Smalliebigs

Ron I turned in two from the Black river and when I called the gal I talked to told me on the phone how far down stream they had been tagged. I caught one at what most would call the old party hole where Mill creek flows in across the road into the river, just below Black River Lodge and it was tagged below HWY K.The other smallie I turned in was caught wher the East Fork of the Black comes in and was tagged just above HWY K about a mile, both were $75 tags and both fish were about 17 inches. So you know and I know those fish traveled pretty far and I hope they are still in there I have some pics of some the fish they tagged if you would like to see them as we met the gentlemen that did the tagging study and they happily emailed them to me....they were both really cool MDC employees.The MDC even sent me a letter explaining where and when they tagged the fish I turned.I fished the Black knowing they were tagged and provided pics of the fish,gps cordinates, and as much info as I could provide.

" their fans are only sports fans from November, after Mizzou kicks their butt in football until April, or after they lose to VCU or Davidson in the tournament." Now thats funny Drew!!!!!

Horrifying!!! and disgraceful!!! now I need to go drink a glass of wine and cool down. Thank you Al for this post. I have two different set of pics and locales of this sort of crap I can give you.These are just some that have survived, I wonder how many were sucessfully harvested.....loosers

I just saw this and am looking at the window at the weather and need to go fishing BAD!!!!! I'm ready to get the kayaks and canoes out and nail some smallies http://youtu.be/l1yU0WKkpEw

Here is a pic of a replica in my office.......I put this fish back in the Big river below Mammoth in 2002, she was just over 21 inches. I think the guy did a sweet job, he is know as the Smallie mount guru on Pickwick Lake

10 pages!!!!!! Outside Bend will be happy

"If I'm being too harsh, I'm in about as bad a mood as you can be after spending the day on the river and catching more than 30 bass. Why? Because I'm about ready to throw up my hands and give up on ANYTHING being able to improve the numbers of big fish on jetboatable streams like the Meramec. Yes, I caught 30 some odd bass, about 3/4ths smallmouths. Eight or so over 15 inches. A 17.5 incher, a 17 incher, and a 16.5 incher. And you know what? Those three biggest ones ALL had nasty gig wounds. The biggest was gigged in the meaty part of the tail about halfway between the tail fin and the back of the dorsal fin. One tine, went all the way through from top to bottom. Top hole was about half healed over. Skin on both sides from top to bottom was swollen, red, infected. Bottom hole was horrible, totally unhealed with a big wad of fungus growing out of it. The second biggest was even worse. The fish had been hit just behind the head, with the gig at an angle. One tine went from top of the back all the way through and coming out just above the pelvic fin, another tine went through the top of the gill cover and out the bottom of the gills, third tine was on the other side of the body and farther back, and just skinned the side of the fish an inch or so behind the pectoral fin. Again, the wound in the back was about 3/4ths healed, but the wound in the belly next to the pelvic fin was unhealed and had the same fungus growing from it, and the wounds in the gill cover were red and infected. The third one got lucky. The pinhead who tried to gig it had the gig turned so that the tines were lengthwise to the fish, and he almost missed, leaving four parallel, perfectly spaced gashes on the fish's side, which were mostly healed. I took pictures of all three fish. If you care to see them I'll post them. All three came from the same pool, which is pretty close to an access but is a good wintering pool where I've caught lots of big fish inpast years. What are the chances that any big fish wintering in that pool this winter escaped being gigged? How many of them died? What are the odds that those two biggest ones are going to succumb to those wounds eventually ".......... Al, that sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please post the pics so the people who don't fish in the Winter can see the carnage that we see every winter. It's so sad to hear and I pointed out to John at the meeting that the tagged fish is a boondogle for giggers who don't give a ######. I am soo sick of people who gig bass................. makes want to go on the war path. ********** What are the chances that ANY regulation designed to produce more 18 inch plus smallies will work in popular gigging streams, since it appears that in any good gigging year a huge percentage of those that have survived to that size will be gigged by some selfish cretin?*********** ding ding ding ding.....winner winner chicken dinner.........You are so right Al.....we and the MDC will never know ********And the next time I hear somebody from MDC say there's no evidence that gigging is harming bass populations, I'll let them know exactly how incredibly stupid THAT statement is, too.************************* Halleluja Al!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to a hole above Redhorse and caught two with gig marks....it's amazing how resilient thos fish are

Hey, the people that work in this world I great respect for.I just loved seeing the initial purchase post and the follow up trip reports......great stuff!!!! Those Supremes are really nice, I'm looking for a jet myself.I'm taking my sweet olde time doing it though.....might buy from the Jetdoctor. I think we all have a soft spot in our hearts when we see a dude take his dad out fishing.....it's a great thing. Take care of the farm and the smallies and trout will be waiting for ya in the fall p.s. the look on your dad's face holding those smallies is worth the price of the boat and I hope the rain comes your way and the crops grow like wildfire.

We have schools of Blues that size right under the Arch......but, that is a nice blue.I can't wait to get on the Missouri and Mississippi and chase some monter kitties.

