BWO. We saw a few groups of turkeys in field on our drive with the deer in hidingsince opening day for gun season.

October: Eleven Point River

2011-10-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Oct 18-19: Ralph Eichholz and I camped and fished the Eleven Point River near Greer. The weather turned wet and cold for the two days. There was falling precipitation most of Tuesday, which delayed setting up tents at the Federal campgrounds. We left the gear under cover and looked at the springs nearby. Our first hike was to Greer spring. There were no other visitors and the trail was wet. After a two-mile hike, we came upon the spring. We spent time viewing the flowing spring and taking a few photos.

On the way back to the campsite, we decided to look at Greer spring creek flowing into the Eleven Point River, which is half mile upstream from HWY 19 Bridge. We found the Ozark trail and walked up stream to the branch where the spring flowed into the river. I did see a golden eagle perched in a tree. It flew away as soon as it was spotted.

After a few pictures, we walked back to the truck and drove to our campsite for lunch. After lunch, Ralph decided he wanted to look at another spring since it was still raining. We drove ten miles to Turner Mill access to look at the spring and the past community of Surprise. The mill wheel sits in the spring waters as a marker to a community seventy-five years ago.

It was near 3 PM, we returned to the campsite to set up the tents; the rain had stopped. There was time to fish, so we slipped into our waders and walked to the bridge; a short walk from the campsite. The stream was clear with a flow of 450 cfs with the gage height 3.3 ft at Bardley, MO near the 160 bridge; normal for this time of the year.

We caught a few trout with one fish under eight inches; indicating a wild trout. We fished until 6 PM, almost dark and walked back to camp. Dinner was prepared in the dark and we ate at 7:30 PM. The wind started to come out the north with possible frost in the AM. It was going to be a cold night to sleep in a tent. We made a campfire that evening and enjoyed it, turning in at 9:30 PM.

It was a cool night, but without frost. A moderate wind blew most of the night. The next morning, coffee was started at 7 AM. We finished breakfast and broke camp by 9 AM, and placed the canoe in the water. I drove to Richard’s Canoe to set up a shuttle and planned to takeout at 5:30 PM. We shoved off at 9:30 AM, stopped for a short time at the first island below Greer.

Since we were to float the entire 5 miles section in eight hours, we had little to waste and kept moving along most of the day. We caught fish in waters where I had success in the past trips. We discovered at 1 PM, a Hyde boat with two fishermen and a guide was in front of us all day; thus an excuse for not catching more Trout.

We managed a dozen for the day. There was a brief period for the sun to shine, getting a few photos. For most of the day, it was cool, windy and overcast. It was good to get back to the Eleven Point and I was thrilled Ralph had a good time with this trip.

Oct 26, 2011: The regular season at the state parks will end Oct 31, Rod and Jim made a few trip earlier in the month and wanted to get in one more before the end of the month. Rod asked me if I wanted to go, even though I was scheduled to work the afternoon; I accepted.

The day was cloudy with occasional rain through out the morning. We fished the waters below the rock bridge. The colors of autumn were present, but dull due to the blanket cloud cover obscuring the sun.

Jim, and his to sons, Jacob, and Jessie, with Rod and I rode together from Springfield. We were in the water before 8 AM, and fished to noon. I threw dry flies with very few takes. The #16 wooly bugger, proved to catch more trout. I did switch to soft hackles and found a few more takes. We left the park before noon and returned to Springfield, had lunch at 1 PM and made it to work on time.

It was a short trip, but a delight to get out.

Alaska in September

2011-10-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

This was my third trip to Kodiak Island. Rod Pennington, Bill Taylor, Sean Schultz and I made our plans and took a ten-day holiday. Our plan was to fish for Coho (AKA Silver Salmon) at Saltery Lake Lodge with a deep sea trip thrown in. We left Springfield on Friday, September 16th and flew to Dallas in the morning, to Anchorage in the afternoon and landed on Kodiak Island at 11PM. We fished on the U-Rascal Saturday, the next morning with Capt Chris Fiala.

Here is a U-tube video of his boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNYiGe8NOVQ.

This was my second trip with Chris. We fished the south side of the island across from a missile silo site near Ugak Island.

There were eleven of us on the boat with crew and another party from Edmonton.

We caught a few halibut, a limit of Rockfish and several lingcod.

The crew was Dave and Rebecca, a brother and sister from Seattle taking a break from college.

The weather was almost perfect with a light wind and some wave action. The afternoon saw clouds building over the Island. We fished until 6 PM, dropped the catch off at Island Seafoods for processing and returned to our hotel. Web site for Islandseafoods.com

On Sunday we met Doyle Hatfield in the lobby of the Best Western and shuttled to the water-port, Kingfisher Air to board a floatplane operated by Saltery Lodge.

Bill Franklin was our pilot, a co-operator of the operation at Saltery Lodge. The flight was worth the price of admission as we flew below the mountain peaks under the cloud cover through the American River valley pass to Ugak Bay and up the Saltery River.

We landed on Saltery Lake where the lodge is located which is in absolute wilderness.

Saltery Lake Lodge from Bread Loaf Mountain-Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

Sean and I arrived after 10 AM, unpacked our gear and broke out our fly rods. We had some time before lunch to fish. Sean and I walked the shore of the lake to test the waters and scout the waters for fish and water conditions. There was a light rain with the lake on the rise. We fished for an hour before taking a break for lunch.

Nathan and Sheila are the camp cooks and they do an excellent job with the meals.

At lunch we met the other guests: There were seventeen of us with groups from England, Edmonton, Pittsburg and retired Col. Taft.

We met our guide for the week his name was Lem.

A native of Singapore, after his tour in the army came to America to attend college and is now a physical therapist in Wisconsin. He has been in the United States for sixteen years. His family moved here a few years ago with his brother and parents living in Wisconsin.

After lunch, we decided to fish Lake Creek for Dolly Varden. Dollies are a char with similar color patterns to a brook trout. The Dollies will position themselves behind the spawning Sockeye Salmon to eat the eggs floating down stream. A set up with a bead will catch the aggressive char.

On our journey up stream I saw eagles perched on trees over the water with one willing to stay still for a picture.

We managed to catch sixty-two dollies in four hours and returned to the lodge at 5:30 PM. On out trip back to the lodge, we startled a pair of buffalo napping in the grass along the creek bank.

We had supper at 6:30 PM and became aquatinted with the other guests by introducing ourselves. After supper we saw a bear down the lake near the upper hole, which is the beginning of Saltery River. That evening after supper we walked to the mouth of Lake Creek to fish with little luck. Several Canadians came down and walked into the stream without waterproof boots, getting their feet wet to fish the current and found a few arctic char and Dolly Varden. We turned in at 9 PM.

Monday: it rained all night, the lake was on it's way up. There was a significant wind gust in the morning blowing to the west with a few white caps on the lake. The area we fished had some shelter from the wind. Our group had the first hole, also called the upper hole. Rod and Bill started at the upper hole and continued to fish down stream. Sean and I started at the mouth and fished our way into the lake finding silver salmon running along the lake's edge. We waded waist deep and threw to shore taking a number of salmon; several of these weighed over thirteen pounds. Rod reported seeing a bear at the lower hole. Sean and I released eighteen silvers before lunch. It continued to rain throughout the day with the lake coming up eight inches.

Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

We stopped for lunch and it continued to rain through the day. Sean and I returned to the mouth of Saltery River and fished the lake repeating the same path from the morning. Again we found cooperative salmon with six Silver Salmon caught in the first hour after lunch.

It was a great day of fishing with Sean and I releasing thirty-four salmon and our group catching forty-three Silver Salmon and a few dollies on our second day of fishing. It does not get much better. The lake did rise a few more inches and a boat took us back to the lodge side to finish our day of fishing.

Tuesday: after breakfast we returned to the lake. The lake dropped six inches over the night and we found less salmon. The current moved to mid lake, away from the lakeshore and we found fishing more difficult. Sean did pick up a Silver Salmon the first ten minutes and he kept working the lakeshore. I found a few dollies using my spey rod and fished the cove.

Photo Sean Schultz Bread Loaf Mountain IPhone

Sean went around the point and waded to the base of Bread Loaf Mountain. He decided to climb Bread Loaf Mountain and made it 1/3 the way up before retreating back to the lake for lunch.

Photo Sean Schultz Bread Loaf Mountain IPhone

After lunch, Sean decided to stay back at the lodge; he was worn out from his climb. Rod, Bill and I spent the afternoon in the lower hole. The water was colored with a good flow.

There were plenty of fresh Silvers moving up from the salt, since many of the fish we caught had sea lice attached to the fish and were bright chrome colored. We caught sixteen Silvers and twenty-six Dolly Varden and fished until 6:30 PM.

Wednesday: the day started with an overcast sky with periods of rain. Lem took us down river in a suburban to the Slough hole. The trail was wet and full of water. A dozen buffalo blocked our path and delayed us. They had no fear of the vehicle and did not step out of the way. We took the opportunity to take a few photos from our seats.

Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

After a five-minute encounter, we drove another 100 yards to park the vehicle. The buffalo stayed away and laid down in the trees nearby. We took our rods and checked a few holes with a few dollies caught, no salmon seen.

Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

Thirty minutes later we had a bear encounter, he walked around us for twenty minutes as we took pictures and video. The bear was not comfortable with out presences.

Here is a link to bear video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-i4U0vIzZY

After the bear moved up stream and out of view, we returned to the suburban and Lem took us up stream to Jim's Hole. Again we spread out and found a few dollies in the area. Two Canadians from the lodge came from up stream, getting separated from their group by a bear on the river. The bear was defensive, shook his head and pounded the gravel bar with his front legs, letting them know to move on and get out of his fishing waters. They retreated around the bear and made a wide path through the brush. It was almost noon and seven of us packed into the suburban and returned to the lodge. On our way back another suburban with Geoff behind the wheel was looking for the Canadians. All of us returned safe with plenty of bear tales.

After lunch, Sean decided to fish Lake Creek. The rain had stopped with the sun breaking through the clouds. A rainbow was seen to the north with Sean standing under it as he fished.

I let Sean know where to find us, as he wanted to stayed at Lake Creek. I returned to the upper hole, where four spinner fishermen stood throwing their hardware. I walked past them and into the lake, not looking back. In a short time, I found a Silver Salmon on the opposite bank. The lake was still a little high with cloudy water; I could see my boots a foot under. A light wind scuffed the surface of the lake. I continued to wade the shoreline waist deep in lake water working my way to the cove. Later, Bill came from the lodge and Joe ferried him across with a boat. Bill worked out his line and on his first cast hooked a Silver Salmon.

See YouTube video of Bill fighting a Silver Salmon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyMUYjKkkuQ

Bill continued to find cooperative Cohoes missing the set of the hook but getting them to jump and making all kinds of commotion. I found four more Silver Salmon that afternoon.

Sean joined us after 5 PM. Bill left with Lem in the boat, Sean and I stayed until 6 PM with Sean picking up another Silver Salmon in the sand. On our way back to the opposite shore we saw a bear swimming across the river at the upper hole and lost sight of him. Toby, a member of the English group came back to look for a pair of sunglasses he lost and he saw the bear. We waited for the bear but it must have made its way to the brush.

Rod fished the lower hole with only a few people around and did well landing four Silver Salmon and losing that many. He witnessed an interesting event. A fellow with an expensive Sage rod fished just below Rod. This fellow hooked and was trying to land a Silver Salmon without assistance. He took his rod and tried to lift the ten pound fish out of the water and onto a steep gravel bank only to shatter the rod. The fish slid down the bank. The fellow threw down his rod grabbed the salmon only to get the hook in his thumb and to top it off, the silver salmon bit his finger... That is a bad day.

Rod may contact Sage to let them in on the story, since the fellow has little respect for a good rod. We finished the day with eleven silvers two sockeye and forty-six dollies.

Thursday: We described this day of fishing as a Rock day on Rough Creek. Rough Creek is on the west side of Bread Loaf Mountain. Since the water flow had been high, no one had fished it, therefore very little fishing pressure on this small stream. It was not accessible in the lower reaches due to the high water in Saltery River.

Lem packed a few sandwiches and water and we took the boat across the lake to the southeast corner of the mountain and hiked in waders forty minutes along the southern base of the mountain to the other water shed. The creek was gin clear, the banks had exposed rock, gravel and washed out trees. Rough Creek is a free stone creek with snow from the mountains giving it a good flow, with a significant rain will rise quickly and washout. You would not want to be in the creek with rising water.

Lem instructed us to fish the pools and eddies and with Polaroid sunglasses looking into the pools. When a cast was made up stream, watching your fly, you would see the salmon take your fly. It was something to see a silver salmon flash the pool; a bright flash indicating to set the hook. It was great, unbelievable fishing in an absolute wilderness setting. We fished twelve pools in five hours and released thirty-seven silver salmon. It did rain most of the afternoon, but it did not diminish our enthusiasm for the fishing. It was a memorable experience. We fished until 3:30 PM and returned to the boat.

It was a difficult walk going through bogs, steep terrain and tall grass. It took us a little longer on the return hike, as we over shot our target and had to blaze a trail at the base of the mountain back to the boat. Lem said it was the scenic route with no extra charge. The waders were wet on the inside due to excessive heat and sweat. It was worth the discomfort.

It was almost 5 PM and we decided to finish the day in the lake. Lem took Rod and Bill in the boat to the other side and they fished the lower hole. Sean and I walked the waters edge back to familiar waters in the lake. We each caught another silver and Rod landed two more at the lower hole. We returned to the lodge at 6:30 PM.

Friday: this was our last day to fish, the sun broke through with only a few clouds overhead, and a rainbow was seen near Bread Loaf Mountain on our walk to the river.

Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

We walked to the lower hole only to find it full of fishermen; Rod left before us and found a spot. Bill fished the stretch between the upper and lower holes. I took the high bank of the upper hole only to see a bear walking the opposite bank. I was able to get some video of the bear walking the bank with little concern for the fishermen on to opposite bank. After the bear left, I slid down the bank and slipped into the water and found three Silver Salmon midstream. Several ATVs drove in and several fishermen from our lodge decided to leave. I went across to the other bank and waded back to the lake to find Sean. The lake returned to normal levels but too shallow for salmon in the sand. We worked our way to the cove and found better conditions mid-lake and hooked a few more Silver Salmon. The opposite shore was populated with the Brits, lined up throwing spinners and Spey lines finding a few fish. Bill Franklin came in by ATV with his son and grandson to check the roads and do some fishing. They were in the boat encroaching the Brits throwing their lines across the Spey lines. Charlie, one of the Brits gave the boat a verbal thrashing. It was quite entertaining.

Photo Sean Schultz IPhone

We stopped for lunch at noon. We found out Bill went into water over his waders and returned to the lodge to dry out. Rod was fishing the lower hole and caught a few Cohoes only to have the Germans from the other lodge throwing spinners over his line with a fish on the reel; Rod had a few choice words for the fisherman. It seems to go with the territory when the fish are in significant numbers.

After lunch we decided to get out of the sunshine and return to Lake Creek to fish for dollies. We started at 2 PM and made our way up stream. Sean was the first one in the creek and made his way quickly upstream to some favorite spots. He had a pair of bald eagles fly over his head and was marveled. At 4:30 PM, we decided to return to our favorite, mid lake above the upper hole for a last cast, last fish for our week trip. Sean and I went to the lake and Rod made a beeline to the lower hole. Rod caught a Silver Salmon on his third cast, he decided one more and caught two more before calling it a last cast. I found a Silver Salmon in the mid lake and stopped at 5:30 PM satisfied with my last cast. Sean stepped into my spot and at 6 PM was getting concerned because we would stop fishing at 6:15 PM for a prime rib dinner and we did not want to be late. At 6:10 PM. Sean hooked his salmon for his last cast, last fish for the trip.

As we waded across the lake we saw a small bear moving near the upper hole and was running in circles. Later, we found out Lem was fishing that hole and saw the bear. He was not concerned with the little bear until another bear showed up, much larger and scared the little bear. The little bear almost ran over Lem in his desire to get out of sight and out of the way of the bigger bear…All in good fun. We caught thirteen silvers, forty dollies and a sockeye salmon.

On Saturday, we had two more encounters with bears. A bear on the front lawn was scratching himself on a dead pine tree. The bear was walking the lakeshore when the plane came in. The bear took off running and nearly ran over a member of the Pittsburg group. He took a picture of it running at him but it was all a blur. Good fun.

We saw another bear on the opposite shore near bread Loaf Mountain as we left. We heard the news that a plane went down Friday night. An Otter had crashed near the airport killing the pilot, with the two passengers surviving. Small plane crashes are common events in Alaska, but one should know 10% of Alaskans have a pilot license and flying is a common mode of transportation in this state.

If you tallied our numbers you know we caught 123 silver salmon and 173 dollies. We were more than satisfied with this trip and hope you enjoyed reading the blog

July: Eleven Point River

2011-09-27T11:04:00.001-07:00

7/26/2011-7/27/2011: Eleven Point River… Jim and I drove to Greer and rented a canoe from Richard’s Canoe Rental for an over night trip on the Eleven Point River. The water was up at least four inches as a result of the epic rain in May and the river continues to flow high due to the charged springs. In past years the MDC will annually stock this stretch of water the first of July, even though it is a Blue Ribbon stream. The ability of the trout to naturally reproduce is not sufficient to keep the number of trout in line for satisfactory fishing according to the MDC.The water down stream near

Turner Mill is stocked once a month. We took our time fishing the islands hooking some nice rainbow trout, again on a clouser fly dangling in the holes. As we fished our way down stream we saw many changes as a result of the high water and fast currents with familiar campsites gone due to gravel bars lost to the river. There were some outstanding fishing in some of the runs with six to a dozen trout were caught and released. We camped above Little Hurricane creek. It was very hot out of the water with temperatures in the high nineties.

One of the most memorable sights was a spicebush covered with butterflies.

Video clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uEBpybfHoE

We could not wade in some of the areas due to the fast flow. It was great getting back to this river, which I consider the best in Missouri.

June: Familar rivers

2011-09-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

6/3/2011 – 6/5/2011 Discover Nature for Women. Kevin Smith, Warren Wilkerson and I spent a three-day weekend at Windermere resort on the Lake of the Ozarks. We returned to teach fly tying. We taught four sessions with each session lasting four hours. There was a spark of interest with a few participates joining us on the water to experiencef ly-fishing for crappie at the docks. We had a great weekend

6/11/2011 – 6/12/2011: FFFcertified caster school, Cotter AR, Fulton Lodge

I attended a work shop hosted by Bill Gammel and Chuck Easterling which was held at Fulton's Lodge. Our guest instructor was Lasse Karlsson of Denmark. Lasse is an amazing caster and has tremendous insights into casting. If you follow Sexyloops or keep a sharp eye on Youtube casting videos you know of Lasse. Lasse serves on the BOG and has administered CI and MCI exams in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and many countries in Europe. You cannot be around Lasse without learning a great deal. He provided insight to casting in Europe. It was a great weekend with new friendships.

6/28/2011 – 6/29/2011: North Fork… Jim Scheve and I set up camp at Petite’s Canoe rental along the North Fork of the White River near Dora. After getting the tents set up, we contacted Craig to shuttle up stream to Kelly Ford. We spent the entire day fishing a five-mile trek back to Blair Bridge. Jim and I caught a few trout but the hook ups were far and few. The next day we broke camp and packed the gear in the truck and started our day from Blair Bridge and fished past Patrick Bridge and finished the day at James Bridge. The fishing was better below Patrick Bridge with more people on the water floating. I did the best with a clouser fly by throwing it down and across and letting it swing and dangle down stream.

May: Epic Rains, high streams

2011-09-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

5/4/2011: Jim Scheve and I had made plans to fish for white bass when we set dates our first of the year. All of the local streams were high and nearly impossible to fish.We decided to fish Roaring River. We drove to Eagle Rock and checked out the lower stretches of Roaring River before and the waters below the park before starting the day in the water. The biggest lesson, was large trout took a large fly in the deep hole by dangling it with the rod underwater.

April: White Bass, white bass and walleye

2011-04-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

It is a pleasure when plans are made to fish and it all comes together without a hitch. Jim Scheve and I spent one day on the North Fork of the White River. Sean came down from St. Louis and fished with me for three days. My fifth day of fishing Rod Pennington spent the afternoon into night fishing the Pot Hole. The weather was near perfect, the lake and stream levels are predictable, the fish were plentiful and of quality size. April is the best month of the year to fish.

