Smalliebigs

I don't think Jeremy said no wading but you can run a boat right up to the cable.....The area would be closed to all fishing for period of time. I would never want to piss on anyones parade, so if it is trout fisherman's god given right to snag Big Brown trout, kick them up on to the gravel bar and take 10 pics of the fish to show your friends back home well so be it.1985, I know you are not the fisherman exibiting this behavior but I witnessed it alot in the last week and a half and it's pathetic!!! I guess Taney is what it is, but I do remember fishing with my dad in the mid 70's to 80's and we caught huge Rainbow after huge Rainbow.Sometimes the average fish would be 3 to 4 pounds, all fat and full of the shrimp from the lake.I will agree the Brown run, it does seem like there are some bigger Browns now but the behavior of some fisherman in front of the tubes up there is weak!!!! it makes me sick, I was always taught to be stewart of the river and your quarry.I know you most likely are the same way, hell I was getting trouble for breaking huge fish off up there last week. If they are foul hooked or you just don't want to put them in a net or beach them, just leave them in the water, help the fish to survive and grow larger.I guess Taney beeing the tailwater situation it is closing a stretch of the lake for a period of time would never happen.Thats cool, I just love the place and am always trying to improve the fishing for future fisherman. The huge Browns I catch and release out of there always put a perma grin on my face for a while so it is deffinitely tonic for my soul. p.s. I catch big Browns that most guys would consider trophies out of three other rivers in Missouri, the Current, Meramec and the North Fork and I was wading....Justin I totally agree with you but I still love Taney

My theory on all of this is that the browns have adapted to the fact that they have to run “a gauntlet” of waders to get to their nursery waters, and it’s possible that there will never again be runs like in the past…unless there are some sweeping changes made in how the far upper end of Taneycomo is managed during the typical spawning periods. Considering that this fishery is ‘artificial’, there will always be very nice trout throughout the entire tailwater, but it would be great to see those “wolf packs” of brown trout make a comeback. The fish ladder at outlet number three is a great start (but it is only trout accessible when there are two or more generators running), and this helps protect the “pseudo” wild strain of fish that is cultivated through the process of collecting roe (eggs) and ‘milk’ from trout that spend the majority of their lives in the river. I have decided to become far more active in the local Trout Unlimited chapter, and I invite everyone to join up if they are interested in seeing some real positive changes. Some of the possible solutions to this dilemma will not be popular, especially amongst those with a commercial interest in Lake Taneycomo, but there has to be a better way than what is displayed in the picture. Perhaps, a seasonal closing of the stretch from the cable down to the Rebar Hole is a possibility, or even restricting wading in this zone during the typical spawning times could work wonders. Who knows, but for the sake of promoting an ethical and quality fishing experience while educating the general public about their potential impact on the fishery, something needs to be done. The scene up there has become an embarrassment for everyone who puts maintaining this amazing fishery over their own personal vanity. Jeremy, you are very correct the river needs to shut down to fishing during the Brown run from the cable to Rebar.What I witnessed up there recently with people trying to stroke their egos with photo ops and mis handling of fish and snagging of fish made me so sick I went over to Table Rock to fish for smallies.If we want Taney to be like it was something needs to be done.Some people won't like it but something needs to be done.When the fishery recovers I gaurantee there will be more chances at trophy fish on the rest of the lake the rest of the year and you can be proud of the fact you caught it while it wasn't trying to migrate back in to a concrete spawning pond.If you care about the fishery and the future of the fishery, you would not care about closing the river for certain times of the year.

Cricket you f**k me up!!! We have got to get out on the water together

Holy crap!!! I am getting one...I'm looking right now @ Austinkayak.com, they have the Versa Board angler for $989.00. If you don't mind me asking what did you pay for yours??? Do you have the angler??? Do you think I could attach a small anchor up front to hold in my honey holes?? I tried a board in Florida about two months ago, it was more of a board buit for speed but it was a fun experience, I saw all kinds of fish down below from up there. What kind of paddle did you get ?? and how long???

