Kayser

Digging through my crankbait box, and found a couple of old balsa cranks that look like they would work for walleye. The bottom says Bagley Smoo #3, but I can't find anything about them online. Big wide bill, body has a wide top profile, slim and bent side profile. Hoping somebody on here would know what they are, what they work best for, or if I should even consider using them? One is green, the other is a brown-tiger/crayfish color. both have chartreuse bellies with orange stripe in the center. Does anybody know anything about these baits?

Disclaimer- I've only ever used mono. Forgive the fluoro/braid-virgin. I'll second the Pitzen knot- I use it on everything from 8lb up for tight lure knots. Pretty much the only thing I'll use on bass and catfish, except when I'm snelling big circle hooks. I've also never lost a fish to it. Used to use a Rapala knot for looped lure connections, but recently found something else- don't know the name, but it's basically a slip knot on the main line, with the tag end passed through the eye of the lure and then through the slip-loop of the knot, and pulled tight. Learned that while pier fishing in NC a couple summers ago. Works beautifully, and super quick to tie. Otherwise, it's a clinch knot for all my panfishing needs. For joining, I've had decent success with the surgeon's and uni knots, but like the blood knot for similar line diameters. I've also used perfection loop coupled with an improved clinch for lines of different diameter, as well as the Albright special for really different diameters (love it).

Quick question- do you use spinner rigs when bottom bouncing? Or just an inflated crawler on a harness?

For redhorse- red worms or nightcrawlers on the bottom. For carp, any kind of doughbait with salt and maybe even a fruit smell. Or just a can of sweet corn, with a few kernels on a small hook. Use a light slip-sinker rig for both. You can chum the carp with corn, don't think so with the redhorse.

Gotta love hybrids. I'm guessing a little pond?

The number one thing I've heard from everyone is that you've gotta be ON the bottom. Dragging slender minnow crank-baits behind a bottom bouncer and ticking it through the rocks (below the dam). Tipping jigs/grubs with big minnows or half a nightcrawler and hopping them through rocks/sand/gravel (no mud). Looking for cover and current breaks where they can hide from the sun and current.

Got an errand to run tomorrow morning in STL, so I'm gonna try the Meramec, Scotts to Riverview. Gonna take some poppers, flukes, tubes, jigs, twister grubs, and of course my original floating Rapala's. Not sure what else I've got that would be worthwhile smallie baits. Really don't care- I love twitching those Rapala's.

Was hoping to go on one of the other two- avoid the Gnade and the jet boats. Thumbing through my Paddler's Guide (forgot I had one), kinda looking at Ross to Eastgate on the Big Piney. I'm curious if I need to get permits from the fort to be on that stretch, and if it's safe to leave cars at either of those? Wondering about crowds and portages, too. Also looking at Woodson K (Hway 8) to Scott, Scott to Riverview, or Riverview to Bird's Nest on the Meramec. I know the first one Includes Meramec Springs, Red Ribbon trout and a ban on plastics, and the other two are smallmouth management areas. I'm coming from St. Louis, so I'm thinking this would be a little easier to get to.

I was looking at doing a one day float (probably closer to half day) on either the Meramec or Big Piney this Saturday to chase smallies from the kayak. My friends don't fish, so they're more after scenery and swimming. Any suggestions on a stretch closer to Rolla that I can just shuttle myself rather than go through an outfitter? If not, which outfitter? I'm used to floating the upper Bourbeuse, where 6 miles is a pretty full day of paddling if you fish. Any thoughts on how many miles would be possible on these rivers with the better current?

From memory- The bullseye is from the spreading infection band- the bacteria advances and causes inflammation (red band), but the inflammation disappears as the immune system kills it in a sort of cat-and-mouse thing. Antibiotics are really the only sure way to get rid of it, as the bacteria generally advances faster than your immune system can kill it (hence the bullseye). High strength antibiotics are recommended, sooner rather than later. Here's a link from PubMed- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/

Big Muddy River is a river dammed up in Illinois to create Rend Lake, that flows into the Mississippi WAY below St. Louis. The MO River is big, and definitely muddy, as is the MS River below the MO/MS confluence. Did anyone else get lost when people started using nicknames instead of the proper ones?

Try the 4-8ft range around brush, in the shade. Near a dropoff is best. The channel cats will cruise around the banks looking for food this time of year. If you're chasing flatheads, you'll want to switch to small live bluegill, or something else alive. A 2oz weight might be required to subdue them, though. Cut bluegill is my go-to channel cat bait.

Al, I think the solution here is to put about 100 flathead catfish in the lake, maybe more. In addition to bluegill, they really like bullheads and green sunfish and can put a hurt on a big hurt on stunted fish populations. Also, how much vegetation is there in the lake? It seems like bluegill health is more related to aquatic vegetation and insect population than anything else.

