Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Femme Osage

Another day off meant I could try to get one stream closer to fishing all eight. I found that Femme Osage bordered the southern edge of a Conservation Area and had semi-simple access. A 1.5 mile hike down a farm road brought me right to the creek. It is becoming a regular feature on this quest to have to hike through some really thick brush. I had to again today and I was really surprised that I saw no snakes--I was in their territory for sure.



I think every fisherman always has preconceived ideas about what the new water will be like, look like, and fish like. Mine consisted of a small, floodplain stream that was maybe 25' across and basically structureless. I was wrong. I couldn't see the creek until I was almost in it, and my view then was of a large stream. It was large enough that I contemplated for a moment if I had taken a wrong turn and ended up at the nearby Missouri River. I don't know exactly what the limits of the term "creek" are, but I know this one stretches it to its upper limit. Compared to LaBarque and Kiefer, this creek is a monster. It'd be like comparing Rhode Island to Texas.


I fished it for a while doing the best I could with the tight quarters, even getting in some drifts up and across the current. True to form for this type of stream, I had no bites, no rises, and no fish--only lots of mud. Having fished it honestly, I began the trek back. On the way in, I hiked past the slough that it either feeds or once formed. It bears the same name and looked fishable, so I stopped there. I caught a few BG and lost a few of my favorite flies.



I'm now at 5 of 8--pretty good progress so far, I think. I'll take Thursday off from my chase for a more insane run at fishing with Chris (more later).

3 comments:

  1. Amazing! You need to drag your kayak to fish that one!

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  2. Hi Will,

    I love your new blog. I especially liked the post about coming fishing. I was looking at your pics and realized that you and I have the same reel.

    I went out on Saturday fishing a place called 9-mile creek and caught two brook trout. At first I tried a hares ear nymph, then I switched to some other wet fly, and finally a griffith's gnat. I caught them using the gnat.

    The water flows fast and is shallow, so I have to learn how to prevent artificial drift better.

    You and I should talk some time soon.

    ~ Joe

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  3. Hey, good stuff. I have great interest in fishing local waters like these and have hit several of them. I like the theme of the eight healthy systems.

    There are plenty more opportunities if you are willing research and take chances and not be too picky about which species you target. You'll have a good time.

    Femme Osage is probably a good place to go for some carp, but you may need a more stout setup for that.

    If you're up for a partner in this type of fishing let me know. Short, light fly rods in small creeks are always great.

    I'll give you a shout out on my blog, thehookandbullet.com

    ReplyDelete