Ham

It definitely doesn't hurt. I think it helps at times, but often it is not necessary. As an aside, I WILL NOT ever use Kick N Bass again. That stuff smells so BAD that I don't care if it helps me catch additional fish ; its NOT worth it to have to smell that stuff.

I have ZERO information about fishing around the STL

If you’ll drive a little bit further south, it could not be any easier to catch Longear Sunfish. I’m desperate to catch a lot of fish that are much the same. Easy to catch once you fish where they actually exist in any thing close to actual numbers of them. i don't know anything about that creek, but it probably is worth checking out. Just have a second and third location nearby in case it sucks.

They float you did is an EASY shuttle and is getting crushed by fishing pressure. I'm not wild about the last mile of that float, but I guess a nice fish can come from almost anywhere.

100 % Serious

Love Them! Do you have any leads on American Eels?

I’m not Sure when the off season is for the Current River, but pre deer season in the Fall is very Nice. Just sayin. I’ll have to try your drop shot idea. I have not played with that in the rivers

Al, there has been tremendous amounts of siltation that I assume came from farm field run off.Almost No rocks visible below the ramp. We did start seeing gravel runs not too far above the ramp and another 2 of water opens a lot up. Google Earth shows pretty clear blue water with plenty of depth. I wonder when that happens? still seem to have a fair amount of gradient but the water really warms up with out the gravel runs to clean it and cool it. I’d bet that water was > 85 degrees. very few places have been cut right to the edge of the river though which is Good, but the damage is done. so many tons of silt would have to come out to see what the river used to be. i was surprised by the low number of LMB too. I think I caught 2 very small ones. Lack of spawning habitat maybe. Not really very many backwater areas. Once I saw the river first hand, I was not expecting any SMB. I’m shocked that I bumped into that many Bowfin though. Pleasantly Surprised !

Sorry Cameron, Can’t help you there Buddy

I don’t know why the pics are sideways. anyways Bandit 100 Hummdinger 1/4 oz Zoom Z Craw Jr Yabby Craw 5/16 oz tungsten weight

I had fished the Upper Strawberry River out of a canoe years ago. Loved It. It might have changed, but back then it was pretty wild and woolly with minimal commercial traffic. It was all self shuttling. We caught numbers, but no size. Saw multiple locals with full stringers of small bass. Way above legal limits. well, I look around on Google Earth a fair amount and in the back on my mind was Waldo on the Lower Strawberry. Multi Species was on my mind. I found a ramp that I thought would allow me to access enough water for a day’s fishing. It was actually a lot more than a day’s worth of fishing, but more on that later. i loaded Waldo for a little of everything. Last time Looked at the Strawberry River in person it was about 4 feet at Poughkeepsie. Dirty water and flowing fast. The gauge was at about 1.33 yesterday. I expected slow flow and clear water. I took a younger guy from work. I launched at Riverside School Ramp East of Saffell, AR. The Ramp is designed for use under a WIDE range of water levels. It is a Long and steep ramp that isn’t the easier ramp I have ever used. Heavily silted at the bottom of it too. water was pretty low and still flowing. It still had a fair amount of color. Cover was everywhere. All thoughts of finesse fishing went away. Micro fishing wasn’t much of an option either. I saw Black Spotted Minnows, but with the stain and heavy siltation, it wasn’t going to work out. I idled away from the ramp, but could not stand it very long and started fishing almost immediately. I caught a small spot on a Humdinger spinner bait and ran aground. Pulled the TM up and current swung the boat on top of wood cover. This happened about 100 more times. I’m not sure that I want to fish it any lower than 1.33. I’m guessing that up to 2.5 might be ok. I would want a drawn out fall allowing water to clear. fishing was not as Good as I thought it would be. Most of the fish were small and boat control was just a beatdown. Waldo bounced off every log in the Creek. It looks like you should catch 100, but I only managed 24 to hand. Spinnerbait worked. Squarebill worked. But I probably caught most of my fish pitching a Zoom Z craw Jr. missed more than a couple too. It was a Power Fishing day. last fall @Johnsfolly and I fished Big Cypress Bayou. I went for a variety of reasons, but I really wanted to catch a Choupique. I had my chances, but failed to do so. Well yesterday, I made a simple pitch about an hour into the trip. I felt it get heavy and set the hook into a Choupique! What the heck??? I did not know they were even in the river and I am not used to them being in areas with fair amounts of flow. An hour later, I caught another Bigger one. I had a couple more chances at Bowfin after that, but they got away. BowFun! dropped a crappie jig in a few tops and caught some really nice crappie. I think that would be a very workable deal if you made a trip to do just that. We did make the long run down to the Confluence with the Black River. Eventually, we got deeper water where it was safe to run WOT. We caught fish down there too, but the vast majority of our fishing was in shallower water with more flow. it was Hot. I had plenty of stuff to drink, but it still wears on you. There was some shade available almost all day and a breeze from time to time which helped. I had a Great time. I love my Lewis and Clark trips. I’m not sure I’ll Make that 210 Mile round trip again, but I might.

You wound me Sir.

I run a 9 gallon tank. I wish it was a 12. I trailer as close as practical to fishing spot. Some of the ramps are problematic, but I usually work through that stuff

@BilletHead has a cruel streak. He knows I will be impulsively drawn to answer, but that it is all but impossible for me too answer. “what do I have in the boat?” Lots and lots and lots, but it changes often with the seasons, on the target species, and lake level, and and and. If I was ever completely dialed in to the bite AND absolutely sure of the target species, I do have the ability to carry minimal amounts of tackle. Ask @Quillback, most recent Redear trip, I only brought 3 rods, worms, and a single tackle bag. There is a thread coming, but yesterday, I had an adventure. Lewis and Clark stuff. Never fished there. Didn’t know what species were available. Water color? Flow rate? Etc. planned for everything. I got there. Dialed in. Focused on 3 lures the rest of the day. Lot of stuff was in my way and not needed, but so it goes.

Mostly hatchery mutts at that

There’s another Cuttie in the mix too. I heard second from Dave Wotten that they were “Yellowstone Cutts.

Launching at Two Rivers is a Good Option. I’ve also fished Van Buren and Donophan. Seems like higher numbers of SMB overall when compared to 11 pt.

Is this Tiger Trout a one time deal ? I’m hoping they stock every year for a while.

Man, I know it's tough to lose your Dad. It will get a little easier as time passes. I'm glad you had a successful trip. I hope the memories of your Dad are pleasant ones and that fishing helps you find comfort.

How is that possible ?

NGL, I can’t wait to hear how many

Yeah, modern deck screws with T20 or T25 Head. They give you a free bit with the larger boxes

I’m actually feeling pretty good about getting to 75 species with 15 lifers now. Me Getting to 3000 fish this year is a stretch though.

Whaaaaaasat? I’m at 48 species and 7 lifers. I’m planning on hitting up Strawberry River on Saturday. Is it possible I could catch up or * gasp * ....pass you up?

@Johnsfolly Tell these Good ppl how many species you’ve caught this year.