top_dollar

Neat thread. I hate summertime and if i cant get in the water i can't take the heat. So, i spend most of my summer wading and floating the upper big river. Fishing is good for numbers of smallmouth bass, most 8-12" in length, bigger than 15" is a really good one. My personal best from that stretch was an 18" sm and a 19"lm. 1.) Upper big river. Above leadwood. 2.) Canoe/wade 3.) Cool and clear. Usually bout 5ft viability. Main river/creek stays fairly cold 4.) Top dollar (any small walker or buzzbait). Keitech swing impact 2-4". Weightless wacky worm. And 4" drop shot worm on a small ball head jig (Jig worm).

Just wait til some pro wins a huge tournament with one.

Order placed. 😁 thanks!

Thanks for the info. Guess ill add a few to the arsenal.

Reef Runner Rip shads? How do those compare to flicker shads in your opinion? I have never used them.

Bet that big catfish caught you by surprise!

Good for you to be able to run all those lines at once without making a mess of it. I cant even manage two rods at once.

Lots of different opinions here probably. I have mostly pfluegar and diawa spinning reels, no complaints out of either. Worth noting....spinning reels dont really do that much. They just need to be comfortable, have smooth drag, and be reliable. 100-200 seems expensive for a spinning reel. Id choose a 50-100$ reel and take the extra $$ and put it towards the rod budget.

Fished with the family out of kimberling city a few hours thursday and friday morning. Water temp was low to mid 80s, thermocline about 20 foot or so. Found bass, bluegill, and 2 keeper walleye suspended 15-20ft down in 150-200fow over structure. Crawlers worked best. Couldnt get fish to eat a spoon or keitech.....but they bit worms readily even though the ones we were catching were spitting shad less than 2 inches long. Also found bass and bluegill on a gravel runnout just off the bottom. Caught a few smallies, with 1 good keeper with a 16th oz jig and small craw imitation. Crawler worked best though. Very typical pattern for this time of year. Didn't get a chance to troll crankbaits but that would also work quite well im sure.

Fished with the family out of kimberling city a few hours thursday and friday morning. Water temp was low to mid 80s, thermocline about 20 foot or so. Found bass, bluegill, and 2 keeper walleye suspended 15-20ft down in 150-200fow over structure. Crawlers worked best. Couldnt get fish to eat a spoon or keitech.....but they bit worms readily even though the ones we were catching were spitting shad less than 2 inches long. Also found bass and bluegill on a gravel runnout just off the bottom. Caught a few smallies, with 1 good keeper with a 16th oz jig and small craw imitation. Crawler worked best though. Very typical pattern for this time of year. Didn't get a chance to troll crankbaits but that would also work quite well im sure. This post has been promoted to an article

Ive never eaten one but am curious to try. How do you clean one? Do they fillet up like a crappie or walleye?

Always been tons of drum since ive been fishing there. I think they are lots of fun to catch! When you're dragging crankbaits around they will practically pull the rod out of your hand.

Lower meremeac walleye are suckers for crankbaits (all walleyes are i guess). If you throw deep diving cranks all day on the lower end you will eventually stumble on em. Stay on the bottom...youll lose lots of cranks, i like flicker shad 7 and 9s on spinning gear. Ive caught em at...the 141 riffle, the rock ledge south off 44 by powder valley, and the bend where old gravois road crosses. Ill bet they are everywhere though and in higher abundance than most people realize. I still have never had a day where i caught 4 in a day like hog wally. Its usually 1 or 2 along with bass and drum and whatever else you happen to catch in the meremac around st louis. (Bass, walleye, crappie, drum, hepatitis, catfish, sunfish, and who knows what else.)

It sure seems like walleye in TR are doing quite well. There have been lots of reports this year.