Kayser

Which just so happens to be the current world record.

#14 Beadhead pheasant tails, hare's ears and scuds. Fish the riffles in the bait area, starting at the campground handicap access. Just try to sight fish and you should do fine. There are definitely a lot of fish that everybody passes by. Rob

Either two nymphs or a dry-dropper. Nymphs catch more fish, plain and simple. I use the dry-dropper either when fishing riffles and fish like to hit my indicator, or if the fish seem extra-picky. I feel it gives me a more subtle presentation, and the I think the fish usually agree. The two nymph rig is a way to either attract fish with an egg or san juan and catch with a more natural nymph, or burn through the flies that aren't working at a faster rate. That's how I use it, at least. Rob

Try blackening outside, smoke detectors are annoying if you do it inside. And they do eat mussels at a pretty good rate. That's what they're eating when you see them cruising the flats in LOZ.

So I've heard how to catch them (nylon rope), how to clean them (steaks or backstraps), but how do you cook them? Fry like any other rough fish? Or bake, broil, or grill it? Rob

No, you definitely get put on the sex offender list for public urination. Was talking to a cop and it came up in conversation. I think its bull$H!T, but the police tend to disagree. Rob

Nice Hybrids. Haven't caught one in a while, maybe I haven't been fishing enough...

To the original intent of this thread- it's a largemouth. Look at the jaw, it goes back past the eye. Spots don't have a jaw that goes back nearly as far. Their heads are proportionally smaller, too (on the average). Hope you guys can tell the difference in person if you intend on keeping spots... Rob

It's like naming a dog- you may call him "Wolf," but it's just a husky, or a lab, or whatever type of dog you may have. Yes, they are similar, and come from the same background, but one is wild and naturally occurring, and the other has had its genetics manipulated by humans to get desirable traits expressed. Same thing here, they just so happened to choose a name for their science project that was already given to another species that was naturally occurring. Rob

I don't use electronics for the most part, but then again, I mainly fish small ponds and lakes that I know extremely well, and where dipping your rod is all you need to figure out water depth and bottom composition. When making short day trips to bigger water, I admit, electronics help me a lot (my friend has a basic one on his boat), but I mainly just cruise around looking for the right depth on points and ledges, or if I'm lucky enough, some form of structure in the depth I'm after. But an example- last time I was at Bull Shoals, I was able to rent a boat for an hour, and hooked a 3-4lb kentucky on a jigging spoon (spit the hook at the boat). There were seats and motor on this boat, nothing fancy, but I had a lake contour map I had looked at, and found a spot that looked decent, so that's where we fished. No electronics, just educated guessing.

Don't know, but I've gotten a couple big ones on limb lines. Let them go, we had plenty of catfish when we caught them. Rob

Hey, thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. Hoping to get out a few times this spring, so long as classes aren't too rough. Rob

I don't have any rogues or pointers, but I got a bunch of Cabela's escape minnows last Christmas, in bluegill, vegas lights, and flasher colors (click HERE to see them). Curious if those would work for the stickbait bite, as they suspend well between 3 and 6 feet. And just curious, but where do you fish the stickbaits (how deep? docks, gravel, backs of coves, etc.?), and how (crank, stop, twitch or just twitch)? My friend doesn't get to fish much, and I would like to make our weekend stay as good as possible down there. Thanks, Rob

Build an 8 weight. Catch a Muskie. Catch a Walleye. Catch a smallie on a flyrod. Catch more flatheads. Beat my best trout- 21"+ Of course, I need the weather to cooperate this year. Had the time last year, but all the rivers and lakes were too high and muddy to fish. Rob

I wonder if one of those rainbow trout swimbaits would trick a muskie this time of year. Or do they keep the muskie and muskie food trout in different lakes? Rob

As a side note, the "perch" we have around here don't go dormant in the winter- they just slow down and key in on smaller baits. I use 1/100 oz pink jighead with a wax worm in the deeper brush and drop offs in the farm ponds around here. I catch a lot of fish this way, so long as I can cast to the fish or walk on the ice. The fish never stop biting, people just stop fishing. Rob

Two methods work for me. Either a dry-dropper combo, with a #12 or 14 parachute Adam's, Cahill, or EHC and a heavy beahead like a BH PT or a copper john. The other method is to go without an indicator and a couple nice size split shot. I pull it just enough to keep it from hanging up but still bouncing in the rocks/sand/whatever. I like using a caddis pupae or soft hackle and a hare's ear or a rubber legged fox squirrel nymph, keeping the heavier fly in front, closer to the split shot. Both techniques worked great this past year. I would also let the second rig drift past me and swing it in the current. But, if you want big fish, use a #4 rabbit strip dead drifted across their nose. Rob

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/02/...in5868320.shtml The COE is apparently to the point of poisoning the Illinois River to delay the advance of these things into the Great Lakes. Rob

I've heard that these things make the best catfish bait due to their high oil content, and am willing to believe it. Also read that you can use small jigs or spoons below dams to catch them. Mainly, I was curious if anyone has any experience with these things, and if it's worth my time to try for them this time of the year. I've been wanting to try the Alton Lock & Dam on the Mississippi for a long time now, but just haven't had the time. Rob

Well, if it was fried fish, then don't worry, it just has that effect, even without the meds. Not much makes me happier than fried crappie. Rob

Just as a quick point- there are two major classes of chemical compounds- hydrophobic and hydrophilic. Skipping the technical BS, they are either water soluble or fat soluble. Yes, the body does metabolize a certain portion of the drugs, but the rest are kept in what they are soluble in. Water soluble stuff, you piss out, like vitamin C. But the fat soluble stuff sticks around a while, and yes, many pharmaceuticals are fat soluble, which is why it takes so darn long to test as "free" of the drug after the person actually quits taking it. Most anti-depressants are fat soluble, so it's not so hard to believe that they could accumulate in fish. Rob

Had a few hours this weekend to pound a small (8acre) pond for crappie. Wind was hitting the levee hard, and minnows drifted 2-3ft deep, or 1/32 oz red/white jigs tipped with minnows produced good numbers. No luck without the minnows. Fished the drop-off, no fish in the shallow flats or deeper water to speak of, all of them seemed to be on the drop-off. Top 3 fish- 1-4, 1-5, and a 1-8. All 13" blacks. Smallest fish on the weekend was 10.5". In my mind, it's just kinda hard to beat that real-minnow taste and feel when crappie fishing... Rob

If I could get the mean current speed for the CFS values (would like from low water periods), I could do a quick calculation of how many cubic feet of living space are needed per trout at low water periods. Divide the CFS by the speed to get the cubic feet per mile (be sure to convert hours to seconds), then divide the CF/mi by the trout per mile, and get CF/trout. Could be an indicator of overall trout productivity of the stream, and thus quality of habitat. Then again, getting the mean speed would be a royal pain... Rob

Well, I'm out for the next few weekends, seeing as duck season is opening (IL then MO), but I might make a trip on the 14th, barring how dangerous the deer hunters in the area are... Rob

I was hoping to do a float on the Meramec from Scotts Ford Access to Riverview Access, as a one day float. I was mainly curious if I could get a car (dodge stratus) into both of these accesses, as a shuttle vehicle. I have a jeep to haul the canoe with. Is it worth trying? How long should the float take? Is the fishing decent? Are too many cool-weather idiots like myself to even bother trying this? Or, is it one of the better ideas I've had? Rob