April 6: Jim Scheve and I left Springfield at 6 AM and took a drive down Hwy 60 going east. Our destination was the North Fork of the White River. We drove over Blair Bridge at 8 AM and stopped in to see Craig at Pettit’s canoe rental. The river was clear. It was low for this time of the year, the stream level was 2.85 ft and the flow at 600 cfs; it made for comfortable wading. The day was sunny with a strong wind blowing upstream most of the day. We landed 26 rainbow trout, with Jim catching a male over sixteen inches and had a break off.

On this day, no other people were seen on the river. It was a delight getting out, passing the day with the sounds of the river, wind passing through trees and birds calling out to each other. We finished the day at 6:30 PM and had the setting sun in view on our way back to Springfield. It was a good day.

April 7: Sean and I made a quick run to the Little Sac River to get a feel for the stream and to figure out where the white bass may be located. We had only a short time and had to leave the river by 3 PM since the MTFA club had a MSU class that evening. Stockton Lake level was 868.8 ft with the Little Sac River level at 3.1 ft, flowing at 180 cfs; It is very low for this time of the year. Sean caught and released two dozen white bass in a short time and we took three walleye home that afternoon. We left the river at 3 PM and made it to class on time. It would have been a great evening of fishing.

April 8: The next day Sean and I returned to the Little Sac River. There were very few people fishing, much less than expected, putting very little pressure on the fish with one canoe passing through and a boat leaving as we arrived at 1:30 PM. We found white bass in a short time and continued to pickup fish past the power line hole. I did fall into the stream, slipping on a muddy bank going into the stream and went in head first, not my first baptism and probably not my last. We figured 75 white bass released and two walleye released due to us leaving after 6 PM. It was a good day of catching fish. The Little Sac white bass spawn was in progress. The weekend was probably excellent fishing with all the fish moving into the stream from the lake.

April 9: Sean and I were invited to a fish fry by Norm Collison and his family at Kissee Mill park on Beaver Creek. We heard about all the fish on James River from Norm’s brothers. Every one caught limits of large white bass with a large number of boats and fishermen at Galena the night before. We ate lunch and bid farewell at 1:30 PM and looked at fishermen’s nose and slough hollow, fish were seen with fishermen tethered to full stingers of white bass. Beaver Creek was low and clear. The day was breezy, full sun and air temperature in the mid-eighties. I was sure evening would bring on a many fishermen and provide combat fishing if we stayed. We moved on and fished Bull Shoals Lake in an area above Swan Creek. In a short time we had people all around us with no hook ups. We decided to look at the Pot Hole. The fishing conditions were less than favorable; bright sun, no generation from the powerhouse and low water, the lake level was at 652 feet. The one and only advantage was a strong breeze from the west blowing over the dam chopping the water surface. Sean and I walked out to the gravel bar and threw across and caught nine walleye that afternoon, three of them save for the icebox.
I hooked a 24-inch carp that was released after a picture, a large-mouth bass was released.

Sean picked up a rainbow trout and several white bass. Dave Cook and Darrell from the Kansas City MTFA came over before sunset and fished with us. They came down from KC to fish the weekend for White Bass and night fish Taneycomo for trout. They were very satisfied with the number of trout caught at Taneycomo Friday night and again Saturday morning. Dave caught a few fish with Darrell having a time fighting and releasing a large drum. One never knows what can be found at the end of a line in the Pothole.

We caught several white bass over sixteen inches with the largest measuring 19-inches. We took a limit of white bass that were filleted and saved for the club fish fry in June. It was an unexpected good day to catch walleye and large white bass. We left the water at 9:30 PM

April 10: This is my fifth and final day for the long weekend of fishing. I picked up Rod at 1:30 PM. We decided to return to the Pothole and fish it into dark. The sky was overcast with threats of severe weather after 10 PM. This day had fewer people on the banks of the pothole with a few boats drifting close us as we fished. We found white bass and walleye in the same area as the day before. Rod landed a 19.5-inch walleye before sunset; this was his first walleye on a fly.

We picked up white bass throughout the evening and into dark. The horn blew at 6 PM and the water can up six inches. We marked the shore to monitor the lake level and continued to fish, finding a few white bass in the pocket water behind the gravel bar. It was a good night of fishing and a great five days of fishing. Warm water fishing can be quite productive, catching many different species of fish. I am very fond of walleye and learning more each time I fish for them.

wb we lm c t
- - - - 11 NF
14 3 1 - - LS
75 2 - - - LS
15 9 1 1 1 BS
19 2 - - - BS
123 16 2 1 12
30 7

April 14: There was time to fish before the MSU class. The closest water for white bass is the little Sac River. I packed the kayak and left Springfield before 11 AM. I paddled my way up stream to familiar and productive waters from recent trips. There were a few small male fish and I took a limit within a few hours. There was time to walk the stream banks and found a few moral mushrooms; sautéed mushrooms with fish. It does not get any better.

I left a little later than planned and had fish to clean. Back in Springfield, finished filleting the fish and made it to MSU on time. I did not have time to change clothes or clean up, the smell of fish was not over powering (for me) but a few comments were made of my presents.

April 19: Rod Pennington and I planned to fish the Little Sac. We watched the weather throughout the day. There were storms lining up in Kansas and Oklahoma with some severe weather forecasted to pass through the Ozarks in the afternoon. We decided to wait until evening and fish the Pothole instead. Rod, his son (Keith) and I left after 6 PM and slipped behind a 40,000 ft thunderhead making its way east along the Arkansas – Missouri border the pavement was wet and the backside of the storm was in view after sun set. There were tornado warnings given for Arkansas on our drive to Forsyth and later a warning for Tecumseh Mo. Our evening was calm with a few distant rumblings of thunder. The lake level was up a few feet when we arrived, there were 15-20 fishermen lining the banks and considerable signs of fish in the water. We fished the north side and caught a few white bass. It was not the number of fish we hoped for but it was a good night of fishing. We stayed until 9 PM and left to clean our fish.

4/28/2011: The MSU class went to Mountainspring near Highlandville for an evening of catching trout. The MSU class is anongoing activity of the MTFA Springfield club. We have taught a PED 135 classfor the past six years. It was suggested by past students that we teach landingbig fish. Larry made the arrangements for us to meet at the pay-to-fishfacility. The trout were large and gullible with many of the students hooking,landing trophy trout and getting a picture before releasing them back to the water. It proved to be a success evening for the students.

4/30/2011: MSU class traveled to RoaringRiver state park. There was a significant rain a few days before the outingwith the water up a foot and dirty. Earlier in the week there was some floodingin the camp areas with some areas still closed. Fishing was difficult due tohigh and dirty water. Both of the students fishing with me did find a fewtrout. A dry fly worked in shallow water and a wooly bugger worked in deeppools. It was a success day of fishing with catching somewhat challenging.

March: Bull Shoals, Beaver Creek, Swan Creek and more...

2011-03-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

The Whistle Bridge in Slough Hollow water gauge 3.0 ft

March 8, 2011: There are days when fishing is tough; you’re not able to find a fish to catch and the keys to the truck are locked inside with a spare on its way from Springfield. This is a making of a fishing adventure.

Earlier that day, I called Ty Ingram to get a fishing report and decided to try Beaver Creek. It was late in the afternoon. I drove to fisherman’s nose access; a tree fell across the road and I had to drive around it in slippery mud. My heart raced a little with the spinning of the tires to get back on the gravel lane. All happened without getting stuck with the truck. Beaver Creek was at (3.1 ft) with a high water event (7.0 ft) six days before. More than likely the walleye eye moved up stream. I checked out the whistle bridge in Slough Hollow and decided to fish around the bend and into the broken water below the rocks.

As I was getting into waders, watching the water for movement, hoping to see a fish; I shut the doors to the truck and then realized the keys were in the ignition. The spare key was with Ann in Springfield. Lucky for me, the phone was in my pocket. I called her for help. Ann answered the phone and I explained my dilemma. Ann was not happy, she went on line with the computer to look for Pop-a-lock or any one in the Kissee Mill area to solve the problem. She did not find a service, and concluded an unplanned trip to Beaver Creek was coming. Deep in thought, and going out the door. Ann locked her keys in the house. The spare key was given to Julie a friend who occasionally watches our cats when we are away. Ann called Julie and she came to our house to let Ann in to get her keys. Ann figured this was God’s way to humble her to her thoughts and my situation.

Julie asked to join Ann, so they stopped in Branson for dinner and rescued me at 8:30 PM. I fished from the bend at fishermen’s nose to the water across the whistle bridge. I did not hook up and see any fish. Again, it would probably be wise to kayak this area to get an idea to the structure and look for fish in the holes.

After, I sharing Ann’s keys and unlocking the truck. Julie and Ann returned to Springfield. I stopped at Shadow Rock Park in Forsyth to survey Swan Creek. There were fish moving with a fish near my feet as I began to cast a line. I did see walleye moving behind me while fishing the gravel at the mouth of the creek. The lighting is almost too much, with the sodium and mercury streetlights burning bright in the area. I was able to see walleye porpoise out of the water. Bull Shoals was up from my last trip; the lake level was 649.4 ft.

I fished until 10:30 PM. My next trip will be Sunday afternoon into the night.

The Whistle Bridge with low water 2,5 ft 3/13/11

March 13, 2011: Made my third trip to Bull Shoals. There was some rain on the drive from Springfield. The lake level was 650 ft; up a little from the last trip with some passing water through the powerhouse: a good current was flowing in the pothole. I did not see any fish moving the surface. A bald eagle did pass over going down stream and 15 minutes later returning passing over the dam on he way back to Lake Taneycomo. I did not catch a fish out of the pothole but a saw a few fishermen catch pan fish. The generation stop an hour later, and it seemed everyone jumped in their vehicles and left. I followed a short time later and drove to Beaver Creek.

The phone gave an alert for a severe thunderstorm warning for Lawrence County. The sky was overcast with a little rain. Beaver Creek was at 2.5 ft, down from last Tuesday (3.2 ft) and clear. One could see most of the bottom of the creek at the whistle bridge. I walked up the creek where I know a safe crossing and fished the other side. I walked the bank for about a mile. After sunset, the air cooled with a cold front moving in a few flashes of lightning was seen.

My first White bass of 2011

There were at least twenty fishermen below the maiden hole. I managed to catch six white bass will all but one small. They were caught in a span of an hour. I fished until 8:30 PM before retracing my steps back to the truck, which was parked at the Whistle Bridge. There was lightning in the area and I made a few phone called to get a computer up to possible cells in the area. After, getting an all clear, I drove to Swan Creek to finish the night of fishing. Last trip, I saw a few walleye moving in the shallow water. On the night I saw nothing. There was a boat half way to the dam from Swan Creek with extremely bight lights, I am curious to know if that was the MDC doing their annual survey and capture of ripe walleye for the hatchery?

I fished until 10 PM and called it a night, will return on Friday.

Twenty fishermen set up below maiden Hole

Note: Beaver Creek came up 3 ft 3/14/11 to 5.5 ft. It is on the fall as of this morning 3/15/11 10 AM.

March 18, 2011: I made a trip back to the Pot Hole. With an early run of white bass, I assumed the James River and Beaver Creek would be saturated with boats and bank fishermen. The Pot Hole had a few fishermen with a minimum generation flowing through the powerhouse. The lake was at 650 ft. The day was overcast, temperatures in the mid-fifties and a strong north wind that calmed after sunset. The moon was not visible but you could see some light coming through the cloud cover.

The three tree hole at 650 ft 3/18/11

I packed the kayak on the truck with intentions to search the water near Silver Creek. Most of the gravel is under water, a hazard for powerboats and waders if the water comes up too fast. I hooked three walleye with the largest measuring 23-inches. The other was 18.5 inches and a returned fish 17.5 inches.

Hope to get back next Friday.

Powersite Dam at 650 ft, no generation... Paul would say move on

March 25, 2011: Again I packed the kayak and returned to Bull Shoals. There was no water coming through the powerhouse in the afternoon with the lake level at 650 ft. The area below the dam did not look fishy. There were a two boats running in the skinny water. I decided to try the old boat dock area. Paul always made a point to give this area a try in the springtime. I unloaded the kayak and made it ready for a trip up the lake. After covering this water with a buck-tail streamer for an hour, watching six boats moving about without any action and observing some action on the surface. I decided it was time to move up the lake and fish below Silver Creek. There were fewer boats in this area with several groups of people moving in and out from the water near Silver creek. I fished until 9 PM before packing up and cleaning a few fish. I managed a pair of walleye and a few white bass. The largest walleye was a spawned out female taped at 27-inched.

This walleye measured 27-inches, a spawned out female

March 31, 2011: Sometimes you have to make changes to fit in several activities. Early spring fish is best in the evening, the water being the warmest, failing light provides cover for fish, allowing them to move and feed. With the day off I wanted to fish the evening, but had committed time to the MSU class from 6-10 PM. So, I decided to fish sunrise. I woke at 3 AM after working several hours before, made a pot of coffee and on the rode before 4 AM. The kayak was set into the water and I made a trip to the spot were fishing had been good. The Pot Hole was up (about 2 feet) with a level of 652 ft. I found the spot and started to work the water. The horn from the powerhouse sounded at 6 AM, with moving water a short time later. It was all coming together for a good morning of fishing. A little later, a flashlight was seen coming down the trail from above and it came down the trail to where I was fishing. I turned on my light to let my presence be known and this individual continued to move my way. He stepped over my kayak, passed behind me and sat a bucket within rods length. It was still dark. I made a comment to the new arrival that I was fly-fishing and I feared for his safety, since he was sitting in the path of my back cast. He moved a short distance. He proceeded to fish for the next couple of hours, watched me cast and wanted to talk about fishing. I am not a social fisherman and usually like to move and cover water. In the dark one is confined to how far one can see. So, I had only a limited area to fish. Needless to say, I did not hook up, with the higher water maybe the fish moved, too many lines in the water, who knows. Later that morning when I returned to the truck to pack up and leave I saw activity on the surface from gizzard shad and wonder if the walleye and whites have enough water for cover and were feeding on these bait fish. Next time maybe, with the next trip Wednesday to the North Fork and then four days chasing white bass.

February: The end of Winter Catch and Release

2011-02-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

Feb 7, 2011: Bennett Spring State Park had a little more snow than Springfield (more than a foot). The Red-tail hawk made his rounds. No eagles, turkeys or deer; they must be hunkering down. The wind was blowing up stream, which is a challenge. Some mayflies were coming off, but the size of the hatch has diminished in numbers. I saw the typical BWO and some different mayflies, same size but different colors. Some light colored midges almost #16 seen on the surface

The first hour near the dam was good and caught a few along the edges working my way up stream. After 2 PM, hooking a trout was tough. It was a good day of 15-20 trout.

The wind was raw and I had to keep the hands covered in mittens most of the afternoon. No other fishermen in sight, I did see a fisherman walking towards his car after the horn blew, he was below the dam.

Not many tracks of fishermen in the snow above the dam, I did see Rod tracks from his trip on Sunday. He had a very good day on the water.

One more trip, plan to fish one day next weekend.

Feb 13,2011: It is not often that one can witness such a seasonal change. That is what happened this weekend with the ground covered with a foot of snow and ice from recent snowstorms, followed by cold arctic high pressure that left most of the Midwest in subfreezing temperatures for past ten days.

This past weekend, the temperatures climbed into the sixties. The snow covered hills and pastures in the morning had all but disappeared with the spring like day full of sun, warm breezes and people flocking to the park for the final days of catch and release trout fishing at Bennett Spring State Park.

Rod and I arrived the park at 11 AM, and had a difficult time figuring out where to fish due to the number of fishermen. We finally slipped in the area above the dam and were able to work up stream. The bright sun on the water made it difficult to see trout and the shadows from the birds flying over, fly line on the surface and fishermen rambling about put the trout on alert.
The MDC left the aquatic plants in the stream and did not cut them until after the catch and release season. The plants were the places for the hatching activity through out the winter.

Needless to say, Rod managed seventeen trout and I released fifteen. For me I considered these numbers good with sun and moving fishermen.

This will be my last trip to Bennett to fish for a while. March 1 will start soon with more fishermen and the sense of serenity fishing the winter catch and release season will vanish.
My next trip will be the Pot Hole waiting for the walleye.

Feb 28, 2011: My first trip to the Pot Hole since last April, it is amazing how much it has changed. The lake level was 648 ft in the tail-waters below power-site dam and no current. Last year, I fished it out of a Kayak and noted a level around 660 ft. A difference of 12 ft. The holes I fished are now a gravel bars and dry with the lake, Bull Shoals low and clear. I did not start to fish until sun set and waded some distance. There was no shad activity or fishing breaking water. I found the bottom several times losing flies to the sharp rocks on the bottom. I eventually tied on a 12 lb leader to prevent quick break-offs and abused the fly hitting the rocks. Needless to say, no takes, spent the evening watching lightning moving in from the west. I have some ideas where the fish may lie, need to take a kayak trip to cover more water during the day to figure out a few things and note new structure in the water.

January: New Year at the State Parks

2011-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

My plans for the weekend changed several times. I had considered camping with Kevin Smith Saturday night at Montauk State Park. He had a change in mind and went to Table Rock Lake State Park to fish Taneycomo and some of the small creeks around Branson. With Kevin’s new destination, I considered going down to fish Taneycomo after work Friday night. Then I saw the weather forecast, temperatures falling below twenty degrees after midnight to early Saturday morning; too cold to night fish.
Kevin had to leave his campsite Friday morning due to tornado warnings and torrential rains.

He gave an account of his trip in his blog: flywatersedge.blogspot.com

So, I decided to return to Bennett Spring. The day was cool but remained above freezing for the afternoon. The day was bright as the high-pressure wave moved through the Ozarks. I started below the stone bridge and worked my way upstream. There was a significant midge and BWO mayfly hatch. The catching was steady throughout the afternoon with fourteen to hand and released. Two eagles were spotted, with a dozen deer seen at three different locations and a rafter of turkeys were seen in a field off of HWY 65. Hope to fish Montauk next week with Rod.

JAN 8, 2011: Ann was invited to make a trip to Michigan with Jenn, Desmond, Sean and Sarah, spending time with my parents. I was not able to find more days off from work. So, I stayed home with the cats. I had the weekend off and went fishing. On Saturday, Rod Pennington and I drove to Montauk State Park to spend the day trout fishing. When we arrive the park, I gave him a tour since this was his first visit to Montauk. There was a light snow flurry, with an overcastted sky that left ice in our guides most of the day. There were a dozen fishermen seen throughout the day. We fished zone 1 working our way upstream with dry flies. We found a few cooperative trout, taking fifteen rainbows with caddis patterns, a # 16 Adam dry flies. One eagle did fly over-head midday. Late afternoon, a fog formed over the spring creek and we finished the day at the spring. Rod seemed to enjoy the day, and his first fishing trip to Montauk.

We ate the park lodge that evening, they have winter hours serving hot meals with a few cabins open for the winter catch and release season.

JAN 9, 2011: Every once and a while you are given a day of fishing in which everything comes together: a overcastted day with a variable wind, a great hatch of mayflies and midges, and best of all, many trout actively taking a dry fly for three hours. The day remained sub-freezing with ice forming in my guides the entire day.
When I arrived the park, I saw two fellows at the outlet in zone two, a fisherman at the handicap hole; a total of four fishermen in the water for the day. I fished from the dam in zone 1, working my way upstream. I found an eagle perched in a sycamore across the handicap access ramps when I was getting ready to jump into the waders. So, I took the camera down to the waters edge to get a few photos.

I was in the water at 11 AM; the trout were forming rings as far as the eye could see. There were no other fishermen in sight, the trout were not alarmed, and they were on the hunt for insects on the surface.

The first three hours was bliss, taking trout was easy, spot one taking an insect and drop a dry fly in front of him, set the hook, over and over and over. I caught and released trout without counting; a pair of eagles would periodically fly overhead. A beaver was spotted in the water near the opposite bank; fresh signs seen below the Holland dam. this fishing at its best. I did see four deer and turkey while driving. It was a great weekend to be out and enjoying our state parks.

