T. Johnson
06-27-2010, 09:35 PM
I had a great weekend of fishing, the kind that sticks to you long into the winter and sees you through all the cold weather and the slow fishing. I was suppose to go to the Buffalo river this weekend but do to the capricious nature of all my friend the trip was, once again, blown off for girlfriends. Oh well, I probably had more fun this weekend fishing alone than I would have babysitting a bunch of guys who main purpose in life is to beat their own personal best on the number of beers they can consume in a day. I guess I'll start at the beginning.
Friday June 25:
I had this day off for the Buffalo trip that didn't happen. Since I wasn't going I of course had to do something that day so I decided to fish a beloved stream that runs through Northwest Taney county. On my way out the door I decided that I would go see if my father would like to join me. I asked and he surprisingly accepted. We made it to the stream late, around 11:00 I think, and the sun was already beating down pretty good bringing the temp to around 90. I really wanted to get into a good crankbait bite but the fish weren't having it. We ended up catching most of our fish on a 4" shakeyhead with a green pumpkin with purple flake finesse worm on the back and a copper craw bitsy tube T-rigged. The old man caught a couple SM that went around 13" and I ended up with 5 or 6 that went 12" and over. Great day indeed.
Saturday June 26:
I had no intention what so ever to go fishing this day. I was going over to my grandmothers house in the morning to help her with some chores that only a strong back could get done and then I was going home to get some rest. After a day of felling some trees, move a few bails around and mowing I kissed her on the cheek and decided to go home. On my way home I felt the need to fish for some reason, most likely because I know that the summer is quickly wearing thin and soon I will be stuck studying for tests all the time. Wanting to go somewhere close and convenient I opted for the Finley River. I had never used the trail that Ozark put in by the river and I figured I could catch a few Ozark Bass and a couple Green Sunfish if nothing else. My plan was to follow the trail as far back as it could go and then bush whack a mile or so from there in order to get to a stretch of river that hadn't been fish so hard. I was surprised how far back the trail went, it took me all the way back to the apartments my family first lived in when we moved to Ozark, all the way back to the place that first gave me my love for the Finley and my love for free flowing streams and the fish that live in them. I started at the end of the trail and worked my way back to where I had parked. The fishing was slow but I still enjoyed the experience very much. I managed a few Ozark Bass, 1 SM around 12", and an LM around 12" all caught on a spring craw bitsy bug with a green pumpkin paca craw on the back.
Sunday June 27:
Today was the best day of the summer so far. Again I visited Taney county but opted for a stream that is east of the stream I visited with my father on Friday. This stream is one of my favorites for fishing and for the solitude I seek. The last time I was there, mid winter, I noticed three dead smallies with gigging marks on them. Tacky, disrespectful, and unethical. I'm still kind of mad about it. Anyway, I started the day throwing a 3.5" green pumpkin tube and was picking up a fish here and there when I noticed that quite a few of the smallies I saw where actively roving around feeding. So I switched to a crankbait and never had to take it off for the rest of the day. The crankbait was a Norman crappie crank in the spring craw pattern, which has been a great pattern for me with any of the cranks Norman puts out. I ended the day with a collection of Ozark Bass, Longear Sunfish, LM and SM numbering around 30 or more. eight or nine of the smallies went over 12" and 4 of them went to the 15" mark and one went above.
I start another week of work out west and hopefully I can give a report on a different part of Indian Creek sometime this week. Take care.
Friday June 25:
I had this day off for the Buffalo trip that didn't happen. Since I wasn't going I of course had to do something that day so I decided to fish a beloved stream that runs through Northwest Taney county. On my way out the door I decided that I would go see if my father would like to join me. I asked and he surprisingly accepted. We made it to the stream late, around 11:00 I think, and the sun was already beating down pretty good bringing the temp to around 90. I really wanted to get into a good crankbait bite but the fish weren't having it. We ended up catching most of our fish on a 4" shakeyhead with a green pumpkin with purple flake finesse worm on the back and a copper craw bitsy tube T-rigged. The old man caught a couple SM that went around 13" and I ended up with 5 or 6 that went 12" and over. Great day indeed.
Saturday June 26:
I had no intention what so ever to go fishing this day. I was going over to my grandmothers house in the morning to help her with some chores that only a strong back could get done and then I was going home to get some rest. After a day of felling some trees, move a few bails around and mowing I kissed her on the cheek and decided to go home. On my way home I felt the need to fish for some reason, most likely because I know that the summer is quickly wearing thin and soon I will be stuck studying for tests all the time. Wanting to go somewhere close and convenient I opted for the Finley River. I had never used the trail that Ozark put in by the river and I figured I could catch a few Ozark Bass and a couple Green Sunfish if nothing else. My plan was to follow the trail as far back as it could go and then bush whack a mile or so from there in order to get to a stretch of river that hadn't been fish so hard. I was surprised how far back the trail went, it took me all the way back to the apartments my family first lived in when we moved to Ozark, all the way back to the place that first gave me my love for the Finley and my love for free flowing streams and the fish that live in them. I started at the end of the trail and worked my way back to where I had parked. The fishing was slow but I still enjoyed the experience very much. I managed a few Ozark Bass, 1 SM around 12", and an LM around 12" all caught on a spring craw bitsy bug with a green pumpkin paca craw on the back.
Sunday June 27:
Today was the best day of the summer so far. Again I visited Taney county but opted for a stream that is east of the stream I visited with my father on Friday. This stream is one of my favorites for fishing and for the solitude I seek. The last time I was there, mid winter, I noticed three dead smallies with gigging marks on them. Tacky, disrespectful, and unethical. I'm still kind of mad about it. Anyway, I started the day throwing a 3.5" green pumpkin tube and was picking up a fish here and there when I noticed that quite a few of the smallies I saw where actively roving around feeding. So I switched to a crankbait and never had to take it off for the rest of the day. The crankbait was a Norman crappie crank in the spring craw pattern, which has been a great pattern for me with any of the cranks Norman puts out. I ended the day with a collection of Ozark Bass, Longear Sunfish, LM and SM numbering around 30 or more. eight or nine of the smallies went over 12" and 4 of them went to the 15" mark and one went above.
I start another week of work out west and hopefully I can give a report on a different part of Indian Creek sometime this week. Take care.