Do you have a Versa board??? I was considering one, I saw a guy fishing on the Meremac with one and was doing quite well on it.I could hit some spots low key like.

Sweet Muddy!!! your'e gonna have some fun...I have three yaks and I'm about to buy another.12 foot is a good length.

darn!!!!! Mitch, you are the man and so is Nick. AWSOME river smallies.....I love it!!!! great job, these pics make me feel better.I can't wait to do some winter Smallie smack downs.

Mitch, your bro with a nice river Largemouth...nice pic. sorry.. I just sound like an old complaining bitch.

Nice smallie and warmouth!!!! and great pics of the Big.

You make a very good point Al, with the size of river largemouth.I Have been catching and seeing some huge ones, I'm just jaded.The grub thing is that only with tribs that flow into the Mississippi??? or at least more common in those srteams.I don't notice other streams that don't nearly as bad.Why do spots get them so much worse??? i tried to give some fillets to a friend and when he saw me cleaning the bass he didn't want the meat anymore, when he saw the grubs.

Bruce, you have enough good pics for a season of a flyfishing magazine in a week!!!!! BRAVO...Beautiful big male, very nice...with out sounding gay or anything, not that theres anything wrong with that.

I never said the Largemouth were invasive just the spots and silver,bighead and grass carp and it is my observation that the Largemouth populations are going up with the spots and hybrids as the populations of smallies go down.Also there are big head carp in the Big river and plenty of them, i have had them jump in my boat there.I'm not worried about the carp competing with smallies for food, I'm worried about them killing everything in the river after they are done screwing up the food chain. the Largemouth are not bad sport persay they are some of the esaiest fish you would ever want to catch...very aggressive and stupid, I just prefer Smallmouth bass.

I went fishing three times from the 6th to the 10th and am sick with the results. 10/6/2010 went to a creek that I fish about two to three times per year and was absolutely sickend by the fact I caught several fish and nice sizes yet not one fish was a Smallmouth. Not only did I not catch a smallie where I once would catch them at a rate of nine to one vs Spots or Laregemouth, I witnessed huge schools of Grass carp and Asian carp.After this horrible outing I was left wondering we are screwed if you are a Smallmouth Bass fanatic like I am.Invasive speices are slowly killing off the Smallmouth populations if you ask me...this is just my observation from a freak like me who fishes alot. 10/08/2010 went floating down the Big River in a section I don't float very often due access point difficulties and same situation not quite as bad but still a nightmare if you ask me.43 fish caught, 3 Smallmouth, several hybrid spots and spots and some huge Largemouth.I use to catch basicly all smallies on this float, there was also so many carp it made my stomach churn with disgust.INVASIVE species taking over!!!! 10/09/2010 we hit another creek that produced big time earlier this year and I woke in a nightmare again only this was reality.Between the two of us we caught 7 Smallmouth,20 something spots/hybrids and way two many Largemouth to count.Also there were more carp and schools of baby grass carp than I could shake a stick at, I know they were Grass Carp because we scooped up a couple with a dip net. While driving home I just kept saying to myself what happened to all the smallies and started getting very deppressed about the future of Smallmouth populations in the Eastern half of Missouri.I have some pics but not hat many I was beeing such a bitch about catching so many Invasives and Largemouth my heart wasn't in to it.I just wish I would have fished harder and more often the last thiry years if I knew this was coming down the road. p.s. I know I sound like a winer but I will take anyone to these streams and show you the amout of invasive bass and Largemouth it's sick!!! SPOTTED BASS SUCK IN STREAMS!!!!! here are some of the pics of the green bass..turkey vulture sunningWe didn't even get shots of the biggest one, due to my lame butt attitude. one of the few Smallmouth caught and released on the Big that day letting a little punk go to fight again

Looks like someone hit their secret little spot???? on OF of the G...nice smallie Cricket!!!!