JAN 16, 2011: The weather turned out better that predicted, with a mild NW wind, freezing temperatures and high cloud cover with occasional sunshine. There were fifteen to twenty fishermen fishing the spring waters from the spring to the
Whistle Bridge. Rod and I fished in zone 1 above the dam. Rod fished a favorite spot he discovered many years ago and had success pulling one trout after another on a dry fly.

I repeated the same trek as past trips fishing upstream from the dam, wading around the deep holes throwing a dry fly to the weeds. The trout were taking top water with midges and Baetis mayflies emerging most of the afternoon. Rod and I released a total of forty plus trout for the day. The eagles flew over high in the sky; they did not perch near the water’s edge this afternoon. A red tail hawk sat on a branch across from me the on the right bank.

He flew off to pick up some weeds near the hatchery and spent twenty minutes picking through it looking for a tasty morsel. I took a few photos, with only the hindquarters in view. I was not able to get a good frontal picture. Rod and I fished to 4 PM. We saw a few deer along the roadside on our trip to Springfield. My next trip will be Friday with a high of 26°F predicted as a high. It should be a quite time at Bennett Spring.

Again, I return to Bennett Spring. The weather was predicted to be very cold after a winter storm passes through on Wednesday. I-44 was clear with the country roads still covered with ice and snow; the maximum driving speed was 40 mpr. It was after 11 AM when I drove into the park. The day was overcast and warmer than expected. There were a few cars passing through the park with no one stopping to fish the water. I stopped at the bathroom facility near the Holland dam and put on the waders; it is dry with a bench. I drove back to the dam and parked the truck in view of the river cam.

The spring creek was very active; a hatch of midges and mayflies were coming off with trout dimpling the water in all directions. I recorded action on video. I slipped quietly into the water above the dam and worked my way upstream like the previous trips. The trout were not picky taking my fly again and again, with a rate of 10-12 trout an hour. Most of the trout were normal in size with a few near fifteen inches. The time between noon and 3 PM was very active with the final hour, no hatches and the trout resting.

I did see an eagle upstream of me; it perched on a Sycamore limb over the water for an hour. A Red-tail hawk flew in and sat above for a few minutes; I was able to get a good photo of him looking at me.

Paul would say, you only get a few memorial days of fishing each year, I have had several for 2011 and it’s only January with three more weekends left. It is enough to return again and again…. Tight lines kds

December: Finally Back to the Water

2010-12-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

I have not fished since my return from Alaska; it has been eight weeks. Where does time fly? I have been working on a project at work, with several ongoing chores around the house and then there is the birth of Desmond. This is Jennifer first child and our first grandchild. My days off have been filled with activities and traveling to places other than a fishing destination.

DEC 5, 2010: I finally found a day and arranged a trip with Kevin Smith. We found out and were given a tip from another club member (Dan Ditzler) of a recent stocking of rainbow trout on Capps Creek I followed Kevin to Jolly Mill where we started our day before noon. The sky was clear, with cool air with a high in the mid-thirties; there was ice in our guides for most of the day. We did find small trout near the bridge; actually the trout were in the four-five inch range. I plan to talk with the MDC biologist to get an idea to the planting Strategy for Capps Creek. Kevin caught a respectable trout below the bridge. We made a move late afternoon and drove to an access downstream. We found a few holes and found a few fish larger in size. Overall, it was a satisfying day of fishing

DEC 10, 2010: I made a trip to Bennett Spring. The day was full of sun with a light wind. The high temperature was in the high forties. I took some time in the morning before the drive to tie a few flies. I went back to the #20 BWO hoping for the Family Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olives) to hatch late morning or noon. I drove into the park before 11 AM, with a moderate winter crowd. The area, zone one above the dam had only a few people in the places I wanted to fish. The hatch was light; there were a few BWO in the air. They did not spend much time on the surface. The midge hatch was more significant with swarms seen throughout the day. There were many trout seen in the water with a few willing to take a random dry fly. A pair if bald eagles flew over me at 3:30 PM, waiting for 4 PM for the departure of the fishermen, leaving the stream to them to fish. On the drive back to Springfield saw eight deer in a field off of I-44.

DEC 17, 2010: This would be my last fishing trip for the year. A cold, cloudy and winding day at Bennett Spring State Park; the wind was blowing up stream, making it difficult to fool the fish with the downstream drift. There was a light crowd and for the most part, no one fished within 50 yards of me. The ice formed in my guides most of the day, with a quick dip of the rod in the spring creek to free the line. I had hoped to hook a bunch of trout, but my #20 BWO was not the fly to fool many trout. I managed 15+ with most of the trout taken below the stone bridge with a #14 Adams dry fly drifting the right bank late afternoon.

There is progress on the new hatchery building, with the exterior almost finished and the roof shingled. I spoke the Mike Mitchell; he hoped to have the project fished by May of this year. He will be a guest speaker at the MTFA club meeting next year to give an update,

September: Returning to Alaska

2010-09-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

This was my second trip to Alaska. I am amazed how remote most people live and how majestic the mountains of Alaska are from several thousand feet above, as we fly over Alaska. Rod made the phone calls and did a tremendous job planning the trip for the six of us. Our group of six with Rod taking his son, Keith: Jim taking his two sons, Jake and Jessie. We left Springfield Friday late morning on a flight to Dallas, then on to Anchorage. We arrived Kodiak Island and the city of Kodiak at 11 PM. Doyle met us at the airport and dropped us off at the Best Western. Our plans were to met Kerry at the Marina and spend Saturday on the salt-water deep-sea fishing for halibut, Cod and Rockfish. We checked in and found our rooms and asleep before midnight Kodiak time.

Sept 18, 2010 Saturday

We woke early and had breakfast at our motel before walking across the street to the marina finding Moon Shadow and her captain, Kerry.

This was to be our boat for the day. The trip was arranged by Rod with Doyle. The weather was fair with calm seas that had enough wind to create a surface chop favoring good fishing. Kerry took us out of the harbor to fish the northeast section of the island near whale pass. The trip was one and half-hours to the spot Kerry had in mind. When he passed over the spot he said there were a bunch of fish on radar. He set the anchor and we dropped our lines. We were catching Pacific Gray Cod at the get go. All of us were pulling in cod one after the other. Over the coarse of three hours, the cod were getting bigger and the halibut started to move in. Each of us is allowed two halibut for our daily limit. It was afternoon with the clock near 1 PM. We had our limit of halibut and an undetermined number of cod. Kerry decided to pull up and head to the area he knew for Rockfish. Needless to say, Kerry was right on again, with a limit of Rockfish (10) each caught in a short time. We had plenty of time to take a tour of the island, with a pass by the WWII bunkers on the south side of the island, a trip into a cove to watch hundreds of sea lions resting on the shore and a cruise through the marina looking at the boats, fishing boats and the large crab ships.
Photo by Rod

Kerry stopped at the processing plant to drop off the catch. They estimated a gross weight of our catch to be nine hundred pounds. The final processed weight and the salt-water fish weight that was boxed and paid for was 308 pounds. We returned to the dock, moored the boat and called it a day of fishing. We walked around the city and dined at the Powerhouse Restaurant near the bridge. After diner, we returned to the motel to watch some College football before turning in for the night.

Sept 19, 2010

We woke at 7 AM and had breakfast in the Best Western. It was overcast with fog over the island. Doyle met us at 9 AM and shuttled us to the air facility on the water.

Bill took us two at a time by airplane to Saltery Lake lodge; it was approximately thirty-five miles by road and trail. The round trip travel time was forty-five minutes. Jim and Jessie was the first to go with Jake and me going the second trip, Rod and Keith flew last. There were some concerns due to the low ceiling and fog over the island. Bill flew us along the coast of the island to the cove and estuary where the Saltery River flows into the sea and up the valley to the lodge. It was a longer trip but considerably safer and a higher ceiling. We were all in camp by noon. I was greeted by a pair of eagles perched on a branch above the cabin.

A little later a bear was seen in front of the cabin along the shore of the lake.

The rest of the party arrived before lunch with a total of ten clients for the week. The returning guides were Joe and Matt with Geoff guiding his first year at the lodge. We had lunch at 1 PM with everyone providing an introduction before our meal.

After lunch, Joe and Matt took us down to the estuary to fish. We saw golden and bald eagles, a herd of buffalo and a wild horse.

There were approximately seventy harbor seals in the salt water watching us from some exposed rocks off shore. Our presents caused quite a stir with many of the seals taking to the water and swimming towards us. If you look in the back ground behind Jim you will see their heads.

We stood in the water past the first trough throwing back to shore hoping to find a cruising salmon. The seals broke through our lines and were chasing the salmon along the shore. I managed a small jack salmon on a Clouser minnow pattern in the salt.

Jake and I stayed at the estuary with Joe with the others going back to the lake to fish the river near the lake and lodge. We saw a few pods of salmon moving up the river from the bay, but I only managed to spook the fish with my attempts to get the fly in front of the cruising fish. We called it a day at 5:30 PM and returned to the lodge.

Rod caught two silvers in the lower hole; Jim caught a Silver Salmon with Keith and Jessie losing two salmon to long line releases.
Photo by Rod

The highlight of the day was Dennis, a member of the Arizona group, discharging his revolver and scorching the tip of his thumb from the powder flash. It burnt and tore tissue from the tip of his thumb; it required a special airplane ride back to the city of Kodiak to get a tetanus shot and a single stitch to attach the flap. The situation was as a bear approached; he pulled the revolver from the hoister when he felt threatened by the approaching bear. He wanted to scare it off and he did, with a scar on his thumb to remind him of the encounter.

Another fellow had a fish on and was walking backwards only to trip and fall into the lake, filling his waders with a full emersion to begin his life as an Alaskan fisherman.

We had a fine dinner of corn beef, scallop potatoes and green beans. After supper we went back to the lake, saw a bear near the mouth of Lake Creek. We fished and caught char, Dolly Varden and snagged a few sockeye near the mouth of Lake Creek. There had been little rain recently over the island and the mouth of Lake Creek was gravel choked. There was water percolating through the gravel where the sockeye grouped together waiting for a rain to raise the creek and allowing them to pass and proceeding up stream to spawn.

Sept 20 Monday

Breakfast was at 7 AM. The weather remains mild with a high in the upper fifties and an overcast sky. There were a few showers through out the day with no significant acumination. We saw bears after breakfast near the mouth of Lake Creek. We fished near the lodge using streamers; egg sucking leeches hoping to find a Silver Salmon. After a few hours, most of the group went with egg patterns and glow balls to catch Dolly Varden. Several of us caught sockeye. Jake was the only one to catch a Silver Salmon. Keith found the best fishing spot; it was the dock in front of the lodge. He caught a plethora of Dolly Varden and char. Several of the Dolly Varden went over twenty inches. The afternoon provided us with several close encounters with bears. There were at least four bears in the area. After supper, Keith went back to the dock and continued to pick-up dolly and char. He had a good day of fishing.
Photo by Rod

Sept 21 Tuesday

It rained over the night, probably less that 0.10 of an inch. The day remained overcast with psoriatic light rain through out the day. Our group stayed on the lake with the silvers refusing our flies in the lake. The dolly varden continue to keep us busy when using egg patterns or a dry fly. The other group went to the upper and lower holes of Saltery River and caught seven silvers. After lunch, Matt and Joe took us to Rough Creek. Joe, Jim, Jake and Jessie went ahead and up stream of us and caught on 12 lb sliver salmon that was released with several salmon missed. In addition, they caught a Pink Salmon and Jack salmon. They saw Murry in the middle of the river while driving the trails in the lower Saltery River section. Murry is the alpha bear going over 900 lbs. and broad enough to take up the entire creek bank to bank.We saw Chum Salmon in the deeper pockets; most of these fish are in the final stages of life.

We saw many eagles in the estuary with four seen together in the trees perched. Since we had little luck fishing Rough Creek and with an hour to go we returned to Saltery River and fished the lower hole. Keith snagged a pair of Silver salmon that finally worked lose. The river was very low and clear with many sockeye salmon in their final stage of life and about to finishing their spawning activity. With the low water, only a few Silver Salmon have moved up river with many probably remaining the bay waiting for a rise in the river. Joe reported after 5:30 PM, he saw several salmon moving up the river; maybe tomorrow will be a better day of fishing.

Sept 22, 2010 Wednesday

Again the day was overcastted with the temperatures in the mid-fifties. Our group went to Rough Creek to fish. Joe felt it was the best place to fish with a low tide passing with a surge of salt water moving in from the bay. On our drive in we saw buffalo and took a few pictures. Keith picked up a Jack Salmon ***

We fished the structure near the mouth of the creek. Joe said the tide would rise eight feet. The idea was the silvers would run upstream during the high tide with the seals pushing them in from the salt. There were a few silvers in the deep cut outs along the bank and behind structure. Rod and I caught a Chum Salmon in the morning session. We stopped for lunch. I did see a Sow with two cubs in the lower section of Saltery River. After Lunch, Joe took Keith and me back to Rough Creek. Rod, Jim, Jake and Jessie stayed back to fish the lake. They reported the rain was enough to start a continuous flow of water in Lake Creek and deep enough to move the sockeye up into the tributary. We fished until 6 PM, Keith caught a Pink Salmon and I managed a large Dolly Varden and a Chum Salmon. Bill and Doyle flew in to deliver supplies and then stayed for dinner. They left after supper leaving before dark.

Sept 23, 2010 Thursday
Photo by Rod

The days continue to be overcast with a few showers. The temperatures remain in the fifties with the wind picking up through out the day. Joe and Matt took us to Rough Creek. The low tide was early in the morning with an incoming tide. Joe took Jim, Jake and Jessie up stream. Jessie hooked and landed a Silver Salmon. Matt stayed with us in the lowest stretch. There were a few fish moving out of the salt into the fast waters of Rough Creek. They moved into the pools but did not bite. Keith hooked a Pink salmon and snagged a Chum Salmon in a location upstream. We did not see buffalo this day with numerous eagles in the surrounding trees. We left Rough Creek at 11:30 AM and returned to camp. The bears (Thelma and Louise) were fishing at the mouth of Lake Creek. They would run the gravel bank and jump into the lake where the Sockeye Salmon had grouped together. After the recent rains, Lake Creek is starting to rise with insufficient flow to move the salmon upstream at this time. These salmon are and will continue to be easily targets for the bears. This area is a magnet for bald eagles, golden eagles and other birds. We had Rockfish for lunch, the meal was outstanding. After lunch, we watched bears in Lake Creek. Joe took Jessie on a bear outing with camera in hand to get up and personal with the bears. There were some great photos of this trip.
Photo by Rod

Jake and I went back to the water, I fished the lake and Jake went to the first hole. He said the water was full of Silver Salmon. I managed to catch a silver salmon and it was hooked deep. I wanted to release it, but with all of the blood and the fish would not have survived. It was taken with Jay good enough to claim the fish. Rod, Jake and Rod had a good time in the river with many fish moving up and into the deep pockets. Each had three or more hookups. A change of weather late afternoon with a steady rain and twenty-five-mpr wind. The low rain clouds blanketing the mountains provided some picturesque Alaskan scenery. We called it a day of fishing at six. The bears played at the mouth lake Creek all afternoon with Nathan yelling at the bears when they decided to chew on the ropes tying the boat to the anchors. Just before dinner, I walked up to check the bears and my cap blew off and landed in the lake. It was too deep to wade. So, I went back to the cabin fetched my fly rod and returned to the lake. I tied on a popper since it had a large hook and started to cast to the cap. After several attempts, found the point to the cap and retrieved the cap. The best catch of the day for me. It is after 9 pm and the rain continues to fall. I am sure tomorrow will be a good day to catch fish; we will see some changes to the weather and water conditions.

September, 24, 2010 Friday
Photo by Rod

There was some clearing in the sky as a high pressure moved in with high winds. The wind gusts were forecasted to exceed 60 MPR. We saw sunshine mid-morning for the first time this week. Joe took Rod, Keith and Jake to Lake Creek to fish for Dolly Varden. Lake Creek was knee deep with enough water to move the Sockeye Salmon upstream. Jim and Jessie fished the upper hole near the lake. I walked down to the lower hole. Jay fished with me and we saw plenty of fish moving into the waters in front of us. The river was up a little, maybe six inches with some color to the water. It had rained short of an inch over night. Jay and I each hooked several Silver Salmon and large Dolly Varden, some measuring over twenty inches. The sun was shining low in the sky with passing cloud, creating a rainbow over bread Loaf Mountain. We broke for lunch at 12:30. Joe reported Lake Creek provided some excellent encounters with bear. The bears moved down from the near by mountains with the rising waters to find the salmon in shallow waters. One of the encounters had Jake was a bear within fifteen feet. Jake said, “Joe told him not to move and keep taking pictures”. They had good success catching Dolly Varden. After Lunch, we all returned to Saltery River and fished the lower hole. The water had cleared and there was sunshine on the water with little or no shade. The salmon were visible in the deeper water, which held many fish. The Silver Salmon were not very cooperative with the bright sun putting them down. We managed to catch a few large Dolly Varden and a few snagged Cohoes, which came off during the battles.

I decided to return to the lake. The wind was blustery and became fiercer throughout the day. The lake was rough with white-capped waves moving to the west end of the lake. I walked the lower and shallower section of the lake to get to the opposite shore. The gust at time would challenge my ability to stand. I was able to fish; the wind was from a favorable direction on my left side and allowing for easy casting. I was able to roll cast the fly out to the fish. I managed to hook, catch and release four Silver Salmon and one large Dolly Varden. I did shoot some video of the conditions and uploaded it on YouTube.

The wind blew all afternoon and into the night. We quit fishing at 6 PM with Joe looking on from the opposite bank. I made my way back to the opposite shore and walked back to the lodge.

This would be the end of our 2010 fishing experience on Kodiak Island. We all caught Silver salmon and had many bear encounters with golden eagles and bald eagles in view most of the day near the mouth of Lake Creek.

That evening we had a fine dinner and sat in the lodge until 9:30 PM talking of the week and other stories. There was news of another weather front moving over night and if Bill did not show up with his airplane before 10 AM, we were to start driving out over the eighteen-mile trail to American Highway.

September 26 Saturday

The sky was overcastted with a light rain, the wind continued to blow, with white caps on the lake. We packed our gear and waited until 10 AM with Bill not able to fly. We packed the suburbans and started our drive out at 10:25 AM.

The road (trail) was very rough with several sections of the road washed out from last year’s floods. There were times our trip was over dry riverbed and over almost impassible terrain. The trip took 2.5 hours with a few pit stops and delays from ATV driving in and having to find a way to pass. We met Bill and Doyle at the American Highway. The gear was transferred to their vehicles with our first stop dropping Doc and Jay off at the airport. We left our gear and stopped at the processing plant to pay for and get our fish. Our flight from Kodiak to Anchorage was at 8 PM. We took and taxi back to town and ate at Henry’s Restaurant before returning to the airport for our flight. We took the red eye out of Anchorage to Chicago be fore arriving Springfield Sunday morning at 11 AM. It was a great trip and would recommend the same adventure to anyone wanting to see wide-open spaces with a small fingerprint of man.
Photo by Rod

The You Tube video of Alaska can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkUZ8wPryU4

August: Still Hot in Missouri

2010-08-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2010: Rod wanted to know where the best place to fish in August. I could only suggest Taneycomo at night and early morning, but the trip was canceled due to a round the clock generation as a result of the hot weather and a demand for more power. We decided on Montauk that 11 PM that night and ruled out Taneycomo. I arrived at Rod’s residence in Rogersville at 6 AM. The house was dark with no movement on the grounds; I finally realized Rod wanted to meet at his office in Springfield. I did not arrive his office until 6:20 AM.

Rod invited Ryan, who is with Lincoln Financial. Ryan is from Fort Wayne IN and does bass fish but has not been out to fly fish. So, Rod invited Ryan to introduce him to fly-fishing. So, we were late getting started and it was decided to fish Bennett Spring State Park. It was after 7:30 AM when we arrived; the park was very crowded being the final weekend before back to school for most students. We delayed our fishing in the park and drove to Bennett Spring access downstream from the park on the Niangua. It was before the weekend canoe hatch with fifty to seventy-five canoes at the water’s edge ready to be launched. We had an hour with plenty of space for Ryan to practice his casting. There were a few small long-ear sunfish splashing and a few taking our flies. A short time later the wave of canoes and rafts started and we decided to go upstream and fish above the low water bridge at Moon Valley access.

