Stoneroller

learn the uni to uni knot. super easy, super strong and fast once you get the hang of it.

my bad, I missed that in your earlier post. you have the right assessment on bass. I just joined the MSA this year too.

cabela's has those with blades attached.

I think it's more fun to catch fish on lures that look nothing like anything the fish are feeding on.

I'm investingating using mercury or maybe cadmium weights instead. I hear they are both really good for wildlife and humans alike. What's wrong with lead? I mean it's not like people who live around lead smelters have astronomical rates of extrememly rare cancers. Stupid science ruins everything. Life was easier when the earth was flat and I could transmute lead to gold.

I really hope you aren't planning on eating smallmouth bass.

the issue you might run into would be the buzzbait could be heavier than the trailer, which would tend to make it want to wrap up on the cast. typically you'd want the heavier lure behind to aid in casting. sounds like an interested idea though.

oh, now there's a good deal, Jack.

lol eric, sorry i edited that part out, didn't want to go off on a tangent. but you are right, it's the irony of the statement that I like. and why did you have to go and be the one to bring up $400 rods?

RS makes some great points here, both on retrieve speed, which on spincast reels tends to be around 3.4-3.8:1, far too slow for stream fishing and on brand of reel. I prefer a 6.2:1 reel like the supreme xt series by pflueger, but the president or president xt with a 5.4:1 ratio is fine too. pflueger makes great reels. Berkley Lightning rods are really nice, and very cheap, but quality rods you might take a look at. As is the venerable Ugly Stick, but look for the Ugly Stick 'Lite' models, they have cork grips instead of eva foam and have the newer metal insert guides instead of the thicker oxide ones. (not sure which type of guide is really 'better' but the metal ones seem lighter to me.) You can get a quality rod for under $40. spend your money on a good reel though. IMO anything less than $50 msrp probably isn't worth messing with, in general although there are a few decent reels under that and of course you can find sales all over right now. I know some people will say 'St Croix rods" or "G. Loomis", how long do the tears roll when one breaks a $400 rod though? 10 ugly sticks at that price and 15 lighting rods. the reel is where the mechanics are, that's where you should spend your money.

we wouldn't need such strict regulations as some speak of if there weren't so many scumbags who overharvest, harvest out of season, pollute, etc etc. I know nobody is old enough to remember the passenger pigeon. But it's a species of bird that used to be so numerous that flocks would block out the sun when they'd migrate. flocks large enough to put the huge flocks of starlings that we now see, to shame. One sighting in 1866 in southern Ontario was described as being 1 mile wide, 300 miles long, and taking 14 hours to pass a single point with number estimates in excess of 3.5 billion birds in the flock. You wouldn't think a bird of all things, something that can fly wherever it wishes, would need protection, especially in those numbers. BUT.... Greed, complacency and lack of common sense allowed these birds to be hunted to extinction. If everyone who hunted or fished were actually a CONSERVATIONIST first and a 'sportsman' second, we probabaly wouldn't need any game laws.

deer hair jig and a jerkbait is all you need with this water temp.

I've put in a records request from MDC on the breakdown of last year's violations. Overall they handed out 7,184. I will have a breakdown of that number when I get all the data. i can tell you 11% were for police power violations which include illegal consumption, nudity, boating violations and 6% were for littering. I specifically asked for a breakdown on gigging/snagging violations, although I now think I should have just asked for method violations. But we'll see what I get.

the damage is forward of the dorsal fins, the tag is placed between the first and 2nd dorsals. I'm not sure even a heron would attempt to tackle a fish that size, but it's possible i guess.

If MDC didn't hand out tickets for very clear violations of this past year's deer/turkey tag violations, they aren't going to hand out any for felt waders.

there should be zero tolerance for an idiot who 'accidently' gigs a fish other than a sucker. Does that same dbag 'accidently' shoot bald eagles instead of geese? Does he 'accidently' harvest antlered deer when he only has an doe tag? Sorry but IGNORANCE is not an excuse and it's frankly pathetic, narrow minded, and permisive to suggest that it is. That kind of attitude, plus the complete lack of enforcement is what has proliferated the attitude in missouri that you can gig whatever you want because the sad truth is, you WILL get away with it. It's cliche, but it's true, if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Complacency breeds ignorance, don't be that guy.