OTF, do you fall into this classifcation.. "People who are smallmouth enthusiasts yet rail against the MSA..." ?????? if so I think Eric has a point. The MSA are one of the few true advocates of Smallmouth Bass in Missouri. The guys I have met thru the alliance are soo genuinely concerned and at least trying to do something for smallies that it makes me proud to say that I am a member and willingly give them money and time when I can.They are helping preserve one of my true passions in this crazy f'd up world. by the way I don't think E was insinuating you had issues or were you that worried E made a un PC statement about someones issues??? either way E is right

Chief, I never said your ideas were bad, they seem to be a step in the right direction.I know you have told me personally about some of the streams in your neck of the woods and how some seem to be over populated with smaller fish.Your area is a very unique little tip of an area of an over all unique system of smallies in general.The Ozark population of smallies we all know is kind of isolated out here geographicly and your Neoshos are an even more isolated population amongst them.I agree in your area they might need to be thinned out a bit but, I just don't keep smallies.So that beeing said I agreed with what OTF's statement. I started thinking last night if the MSA,Eric,Cricket,Mitch,me and everyone else I know who pratices c&r for river smallies were to start keeping a"legal" limit of smallies everytime we went fishing, what would the angling conditons be like on a lot of our streams???? I really don't think they would be better off, I know a ton of people who are strictly c&r for smallies and could have been doing some serious damage over the past 20 years. I know that sounds pretentious but we are talking about a ton of smallies we have released to fight and reproduce again. I wonder if the MDC even considers something like that or was their surveys clear enough in that aspect. I also strongly agree with Cricket about the winter smallies beeing very vunerable for obvious reasons and have never understood why the open season for keeping smallies didn't end before the smallies seek their thermal refugias. I would start there and stop the open season on black bass in rivers 11/01. Sorry if I pissed you off Chief, I respect your opinions and you know that. I just don't keep smallies, I haven't for a long time.....since i've been a riverfreak. Also, I hope Gary Lange or someone else in that part of the state can drum up some intrest to form a chapter of the SMA.There are some rediculous streams to fish down there and I know you guys are very passionate about your resource.I can assure you that the MSA is only working on behalf of all of us to make better fishing opurtunities for the present and the future. I have a two year old daughter at home who still needs to catch an 18 inch smallie.

Nice!!!!! putting pops on some smallies like that makes that Supreme look really good right about now.I have enjoyed your reports from the new jet!!!! keep it up.

Very nice OTF!!!!! I couldn't agee more and well stated.

Sweet link Andy!!!!!! thank you!!! just bought a Missouri,Illinois and Arkansas........very cool looking maps to adorn my fishermans dude den.I live in a household of all women and have to have my place for guys......in the basement.

Tim my friend who shot those clips has caught three smallies out of that creek and we have caught some out of three creeks that run into the Ohio.Lusk is a good Largemouth creek and fun to run when it's been raining but it has a funny flow with tons of stretches with no water.

Awsome dude!!!!!!! best post of the new year for me..........I feel your pain

E, you're gonna make me cry......thank you!!!! Screw meat hunters and to hell with people who gig bass on our rivers, I am not a bit intimidated by tires beeing slashed or some rough house on the river.....bring it. It's time to do what's right.......too bad we don't have the man power or will to do it......oh well. When you see the crap first hand like cricket did on your favorite stream, it's like someone is banging your hot little girlfriend while you are out making money......It pisses you off.

My last comment was tounge and cheek.......I know the MDC has a tough job and the average river fisherman really doesn't give a crap about which river holds nice fish, they just want to know where they can get more and when.

Bravo Cricket!!!! I'm right there with you........the problem is we will never know because the MDC is to afraid of imposing tough regs because as John said at the MSA meeting over and over like it was rehearsed to him, "we can't go back on an imposed regulation". Appararently in Missouri once you impose a reg you can't change it?????? Sounds weak to me.....sounds like your afraid of making a mistake, which in my world is what stiffles creativity. The MDC paranoid of meat hunters feelings????

Dude, what a bummer.......I know it sucks. I saw a nice 19 incher on the Meramec Saturday, dead...got closer and realized it had been filleted out

"And with a 1 fish 18 inch limit, you are hardly making it worthwhile for those who want to catch and keep fish." So what.....I'm sick of the MDC catering to catch and keep fisherman. When I posed a question to John about the possibility of one river beeing designated as a catch and release only stream, he squirmed like a Chesnut Lamprey....lol. I exclaimed it's just a dream I have and he squirmed again. The MDC cares more about the heritage of eating fish in Missouri than they do for making real changes that could be mind boggling. It's fine I accept it for what it is...... I'm still a smallie freak!!!!!!

John said there will be an extensive tagging study by the University of Missouri and MDC on the Jacks Fork from the Prongs to the Current this year. He told me after the meeting in the parking lot to expect a lot more jon boats and activity on that stream this year. The goofballs that called their tags in from 2011 that mis/informed the MDC as to where the fish were caught are clowns IMO. They are worried about the MDC knowing their honey holes????? after the MDC tagged this fish in the first place.....lol

mic, not my dog or my yak......i'm not that nuts, plus my dog weighs about 70lbs. That creek can get crazy though

A Buddy of mine made a vid of a creek we run in Illi, it's actually a good fishing creek but, can be sketchy if it rains too much. I thought some of you guys would like. Sorry very bored at work and need to get out on some water