We found the fishing to be better at Moon Valley with long-ear sunfish willing to take our flies. Pictured below is Ryan with a pair of boots he borrowed from Rod’s son at fell apart at the seams.

The day was clear, with a bright hot sun. At noon, the temperature was past ninety degrees and it was getting to be very uncomfortable. We decided to return to Bennett Spring State Park, have lunch and finish the day on the cool spring creek waters.

After lunch, Rod and Ryan fished below the dam in Zone 2. I went down stream farther and worked my way upstream looking for trout taking dry flies. The best trout for me on this day was a 15 inch brown trout taking a #20 BWO. I manage eight. Rod had more success stripping a wooly between the dam and the stone bridge by releasing a dozen rainbow trout. Ryan did have a good time and his casting improved the longer he fished. Rod provided more ideas and tips on getting started with equipment and essentials to fly-fishing.

We called it a day by 7 PM and returned to Springfield with a few turkeys seen on the way home.

AUG 18-19: I was to meet Jim and Linda Scheve at Montauk State Park. I made a stop in Rolla for a meeting at Phelps CO hospital for a work related visit in the morning. It was noon when I found Jim and Linda under a shade tree preparing lunch. We had made arrangements to stay the night in Cabin #7 near the dam.

The park was very quiet, with families back to work and school. The day was pleasant with a blue sky, full sun and temperatures in the low eighties. We were able to get the key to the cabin after lunch and moved our gear into the place near the dam. It was after 1:30 pm when we were ready to fish; we walked to the waters above the dam and slipped in the water above a few fishermen. There was some surface activity along the weed edge, but with the sun hitting the water and shadows from our fly line alarmed the trout; it was difficult finding a take. We moved upstream into shallow and broken water finding the trout more cooperative.

Jim primarily fished these waters and I moved farther upstream. The water upstream has more cover with mature trees along the bank providing shade most of the day. I continued to move upstream and ended the day fishing above the power line. It was getting late in the day, the whistle was scheduled to sound at 8 pm but we decided to quit at 7:30 pm, allowing plenty of time to dine at the lodge which closes at 8:30 pm. On the walk back to the cabin, I crossed paths with some beavers and a pair of deer and captured their images on video.

We made it to the lodge before 8 pm for dinner. We returned to the cabin later that evening and turned in for the night. I woke the next day without an alarm clock at 6:30 AM. The whistle sounded at 7 AM, Jim and I started a short time later. We fished the waters above the power line and continued to fish upstream. During our walk to the water came across a feeding deer.

There were many trout behind the structure and suspended in the holes. Again, it was difficult getting them to take. I find fishing when the trout are in plain sight with a dry fly very challenging and frustrating. Jim and I fished until 10 AM and returned to the cabin to pack out. At 11 AM, we had a lunch and decided to fish the blue ribbon waters out side of the park. We drove and parked about 0.5 miles from the blue ribbon waters and fishing the Current River within the park boundaries. We had better catching with some of the trout caught being Parr with distinct bars on their sides. There were several Northern-banded water snakes in this stretch of water that we had to side step to get around. We fished for several hours and decided to return to the parked vehicles and check on Linda.

Jim wanted to check out the spring. We drove and parked near the hatchery, and then we walked upstream to check out the spring. We fished finding only a few cooperative trout. It was after 5 PM; Jim decided to call it a day. He and Linda wanted to get back to Springfield. I continued to fish until 8 PM. There was a period between 6:30 and 7:30 when the dry fly worked. It similar to a renegade, which is brown and white, this fly was black and white and I’m calling it a Polecat. It was very effective in shallow broken water in low light. I called it a day at 8 PM, called my wife letting her know I was late for supper and would stop on the drove home. I was a good trip and enjoyed the time spent with Jim and Linda on the Current River in Montauk State Park.

12 10
21 11

July: Fishing in the heat

2010-07-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

A river is a place for reflection and solitude. I return to the river feeling like a small boy wet-wading the shoals and stumbling over rocks. I always look forward to the minutes, hours and days standing in the cool waters of the Eleven Point River. Wet wading is a simple way to fish; I appreciate bamboo, nettles and poison ivy overgrowth on the banks with tall standing trees providing excellent habit for the abundant wildlife residing along these banks.

Jim Scheve and I took three days to fish five miles of river, starting at Greer access and departing at Turn Mill access. One could easily float the same five miles in two hours. For Jim and I, time and distance is not important. We return to these waters to fish for rainbow trout, looking for any nook or lie holding a trout. The Eleven Point River is a place away from the computer with the cell phone out of service. The sounds of birds and water take us back to simpler times; soothing our soul with this easily going, back to basics life. I did forget one item that enhanced the back to basic theme; the air mattress was accidently left behind leaving an impression on my back attempting to sleep on the gravel bars. Sleeping on a camp out is generally difficult, as I tossed and turn both nights, sleepless and listening to the calls of the bull frogs, the song of the Whip-poor-wills and the ghostly sounds of voices surrounding us, rising from the babbling sounds of the moving water.

July 14, 2010: We had a delay leaving Springfield, which started our time on the river after 1 pm. The river’s gage height at Bardley was 3.65 ft with a discharge of 650 cfs, well above normal conditions. We made arrangements with Richard’s canoe rental to drop the truck off Friday at Turner Mill. The 17 ft aluminum canoe was loaded with our gear and coolers with three days of supplies. We fished only the first two islands before stopping to camp for the night. We wanted to fish this particular area at dusk. We managed to catch and release several trout measuring sixteen inches. Here is a photo of area we fished at sunset.

July 15, 2010: The next day, we continued the slow pace finding more cooperative trout that averaged 12-13 inches, probably recently released trout by the MDC. We continued downstream and stopped at a campsite above Little Hurricane Creek, It had a sand bank ideal for sleeping on without an air mattress. Several canoes passed us and were looking to camp at the site below Little Hurricane. So we decide at 2 pm, to set up camp and fish these waters at dusk. A rumble of thunder and dark clouds could be seen in the northwest sky. Soon, the skies darken with frequent claps of thunder without seeing lightning. The clouds moved in with some circulation seen. I took a video of the swirling clouds with no tornadoes falling out of the sky.

There was a brief shower, Jim and I took to our tents and had a short nap while a light rain fell gently on our tents. It was after 5 pm, the sky cleared and we prepared dinner. After dinner we went back to the water, and found a few more trout. I took the canoe and found a supply of wood that last the night.

July 16, 2010: Friday we had breakfast, repacked the canoe and on the water before 8 am. We went to the mouth of Little Hurricane. A group was camped just below the creek with several individuals in the water fishing a good stretch of water. We decided to pass up the water and go down stream to give ourselves some space. We floated to the large boulder above Mary Decker Shoal. Jim started at the boulder and I moved on downstream going for Mary Decker Shoal. We did find a few fish just below Mary Decker fishing the fast water. There were more canoes floating this day, with the youth in the groups practicing their stone throwing abilities into the waters we were fishing. We kept moving on down stream and finished our day and trip at 4 pm. We found the air comfortable when standing in sixty decree water, but the time away from the water loading the canoe on the rack and getting ready to leave left us hot and uncomfortable. A fellow standing in the water at Turner Mill Access said the heat index was 105; it was unpleasant. The planned trip for Jim and me will be Montauk and the upper Current River.

5
10 9
11 7

July 22-23, 2010: On this Thursday, I drove to Rolla late in the day to meet Ann and Sean, we met at Bandana BBQ. Jenn and Sara attended a St. Louis ball game earlier in the day and they were running late due to extra innings. After dinner, Ann returned to Springfield and the rest of us drove to Montauk to spend the night and planned to fish the next day.

The next day (Friday), we had our breakfast at the lodge and vacated our cabin. We walked up to the fly only area to fish. Sara and I spent some time working on her casting, this way her first time fly fishing. Sean and Jenn worked the water near the power lines. We had to find a place where the wading is comfortable and easy. Jenn is half way through her pregnancy and it was decided to stay away from the fast water and rocks.

The day was hot with a full sun, we found shade most of the day. Wet wading in cool water is very comfortable. There were many trout in the holes or lined up behind any structure available. The trout were tight mouth for most of the day. We managed to catch and release a few.

At 5 PM, we called it a day and returned to Rolla for some Chinese food. Jenn, Sean and Sara returned to St. Louis and I drove back to Springfield. Our lives continue to get busier, the expectations from others are ever increasing, but the times we as a family get together on the water will provide calm for the mind and relaxation for the soul.

The following is a video of our day fishing:

June: At the lake and on the River

2010-06-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

June 4-6, 2010: This past weekend Rod, Warren and I participated in the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) program MDC Discover Nature Women. This was the club’s third year being associated with this activity with us instructing fly tying. Some of you may remember Kevin Lohraff at our February meeting; he is the coordinator of this MDC program. We had two sessions to teach Saturday morning and Sunday morning. There were over eighty participates wanting to learn more about outdoor activities.

Friday June 4: we left Springfield after 9 a.m. and drove to moon valley on the Niangua River, which is upstream from Bennett Spring S.P. I took the truck with a kayak with Rod and Warren riding together from Springfield. It was after 10:30 a.m. when we drove into moon valley access. Unfortunately, there were thirty canoes in the water waiting for a church camp group. I was hoping for a calm day on the water; it was not to be. I shoved off, Rod and Warren drove to Bennett Spring to fish. We agreed to meet at the mouth of the spring creek flowing out of the park at 3 p.m.

I fished the first shoal after Moon valley, finding a few sunfish and three small-mouth bass before an armada of canoes passed through. I walked back up stream, waited for the water to calm down and fished through the shoal again finding another small-mouth in the hole below the riffles. I looked at my watch and realized it was time to put the paddle to the water. I had six miles to cover in two hours.

I paddled to Bennett Spring S.P. and was right on time. Rod and Warren were there with the truck, we loaded the kayak and we drove to Roach, MO to the Windermere Resort for the weekend. After arriving the resort, we picked up our registration packet, unpacked our gear, set up the room and had supper at the resort facility. We found and talked with Kevin Lohraff and Regina Knauer. After, supper we grabbed a rod and a few flies and walked to the lake. Rod and Warren started near the docks and worked their way to the cove. I walked to the end of the Windermere property and worked my way back. We caught a few white bass; a few small large-mouth bass, sunfish and Rod reeled in and released a carp. We called it a night at 10 p.m.

Saturday June 5: Our class met at 8:30 a.m., there were thirteen participates with plenty of enthusiasm and feathers flying in the air. For most, this was their first time at a vise tying a fly. The class went smoothly, we explain of the macro-invertebrate in the rivers and helped them tie three different flies.

We finished at noon and had the rest of the afternoon off, we stayed inside to tie our own flies since the temperature was over ninety and humid. That evening the MDC had a catered barbeque dinner.

The women had several programs with a campfire planned for that night. Rod, Warren and I grabbed our rods and went back to the lake. Warren stayed near the docks and caught sunfish galore.

Rod and I walked the cove and had a difficult time finding cooperitive fish. I finally caught a large-mouth bass at 10 p.m. Calling it a night at 10:30 and walked back to the staff lodge.

The next day we had another class with seven. It went better than the day before. We packed up at noon and said our good byes to Kevin, Regina and others. We returned to Springfield.

June 16, 2010: Jim Scheve and I had another day to fish the North Fork of the White River.

The river gage height was 2.9 feet and very wadable, near normal conditions and perfect for wade fishing Craig, owner of Pettit Canoe rental dropped us off at Kelly Ford and we fished 5 miles to Blair Bridge.

The water was clear and cool with a partly sunny sky that produced a few pop-up thunder storms in the afternoon. We heard thunder and saw the building thunderheads in the western sky; it rained on us on our drive home. Jim had a good day of catching, releasing a dozen to hand with several fish breaking off. I rolled a few in the riffles and released three rainbows, one was fifteen inches. Just below the River of Life Farm, we saw a deer running from the noise of a mower and ran the path along the river bank near us.

I turned a few stones and found a stone fly nymph willing to pose for the camera. We finished our fish day at Blair Bridge a few minutes before 6 p.m. Jim and I plan to fish the Eleven Point River next month.

Saturday June 19, 2010: I drove to Greer access on the Eleven Point River; I left Springfield at 6 a.m. with a light rain and a few flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder. I knew the signs, not a good start to a trip on a river.

Needless to say, I drove out of rain, driving 150 miles to the east then going south from Winona. I found Kevin Smith and Jeff House getting their watercraft ready to fish for the day. We made our plans several weeks before this day, with Kevin and Jeff driving down setting camp the day before. On Friday, they fished upstream above Hwy 19 Bridge finding a few rainbow trout for day.

The access was crowded with several groups renting canoes and floating for the day. We waited for them to depart and fished the areas not normally traveled by canoe at islands with the stream splitting into two directions. We floated and fished a three-mile section to Little Hurricane creek and camp on a gravel bar for the night. The gage height read 3.85 feet for the two days, which was up a few inches for this time of the year with the water slightly off color.

We fished slowly and steady throughout the day, the bright sun was hot with the cool waters keeping us comfortable while wet wading. Here is a photo of a damsel fly on the abundant stream side plants.

We found a few fish and considered it a good day of fish. We stopped at a gravel bar below Little Hurricane Creek, pitched the tents, gather some wood and fished again for a short time before preparing dinner.

I packed some halibut and garden fresh green beans; Jeff had some fresh corn on the cob, which was roasted over a campfire. We grilled the halibut and had more than enough to eat. We fished a short time after dinner. I saw some high clouds to the northwest and grew concern for an overnight rain; it did not happen. I did learn when returning to Springfield the next day; a storm did hit southwest Missouri dropping two inches of water in the rain gauge.

We called it a day before 9:30 p.m. turning in for the night. The river covered in a silver fog that radiated by the moon’s light. The moon was waxing, sitting in the western sky giving us light past midnight. The stream sounds whispered in our ears of sweet dreams and a better day of fishing tomorrow.

This is the view from our campsite of the river in the morning

Kevin was the first to wake, I heard him at 6 a.m., going through the dry good bag in his canoe looking for a coffee pot. The sun was not seen from behind the hills, with a persistent fog filling the valley. A few spinner mayflies were seen over the water making their final journey upstream to drop eggs on the water’s surface. We ate a quick breakfast, repacked our gear into our watercraft and back to the river and fishing before 7:30.

I found this fellow under my kayak, can you see his smile?

Kevin and Jeff floated on down to the boulder above Mary Decker shoal to start their day. I fished the shoal just below our campsite. I managed to hand release a few rainbow trout and a goggle eye in the deep water below the shoal.

Kevin and Jeff had a terrific day in a riffle above Hurricane Creek and the shoal above the cave hole releasing more than forty rainbow trout, maybe more.

I managed a dozen for the day with a fourteen-inch trout my best in length for the day. Kevin released a trout of nineteen inches with Jeff catching a plethora of trout.

I did video some of the river during the day of fishing and have it for your viewing pleasure. It was great to be on he best stream in Missouri and looking forward to my next trip.

May: Missed opportunities and despair

2010-06-04T01:45:00.000-07:00

May 7, 2010: I made plans with Kevin Smith to fish and camp on the Little Red River in Arkansas. Kevin and a group of his friends make the annual trip to celebrate friendship and Cinco de Mayo. Kevin and Terry went down on Tuesday with Don May and Steve Bilon arriving on Wednesday. I was off on Thursday but had made plans to be at the MTFA meeting. So, my plan was to drive down Friday morning, stay for a night and return on Saturday. I had a hard time getting around on Friday, and finally had the gear packed and headed south on Hwy 65. I looked on the computer and printed directions to the little Red River. Unfortunately, I did not take the time to study them before leaving Springfield. After a few hours down the road, I realized my directions were worthless. I did not know the exact location of Kevin and were they were camping on the Little Red River. I drove for five hours and entered the city of Searcy, a small town northeast of Little Rock. I found the river, a featureless river with a color of mud in the middle of rice country. I was downstream from Kevin, later to find out at least fifty miles. Needless to say, I did not have a cell phone. In my despair, returned to Springfield that evening. I missed my opportunity to wet a line…

Norm and Warren exchanging fish stories

May 15, 2010: I had to day off before (Friday) with possible plans to fish the Niangua River near Bennett Spring. The rains before and during this weekend turned the usually tranquil stream into a raging river with the gage level up six feet. I drove to Bennett Spring S.P. in the morning and stood by with Norm, Warren Wilkerson and Rod before attending the memorial service to Dave Senderling. I returned to Springfield after the service to work in the afternoon.

Rod is feeling a chill

May 18, 2010: The weekend storms dropped four inches of rain. The rivers were swollen and the lakes levels on the rise. There were not many options to fish other than the Pot Hole. It was below 655 ft before the recent rains, now at 660 and filling the basin six inches a day.

I took the kayak down late afternoon.

The water from Taneycomo was flowing over the dam. I went to the usually spot hoping to find a walleye. There was not much action and finally hooked up at 9 p.m. which took me by surprise. The tippet failed and I broke off almost immediately, more despair…

May 26, 2010: Jim and I made plans the first of the year to get our fishing days together on the calendar. This was our first trip of the year and Jim wanted to fish the North Fork of the White River. This is Jim favorite stream with many years of experience fishing this river. His knowledge of the river, knowing the sweet spots enables him to be successful on this stream.

We left Springfield at 6 a.m. and arrived Pettit’s before 8 a.m. Craig told us Hammond Camp had dirty water upstream. The stream was up with reports indicating the level to be at 3.7 ft.

Jim getting started for a day of fishing, we put in at Blair Bridge

Craig figured we would have better luck starting at Blair Bridge and floating 2.5 miles down to Patrick Bridge for our day of fishing. We agreed…

Fishing below Blair Bridge

Just below the bridge, I came across a large snapping turtle, probably getting ready to lay some eggs.

Jim and I caught a few browns just below the bridge and continue to find browns with an occasional rainbow in the mix. The current was pushing our comfort limits for safe fishing, since the water was up. Needless to say, we did not have any slips into the drink. I did have a concern near the end of the day. Jim went on down stream with the canoe; I was to wade down stream fishing a seam. When I started out into the current became concern for my safety. So, I removed my waders, broke down my five-piece rod, boxes, wallet, and any thing that could possibly get lost and stuffed them into the waders. I rolled up the waders and placed them around my neck, just in case of falling. Once I walked off the end of the island had no problems wading down stream. The day was hot in the sun with thunderstorms building around us. We did not encounter any rain but did have several loud claps of thunder around us.

We did not catch any large fish this day, but caught and release a dozen trout. We have plans to return mid-June.

April Chasing White Bass

2010-05-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

April is without a doubt the best month of the year to catch fish. Paul Henry taught me how and when to look for white bass in April. These days are usually warm and pleasant to be out on the water looking for fish. Paul and I would fish Bull Shoals Lake, Stockton Lake and the steams flowing into these reservoirs lakes. The white bass run is predictable in the spring, if you know the ideal conditions. The conditions include temperature, water level, fishing pressure and a few more variables to add to the confusion.

I was able to get out for ten outings with my cousin Mel and Sean, my son for the month. Mel is from Kalamazoo, Michigan; he drove down to fish with me for the week in early April. This was Mel’s third trip in the past five years. The past trips he made in early April were cold and it was difficult to find white bass. A number of cold fronts did move through again, but for the most part the weather was good. Sean drove down from St. Louis for a four-day weekend to fish for white bass towards the end of the month.  We were successful finding fish with the trips rated from good to a few excellent outings.

