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LITTLE PINEY CREEK
This page was updated 2/3/06





This is a wonderful little creek, which is easily accessible from both Rolla and Newburg, south of Interstate 44 almost exactly halfway between Springfield and St. Louis. The majority of the creek jumps up from a series of at least 5 springs, the most notable of which is Lane Spring, the centerpiece of the Lane Spring Recreation Area. Trout fishing continues for several miles downstream from the springs, although the lower stretches do not generally give up many trout during the summer months.

Lane Spring Recreation Area is a part of the Mark Twain National Forest and is managed by the Forest Service. The Recreation Area is beautifully maintained with a playground, hiking trails, a couple of nice shelters, numerous stationary BBQ grills, and a number of campsites available. By the way, you can reserve these campsites and shelters by checking out ReserveUSA, which is the website through which you can make reservations for any and all National Forest and National Park properties. To get to the Lane Spring Recreation Area, take Highway 63 south from Rolla for about 10 miles, and turn right at the big brown forest service sign. It costs $2 to park -- be sure to pay it, or you will receive a sizable ticket in the mail.

Little Piney Creek has both White Ribbon and Blue Ribbon Trout Areas. The Blue Ribbon area is so designated in order to protect a population of wild rainbows. This protection is a relatively new thing. The Missouri Department of Conservation has long known that there was a wild population of rainbow trout present in the creek living along side the stockers, but it took some time to identify how exactly they wanted to change regulations to protect the fish.





Blue Ribbon Trout Area

Only flies and artificial lures may be used, specifically excluding soft plastics. Daily limit is 1 trout at least 18" long.

Don't take our word for it. Click here to read the code for yourself.

 This portion of the creek has a ton of character. If you take Highway 63 south from Rolla, you'll cross the creek in less than 20 minutes. The Blue Ribbon area begins at the Phelps county line more than two miles south of the bridge near the creek's headwaters, but the best populations of wild trout are found near and downstream of the springs near Highway 63. In fact, there have been times when the upper end of the Blue Ribbon area didn't actually have any water in it.

There is easy access to the creek below the bridge. Of course, there is also easy access available at Lane Spring Recreation Area, if you don't mind competing with swimmers during the summer. There is also access at Vida Slab and Milldam Hollow, both of which can be popular with locals for bonfires, beer-drinking, fireworks and swimming, but the locals are good-hearted folks who are pleasant and easygoing.

Your best bet for catching some wild trout is almost always between Vida Slab and Lane Spring Recreation area. Yes, you will find the occasional wild trout between Vida Slab and Milldam Hollow, and, yes, there are fish even as far as upstream from the Hwy 63 bridge. The water between Lane Spring and Vida Slab, however, is usually much more productive. An exception to the rule is that the fish tend to move upstream starting in mid-January (pre-spawn), so upper portions of the creek tend to heat up while the Vida Slab portion slows down.

The summer offers the most challenging fishing, when the water is low and suitable habitat is at a minimum. If you can make a stealthy approach and delicate cast, and if you know how to read the water, you'll find the trout stacked up and feeding opportunistically in narrow feeding lanes. You'll only catch one fish per spot, however, and you'll generally only get a couple of casts before the fish get lockjaw. These pictures should give you a good idea of what you'll be up against.

 

While the summer can be challenging, Autumn, Winter and Spring can be downright exciting if you hit it right. A day or so after a good rain, when the water is just a bit off-color and just a bit high, you can really tear them up on little nymphs fished deep. When the water is low and clear, switch to little dries.  In fact, regardless of the season, you'll probably want to fish little stuff -- nymphs size #16 or so, dries #14 and smaller. The fish will aggressively hit larger dries, but most of the fish are smaller, and so your hook-ups will be limited. Nymphing in riffles is a good strategy using pheasant tails and hares ears, and little glo-bugs and glu-bugs also work fine during spawning season (starting in January). This creek also has some nice hatches, during which blue-winged olives, adams, tan midges, and elk hair caddis can work well on the surface, as do cracklebacks and renegades on occasion. In August, small grasshoppers cast along the banks can be dynamite. If nothing else is working, try black ants around trees on breezy days.  One interesting and unusual thing about this creek is the brown drake hatch, which typically happens in September (great big brown mayflies).  While the hatch is not enormous and doesn’t put the fish on a surface feeding frenzy, it does get them all looking up. 

This creek is really nothing terribly special, except that it is a textbook little Missouri spring creek that happens to have a terrific wild trout population. The previous paragraph is a good bit of flyfishing tips that will apply in large part to nearly every little spring creek in the state.





White Ribbon Trout Area

No bait restrictions. Daily limit is 4 trout, of which only 1 may be a brown trout 15" or longer.

Don't take our word for it. Click here to read the code for yourself.

 The White Ribbon area of this creek begins at Milldam Hollow and proceeds downstream to the CR 7360 bridge. While this stretch of water is more than three miles long, the Department of Conservation only stocks a stretch about 3/4 of a mile long. Take CR 7400 from Hwy T south of Newburg until the road comes to a dirt road "T". The natural flow of the road would carry you to the right, but turn off to the left instead. The road is a bit rough and overgrown. You'll find a small parking area about a 1/2-mile down the road right near the creek. The road continues on for another 100 yards or so before terminating at private property. This is the section that is stocked.

The fish naturally work their way upstream from this area, and you'll find very few trout downstream. Enter the creek and slowly work your way upstream. Streamers, rubber trout worms, in-line spinners and such work well in the deeper stretches. The riffles also hold good fish that can be taken on flies under surface or by drifting bait under a bobber. Remember, these are 100% stocked fish, so fly fishermen should seriously also consider using attractor patterns like glo-bugs, marabou streamers, foam grasshoppers, and the such.

In the heat of the summer, focus your attention toward smallmouth bass, because you probably won't see any trout. They either hide in the deeper pools or migrate toward cooler water. The Missouri Department of Conservation does not generally even stock during the summer, because the water temperature typically rises above 70 degrees in this part of the creek.

 

Call (573) 468-3335 for more information

 

You can download a detailed conservation department map of Little Piney Creek, and you can check the USGS water level changes in real-time, both by checking our Even More page.

Click here for our Little Piney Creek fishing report. After you visit, we hope you'll come back to tell us how you did.









All we need to make you a trout reproduction is a photo of your fish!





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