Little Missouri

[CoachBob]

Spent three days on the Little Missouri in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
Two fishermen caught and released over 700 trout. Yes, I know, but that was the low end of our estimate. We were fishing 3wts so every fish was fun.
These are hatchery trout between 6 and 15 inches and by the middle of the second day we were sight fishing for the larger trout and complaining bitterly when one of the smaller ones ate the fly before it got to the target fish.
I can't recommend guide and instructor Jeff Guerin (littlemissouriflyfishing.com) highly enough and if you want to catch trout until you are spent, take a trip. It's inexpensive too.
Oh, and
Your non-fishing companion can hunt for diamonds while you fish.

[Quill gordon]

Spent three days on the Little Missouri in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
Two fishermen caught and released over 700 trout. Yes, I know, but that was the low end of our estimate.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
OK...... Let's do the Math !

700 trout/ 2FF = 350 trout/ FF in 3days.
350 trout/ 3days = 117 trout/ day
117 trout/ 10hrs. = 12 trout/ hr. * assuming 10hrs. fishing
60min./ 12trout = 1 trout every 5 mins. every hr. fished!

* Maybe my math is wrong !!!

[CoachBob]

I know it sounds unbelieveable, but imagine catching a trout EVERY cast, frequently with only a 20' cast. Then imagine that many of these are 12" or less so there is a short fight. The really fun stuff came on longer casts with bigger fish, but the numbers are not my imagination. In one 20 minute period I caught and counted 22 trout (because sometimes it is too good to believe without proving it to yourself).
How? Well...
...by not using 7x tippet. I was using 6lb. Vanish flurocarbon which doesn't take babying, and
...by not casting too far (using a 6'3" 3wt short rod I wasn't going to cast a mile anyway) and
...by using a strip hook set which insured a lot more hook-ups and
...by paying attention to catching not having to replace many flies and
...by fishing on the Little Missouri in the first place.

Think of it this way. 40 fish an hour per fisherman for a 6 hour day would be 240 per or almost 500 in that one day. 30 per hour would be 350+ per day for two fishermen or 700 for two days. In fact, we were on the water for 8-9 hours a day so I'm discounting 3 hours for finding fish and eating a power bar and changing flies and potty breaks.