4/6/10: For our first trip, Mel and I left Springfield in the afternoon and drove to Galena to fish the James River, accessing Blunk public access and paddling up stream to Taylor Shoal. We took the canoe with the oars and a kayak. The James was up several feet according to USGS Real-Time Water Data for Missouri. There was a 20 to 30-mpr wind blowing down stream. I took the kayak and met Joe Simecek and Norm Collison half way to Taylor Shoal. Joe was having trouble with his boat and not able to get the gearshift into neutral. After some shaking and tapping on the cable, Joe had the boat underway and took it up stream. They had already caught a few small white bass. Norm’s brothers came in another boat an hour later with everyone catching fish. The white were small one-year-old fish with excitement by all hooking and landing white bass. Mel and I went up stream a little farther ad around the bend. We managed two limits of white bass, which were released. ***

 4/7/10: The next day our next destination was the Little Sac. The water gauge was at 3.5 ft. Mel and I left after lunch and headed for the Little Sac River near Morrisville. This was my first trip to this water for the year. The conditions were normal water flow with the water cloudy from silt erosion. There was little flow at Taylor Bridge indicating a trip up stream would be necessary to find fish. Jim Ludden drove in, as Mel and I were about to get in our watercraft to go upstream. We invited Jim to fish with us. We stopped at the first shoal and found a few white bass right off. Jim wore hip waders and had a difficult time wading deep enough to find fish. We fished near the power line hole and had moderate success catching twenty plus white bass and keeping a limit for Jim. ***

4/8/10: Day three with Mel, I decided to show him The Pot Hole filled with water. The lake level was at 662.0 and starting to drop. It would still be too deep to wade and we took the canoe and kayak. Mel started right off catching white bass  from the kayak and discovered how uncomfortable casting from a sitting position can be. We stayed in the three-tree area covering waters near the edge. It was after eight PM, when we found two walleye catch five minutes apart. We stayed until 9 PM before calling it a night. ***

Mel showing off a pair of walleye

4/9/10: This was Mel’s last day to fish. He made the decision and we returned to the Little Sac. The water level continued to drop and was at 3.3 ft. Charlie Erickson asked to join us and sat in the canoe as I rowed it up stream. Mel took the kayak and had a good time setting the pace. Charlie and I fished below the power line hole. Mel went upstream around the bend and out of sight. Charlie found white bass and caught ten for the day; in addition Charlie released one small mouth and a bluegill. I managed nine white bass. Mel had left us and was upstream of the power line hole. The sun had set and it was dusk, Mel finally came down stream to report having just caught and released 2 walleye with one over twenty inches and eight white bass He released the walleye remembering the 6 p.m. curfew on the Little Sac. In addition, Mel met and fished near John and Dorothy Prugger for a short time. Charlie kept his white bass for a future fish fry, Mel and I released ours back to the river. ***

Charlie Erickson showing how to catch white bass in the Little Sac River

4/10/10: The lake level (661.2 ft) at the Pot Hole continues to drop but remains too deep to wade. Mel left this morning and started his return to Michigan. I decided to fish the Pot Hole hoping to find a walleye after dark. Since it was Saturday, figured there would be a fair number of fishermen in boats populating the lake. I arrived and started fishing at 3 p.m. There were plenty of fishermen with a number of the boats near the dam. At dusk, the serious walleye fishermen came in their slow boats with poles angled off the stern, trolling for their catch. I positioned myself on my knees inside the canoe casting buck-tail streamers to the trees. One of the boaters asked if I was fishing for trout, and I replied fishing for walleye. Needless to say I finally caught a walleye in the night after nine p.m., a boat passed by moments later asking if it was a keeper; they’re watching the crazy guy with a fly rod. I had been fishing on my knees for six hours and the knees were stiff, the back had an ache and I was worn out; another successful night at the Pot Hole. **

4/11/10: My last day of a six day vacation and I decided to finish on the Little Sac River. The gauge was at 3.2 ft with Stockton Lake dropping its level, so the set up will be downstream from the power line hole. There were many canoes and kayaks passing through this evening some had fish on their stringers and others were still looking to catch a fish. I managed a limit of small white bass, which were released back to the river. **

4/17/10: I spent the morning and early afternoon at the Tri-lake Fly Fishers expo in Brighton, MO helping as a casting coach. I took my kayak with me and planned to drive another fifteen minutes to Morrisville to get in some evening fishing. That evening, there was not much of a crowd at Taylor Bridge; the stream level is lower than last week. I decided to go back to where I had some success on previous trips. Again, I found a few white bass catching and releasing a dozen. **

4/23/10: Sean drove down from St. Louis and we decided to dine for lunch at Pizza House. After lunch, we packed up and drove to Little Sac River. There was a forecast of rain when we left Springfield and we did break out the raincoats for several rounds of rain showers while we fished. We went above the power line hole and fished through the bend and below wading gingerly between large rocks and tricky currents swirling around those large rocks. Before the first round of rain, I found some medium size sows along the opposite edge. After the showers, fishing was more difficult. We managed 22 white bass and one carp. ***

4/24/10: It rained over night and the gauge reading from the Internet indicated the Little Sac was on the rise. It was less than a foot, but the gauge was pointing up. So, we changed plans and fished the Pot Hole. It rain and several thunder storms moved in on us throughout the afternoon. Bull Shoals Lake continues to drop (558 ft) and we were able to wade and pick up a few fish. We caught 13 white bass of size with 12 sows ready to drop eggs. We released the fish back to the lake. **

4/25/10: The Little Sac River water level peaked at nine inches and was beginning to fall, it was dirty but fishable. It was my feeling with this slight rise; another run of white bass should have arrived to spawn. We were a little disappointed not finding a bunch of white bass. We did managed nine females white bass with eggs were released. **

4/26/10: This was Sean’s last day to fish this spring for white bass. He wanted to go back to the Little Sac River; it had dropped six inches from the previous day. Since it was Monday, only two trucks were parked at Taylor Bridge. We found out later, they took a powerboat and went upstream of the power lines. We rowed back to the same area, parked the canoe on a gravel bar. Sean decided to hike above the power line hole. I started at the first broken water and fished upstream. It did not take long and I found a bunch of large white bass. I caught twenty white bass after three p.m. in an hour. The powerboat came zipping by me with no regard to me standing in the water. I had a fish on at the time and left the rod under the water so they would not see I had a fish on. They went down stream of me but within sight, I was still hooking and catching fish after their passing with the water settling down. After a short time they left. I went up stream to find Sean, hoping he found fish. He was around the bend and caught a few. I decided to go up to the fast water and make a quick run. After an hour, I returned to Sean and we went to the area were I found fish earlier. Sean hooked up within a few minutes and he continued to hook one after another. Charlie Erickson was concern earlier in the month, if there would be fish for the club outing June 26th and I told him not to worry. I had a cooler with ice and we each took a limit of white bass, several over sixteen inches with most in the lengths 13-15 inch range. We kept two limits but probably caught over fifty whites for the afternoon. It was a good day of fishing with a task to clean fish, with enough filets for the club outing. If you get out enough, you will get a few days like this, which will motive you to return to the water with a fly rod in hand.

One of many hatches seen in the evening on the Little Sac River

March madness for Walleye

2010-03-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

March is the month for anticipation; the signs of spring with warmer temperatures producing crocus, jonquils and swollen buds on the trees waiting for the right time to flower. On a warm March day, the peepers can be heard announcing their time to reproduce and the arrival of spring. The fish become more active with a feeding frenzy before their spawn. I have for several years looked for walleye in the tail waters of Bull shoals or known as “The Pot Hole” in March. My late friend and fishing buddy Paul Henry taught me how and when to fish this water. He had more of a passion for white bass but was more than satisfied to find a walleye at the end of his tippet. Walleye are a predatory fish with well-developed eyes. They have the ability to readjust their vision quicker after dark and see movement in the water at night. There are only a few months out of the year to catch these fish on a fly rod with March and April my time to target these fish.

3/9/10: Jim Ludden picked me up at noon and we drove to Ozark to commute with Russ Doughtry. This was my first trip with Russ, who is a member of both fly fishing clubs in Springfield , a Vietnam Veteran and a proud Grandfather. This was Russ’s second trip to the Pot Hole and he was willing to hang out with Jim and me to fish. We spent the first hour talking and practicing with a spey rod. The wind was out of the south with a strong breeze going down stream. This particular wind direction allowed us only to practice the double spey cast on the right bank. Russ was happy to get some hands on practice with the spey rod. He hopes to find a blank to build his own rod some time soon.

Rain with possible thunder storms was predicted for this day, it turned out to be comfortable with mostly cloudy skies. We fished the right bank for several hours with a five blue-gills released. We made a move and fished near Swan Creek where Jim caught a rainbow. Later, that evening we moved to the left bank below the dam. There was some generation from the power house with some eddy currents flowing towards the rock pile. We managed to hook and landed a 24-inch walleye after sunset. It was quickly dispatched, filleted and served as dinner that night.

The Pot hole has not changed much over the year; it is my intention to fish there this weekend hoping to find another walleye.

March 14: Sunday was the first day of daylight savings time with spring one week away. I returned to the Bull Shoals fishing the Pot Hole area hoping to find some cooperative fish. It was late afternoon, an overcast day with some water coming through the powerhouse. The water was cool and for the most part clear. I started on the right bank. My first catch of the day was a 12-inch trout on a bunny strip. It was quickly returned to the water. There seem to be a number of trout working the surface; I am not sure why there are so many trout? Maybe with the high water of the past two years have pushed the trout over the dam? The MDC does not routinely stock the Pot Hole, and they have repeated this statement when asked. Due impart the tail water of Bull Shoals experiences extreme high water temperatures in the summer. It is considered a waste to stock the Pot Hole area, but over the years we usually find a few trout taking our flies.

It was dusk; I had changed my fly to a buck-tail streamer targeting walleye. Near the three trees, a walleye of eighteen inches was hooked, dispatched and placed in a cooler. I continued to work the same area without any other strikes. It was after dusk and decided to move to the left bank. On my drive to the other side, saw ten deer in the road and on the edge of the road near Silver Creek. I moved to the left bank above the walleye hole. I managed a sucker that caught a hook in his left fin. He was returned to the water. I fished unto the night and called it at 9 PM. My casting started to deteriorate; the break offs were more frequent and I decided it was enough. It was satisfying to have another walleye for a meal.

March 18 (Thursday): There was a break in the weather. The sky was clear, temperatures in the sixties. There was some cold and clear water coming through the powerhouse. A number of bank fishermen on both sides of the Pot Hole. (Possible clue fishing had been good). I did not see any one with a fish on while I sat for the first hour on the tailgate of my truck watching the water, the activities of birds and movement of cars coming and going. It was almost 4:30 PM; I took the kayak off the rack and placed it near the water’s edge. I considered hitting a few areas down current. With my waders on, I walked straight out into the area above the three trees. After navigating some deep troughs found a strip a wash that allowed for knee deep wading that was mid-lake and fifty yards in length. At the end of the run found some nice trout one over sixteen inches and well feed. It was good to tag a few trout even with a #4 streamer.

Many of the fishermen left the area near the dam, so I fished the edge from the power house back to the area above the three trees were I found a few more trout. As evening approached, I changed flies for walleye; large buck-tail streamers. I fished the basins and a few slow eddies. I did not find a walleye this evening. It had been dark for a few hours, without a strike, broke off to a snag, back stiff and decided to called it a night. The clock in the truck said it was after 10 PM, not great catching but the fishing was good.

March 26 (Friday): There has been about five inches of precipitation in the past week with numerous flooding warnings issued for southwest Missouri the past two days. The streams were too high for me to fish so I packed the kayak and looked at the Pot Hole. The lake level last week, the last time I fished was 452 ft, about normal with clear water. Today, the lake level was 458 ft with water flowing over Power Site Dam.

Here is a video of Power Site Dam:

There is too much water to wade, so the kayak came in handy. I paddle to several areas and fished in spots that were successful for Sean and me last year. I did catch a few white bass all over 14-inches and one walleye measuring 21-inches. I fished until 9 PM. On my way home I drove through Shadow Rock Park and saw several fishing carrying large stringers of fish out of Swan Creek. I may consider fishing Swan Creek tomorrow night.

March 27 (Saturday): The weatherman predicted possible thunderstorms later in the day. I left Springfield at 2 PM with a bright sun and a few clouds in the sky. There were a few boats in Swan Creek and numerous cars parked in Shadow Rock Park when I passed by on my way to the right bank. The water level in Bull Shoals remained high and at the same level as the previous day. I talked with a fellow walking back from the powerhouse before getting into the water. He had to walk the high bank to keep his feet dry. He was throwing spinners and roster tails with little success. He showed interest to fly-fishing and mentioned he had seen me fishing on several occasions and was curious. I showed him my flies and gave him several to try. I took the kayak off the truck and pulled on my waders. The sky was getting overcastted with a threat of rain to the south and west. The wind was blowing 20-30 MPR from the south. The skies darken and a few cloud to cloud lightening streaks, indicating my time on the water near trees was probably a bad idea. I banked the kayak and walked back to the truck. The wind started to blow forty MPR plus blowing limbs down and the rain started. I sat in the truck for thirty minutes waiting the storm out. The storm moved on and I walked back to the kayak.

I started at over the area fished earlier and found a few white bass, at sunset, hooked and saved a 21-inch walleye. I continued to find white bass. I caught and released twenty-one, all over fourteen inches and most were sows. It was near 8 PM, a boat had just passed by and I hooked another walleye measuring 23-inches and decided to call it a night.

Several hours sitting in the kayak can be tiresome. All of the fish were caught on one single fly without a change or breaking off. I consider this day of fishing an A+ outing.

February: Catch and Release Farewell

2010-02-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

FEB 5: This was my final trip to Bennett Spring State Park to fish the 2010 winter catch and released season. The day was overcastted with a light snow falling through out the day. The mild wind blew over the dam and up stream. There was not much acumination of snow on the ground. The stream was at normal levels with some turbidity to the water. The trout were actively taking caddis, midges, mayflies and an occasional snowflake. Only a few fishermen were in the park with most of the fishermen below the dam. I started just above the dam and worked my way up stream in zone 1 with a #20 BWO, fishing with little success. After some time, I started to look for the insects on the surface. The black caddis were skittering across the open water and occasionally taken by a trout. I made a switch to a caddis pattern and caught a few trout. Later in the day, switched back to the BWO and managed to fool trout along the cover near the aquatic plants. I released a dozen with a few trout near sixteen inches. The eagle made three passes overhead late in the afternoon. I stopped at the hatchery office and had a good visit with Mike Mitchell. Mike discussed the renovation project for the hatchery in the near future. He will be a guest speaker at the May MTFA meeting. It will be an outstanding program, mark it on your calendar.

FEB 18: I returned to Bennett Spring S.P. for the afternoon and stayed for a meeting that evening. Since the waters are closed until March 1st, I took a camera and hoped to find an eagle perched in a tree. There was a great hatch of insects with the mayflies returning as spinners, depositing eggs. The eagles were not in sight this after noon. Mike Mitchell invited me to their annual meeting with the community. I took notes with the information to follow:

Bennett Spring Trout Park
Pre-season meeting
Sand Spring Resort
Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 7 pm

Mike Mitchell MDC Hatchery Manager

Mike welcomed the guest with approximately 75 people in attendance. The first item for discussion was opening day. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will stock 2.25 fish per estimated tag purchased. Past years, the number was 2.0 trout. The size of the average trout will decrease from 12.5 inches to 12.0 inches due the decease funding for trout food. It probably will not be significant for the anglers. There are no rules changes for 2010 for the state parks and tag prices will not increase for 2010. The opening day dignitaries will be Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. Gov. Jay Nixon will attend Montauk for opening day. Jerry and Brenda Miller will sound the opening day siren. They have sold their business, but have been important to the Bennett Spring Community for 24 years. Jerry is scheduled for surgery but will be healthy enough for March 1st. The estimated attendance for this Monday opening day is 2340 tags.

Renovation project for the hatchery: Six years ago a trout management plan was worked out in Jefferson City. I recall Mike Kruse coming to our club explaining the plan and providing some of the long-term details and vision for the future. One of the long-term plans was to improve and increase production of trout in our hatcheries. Some of the work has already been completed, noted the Shepherd of the Hills hatchery in Branson. Montauk has made improvements for dealing with possible flooding in the hatchery and installed oxygen tanks to sustain the trout during crisis events.

The spring, the fourth largest in Missouri, has a daily output of 100 million gallons of water, rising out of a narrow cave. The flow is more than adequate to raise trout. The current facility is old and will need some major repairs. In addition, the basement was found to be unsafe. There was some consideration to renovate the old build but financial wisdom decided to build a new facility. The new building will be 4000 square feet on the grounds near the current concrete raceways. The projected cost of the project is estimated to be 2 million dollars. The bids closed 2/18/10 with 30 contractors bidding for the job. The projected number of trout per year will go from 300,000 (current target) to 700,000. It was proposed Bennett Spring Hatchery would provide Meramec with their supply of trout. The funds will come from the MDC and after the completion of the project, a 75% reimbursement from the Sport Fish Restoration funds, which are federal dollars.

Kid’s Fishing Day will be May 1, 2010. The recent attendance is near 800 kids with 1200 a few years ago for an all time high. Some of the events will be a touch tank, stream table, fly tying, fish cleaning demonstration, casting simulator shooting trailer and the first fish award. Free fishing weekend will be June 12-13, 2010 and the Catch and Release Season begins November 12, 2010. Mike provided a power point presentation and did an outstanding job.

J.D. Muschany DNR Park Supervisor

The park and the Department of Natural Resources have taken significant cuts with the recent budget cut backs in Jefferson City. Three staff members have been laid off, two people have lost their positions and one transferred to another location. There will be no additional funding for seasonal jobs. If mowers or other equipment break down this summer, there may not be funds to make repairs. There was a question about some of the potholes in the park. J.D. said they would be fixed but waiting for approval from Jefferson City and FEMA funds. The concession bid for the park store is closed with three people bidding for the 2011 contract. As of this meeting, there has been no announcement for the winning bidder. J.D. mentioned a group meeting at the park every Wednesday to help with task and volunteer their time with projects in the park.

Craig Fuller MDC biologist

Craig mentioned he had some staff reductions with increased area responsibility. He now covers Lake Pomme de Terre. There was significant discussion of the Niangua River and the brown trout population. 2010 looks good for the brown trout with the highest samplings for fourteen years. Craig went on to explain some for the changes with numbers of brown trout stocked and reduction in legal lengths of brown trout which are now fifteen inches down from eighteen inches. This reduction was due to insignificant habitat for larger trout. There will be no brown trout plantings in zone 1 for 2010; there have been some production problems coming from the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery, which supplies the brown trout. We will hear more of this from Clint Hale, who will speak to the club in March.

In December, a sixty-foot shovel took out 153 cubic yards of gravel from the area above the dam. The project to replace concrete in front of the hatchery building has been delayed a year due to cut backs. There was a question about replacing gravel above the dam along the island, which has eroded from recent high water. Craig said he would look at it. There were other comments of more gravel removal below the stone bridge. Craig thought there was too much bedrock. Another comment about the riprap stones moving away from the Whistle Bridge and down stream; it will require some heavy equipment to replace the stone. It may be a project for next year.

Final speaker, District Supervisor R.A. Daniels

The enforcement in his area did not take a hit. Other areas in the state did lose a few officers. A question of riggings and droppers from several fishermen; it was agreed; up to three droppers of single hooks would be within the law. There was a discussion how the droppers were tied on a leader and concluded any set-up being acceptable.

The meeting ended at 9 PM. There was good information and well attended.

For more information: http://www.lebanonmissouri.org/index.aspx?NID=111

My next trip will be Bull Shoals....

January fishing with Ice in my guides

2010-01-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

January fishing at the state parks can be challenging. The mayfly hatches have diminished, fishing on the sub-zero days hauling and casting with wool gloves/mittens test your patients. The rod guides will freeze with the best option to de-ice the rod by dipping it into the spring creek. The trout having seen your flies on previous trips are quicker to refuse your offerings. The small dry flies on the water are hard to see, almost impossible at times, due to the formation of fog on the water during the coldest of days. For me, it is a glimpse to the future with possible impaired vision due to cataracts. I will place the fly twenty or thirty feet up stream of me, not able to see it, reacting to a splash, a ring formation or any movement of my line. It can be frustrating, but it is not the number of trout to hand. For me, it is the solitude and serene beauty of fresh snow on the ground with the sounds of silence and heightens senses detecting any movement. One can detect the change of wind moving through bare trees or see a kingfisher’s flight to another perch.

The advantage to winter fishing is a peaceful park with very few people; eagles perched on branches above watching over you, with deer on the opposite bank browsing the ground for scant food. You can take your time fishing, walking up stream at a snails pace looking for feeding trout or finding a trout willing to strike a #20 dry fly.

Jan 2: I drove to Bennett Spring and arrived before 11 AM. Kevin Smith and Jeff House, a friend of Kevin’s were already fishing. Kevin drove up while I was getting ready to fish. The temperature was in the upper teens and predicted to hit twenty for a high. There was a persistent wind blowing upstream. There were six to eight people fishing in the area above the dam with a dozen or more below the dam. Kevin and Jeff had fished other areas with some success. The fishermen in view, wore too many clothes and appeared uncomfortable, not able to move freely using unenthusiastic roll cast with limited lines lengths. I managed to find a place to fish near the dam, hoping to work my way up stream as fishermen left for the day. The trout on the day were larger than previous trips. Many of the fishermen retreated and left the water. I had some time in the afternoon, a found a few trout fooled and taken on the #20 BWO. There were a few white midges on the surface. Kevin left at 2 PM. I talked with him a few days later; he said was cold and at 2 PM decided he had enough for the day.