Phillip, wow very impressive!!! I'm seriously considering using you one day i'm coming down and I want to make sure my nephew catches some smallies.

Hey Flygirl!!! I love the name..good luck looking for the job

Bruce, jesus you are the frigging man!!!! you are really doing well, I can't wait to get down there!!!!! To hear about the snagging of the browns makes me sick!!!! it just goes to show that there are idiots at all levels of fishing. I can't believe that guys have to stroke their egos by snagging a huge Brown trout that is trying to do it's thing. How does this make someone feel better about their fishing when they snag a fish???? I will never understand it and I have to try not to witness it because I always end up saying something to one of these dickwads and practicly get into a fight every time. Where are the authorities to curtail this practice??? I wish you could trim up your jet wash and blast them out of the river on to the parking lot that would be cool!!! Hear I go again sounding like a complaining, whining bitch, but some people make me sick and I will always confront them on it if I see it. Last year I saw a dad showing his son how to snag the fish and I had to explain to his son how much of looser his dad was for snagging the fish instead of actually trying to catch them on a pattern that they might eat or even have the skill to do it.Anyway Bruce leave some of the 10 pounders for the rest of us!!! you are making us all very jealous!!!! great job!!!

JDC, seriously if you want to get in the boat let me know...I will pm you with my number...I will be fly fishing half the time and throwing plugs as soon as the water starts flowing big time.

Bruce, I love it, you are the man!!!! you are pounding them down there!!!!! Great job. I will be down from 10/12/2010 to 10/22/2010 with my Seaark I hope they are generating some water so I can get to the dam. Bruce, I can wait for spring when I get to drop a pile of cash in Kevin's lap and have him make me a Riverpro...can't wait!!!!!! awsome pics by the way...you know they are nice trout when you are doing what I call the salmon shot...very sweet!!!

Eric, sometimes I could not agree with you more and this is one of them!!!! Enforce the laws on the books and fine the living crap out of all the loosers who litter and break every other law on the river. Sometimes at my cabin I see some of the stupidity beeing played out on the Meramec and I want to start shooting people and doing society a favor....***just kidding....not serious, just venting*** You are right tighten up the regs on Smallmouth before trout, better yet quit letting people fish for either species with bait. Fishing for smallies and trout on the river should be a challenge that you earn over time and work. I don't think you should be able to just plop a ball of eggs or dough or a minnow in the water and be rewarded with a nice smallie or trout. This is just my opinion...obviously and I don't care what the people in the Ozarks who allege that it's their heritage to be able to rape the stream of fish so they can eat. I have seen certain streams and rivers get brutalized in the last two decades and it's sad.Some of the younger people will never know what the good olde days were like.

There are plenty of big Browns from Scotts Ford to Hwy 8, I catch at least two to four 5 pound plus Browns out of that stretch every fall. You just have to slow down and take your time, watch the weather and fish at night if you have to. I don't catch many big Bows though, I'm using baits that most people would think are way too big for trout as well.The big Browns hold so tight to the wood that most guys don't get near them...you have to be very observant and patient.

Yes, we have places on the Meramec and the Big River....we are very lucky!!! and cherish them greatly.

Give me a break!!!! This is very much YOUR opinion....whatever

Cory, I concur we hammered them from about two miles above Hwy N bridge to about 4 miles below it.We caught several big fish and it was a good day all together until we went to our property and it looks like from what I can tell a bear??? tore into one of our barns that has horse feed in it.I'm not sure it was a bear but looking at the scratch marks and destruction I don't know what other animal in Missouri could have done this.I would Beware of Black Bears outside of boubon if I was you, thats all I can say.The fishing was great on the river today though...Cory's right the big ones were hitting.......p.s. Cory I would have no problems what so ever paying ten bucks to park and launch from your land that is more than reasonable.