Gigging Ozark streams not for the faint of heart

A gigger working on an Ozark stream.

Submitted photo

An time-honored Ozark tradition has giggers gearing up for the start of the fall season that opened yesterday and runs through Jan. 31. The daily limit is 20 suckers, except on the Currant River, where only five northern hogsuckers may be included in the daily limit.

The most popular places for gigging is the middle-sized streams in the Ozarks, which offers clear water that can be navigated by a johnboat. The most common targets are the northern hogsucker and species of redhorse suckers.

Years ago the first experience I had with gigging came on a float trip on Beaver Creek with my friend, the late Paul Hoffman, after we set up camp for the night on a sand bar for a good nights rest. Suddenly, a set of bright lights appeared out of nowhere heading for us.

Paul and I couldn’t believe it. At first we thought it was a truck that had gotten off the road and was heading up the creek, but we knew the nearest road was miles away. As it turned out, the lights coming up the creek were from a johnboat rigged with double mantel lights, which ran on propane.

That was our first experience with gigging at night by boat. As the boat pulled up beside us, we saw the giggers were having a good night. They had several nice-sized suckers and had just gotten started.

To gig in Missouri streams, you need a flat bottom boat capable of floating in several inches of water — because some of the gravel bars and rock shoals will hold you back in most any other boat. You also need a boat with a wide beam so you can move around while gigging. The lights should be rigged so you can see 10 feet in front and about six feet deep. A good gig-rig is an invaluable piece of equipment to own.

Gigging isn’t for everyone. Carl Thomas, of Sedalia, said, “I tried night gigging several times, but it was too much work for me; I found out that it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. In fact, I even fell in the stream while trying to get a big carp, so once was enough.”

Many first-timers think gigging at night is like frogging at night, but it takes a lot more skill to be successful at gigging, and you will have sore arms the next day after a successful night.

Many people think it shouldn’t be too hard to gig a fish that is motionless in the water. However, a gigger has to take into consideration the refraction of the water, and the speed of the boat and water. Like everything else, it takes practice to be successful at gigging.

Why would anyone go out on a cool fall night going after a mess of suckers, when they could be home sleeping?

Tom Martin, of Springfield, is like many other giggers that comes from a family with a history of floating, fishing and gigging Ozark streams.

Martin, like true giggers is an armed with an overriding answer to that question.

“Those fish you get may not be gourmet food to many people, but when you get a mess and cook them on the bank of a stream, they are as good as any shore lunch in Canada, said Martin.”

After a float on the Sac River in a jet boat where we had some good luck, I can vouch for that.

Before heading out in the stream we had a big fire started so we could cook the fish when we got back. After scoring the suckers and frying them up, personally I had never dined om such good-tasting fish that could be easily compared to walleye, and I really like walleye.

Whatever their reason for gigging, this hardy group is always ready to load up their boat and go again.