Jan 8: I drove to Bennett Spring late morning; the temperature was zero in Springfield when I left and warmed to a balmy 8 degrees. The park was covered in snow with ducks and geese in the slough above the dam. There was a thick fog over the water whirling moving in the direction of the variable winds. The fishing was poor, difficult to see the fly due to the heavy fog on the water. Manage to bring a few to hand, and missed many more. A pair of eagles watched over me for several hours from their lofty spot in a sycamore branch on the bluff with deer working the bluff for forty minutes browsing on the ground for enough food to keep warm. I still enjoy winter with the peace and solitude covered in a white blanket of snow.

Jan 16: It is Saturday, I considered going to another park to fish, but decided to return to Bennett spring. It was an overcastted, temperate day with a mild wind. There were nearly 100 fishermen in zones 1 and 2. There was an outstanding hatch of mayflies, black caddis and the white midge. Due to the many fishermen in the water, I took to the waters near the dam. I had planned and did work my way up stream, but only covered a small portion of water. I did not have the correct fly this day with the dry fly taking only a few trout. Later in the day, with a longer line and pulling the dry under the surface found the trout more willing to take a fly. Probably a small soft hackle would have been a better selection.

Since there was a break in the cold, there was abundant wild life in the open fields. I saw sixty turkeys divided in five groups and a dozen deer on my drive home at dusk.

JAN 22: It was overcast, above freezing; I was on my way to Rolla to meet Jenn. There were several groups of deer and turkey in the field during my drive. There was a concern for a poor day of catching due to the high and muddy water in the Gasconade River and Little Piney River. Jenn and I met in the Wal-Mart Parking lot and commuted to Montauk for a day of fishing. We arrived shortly after 11 AM, Jenn purchased her 2010 fishing license and trout stamp at the park store. The proprietor at the store said it had rained 2.5 inches the night before. The stream was up 3-5 inches with some cloudiness but it was fishable. Jenn and I parked in our usual spot, changed into warm clothes and waders. There were a dozen or more cars parked, but there was plenty of room to fish with everyone on this day respecting each others space. We started fishing with jigs and weighted flies with little success. Later in the day, there was some surface activity near the banks
in protected pockets. A #16 fly worked to take a few, with a few mayflies emerging. We fished almost to 4 PM; Jenn finally gave in saying she could not feel her feet. We returned to our vehicle, when the horn went off, sound ing the end of the day to fish. We drove back to Rolla, had a meal together before retuning to St. Louis and Springfield.

JAN 31: I had the weekend off and made plans to fish on Saturday. After my drive home from work Friday night, it was clear that a sixty miles trip to Bennett spring would be fool-hardy. I spent Saturday shoveling snow and hanging around the house. The roads and streets cleared, that evening I decided to make the trip and drive to Bennett on Sunday. Sunday was just above freezing with a clear sky. I drove into the park near 11 AM. It was surprising the number of people and cars in the snow covered park. But, I had no competition in the area I normally fish. The stream level was up a little and the water was cloudy. I was not able to see three feet to the bottom. (I checked the gage after the trip and noted the stream peaked on JAN 24 to 3.75 feet, on JAN 31 descended to 2.6 feet with a normal stream level of 2.5 feet). Most of the fishermen I saw in zone 1 stayed out of the water, allowing me to fish in solitude and work my way up stream to top water
fish along the weed edges. There was some surface action, but the trout were picky and hard to fool. I did manage a half-dozen. There was a modest mayfly hatch, with black caddis and white midges seen on the water. An eagle made his way up stream at 3:30 PM, with many of the fishermen calling it quits for the day. I have one or two more trips left before the end of the winter catch and release season.

Bennett Spring State Park in December

2009-12-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

I look forward to the winter catch and release program at the Missouri state parks. The BWO Mayflies emerge late morning with dry fly action from noon to 2 PM. I have targeted these insects for several years and understand them a little more every year. If the water above the dam is left undisturbed the trout will move into the shallow water near the slough where the aquatic plants grow. The mayflies will emerge from this area in moderate numbers. The trout will set up in favorite spot to take the duns. A #18 or #20 fly will usually work to take these trout. After they have been caught a few times; they become more particular giving chase often refusing my fly. All in view with polarized sunglasses and high anticipation. This is one of the few places in the Ozarks with the opportunity to fish a dry fly for trout. Plan a day to give it a try. Be sure to dress warm.

Monday Nov 30: I called Frank Moran on Saturday. The weather looked good for Monday with moderate temperatures. I drove by at 10 AM on Monday and met Frank at his home. We drove on to Bennett Spring and arrived a little after 11 AM. There were a few fishermen fishing the area where Frank and I planned to fish. We did not see much activity on the water or the fishermen. We walked and started near the dam and worked our way upstream. It was afternoon before we started to see duns on water. My fly was a near enough to take a few trout, with many of the trout taking it short. I missed three fish for every one hooked. Frank and I fished until 4 PM, with the sound of the horn telling us to quit for the day.

Saturday Dec 5: I returned to Bennett Spring and fished the same area as the last trip. There were more fishermen this day, it’s Saturday…. Imagine that. There was a full sun on the water with light variable winds. I decided to use 8X tippet instead of the typical 6X, since the sun was so bright. Fishermen wading through the shallow waters were constantly disturbing the trout. Many fishermen do not realize the trout feed in shallow water when there is a hatch. Many of the trout moved to mid-stream to shelter themselves from all of the movement. The duns continued to be seen until 3 PM with only a few taken by trout. I managed ten trout with less interest for the #20 BWO fly. I should find another day other than Saturday to fish. …Too many people.

Friday Dec 11: It had been cold for several days with the temperatures dipping into the twenties. I drove into the park to find two fellows fishing in the handicap hole above the New Holland dam. The waters above the dam left alone, no other fishermen in sight. This continued through out the day. I had the waters totally to myself. Again, I started at the dam and fished my way up stream.

The morning started cool and warmed in the afternoon. The sun was in my eyes most of the day and probably made it difficult for the trout to see my fly. There was a hatch of BWO that came on schedule. The trout moved into the shallow water. I still had a difficult time getting the trout to take my fly. It seems with the bright sun on the water, the trout had trouble seeing. For the first four hours, I managed six trout. I decided to walk back to the dam. I was looking for pods of trout and if none were seen, move below the dam to fish. As I approached the dam, I could see many trout up and in position. The sun was below the trees, the water was shielded from the light and the trout were ready to feed. Every time the fly hit the water there was interest. The fly even lost its tail and it continued to be used with many takes. An eagle flew up stream at 3:30 PM and flew over me thirty feet above my head. I was still the only one fishing with a few fellows below the dam, fishing near the bridge. The last hour was a delight and convinced me that the BWO fly I tie and use was near enough to fool trout.

Thought for the day: The problem was finding a place with diminished light. I have fished this area on bright sunny days, with the trout looking into the sun. It is difficult to find a place to present the fly to the fish in these conditions. The game is presenting the fly without spooking the trout. I look forward to the next cloudy day.

Dec 28: This is my last day this to fish for 2009. My daughter Jenn had planned to fish with me but the cold weather cooled her enthusiasm to fish. She and her husband Brent stayed in Springfield spending the afternoon at a movie theater with Ann.

The day started over-cast but the sun did peek through the clouds in the afternoon. There was a fog on the water, making it difficult to see the fly. The trout have wised to my fly, with many short strikes. The trout will approach the fly quickly, only to turn away at the take. There were few fishermen about making their move down stream, but for the most part I had the waters in front of me to present my dry fly.

The eagle did make a pass over head late afternoon, with deer and turkeys seen on the trip home.

My plan is to fish at the state parks for the next six weeks for the catch and release season and return to Bull Shoals in March.

November Steelhead fishing in Michigan

2009-12-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

I have for almost thirty years traveled to Michigan in November to fish with my father and brother. We go to the surf on Lake Michigan to fish for Steelhead on the beach. We have over the years, fished the beaches of St. Joseph, Ludington and Manistee with some days producing many fish. The steelhead will migrate to the mouth of the streams and make sporadic runs up the stream to spawn in the spring. This year was no different for me with a deliberate change in time to fish. I decided to delay may trip two weeks and fish later in November. The weather for the first week of November has been very mild for the past several years. I had hoped better fishing later in the month. The fishing was, lacking a better word, poor.

Tuesday Nov 17 Dad and I drove an hour from his place near Battle Creek to St. Joseph MI. There was a brisk east wind with some wave action on the surf. We fished the north side of the pier. The beach was full of leaf debris piled several feet high on the beach with many leave in the water fouling the lines. We did not catch any fish and called it a day after 2 PM.

Wednesday Nov 18: We returned to the St. Joseph beach and fished the south side. The wind continued to be out of the east. The water was cleaner with a cleaner beach. Again, no fish caught.

Thursday Nov 19: Dad and I picked Kirk up at 5 AM. We decided to drive north and fish the beaches of Ludington. The area has changed with more development on the beach. We fished a familiar park on the south side of the pier. The day was overcast with a variable wind. We manage to pick up a small jack salmon (Coho) and a small rainbow. We stayed until 3 PM and drove back to Baldwin to eat before returning to Battle Creek.

I need to rethink the fishing in November and should consider returning the first full week in November.

October two trips were made to Montauk State Park

2009-12-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

Oct 15: My son Sean met me in the parking lot at Wal-Mart in Rolla. We rode together to Montauk. We were geared up and in the water before noon. We had a time constraint and had to leave the park by 5 PM. We had to be at Alex’s Pizza in Rolla to meet a friend of Sean’s for dinner. The water at the park was several inches high with a little color. We found the dry flies to be effective and manage to catch a few rainbows.

Oct 24: My daughter and son in-law (Jenn and Brent) met me at the parking lot at Wal-Mart in Rolla. They drove down from St. Louis. They piled into the truck with me and we drove to Montauk. The day was sunny and bright with very mild temperatures. There were many fishermen this day on the stream and walking the banks, constantly jumping in front of us. We took our time fishing up stream with dry flies and waiting for the water to rest with all of the jigs and lines frothing the water from the many spinning outfits from other fishermen. There were not many fish caught this day due impart to all of the commotion and activity. Needless to say we enjoyed our day together at the park.

Sept 2009 Alaska Trip

2009-11-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

There are times in one’s life when someone gives good advice; you hear it and take it to heart. This happened to me, almost a decade ago. Don Pennington told me after a good day of fishing for white bass in the spring of 1999; I should not wait for retirement to do the things I have a passion for. He said, you enjoy fishing and you should find and take time tomorrow or next week to fish. Don said if you wait until sixty-five to the find time, you may find you health is failing, with more time spent in a doctor’s office than on the water.

This was the thought that came to me last March when Rod Pennington, Don’s son asked me if I would like to take a fishing trip to Kodiak Island in the state of Alaska. Rod took a trip there last year with his son and they had an outstanding time. They fished for Sockeye at the Saltery Lake Lodge and observed grizzly bear up close and personal.

Our party from Springfield this year included Jim Scheve, his son Jacob, Rod and me.

We left for Alaska on Sept 18 and flew to Kodiak Island with no problems or delays. We stayed in the city of Kodiak, with a population of 5690. The harbor moors 1200 boats with several of them seen on TV’s “The Most Deadliest Catch” which are the Time Bandit and Cornelia Marie. We took one day to deep-sea fish aboard the “U-Rascal” with Capt Chris Fiala. The trip started pleasant with a mild temperature morning, by noon a front moved in with a fog. Needless to say we caught a variety of fish including halibut, salmon, rockfish and more.

The next day, we drove thirty-six miles to Saltery Lake Lodge. The plane was grounded due to poor weather. We spent seven days at the lodge with many fish (Coho, arctic char, rainbow and Dolly Varden) caught, frequent bear encounters and good fellowship. Hopefully, Rod and I will be able to provide the club with a program. The trip was well worth the time and effort. If you have an interest to try an Alaskan fishing trip, Rod or I would be more than happy to tell you more…

Tight lines... Kim Schultz

The following is a daily log of daily events while in Alaska...

Thanks to Rod Pennington and Joe Digiacomo for permission to use their photos

9/18/2009 (Friday)

10 AM: Ann drove me to the Springfield/Branson airport, without knowing the new terminal was across the way. The old terminal was vacant and left abandoned when we pulled up; we quickly found directions and drove to the new facility. Ann dropped me off and I finally found Jim, Rod and Jacob in the boarding area. We departed for Dallas at 1120 AM, then on to Anchorage, AK. We spent a few a few hours in Anchorage before flying on to Kodiak Island. We arrived in the City of Kodiak shortly after 11 PM, Rod called the Best Western Motel for a lift where we were to stay for two nights. We checked in, moved our gear into the rooms and in bed before midnight. The alarm was set for 6 AM.

9/19/2009 (Saturday)

6 AM: We woke and dressed for breakfast before going to the docks for a deep-sea outing. After, breakfast, we returned to our rooms to get our gear for the day. Across the street from the Best Western, we walked to one of the harbors mooring several hundred boats and our boat for the day. At 7:45 AM, we boarded the vessel “U-Rascal” with Capt. Chris Fiala our host and captain. The first person we met on the boat was Carey. We introduced ourselves and purchased a seven-day out-of state fishing license.

Three other fishermen joined us. They were from Zurich, Switzerland. Hans and his party have been coming to Alaska for the past twenty-five years and the past eight years coming to Kodiak Island for a two-week outing camping and fishing the road system. They will store their gear in the City of Kodiak for the year until their annual return.

8:30 AM: We left the dock and motored over near the fish processing plant in the harbor to catch some herring on the hook; this would be our halibut bait. After filling a bucket, we cruised out of the harbor to the mouth of the bay, dropping the downriggers hoping to find a few King Salmon.

The day was mild with a blue sky and above normal temperatures. The seas were for the most part calm in the morning with a few rollers making it known a storm was near. Off to the west, a blanket of fog was present, which covered us by noon. Unfortunately, the fish were not very cooperative in the morning, with the catching improving in the afternoon. There were several long runs with 15-20 minutes stops before moving on. We had one sighting of a killer whale; we saw only the large dorsal fin cutting along the surface. We had three sightings of whales (humpbacks) blowing water into the air and several sea lions with one very large beast near the disposal tube from the fish processing plant. There were many birds including the puffins.

The other mate was Mahoto a young man from Maine; he grew up fishing the Atlantic coast and now fishes the Pacific. He recently earned his captain license and hopes to have his own boat.

The winds picked up in the afternoon and with the fog, the temperatures dropped. The seas became choppy and the boat rocked even more. Jake was the only one from our party who did not heave hoe over the rails; we blamed it on the breakfast. This was my first episode of seasickness.

The boat did not return to port until 8 PM, Chris was disappointed with the morning fishing and kept pushing until we filled the icebox with fish. He explained of his disappointment in the morning and did not want to return until a few king salmon were caught. We picked up a few King salmon before dark trolling the edge of the harbor. We stopped at the fish processing plant to unload the icebox full of fish. We each brought back a fifty-pound box of fish from this trip, in which we stopped to pick up the following week before returning to Springfield.

Below is the tally of fish caught for the day

King Salmon 3

Halibut 9

Ling Cod 6

Rockfish 42

Yellow eye 1

Sole Cod 2

Silver Salmon 1

We left the boat at 8:30 PM and returned to the Best Western. We made it to the dining table by 9 PM and turned in before 10 PM. There was a message from Doyle from the Saltery Lodge letting us know he would pick us up the next morning at 9:30 AM.

9/20/2009 (Sunday)

We woke at 8 AM. The rains moved in overnight with 30 mpr winds. Jim called to say Doyle said we would be driving to the lodge instead of flying since the high winds grounded the planes for the day. We ate our breakfast in the motel, returned to our rooms, repacked and met our party in the lobby at 9:30 AM. Bill Franklin and Doyle Hatfield met us; each drove a suburban from the 1980’s. They have twenty-two suburbans in their fleet, which Bill works on over the winter. Doyle said these are the best vehicles for the tough road conditions in Kodiak.

We left the motel shortly after 9:30 for a three-hour drive to the lodge. The first eighteen miles was traveled on asphalt road, which is part of the hundred-mile road system on the island. Doyle said the road was blacktopped five years ago and was in very good condition. After the first eighteen miles, at the bridge that crosses the American River, we took a right. There were a dozen vehicles parked off the trail with bullet holes and broken glass. Several of the cars were burnt to the ground. We were told these vehicles had broken down on this road, hauled out and left for target practice. First, let me say my definition of a rough road has been redefined. I have never been on such an obstacle course with jagged rocks, swollen streams and water filled mud holes beyond the axles. The road, or in reality should be called a trail was blazed during WWII for the movement of supplies on the other side of the island in case of a Japanese attack. Needless to say that was probably the last time a bulldozer blade touched this trail. Bill and Doyle have a tractor at the lodge, which was used to repair any washouts after severe floods. We spent the 2.5 hours bouncing and tumbling about in the back seat. I thought for this trip; people would pay good money just for the extreme ride. There was one flat tire, which was changed within five minutes. One could tell from the teamwork several tires had been changed over the years.

12:30 PM: We made it to the Saltery Lake Lodge. We were sent to the lodge with the staff unloading the gear into the cabins. We had a fine lunch and made our introductions with the staff and other guest. Scott Poffenberger and Joe DiGiacomo were from the Cleveland area. Scott had been at this lodge five times and this was Joe’s first trip. Joe Solakian is from Milwaukee WI, he has been a guide at this lodge for many years. Ben Walsmith is from Des Moines IA, he has been guiding here from several years. The camp manager was Nathan Mullet, he and his wife Sheila did the cooking and kept up with the camp duties.

2 PM: We went to our cabins to find our gear and slip into our waders. Ben was our guide for the week and he walked us down the water soaked trail to the Saltery Creek. It had rained hard several days past and the stream was high and turbid. There were other fishermen from another lodge (Saltery Cove Lodge) and a few people that came in by ATV to fish, parked along the banks. Ben took us farther down stream, which he called the third hole. I tied on a #4 purple marabou cone-head leach pattern and hooked up a Coho (silver salmon) within ten minutes that was released with another fish on the very next cast. Jim was down stream of me and he was having many hook ups. We fished until 6 PM and returned to the lodge. At 6:30 PM we had our evening meal; corn beef, salmon, green beans, potatoes au’ gratin and dessert.

That evening after dinner we took a short walk to a small stream near our cabins named Lake Creek. The small creek flowed into the lake with several other small streams around this small one hundred acre lake. The stream was up with some chalk cloudiness where we tried a few patterns with no luck. Thirty minutes later, Jim spotted two bear cubs sneaking up behind us. Once the two bears saw us they retreated and returned to the underbrush.

The lodge is on Saltery Lake with mountains on three sides. The mountain that is on the opposite side of the lodge is called Bread Loaf Mountain, for obvious reasons. There are several springs and small streams flowing into the lake, which are the nurseries for the small fry that come from the creeks. There is a stream below the lake that flows for two miles to an estuary entering Ugak Bay. We returned to our cabins and turned in at 9:30 PM.

9/21/09 (Monday)

7:30 AM: We heard the bell and made breakfast. The sky was clear with a variety of colors seen on the mountains. We were interrupted during breakfast, “Kumon” a four-year-old bear came within view. He was in the garden sniffing the air and finally moved on after fifteen minutes. We pulled on our waders and met Ben at 8:30 AM. We returned to the same area with Jacob and me fishing the first hole, and Jim and Rod returning to the third hole. The water was slightly cloudy, clearer, than the day before. Jacob did well catching eight or more Dolly Varden, a native char in Alaska. I caught a dolly measuring twenty-three inches and released two silver salmon. An hour had passed when we had another bear encounter. It was on the opposite bank walking upstream and was directly across the stream from us. The bear continued up stream before swimming across the stream to our side of the river. He continued to walk into the brush and out of sight.

12:00 PM: We broke for lunch.

