Kayser

Here's one- I caught a 22" brown last fall. I could have kept the fish, but didn't. Early this spring, another angler posted pictures from the same stretch- same fish, spots matched exactly. If I had kept that fish, no one else could have caught it. It cannot grow if it's dead. 99% of the browns I catch are fat and healthy to the extreme. Plenty of food for producing those football trout. The biggest fish I've seen have always been very far from accesses, in good cover that's hard to fish. Aka- lowest angling pressure. I'm not the best, but I do alright. I release all the trout I catch, hoping they'll get bigger. There is more than enough food to grow lots of big trout, and I've seen too many big fish after high water years that went to zero after really low and clear summers to believe it's not angling pressure. When people can see the fish, or they move into the lower reaches of the park, the big fish are selected against. The population dynamic of brown trout in that stretch of river strongly indicates external pressure on the larger fish that have not reached maximum lifespan, and have plenty of food, based on girth:length ratios.

Mentioning a 20-year-old daughter in a thread about younger fishermen. Risky move.

Looked up the Heddon Lucky 13... I think I have quite a few of those, on a shelf, looking pretty. Have a few weeks to kill in August, so I might have to liberate one and see if she's still got what it takes.

Looking at other stuff in the area, barely above normal is probably a good guess.

Oh, and I've caught a couple in LOZ on small flukes. Hurricane deck area.

Yep, in a subdivision my dad lives in. Always good to wet a line. There are only a few places to get one reliably on the pond, near overhead cover or rocks. I hear they like stumps in SEMO, but I've never had the chance to fish that area.

Warmouth was from a pond south of St Louis, in Illinois. They've been there since the creek was dammed way back when. There was a fish kill 3 years ago that suppressed the bass population, and the warmouth had a really good spawn, so lots in the 8" range right now. I've also caught them at Lake of the Ozarks, near chunk rock in the back of a cove.

The fisherman went out with the intention of keeping a fish. I don't blame him, I've kept a couple myself in years past. What gets to me, though, is the people that come in mid summer and snag every legal fish from every hole with those giant white jigs. The ones you can see caught in the dorsal fin from 200yds away. And of course, they go right on the stringer. I've been gone a couple years, so haven't been around many fisherman in a while. But I know what it takes to grow nice trout, and that is poaching. It is senseless greed and it is one of the few things that damages my calm, not to mention the resource. But I'm done with this- the scenery was great, fishing was nice, and I can't wait to get out again.

Channel cat Blue cat Rainbow trout Brown trout Bluegill Redear Green sunfish Warmouth White crappie Black crappie White bass Largemouth bass Freshwater drum Bleeding shiner Common shiner Common carp Creek chub And I think that's all for right now. Suckers and smallmouth are next on the list.

And here I am, stuck in Rolla with no time to fish. I guess I'll hit it next year.

Probably October 25, Phil's join date.

This was not a trophy, based on how he gutted it- just dinner. I'll admit, the fish in blue ribbon water have a lot better looking meat (and tasting), but it still doesn't compare to any of the panfish, or catfish, or temperate basses. Not enough to justify killing one of the fun fish.

You got me thinking, so I went and checked my profile. I joined July '06, when I was 16, and have ~890 posts. Not a lifetime member, not a charter member, but I'm glad to have found the place. Thanks to you guys, I've seen massive floods, record fish, new techiques, and tips on when I should just drop off the radar and go fishing, that I never would have seen in person. The few of you I've met on steam have not disappointed, either. If it weren't for this site, I might actually be productive. Instead, I just daydream about when I can make another trip to try for my first walleye or striper. There is no other place like this on the Internet, so thanks to everyone for keeping it awesome.

No clipped trebles, perch f11 with all 3 intact.

Went to the Current Sunday night, took the 5-weight out for the first time in forever. Water was running ~190 cfs, so noticeably up, but barely off color. Fished the cable down to the rock garden, throwing streamers, and picked up 4 rainbows with quite a few misses, and walked back to the car after taking a couple pictures. Then the wind changed, clouds rolled in, and things cooled off considerably. Weighed my options around 3pm, and decided to wander down to tan vat. One more rainbow on the streamer, and then switched to nymphs after losing it to a rock. Picked up 5 rainbows and a 15" brown on a flashback PT/san juan combo. Saw a group of 3 with spinning gear downstream from me, and they made it all the way to the bluff hole, where they kept a 18.5" brown (caught on a rapala). Saw the fish at the parking lot. Ended the day with 10 fish, nothing to write home about, but not the worst ever. Water looked great, and wish I had time to get down there mid-week when nobody else is out fishing. I think the amount of people the river sees on weekends really puts the fish down, and I'm pretty sure I used to catch a lot more fish when I had time for that. Maybe I'll try Parker and Baptist next time?

Drum are great, but tough if overcooked. Slice into thin pieces across the grain to fry them, or just blanken the loins. Used to troll and fill the cooler with 3-5lb drum and not think twice about it. Plus, there's no need to worry about other people muscling in on your spot! Anyways, what speed do you troll, and what size baits? My trolling game is way off recently, and I need to change that.

25 here, but having trouble finding experienced people to fish with in Rolla. Seems to only be a handful of them around,and almost nobody fly fishes, it seems.

The red morels (false morels) have a heat-susceptible toxin that causes severe gastrointestinal distress (vomiting, diarrhea, severe abdominal cramps and pain) akin to a bad case of food poisoning. If you fully cook said mushrooms at a high enough temp (i.e.- fry them), you should be fine. I ate them for a couple years, fried, and was fine. Then I had one that was grilled, but didn't get fully cooked, and I paid for my mistake with several hours curled up on the bathroom floor (tequila was never this cruel). My dad ate one that was more cooked, but still not done, and didn't have nearly as bad of an experience as I did, though he won't touch them anymore. Long story short- cook them all the way done, and they are delicious. Don't, and I would suggest keeping your bathroom floor clean and cozy, and having some gatorade around to recover. Yes, I would eat them again, even with this mishap. Then again, I'm still kinda stupid. Good luck, FW.

Puzzle? 90% of the fish are in 5% of the water. The easy places to fish get fished, and rules aren't always followed.

Pond crappie were mostly deep yet on Wednesday, with a couple nicer blacks coming shallower. But I'm off the water for a few weeks, just too busy.

Anyone finding fish in the pre-spawn or spawning stages? Fished a large reservoir and got one big black from some rip-rap on a windy bank two days ago, muddy water. Going to try a pond that's a little closer to home today, see if I can find anything staging in pre-spawn or otherwise. Not looking for specific locations, but trying to get a feel for when the fish are moving up where. The big one should be moving soon, I hope.

Upper lake is muddy, lower lake is clearer. Definite mud line coming through the 154 bridges. Most water is around 50 degrees, and fish were deep. Only caught one big crappie out of 50 total. Found a few white bass in the current, and a couple drum with them. The cold weather should push the spawn back another week.

Actual carp, or grass carp? I don't want to kill the old guys they put in for weed control, which is a very real possibility on the tackle I've got here.

I've been wanting to chase some carp this spring, but being in Rolla, I'm not sure where the closest pond/lake would be to chase them. I've spent ~5 years here, and still haven't chased them outside of IL or at LOZ. Just hoping for someplace that doesn't take as much gas to get to. So, has anybody seen a bunch in a nearby lake? Have a secret spot you'd like to give up? I'd like to tie into something bigger than the local trout (with a little less work, to boot).

Was on the Little Piney today at 330-310 (start and finish flows), and that was about as much water as I want to wade (hard to fish, as well). 2000 cfs is a lot of water to do anything on, but nowhere near a record flood.