Here is part of the issue. Spearfishing-illegal in missouri Hogging/Noodling catfish-illegal in missouri Hunting over a wildlife feeder or baited area-illegal in missouri yet it's legal to gig. In principle,how is gigging any different than spearfishing? and it's legal to snag. neither of which are sporting. might as well toss bow fishing into that too. same principle and the end result is the same. Sorry just because one person might consider a species of fish as 'trash' that doesn't mean that species of fish is any less important or should be pursued in a manner less sporting than our so called 'sport' fish. You guys may not like the message, but facts are facts. The laws make very little sense when it comes to this area of pursuit. One method is illegal, the other is legal, even though they are essentially the same thing. And this is where the frustration comes from. I'm shocked at the number of people who argue against someone who wants to conserve our natural resources and not just dump all over them. Frankly it's pretty sad. I'm glad that people like Smallie and Tactician speak their passion. Without them, the 'who cares' crowd and the poachers would allow this planet to be stripped clean. So before you bash them, thank them for fighting for the wildlife who don't get a voice. Want to see what life looks like without very, very strict conservation laws. Google Map the island of Hispanola. West half is Haiti. East half, Dominican Republic. In the Dominican, cutting down a tree is a capitol offense. enjoy.

I agree.

i've found rod floater to be the best cure. if the rod does pop out 1 of 2 things will happen. 1 it hangs in the tree. 2 it floats downstream eitherway, it's 'usually' not a big deal and it's like riding a bike, after the first few times you figure out how to avoid the mailboxes. cheapest way to make them is to buy some of the foam pipe insulation from a hardware store. cut a length of it and zip tie it just above the reel. bottom line, everything better float or be lashed to your yak, if you do flip anything that's not will be on the river bottom.

except actually fishing for a fish allows the fish themselves to decide if and which one is going to attempt to consume your lure/bait. there is a certain random factor to the the fact that even a bait fisherman doesn't catch the biggest fish everytime/anytime. Gigging/spearfishing (frankly they are the same thing I don't know why MDC allows one and not the other) removes the random factor and allows the 'fisherman' <barf> to select the fish he is going to harvest. Typically the largest fish. also note that even though some fish that are actually hooked do die from the hook or from handling, at least they can be unhooked and released. Never heard of Gig and Release.

the well the seat goes in, does it have drainage? the fs10 that I saw had dents there, like they had considered putting scuppers in, but there were none. the fs12 may have a seat design that keeps you up out of the seating well.

the concept of gigging violates the fair chase principle. I agree, gigging and giggers could vanish and our fisheries would improve.

Water Temps were 43º to 47.8ºF algae bloom occuring in some of the coves. the rest of the lake has filamentous algae growing on what is left of last years submerged plant growth and on rocks to about 5 feet depth. Secchi disk readings between 4 feet and 8 feet. no anglers reported significant catches. a few reported light crappie bites and an occasional largemouth. Marked numerous fish from 15-35 feet deep. including massive schools of baitfish near submerged cliff faces. also marked schools of fish off of long points on main lake structure from 15-25 feet deep. nothing was happening in the shallows until right at dusk when I noticed a few small bluegill and some topminnows in the few inches of water right next to the shore. (likely close to 50º at that point)

where are you seeing this difference? ACK has the Tarpon 120 for $985. Coosa's sell for $999 at the alpine shop. I'm just curious because jackson may have bumped the price this year. still worth it. i have had a rod hang in a tree once, because i failed to avoid the tree. my fault. it was extremely dangerous to retrieve the rod though, but i did it. There are occasionally, places along the river where an overhanging tree may be unavoidable, and sure your rods could get snatched out of the rear rod holders but the coosas are angled down much more than those on the tarpon or even my trident and if your head can fit under the obstruction, usually your rods will too. a valid concern though. although forward facing rods tend to snag on things and snap off tips. it's the lesser of 2 evils and really comes down to what is more comfortable/accessible/safe at any give time. I move my rods around frequently if I see something coming that might be an issue. this is where the manueverability of the coosa really shines. you can do 360's in the middle of current with 2 paddle strokes. This brings out a very good point in that river fishing demands much, much more attention than floating on flat water. Which makes it doubly important to choose a boat that is tailor made for the specific environment you will fish the most. hell we could all float downriver and catch fish while sitting on a couple of logs lashed together if we had to, but why settle. (i love the tarpon for flatwater fishing, it's a great yak, i don't want anyone to think i'm bashing it or anything) wayne, we should go fishing this season and i'll let you take the coosa for a spin.

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