After lunch, Ben took us farther downstream on the Saltery Creek, hoping to find cleaner water. Ben said we should find rainbows and Dolly Varden willing to take an egg pattern or beads. My first hook-up was a silver salmon. A short time later we saw four buffalo looking at us from below. The bison soon turned and swam across the stream, not to be seen again. There was plenty of Dolly Varden with Jake catching and releasing 25+. Rod found a hole taking fifteen Dolly Varden in a short time. We caught several rainbows measuring eighteen inches, two Coho(s) taking eggs patterns and a plethora of Dolly Varden; we caught just short of a hundred fish. The stream was full of pink salmon waiting to die or waiting for the bears and eagles.

5:30 PM: We returned to the lodge and cleaned up a little bit. We took time to look at a pair of bald eagles across the lake with binoculars to get a better view.

6:30 PM: Dinner was served with grilled chicken, corn, homemade bread, mashed potatoes and dessert. The staff really took care of us. After dinner, we went to Lake Creek for evening fishing. The bead fly worked well for the arctic char, taking two measuring twenty-four inches. Jake snagged three sock-eyes on a light fly rod. We caught 20+ fish for the last hour of the day. At sunset, the fish stop biting. We did have another bear sighting just upstream. I made a loud cough and the bear turned away from us and he moved on towards the cabins. We stopped fishing at 8:30 PM, returned to the lodge to write some notes. I stayed there until 9:30 PM before turning in for the night. The night was cool; a clear sky with many stars in view. There will be frost in the morning.

9/22/09 Tuesday

06:30 AM: We woke to temperatures in the mid-twenties with this areas first killer frost. The ground and hills were covered in a white frost resembling snow with a wispy fog dancing on the lake. Rod, Jim and Jacob went ahead of me to the lodge for breakfast. When I got around and started for the lodge, I realized the boots and waders were frozen stiff as they hung from hooks outside of the cabin. The boots were stiff and as hard as a rock. I grabbed my stuff and placed the boots and waders next to my bed to thaw and made my way to the lodge for breakfast.

After breakfast, we returned to the cabin. Jim, Rod and Jacob took the waders and boots inside to thaw. Jacob came up with the idea to defrost the boots in the shower using hot water. It was a short delay but we finally geared up and met Ben for our third day of fishing.

We returned to familiar waters with Rod, Jacob and Jim starting in the third hole. There were several fishermen already fishing the first hole. Jim and Rod found fish within a few casts with several doubles hook-ups and catching a limit within a short time. There was a bear that walked out of the alder brush and in front of Ben, blocking the road. Rod was able to get a few photos of the bear. Ben had to use the blast horn from the can air that he carried, using it several times to coax the bear into the bush. Jim and Rod reported catching fifteen Coho salmon each. Jacob and I fished farther up stream finding less salmon but considered the morning very productive. The water had cleared with the level dropping a little. Later in the morning Jacob moved down stream to find the Dolly Varden to be cooperative. We broke for lunch at noon. On our walk out we saw a dozen fishermen along the banks coming in by ATV.

After lunch, Ben decided we should try Lake Creek; a small stream near the lodge, where the sock-eye salmon spawn. We started at the mouth of the stream near the lake and fished our way upstream. The stream was full of sock-eye past their prime, with most of the fish spawned out. The salmon were in their final stage of life. We were not fishing for the sock-eye salmon; instead we were targeting the Dolly Varden. We used beads and egg pattern to catch the Dolly Varden. We fished for three hours and caught a plethora of these char, related to brook trout. There were several signs of bears with torn fresh fish along the bank. The water level had been dropping, exposing the salmon; making for easy fishing for the bear.

We fished until 5:30 PM and returned to the lodge. I decided to walk down to the lake and practice casting the spey rod at the mouth of Lake Creek. Fifteen minutes later, with my eyes on the fly line and not paying attention to the surroundings, a bear came in behind me. My first warning was a loud splash. I looked upstream 20 yards and saw a bear in the water with a salmon in his mouth. I call that up close and personal.

Back at the lodge, another guest came in by plane. Taft Ring is a regular to the lodge. He is a retired army Colonel and spends much of his time travelling the world fishing. He was stuck in Anchorage for several days before making his arrival.

6:30 PM: The supper bell rang. There were many stories with the general conversation on the days fishing and general sport related topics. Everyone was tired after supper, too worn out to fish until dark. Several of us sat in the lodge telling stories. A bear with two cubs appeared on the other side of the lake. We watched them for twenty minutes, with the mother bear catching fish from the lakeshore. The cubs would run to her to see what she had for them to eat.

8:00 PM: Rod left for the evening; he said to shower and clean up. He retired and in beds a short time later was Jim and Jake. It is 8:30. The lodge is quiet. Nathan delivers some wood for the stove and sits to read for a while. I decided to retire early and was in bed before 9 PM.

9/23/09 (Wednesday)

Today, the weather continues to be mild and sunny. We started fishing after breakfast in Saltery Creek, in the areas familiar to us. The guest from Saltery Cove Lodge and the people coming in by ATV were not present today. Jim and Rod started fishing in their favorite hole and did pick up a few silvers. I took the spey rod and had my opportunities but failed to set the hook on the few takes from the silver salmon. We return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, Ben thought it would be a good idea to go down stream to the estuary and see Ugak Bay. There would be a variety of birds and harbor seals for us to get up close and personal. We saw an assortment of water foul with a pair of golden eagles making a few passes overhead. The harbor seals were curious and would come within a few yards of us. One of the tests for migrating salmon is getting past these sea hunters. Several of the salmon we caught near the lodge had slashes from seal attacks. The high tide was scheduled to peak at 5 PM, and we could see the water line creeping on shore. The water was wadable as we made our way across the estuary and pushed on to the sea wall. The beach was covered in black sand, with driftwood and other debris washed up. There were imprints of a bear and cub tracks in the sand, probably from an early morning jaunt. Fortunately, we did not see any bears on the beach. This area is home of the bison, the ranch of the one-hundred fifty plus herd could be seen up on the hills away from the beach; with none seen today. But, there was a wild horse grazing along the tree edge. The sun had a distinct ring around it, a warning of a pending rain or storm.

We stopped at several lower holes on Saltery creek with a few Dolly Varden caught and released. With another day passed, it was time for us to rest.

9/24/09 (Thursday)

The rain came in over night. We had breakfast and returned to familiar waters on Saltery Creek near the lodge. The rain fell all day, with the wind out of the north. The mountains in view received a snow dusting. The temperature cooled to the lower forties. I did catch a few small Dolly Varden in the lower hole and picked up a viable sock-eye salmon.

After lunch, Ben thought we should take the boat and go to the other side of the lake. There is a trough along the opposite shore that usually holds fish. So, we loaded the boat with two of us at time crossing the small lake. The silvers were jumping and Jacob finally hooked a silver salmon after some time. We spent several hours fishing this water before retreating and going back to the other side. I fished the lake waters above the creek and had moderate success missing a few and hooking and landing several Coho. We did have another bear encounter at the lake with the bear sneaking up behind us. The bear heard us and retreated into the bush without incident.

We were interrupted at supper with two cubs coming into view and frolicking on the front lawn of the lodge. Mama bear hung back in the tall grass for a while before coming out and taking the cubs to the water’s edge. We saw the three of them again in the water swimming to the other side of the lake. In a short time, they were playing and walking the shoreline on the opposite shore. The cubs were playing rough in the water. Mama bear went out into the water to retrieve a salmon. The cubs came out of the water and on shore to tear into the fish, taking a break from playing.

9/25/09 (Friday)

The sky was overcast with a sprinkle in the air. After breakfast, we returned to the waters we fished all week, Saltery Creek. I returned to the lake water above the creek, in places I fished the day before. The silver salmon were jumping out of the water in the trough water on the opposite side of the lake. I was able to wade one-third the way across and throw a yellow and white buck tail streamer using a full sink line. The fly took few Coho before 10 AM. I was looking up stream and saw a sow and two cubs at the mouth of Lake Creek. The fourth silver salmon caught on the large buck-tail fly was a large male. I played the fish for fifteen minutes and was able to get it within sight. I pulled the fish towards me, on my knees to take the hook out of his mouth, with the intension of releasing it. The salmon suddenly bolted to deep water, with the reel spinning out of control, I tried to palm the rim to slow it down when the fish broke off the 12 lb. tippet. Ben stood on the bank watching and laughing at the display of releasing a fish before it is ready. I was sorry to have lost the fly. I put on a new tippet and fly and walked back into the water, only to find the reel was toast. The bushing had burned out and the reel was seized and locked in place. I worked on the reel for a few minutes and concluded the reel was finished for the day. I stepped out of the water to find Ben to let him know I was leaving for a few minutes. Rod and Jacob were fishing the 1st hole finding and hooking a few Coho. Rod broke off two, pulled a hook out of three and landed a 14# male silver salmon. I walked back to the lodge and to find another reel and change out the sink line.

11 AM: I returned to the water at 11:30 Bill flew over me with his blue beaver airplane and landed behind me on the lake.

11:45 AM: Ben, Rod and Jacob passed me saying they were going back for lunch. I wanted one more fish before quitting. A few minutes past noon, I hooked another female and released her. I did not realize at the time that would be my last fish for this trip. I retrieved my line and walked back to the lodge for lunch.

Back at the lodge, Bill was concerned for the weather. It was pointed out; our flight departure on Saturday was at 11 AM, with little time to work with to get to the plane on time. We decided to fly out after lunch and stay in the City of Kodiak for the night.

1:30 PM: Jim and Jacob flew out first; with the plane being so small only the pilot and two passengers with luggage could make a single trip.

2:30 PM: Bill returned to fly Rod and me out. The gear was stowed and we found our places in the small plane. Bill went to the other side of the lake to find the head wind, revved the engine to lift us off the water. The sky was over casted but the clouds were high enough for us to see the land features, rivers, lakes and mountains. A few of the mountains on Kodiak Island reach 3400 ft. It was a twenty-minute fight to the City of Kodiak. We landed on a small lake that is primarily used as a runway for the beavers. After touching down, Bill idled to place on the lake were he resides and secured the plane. Doyle was there to take our gear and take us to the Best Western. Before dropping us off at the hotel, we stopped at the fish processing plant to pay for the cleaning and packaging. We had two hundred and seventy pounds of fish to take back to Springfield. Doyle dropped us off at the Best Western and we met with Jim and Jacob. We decided to walk the city and found Henry’s restaurant, a place Rod had been to before. I had some halibut chowder that was excellent. We returned to the hotel and made a visit to the lounge to get an update on the college football games. We turned in early.

9/26/09 Saturday

9:30 AM: We left the hotel and found a lift to the airport. At 10 AM, the fish processing plant delivered our fish and we checked them through to Springfield. We left the island at 11:30 for a flight to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. We had an eight-hour lay over. I was able to get hold of a nephew (Trevor) and meet him for lunch. He moved to Homer in July and moved in with some friends from college. He decided to give Alaska a try since his home of Michigan is so depressed with the current economy. We taxied to a nearby restaurant and had lunch and talked for several hours before returning to the airport.

8:00 PM: We left Anchorage for a flight to Dallas. With a three-hour time change and a six-hour flight we arrive in Dallas early in the morning.

11:00 AM: Finally, we return to Springfield, after twenty-four hours of flying, waiting in airport terminals and just waiting. It was good to get back to Springfield.

A big thanks to the Bill and Doyle and the Staff at Saltery Lake Lodge for an outstanding trip.

August Fishing

2009-08-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

August

Jim Scheve and I have fished together for the past four years. We usually make plans the first of the year getting our dates coordinated to be off from work to fish three or four times a year. Our fishing destinations are the Eleven Point River below Greer spring and the North Fork between Kelly Ford and Blair Bridge. The past three trips were met with rain and this trip was no exception. We modified our plans for this trip several times, but finally decided to fish the Eleven Point River for two days, staying one night on a gravel bar. On the third day, fish the North Fork with Jim’s son (Jake) driving from Springfield meeting us for the day. The following is a log of the day’s events.

Aug 4 (Tuesday): Jim picked me up at 6 AM and drove two and half hours to Greer on the Eleven Point were we rented a canoe from Richard’s Canoe Rental for two days. We were in the water by 9:30. The water was up for this time of the year with some color from a rain last Thursday. I decided to fish the right side at the first island, with Jim taking the canoe below the island on the left.

The first promising waters left my fly struck to debris on the bottom and it broke my leader at the loop-to-loop connection to the fly line. I looked for more leader material in my pack only to find the spool empty. So, I had to retrieve my line onto my reel and walk down stream to find the canoe with my gear. It took 40 minutes to find Jim, with a walk through the thicket on the island, wading around a spring and crossing a strong current; all lost time fishing. This was the first of several calamities. I found extra monofilament in my bag stowed away on the deck of
the canoe. I fixed the leader and went back to the water. Jim and I continued down stream picking up a few rainbows in the riffles. There were numerous groups of people on the water; most were there for the float and scenery. Later that morning, we stopped to fish another favorite spot only to find it occupied by a group. We took our time up stream waiting for them to continue their journey down stream. It was unfortunate for us another group moved in to fish this stretch of water. Jim and I decided to move down stream. As we prepared to move, I dropped my paddle and it went down stream in the fast moving seam. The paddle went around the bend into a pile of brush and became lodged in the tangled limbs and branches. The current was too strong for Jim to maneuver the canoe close enough to retrieve the paddle, so we coasted down stream until Jim could put us on the bank. I then crawled, snaked, jumped through the thicket on the bank working my way up stream to find the paddle on the opposite bank. When it was spotted, I lowered myself into the water after measuring the depth and finding it to be safe to slide into the water and taking the paddle from tangled debris. The day passed with the heat becoming more intense; it was predicted to hit the lower 90’s.

It was after 4 PM, we decided to find our spot to camp for the night. It was the usual spot below Little Hurricane Creek, a gravel bar four feet above the stream. There was shade, a flat area to pitch a tent; a good place to camp. We decide to wait to set the tents since it was so hot. I took the fly rod and began to work the fly down stream. A few trout were taken from the rushing water and a place that was an old mill or retaining structure to hold back water for the logging operation that took place here one hundred plus years ago. I worked a little farther down stream to a deep hole that is probably another spring. It was almost six PM when I looked at my watch and knew it was time to get back to camp. I usually walk up stream retracing the path I fished, but decided to save some time and energy by walking the woods back to the camp, which was upstream. It was to my surprise that the Ozark trail was close to the stream going up the side of the hill. The trail is used by hikers and is a designated horse trail. The walk back to camp was a breeze.

It was time to set up camp and prepared dinner. The menu was walleye, fried potatoes and green beans. After dinner, the pans were clean gear put away. Then I discovered my sunglasses were without a screw. The bow fell from the frame. The glasses were not functional, but I did find a safety pin that did worked holding all the parts together. The glasses worked for the rest of the trip.

We went back to water at sunset fishing near our camp and caught a few more trout. I managed the best rainbow of the day on my last cast of the day. We totaled twenty rainbows for the day; we have had better days in the past and a few days’ worst, were we were not able to find a single trout.

We started a campfire and sat around it until 9 PM. The sun was out of view with a full moon rising. The skies began to fade to darkness with a fog forming over the surface of the river. We called it a day and retired to our tents for a peaceful night of sleep.

The fog on water at sunset

Unfortunately as soon as I was on my sleeping bag, a flash was seen without thunder. Five minutes later another flash without thunder; I though maybe Jim was out and about with his flashlight. It was not to be. Soon, the flashes of lightening are more frequent and brighter. I look to the sky to see a full moon with the sky overhead clear with stars looking back. The storms appeared to be in the northeast, by most calculations not a problem. The storm should move to the east and slip past us. But this night, the storm moved to the southwest. It was a slow moving system and did not pass over our camp until 1 AM with some intense rain. The storm continued to move to the southeast with our sleep uneasy and concerns for a rising stream. Jim did comment the next day, it was the most severe weather he had to endure while huddled in a sleeping bag with a tent for shelter.

Aug 5 (Wednesday): All was calm by 2 AM. At 5 AM, we woke to the sounds of a deer splashing in the stream attempting to cross the nearby shoal. It probably picked up our scent, changed its mind about crossing and swam down stream past our tents. Later that morning we saw a pack of dogs probably giving chase. The morning was overcast, with a wispy fog over the water. We prepared breakfast at 8 AM. After our meal, we broke camp and packed our gear in the canoe. We had 2 miles to Turner Mill access, our takeout after a full day of fishing. We picked up a few fish on our travels down stream. Jim had a large fish on near a large boulder that striped his line to the backing and the fish moved up stream to find a place on the bottom to snag the line and break off. Over the years, Jim has had this same scenario repeat itself on the same Hole

maybe/probably a different fish on a different day. He has given it some thought and next time he hooks up, plans to pull hard trying to move the fish to another part of the stream to fight; only time will tell if he is successful.

Jim hanging on to large fish!!!

On our float beyond Mary Decker shoal, we came across a cottonmouth snake in the water, it made a bolt towards us as we passed by in the canoe. No one was harmed. We finished the day at Turner Mill access. We released fifteen rainbow trout and one goggle-eye nearly eleven inches. Richard’s Canoe rental met us at the access and took us back to Jim’s vehicle. It was almost 6 PM; we drove down Hwy 19 to Alton, then Hwy 160 through West Plains to Blair Bridge on the North Fork to camp at Pettit’s campground for the night. We arrived before 7:30 PM; there was plenty of light to set camp. There was wood left from the previous campers and we used it to build a fire. It was a peaceful night.

Aug 6 (Thursday): We were up by 6 AM, made the coffee and had breakfast finished before 7 AM. Jake arrived from Springfield at 7:30 AM. At 8 AM, we drove to Pettit’s office and rented a canoe for the day. We were dropped of at Kelly ford up stream from Blair Bridge. This trip of five miles usually requires a full day of fishing. At Kelly ford, we will take time going up stream to fish the bluff area for small-mouth bass and goggle-eye. Jim and Jake took the canoe and paddled up stream to the riffle below rainbow spring. Jim’s first trout of the day was a 17.5 inch rainbow with a few small trout caught. I manage to find a single spot for goggle-eye and took six in a short time with two small-mouths. An hour later, Jim and Jake caught up with me as I had already worked down stream. There were a few more trout taken. In a short time I hooked up with a sixteen inch rainbow. Later, Jake found several sixteen inch rainbows setting up in front of the
shoals. There were several floating enthusiast on the water and a stream team group of seven canoes picking up trash in and on the banks of the stream. Pettit’s canoe was gracious to allow them to camp and use the canoes for two days of clean-up at no charge. Jake finished the day, with eight rainbows trout, a few small-mouths and a sucker, Jim landed the largest trout measuring over seventeen inches and totaled six rainbow trout. I caught three rainbow trout, three small-mouths and six goggle-eyes for the day. It was after 5 PM, when we returned the canoe to Blair Bridge.

Jim and I spent the past three days on a river and we were exhausted. The numbers of fish caught was not outstanding but satisfying. The time on the water was great with a few memories taken from our adventures. Our next trip together will be Kodiak Alaska in September. My guess there will be a few stories from that adventure.

Tight lines… Kim

July Fishing

2009-08-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

July

July 1-4: Ann and I spent the first week of July visiting my parents. They live in a small rural community in southern Michigan across the street from Lee Lake, a one-hundred acre lake formed from the last ice age. The lake has a healthy population of blue-gills with the typical assortment of warm water fish; bass, perch, pike and crappie. I had the opportunity to practice with my spey rod from a dock, with aspirations to become a more proficient caster with a long stick. I did fish with my father and he did find a spot for us to catch a few blue-gills with gar pike working the surface within view. We fished for several hours taking and cleaning thirty-two blue-gills and a perch for a fish fry on the 4th of July. The next day, I spent time with my nephew Turner, who is ten years old. We fished the same general vicinity as my dad but did not find as many fish.

July 10: Sean and I had good night of fishing in Taneycomo; we left Springfield after 11 PM and in the water before midnight. We fished the area between #1 and #2 outlets with moderate success. We totaled 40+ trout for the night.