Goggle eye will still hit a worm when the fishing is tough enough to make you give up. Just dip them into the upstream side of deeper rootwads. Mid hook with enough weight to get it to the bottom. If you use a smaller split shot to make it sink slower, the bass will fight over it- I switched to a multiple hook rig to keep two fish from tearing the worm in half and only catching one at a time. You can also sight-fish for redhorse with crawlers, if you're chasing dinner. I'm thinking about using some 1/0 circle hooks I have laying around for the bass next time in case of smallmouth. Haven't gut hooked any fish recently, but always a chance with live bait.

18 acre farm pond in IL. Mainly a big mud pan, but it does have a creek channel that gets down to 12-14 feet somewhere.

I found a spot mid-lake in the back of a small, deep cove on the bluff side- transition from chunk rock to pea-gravel with some fallen trees and a slow gradient out to the drop-off. Loaded with up-to-8" bluegill, but no monsters. The smaller ones swim on top, but the big ones are on the bottom with the carp. Not skinny, but they aren't plump like the ones here in IL. Try to find a spot that would be good spawning grounds from 2-10ft deep, and looks like it would have a good insect population.

I think Devil's Backbone Wilderness runs along a portion of the NFOW. I hiked Paddy Creek last winter- they allow horses on the trails, and they have loosed a lot of those fist-sized rocks that are hell to walk on. Did the loop in 2 days, but wound up with a pinched nerve in my right foot. Might have been my own stupid fault, but thought I'd let you know.

Took the kayak out for an hour yesterday late-afternoon to kill some time, only took one rod with one jighead and some 2" white twister grubs. Found the fish in deep shade, over some small limbs, in 5-8ft of water (lake is only 12ft at deepest). Throw it out, let it sink to the bottom on a tight line; reel down, lift rod, repeat. Fish were hitting on the drop, and just inhaling the bait, then would fight like smallmouth- deep dives, jumps and all. Wound up with 20 fish between 11-13", mostly blacks. Big fish was a 14" white. Had to quit when an 11" white broke me off next to the boat (line was frayed). Good little outing.

Cut bluegill or sucker is my go-to for channel cats. Scale the fish, then fillet and cut into 1-2" chunks (skin on for durability). A 4/0 or 6/0 circle hook is about perfect for channel cats, with either a slip-rig or 3-way swivel rig. If you have a little bit of mobility, try a heavy slip-float rig with the cut bait around shady brush, preferably in 5-15ft of water. They will lay under the main trunk of the tree, but come out for the bait. They really like it if this is on an old creek-channel drop off. This also works well around rip-rap if you are having problems getting caught in the rocks with bottom rigs- just keep the bait about a foot above the rocks. The third method is a #4 hook, 2 large split shot, and a couple of worms dug out of the garden. You can throw it out and drag it back leaving a "scent trail" on the bottom, and then throw it back to about the middle of the trail to sit. This will catch pretty much anything that might swim, including the carp. I wouldn't do the drag-trail if there is a lot of brush, though.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping

I've got to agree- too little rain and too much heat. The fish would get overstressed if you could even find any willing to bite. Besides, Spring might not even be flowing right now. I hate to say it, but tailwaters would probably be your best bet with cold water and good flow.

Funny you should mention leeches- I've found about a dozen of those blood-suckers this year. Nasty green and orange things with black dots. So nasty that the fish won't even eat them.... Also decided to give up on it last weekend- canoes outnumbered the gar! I've never seen that many people on the river, and hope I never do again. I normally enjoy the solitude of the Bourb, but hearing drunken yells echoing down the river just didn't appeal to me. Maybe we'll even get some rain soon and make the float bearable again.

Sunday morning, I was hunting some cow pastures near Rosati, MO. Set up on a fencerow about 20 yds from the edge of the woods, and in came a bird. It was shooting time, but still dark. Saw a beard, so I shot, thinking it was a jake. Get to the bird- brown, meaning a hen. A big hen, but still a hen. Still kicking myself over that one... Now here's the weird part- it had two beards- a 7.5" and a 5". I've never heard of anything like this before on a hen, and neither have the veterans here in IL. So I'm curious, has anyone ever heard of anything like this before, or did I just help out the gene pool? Rob

have you ever sucessfully "seeded" a morel patch? because if so, then i've got some work to do yet this year...

Also, interestingly enough by this rule, there should be no culling of black bass in tournaments, PERIOD, in July and August. It would be a "instant decision" kind of tourney, like some of the walleye tournies I've watched on tv over the years.