Niangua River, Laclede County, MO. June 28th: Beautiful Ozark river with some incredible smallie fishing!

I have always wanted to hit the Niangua River in the Missouri Ozarks, and finally got an opportunity to kayak and fish it.  The water is fairly swift, so kayaking upstream and drift fishing down was a challenge, but I was able to get it done.  Did a little over 2 miles, due to the fact that I had to portage quite a few times due to the depth and swiftness of the current. 
If you take a look at the film, I caught the first small Smallmouth on a Rattle Trap.  It then got a tad slow for about an hour, but really turned on right before I was getting ready to take out.  River bend + current in grass + Gene Larew Salt Craw= success!!

Felt so good getting up on these incredible bass....I have quite a new addiction now- Smallie Fishing!  Caught one at 16" and one at about 14" and then the small one before I headed out.  This strip had quite a bit of canoe traffic, so I do not know if it would be a good weekend river (maybe in the fall when people do not float as much).

Fish ON!

Mike

Nigangua River, Laclede County, MO, September 1st: In search of Browns-Found Chubs!

I wanted to do something a little different, so I decided to fish some of the "White Ribbon" trout area located on the Niangua River (about 1/2 mile downstream from where Bennett Spring empties into it) for a couple of hours.

As you know, I am always trying to spot out areas to take my fishing Kayak, so I thought I would fish it with the fly rod and see what I could stir up. I was having a conversation with a local a couple of weeks ago. He said that the MO Dept of Conservation stocks this part of the river with Brown Trout. Seems like great habitat for Brownies and for Smallies. Waded in downstream from the boat launch....lots of structure and current and shade...great combo! The problem was the pool is too deep to get close. Did the best job I could to get near it. Caught several small chubs on a green crackleback w/ a real small piece of split shot attached. Cast out some wooley buggers as well with no success. Started with a nymph and yarn strike indicator, but did not have any success with that either.

I think next time I come back to this spot, I will go for smallmouths and bring my Kayak!

Fish ON!

MLT