July 14: Sean picked me up after work. I had checked the weather and radar through out the evening and figured the weather would be fine. Sean’s first words to me, did you check the weather. He said Christian County was under a severe thunderstorm warning. As soon as we turned south, lightning could be seen. Before entering the city limits of Ozark the rain fell, pelting our windshield with lightning all around. Sean checked the radar with his I-phone and the storm tracked north and east of Branson. So, we continued our trip and parked the truck in the parking lot at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery with one other vehicle in view. While we sat in the truck we saw lightning all around us. Again, we checked the radar on the I-phone and it appeared the storm was to stay north then mover to the southeast; out and away from us for a night of fishing. We slowly slipped into our waders and lined the rods. The lightning was intense in the east, going cloud to cloud with a slight audible sound of thunder. We walked to the waters edge. The fog was thick over the water. The sky over head was patched with clouds with stars in view. At times, the fog would rise with the warm breeze and surround us like a thick blanket, almost suffocating. The flashing from frequent lightning flashes, glowed through the fog. I remembered an old movie depicting a WWI war scene with a solder on a war front; there was a low fog and bombs going off all around. The glow in the fog would light the entire area for an instant. The eerie feeling could be felt on this night. I told Sean, if lightning came from the direction of the dam, we may need to reconsider our time on the water. It was almost 3 AM; another storm was approaching from the west. Again, we checked the I-phone; the storm was near Cassville heading southwest and was on track to miss us to the west. Needless to say another storm was forming in Springfield and on track to hit us in Branson. So, we called it a night at 4 AM with less than twenty trout caught for the night.

July 18: Kevin and I drove to Joplin to attend the annual Shoal Creek Water Festival at the Wildcat Glade Conservation and Audubon Center. We were asked to focus on youth education and the “wonders of water”. Kevin and I set up a booth and tied flies for the youth with a few of the on lookers given the opportunity to sit behind the vise creating their own flies. We were busy most of the day with several of the participants returning for additional lessons and flies. A few individuals asked about casting and we had space behind the booth to help a few with an introduction to the fly rod.

July 27: Sean will move to St. Louis after this weekend. So, his opportunities to fish on short notice with me will come to an end. Sean wanted to return to Taneycomo for another night of trout fishing. On the trip down, there were deer feeding next to the road on Hwy 65. We were in our waders heading to the water when a fox came trotting into the parking lot. I took my flash light with the red laser beam flashed the light in front of him. The fox stopped immediately trying to figure out what the red spot of light was. He laid down for a short time, getting nervous and moved on to the pavilion. There were no other vehicles parked and no other fishermen. We started below #2 outlet and worked our streamers going down stream. After 2 AM, Sean decided to take a break and visit the outstanding facilities. He then walked upstream to the waters between #1 and #2. He was able to get one trout after anther in a short time. I was still picking up a few trout here and there for the night. Sean an hour later caught up with me and was excited with his success upstream. He wanted to return, but I suggested to keep moving down stream to the area above the big hole. Sean led the way and he was catching one trout after another, he was catching three trout to my one. After 4:30 AM, geese in a single file swam behind us without a sound. They were evenly spaced moving up stream. Sean was not sure at first what was going on and finally I saw them come into view. It was interesting, when the last goose passed me, there was an audible sound made to let the leader know all had passed safely. Sean had an excellent night of 50+ trout for himself. Sean left Taneycomo at 5 AM. I met John Taylor in the parking lot at 5 AM. We drove to the other side fishing the Rocking Chair Hole. The conditions were more difficult with no current, bright clear sky with no wind. This was John's introductions to Ozark fishing.

Tight lines… Kim

Night Fishing Taneycomo

2009-06-28T22:17:00.001-07:00

June 21: Night Fishing Taneycomo

Sean and I left Springfield at 11 PM and drove to Taneycomo to fish the waters near the Shepherd of the hills hatchery. The lake level has finally stabilized allowing the Army Corps of engineers to turn the water off during the night. We arrived before midnight with seven vehicles in the parking lot. Two vehicles left before we were in the water. We fished between #1 and #2 outlets. Sean’s first trout of the night was a twenty-four inch rainbow. My largest trout for the night was twenty-two inches. The trout were in excellent condition and fought hard. There was a fog covering the lake with plenty of clothes needed to keep warm. We caught a combined 55+ trout for five hours of fishing with several in the 16-20 inch range. This was an A+ night of fishing. For people who know me, I am sure they know the fly that worked this night.

May and June Road trips

2009-06-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

Late May and June, I had little time for fishing and spent considerable time driving down the highway to several destinations; Lake Charles, New Orleans, Mountain Home and Lake of the Ozarks.

May 15-19: New Orleans and Lake Charles
New Orleans and Lake Charles were a combination trip with my wife and son staying in the New Orleans for the weekend as I traveled west on I-10 to Lake Charles. The Gulf Coast Council had their third annual conclave at the Lake Charles civil center located downtown near the lake. It was an outstanding facility with the plenty of space and classrooms for seminars. I saw familiar faces from past Southern Council conclaves and rekindled friendships with old and new acquaintances. I had a short visit with Bob Talbert; I have known Bob for a few years and enjoy his stories and humor. Bob introduced Rusty and Carol Dunn from Lafayette LA to me, what a treat. Both have studied and passed their CCI. They spent considerable time on the road to fishing destinations through out the United States in their camper. I stayed two nights at a near by hotel. I attended the conclave Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning. I spent the entire day on Saturday tying flies and had the opportunity to attend a few seminaries on Sunday. Sunday afternoon I drove back to New Orleans to spend a few days site seeing New Orleans with Ann, my wife and son (Sean).

June 3, 4, 5: Eleven Point River
Jim and I left Springfield early Wednesday morning driving Hwy 60 east through fog and several rain showers. The raindrops on the windshield reminded us of last year fishing and camping trip on North Fork enduring three days of rain. After several hours of driving, we pulled into Greer Federal campgrounds on the Eleven Point River. The sun broke through as we set camp and pitched tents. An hour later, we placed a canoe into the water and spent the rest of the day fishing. We caught a few trout on favorite stretches of water with Jim catching a glimpse of a panic deer swimming across the river to escape dogs running its trail. I had a close encounter with a cottonmouth snake. I was walking the edge the stream along a boggy bottom in tall grass when a tail of the wary and camouflaged serpent was spotted near my boot. I stopped and remain motionless until his head was seen. He was positioned with his white opened mouth and fangs directed toward me. I immediately did a hop and skip in the opposite direction with Jim watching my dance to escape a possible strike; he is probably still laughing. We fished until 5 PM with Sean shuttling us back to camp from Turner’s Mill.

That evening, Jim and his son (Jake) prepared a steak and potato dinner; it was outstanding. We finished the evening around a campfire and retired after 10 PM.

The next morning, we ate a hearty breakfast. Jerry Richard came by to drop off a canoe for Jim and Jake. We fished the entire day with a few trout caught and released. It was almost noon went I looked upstream and saw another deer swimming midstream towards us. The deer finally found it’s footing and stood next to one of our canoes were the young deer surveyed the situation for a few minutes before entering the thicket and out of sight. We fished until 6 PM and shuttled back to the Greer campsite. That evening we had fried white bass for supper. As night fell on us, we stoked our campfire with vegetable oil since the wood was wet and listen to the sounds of night.

Friday morning, we decided to break camp. Jim and Jake decided to drive back to Springfield by way of Alley Spring and possibly Montauk State Park to fish. Sean had to get back to Springfield to take care of some business. I made plans to attend a fly-casting and instructors school in Cotter AR for the weekend. We took out time breaking camp. Jim and Jake left by 10 AM. Sean and I left before 11 AM. I followed Sean to Mansfield where I turned south on Hwy 5 to Mountain Home and Sean continued to Springfield.

June 5, 6 7: Mountain Home AR 2009 Fly-casting and Instructors School
I attended the 2009 Fly-casting and Instructors School which was located at Fulton’s Lodge on the White River near Cotter. This is a small lodge on the White River, close to Wildcat Shoals. Chuck Easterling and Bill Gammel have been instrumental to the development and inspiration to additional education opportunities for the CCI’s and MCCI’s in the southern region. It is to their credit that the opportunities to advance our casting and teaching abilities have lead forward by their example and time.

The focus of the school was on two-handed casting. The guest instructors were Al Buhr and Bob Middo. Al is an extremely well known two-handed instructor and instrumental in establishing the standards for the THCI. The respect for Al’s ability is evidenced by the demand for his instruction and testing expertise not only in North American but also in Europe and Asia. I had some time to listen to Al’s tell stories of his camping and fishing adventures in his home state of Oregon. The best story was his sitting in his campsite, after sunset in front of a campfire. When a young cougar came along, entered his site and sat across from him. Al decided to act big and loud to scare the cat away; only to have the cat lay back his ears and snarls at the aggressive act. Al retreated to his tent shaking like a young pup. One can only appreciate the story with Al giving every detail with emotion and suspense. Good stuff!

Bob Middo is a MCCI, THCI, a long-standing member of the Long Beach Casting Club, and serves on the Casting Board of Governors and the THCI Committee. Bob is the salt-water guy going for strippers and tuna. Bob is a very gifted caster and fun to be around.

Both instructors were exceptional and provide the foundation for improvement to better casting and introduction to the two-handed rod. These classes also focused on the practical application of a long rod which will included “beach casting” (saltwater), use on tail waters (species other than salmon and steelhead) and the use and advantages of switch rods.

If you have an opportunity to meet or better yet get some instruction from one of these fine gentlemen, you will be in for a real treat.

June 12, 13, 14 Women in Nature
Rod Pennington, Kevin Smith and I returned to Windermere Resort as members of the instructor staff for the Discover Nature Women Summer Workshop. There were 82 participants at this year event. We taught three sessions of fly tying with an introduction to in stream macro-invertebrate. Kevin Lohraff is the Outdoor Skills Education Coordinator from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

A big “Thank you” to all of you for teaching Fly Tying at our DNW event last weekend. I appreciate you giving your time, energy, and expertise to our participants. I saw many smiles and heard many positive comments, and women expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to learn a new outdoor skill. I realize you took time from your family, friends, and yourself in order to teach your courses, and I just wanted you to know I appreciate everything you did to make the event successful. Thanks, Rod, for sending your awesome bear photos. Bears remind us that we people are not so crazy to go to such great lengths to get those fish! Thanks, Kevin, for promoting our event and for recruiting your family. I really hope they enjoyed it. Thanks, Kim, for letting me tangle up your spey rod and for giving me the fly. I loved our fishing time together. I will send you copies of your course evaluations soon.

Thanks again!
Kevin M. Lohraff
Outdoor Skills Education Coordinator
Missouri Department of Conservation

May White Bass fishing

2009-06-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

May 4-6, 2009: Sean and I had planned to camp and fish with Kevin Smith and others on the Little Red River, a tail-water below Greer Ferry Lake in Arkansas. But with a six-inch rainfall that weekend in Arkansas, I called and canceled on Sunday afternoon. I have a problem starting a campout in the rain. The streams were high, so I spent May 4th in the garden and mowing the yard. Many of the streams had peaked from the weekend rain but continue to be too high to fish: the Little Sac peaked at 11.5 ft on Saturday and still at 7.0 ft on Monday. It was too much water for me to paddle against. So, my next plan was to return to Bull Shoals Lake and fish below Power Site Dam.

Here is the site to view the Little Sac River real-time data: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?06918740

Here is the site to view the Bull Shoals Lake below Power Site Dam real-time data:
http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/plots/WEB/bul.htm

Bull Shoals Lake has been on the rise since the beginning of April here are some levels on several fishing trips.

Bull Shoals Lake levels
4/07/09 653.2 ft and rising
4/14/09 654.2 ft and rising
4/19/09 655.6 ft and continues to rise
5/6/09 662.0 ft and continues to rise almost nine feet!

May 5: White Bass Pot Hole
Sean and I left Springfield for Forsyth to fish Bulls Shoals Lake. It was overcast and it rained most of the day. We took to the water in a kayak and canoe with oars. Sean picked up several white bass in the 14-16 inch range with many of the fish on the small side released. We fished in the boats tied to trees fishing to the brush that is mostly submerged.

May 6: White Bass Pot Hole
We returned to Bull Shoals Lake (Pot Hole). It was a sunny day with a few clouds. The gate on power site dam was opened with the current heaver then the day before. The lake is on the rise! We caught twenty white bass and a large mouth, and a crappie

May 10: (Mother’s Day) White Bass Little Sac River
It was to be the last trip for spring white bass. Sean and I took the canoe and kayak to Little Sac River near Morrisville near the Taylor Bridge. The water was high and dingy. We took the water crafts upstream to the power lines. The river conditions: Little Sac 4.4 ft Stockton Lake 872.2 ft
Sean had made a promise of fresh fish for a dinner date the next day, so the pressure was on to find fish. We did find a few fish in small pockets of water since the stream was running fast and high. Several of the white bass were over sixteen inches and we managed to pack out a dozen.

April fishing in Southwest Missouri

2009-04-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

April fishing trips in southwest Missouri

I took a week off from work (April 6-12) to fish with Sean (son) and Mel (cousin) from Kalamazoo Michigan. Mel traveled to the Ozarks a few years ago to fish with me for white bass. He missed the white bass run due to being too early and low water conditions. We were all hoping for a better week of fishing for white bass.

A few days before Mel’s departure from Michigan, I called to warn him of a cold weather front predicted for the time he was to stay in Missouri. I was not worried if we would get out to fish but if the white bass were ready to bite.

April 6: We did not get out to fish. We stayed inside since it was too cold to fish for white bass, so we tied flies and caught up on family gossip.

April 7: It was a sunny cool day and comfortable in the afternoon. We drove to Bull Shoals to fish the Pot Hole. The water had been running through Table Rock Dam consistently for the past several days. The water was flowing over Power Site Dam. We started on the river run side of the Pot Hole, fishing up to the dam. One sixteen-inch smallmouth bass was taken, three white bass and a large-mouth bass. Mel caught two trout and a large-mouth bass. The osprey was out and about with several vultures catching the up drafts.

April 8: We returned to the Bull Shoals to fish the Pot Hole. A walleye on caught on the first cast of the day; a large mouth bass was released later in the day. We caught and returned five white bass.

April 9: There was threat of thunderstorms and it rain sporadically throughout the day. Mel, Sean and I started the day at Beaver Creek. The stream was silt choked from last year floods and severe erosion of the banks. We managed eleven blue gills, two white bass from the creek, and then the rain came in. We left the creek near the maiden hole slipping and sliding from the greasy mud and we were fortunate to get out without getting stuck. We returned to the pothole were we picked up a large mouth bass and two walleye with the largest measuring 24 inches. We finished the day at mouth of swan creek were we pick up another walleye and several white bass.

April 10: We fished the pothole in the afternoon; there were several fishermen on banks with boats moving about. We picked up two small-mouth bass (one was 16 inches), one large-mouth and two white bass. We moved back to the section above swan creek. Mel picked up a 24 inch walleye and I picked up four more white bass with one measuring seventeen inches.

April 12: Mel left on Saturday and we had a family get together that afternoon. So, we passed up fishing on Saturday. Sean and I returned Sunday afternoon; it had rain most of the afternoon. We caught seven walleye with the keepers being 22, 21, 20 inches. We caught seven white bass with a size range of 14-17 inches. Two 16-inch smallmouth bass and seven smaller ones released in addition to several small large mouth bass returned to the water. It was a cool and drizzle day with very few people fishing.

April 16: Sean and I returned to Bull shoals. The water was overflowing the dam with a good current in the Pothole. The lake level has been on the rise. We fished at different locations and picked up four walleye, four white bass, a crappie, a trout, and a large-mouth bass. We left Forsyth at 5 PM, there was a MSU class at evening and we had to leave before class started at 6 PM. I did make it in time for class with two minutes to spare.

I am finishing up this fishing log 4/19/2009. It should be noted the Springfield area had a 1.5-inch rainfall, which will raise the streams and promote the fish to run. Below are some links I use to monitor the lakes and rivers levels.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/rt

http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/reservoirs-o%20graph.htm

Bull Shoals Lake levels (4/07 653.2 ft) and rising (4/14 654.2 ft) and rising (4/19 655.6 ft)

April 21, 2009: Ralph Eichholz, Sean and I drove to Beaver Creek and started at Kissee Mill Park on Hwy 160. We fished above the bridge and found a few small white bass, small-mouth bass, quillback carp sucker and bluegill.

We picked up white bass from the 160 Bridge at the park to the Big Rock Hole. The lake level in Bull shoals (656.4 ft) continue to raise. With the recent rains, the rivers and creeks had a small rise and now falling; Beaver creek was at 4.2ft. This small rise will facilitate the spring run of fish.

I saw an osprey make several trips with fish in its clutches. On one of these trips, I saw an eagle dive bomb the osprey, leaving the osprey its only option; drop the fish. The fish fell to the water; the eagle swooped to the water to retrieve the fish making for an easy meal with the osprey flying off in a panic. I did see the osprey later that evening clasping another fish.

April 23: Sean and I left Springfield at 7 AM and drove to Morrisville to fish the Little Sac River. There were a dozen or more fishermen on the banks and several boats motoring upstream to the area near the power-line hole. We found white bass at the first stop and continued to hook up fish while we worked our way up stream. The place Paul use to call the Walleye Hole had several fishermen it fishing and picking up fish. We managed a limit of white bass fishing in three hours of fishing before leaving Taylor Bridge; I had to be at work that afternoon.

Stockton Lake level 869.79 ft (4/23)

Little Sac level decreasing 3.9 ft (4/23) from (5.5ft 4/20)

April 25: I picked up Charlie Erickson Saturday morning at 6:30 AM. We drove to Bennett Spring State Park to help with the MSU class. There was plenty of help, so Charlie and I left Bennett Spring at 1:30 PM and took Hwy 32 to Bolivar and then Hwy 13 to Morrisville to fish the Little Sac. Sean was driving from Springfield and met us in Morrisville before taking to the stream to fish into dark. I parked at Taylor Bridge and rowed a canoe upstream to the Power line Hole. The Mount family was fishing from their kayaks moving upstream to the S curve. They found several spots were they caught white bass. I walked upstream from the barn to check out the stream, to see what has changed since last years flood. Some of the stretches were too deep to wade. Later, I found out my son tried to wade through one stretch and took water over his waders and he had to climb out on a steep, slippery bank as scrambling to higher ground to bypass the deep water. Later that evening, we saw the Collison brothers (Bill and Frank) fishing the Power line hole catching one white bass after another. We slipped around them and fished downstream. We caught two limits of white bass for the day. We had the opportunity to watch people do stupid things with their boats, like running over submerged rocks, hitting the prop and disabling the engine; then powering the boat back to Taylor Bridge with the electric motor.

Stockton Lake level 869.69 ft

Little Sac level 3.5 ft

April 26, 2009: Sean and I returned to the Little Sac River. We saw Terry Tanner, Charlie and Connie Erickson. Sean started below the power lines to fish the fast water and broke the tip off from his TF rod to a tree trying to retrieve a fly. He came back down stream to tell me the news and was ready to walk back to Taylor Bridge to get another rod from the truck. I switched rods with him and used the nine-foot rod minus eight inches. The rod was very stiff but able to deliver the fly with a little help from a double haul. We caught three limits of white bass and kept two limits for the up coming MTFA State derby. We hooked three carp, a largemouth bass, a small-mouth bass, and several bluegills. We left at 8 PM with clouds moving in that looked like a storm was moving in.

April 28, 2009: Charlie and Connie Erickson picked me up at 7:30 AM. We figured the Little Sac would be the best place to fish. The storms had moved through during the night with less than an inch of rainfall. The Little Sac did not get any run of and the level remained at 3.5 ft. We started below the Power line hole and had very little action. I did see an owl fly overhead with a rodent held tightly. It appeared to have a nest across the stream. I did see a pair at one time. Connie and Charlie walked the bank upstream to fish the walleye hole with several other fishermen. I walked upstream to the next gravel bar. I made a discovery. I left the fly in the water with 30 ft of line out. The rod was pointing down stream, under my arm as I walked upstream. I managed to pick up two white bass by leaving my fly in the water. I stopped fishing at 11:30 AM with seven white bass and one carp. I had to get back to Springfield before 1 PM to get in another day of work.

I am finish writing up these reports (4/28/09), knowing there is a significant rainfall predicted before Saturday, maybe three inches. This will change the streams with the quick rise of water; the fish will head to the banks, run upstream and all will change again. This will probably be the last trip for white bass for this spring. In May, I have trips lined up for the Red River in Arkansas, Roaring River State Park and the Gulf Coast conclave at lake Charles, Louisiana. I will get back to the blog next month with updates

Kim Schultz

kim_schultz@sbcglobal.net

417 883-5234