Stoneroller

i'm using suffix 832 for grubs/crankbaits, etc. spiderwire fluorobraid is a similar product. both have a gore fiber wound into them which cause them to sink instead of float like normal braid does.

I do not have lake temps, but I can tell you the Big Piney at Simmons Ford was at 48 degrees on monday march 7th. i suspect lake temps are somewhere in the high 40's to very low 50's.

here's the explination. snagging is not sport fishing, I don't agree with it or taking fish by hand, neither are ethical and being as paddlefish are borderline endangered throughout their range because of man's mindless and greedy policies, in which the native reproducing populations are brushed aside in the name of $$$, I think it's of very poor sportsmanship to snag them or any fish. not to mention the irony of stocking a species because man has destroyed it's ability to naturally reproduce... either you are part of it or you aren't. my opinion.

you mean "hope" and "change" aren't the two words that will save the world?

it would be nice to see MDC extend their "fair chase" attitude towards the fisheries too.

LOL, to answer your qustion. NO. Nobody is watching them, for good reason, why bother. Get more excitement from watching paint dry or the grass grow. more productive too. MLB needs to yank KC's franchise rights and give that team to some owners who are actually interested in winning and not just milking the MLB for $$. at least the cubs 'try' to act like they want to win once in a while...

oh man, i am not medicated heavily enough to follow that

cross reference the "where did you spend mardi gras" thread...

nice grill ya hillbilly. awesome fish, i'm jealous.

raise your hand if you spent at least one night of mardi gras in st louis city lockdown... you know who you are...

it's durable enough to slide across road on big bend during lunch hour traffic... (make sure you secure your load ! )

that's the part that scares me. it obviously sacrifices a bit in contiguous storage, but very innovative great for storage and transportation, also nice and light. durability would be the big ?

A map has been created for all participants to see on each tournament page that clearly shows the eligible rivers in the 60-90 mile radius surrounding each particular tournament stop.

Took the yaks out to break in the upgrades I made to mine over the 'off' season, sonar and rudder mostly, and to check out my new rods and reels. We put in at Carlock point, water temp was 50 degrees. wind was out of south at 20 gusting to 25-30. overcast, 60 degree air temps, 30.10 inches of Hg and falling. put in at 11:30am fished till 4:30pm. started throwing a squarebilled sexy shad colored crankbait. also tried a white 4 inch grub, a blue and black jig and craw, and a gizzard shad bleeding jerkbait. steve and bob both caught a couple of small bass on black and yellow roostertails. So i switched to a chartreuse safety pin style spinnerbait with a brass willow blade and a chrome oklahoma blade. at this point, i was down, first fish, most fish, and most # of species (bob caught a small bluegill too). we were all floating withing 40 or so feet of each other and chatting about this or that. I tossed the spinner bait over towards the shore near the leeward side of the hill we were near and bam! fish on! I reeled it and it was a nice fat 15 inch largemouth. encouraged, and now sporting the biggest fish, i started looking for similar areas. the next cove we went into I hooked up with another nice fish around 15 inches or so, but it spit my spinner bait on the first jump. I was pretty disappointed because landing that fish would have cemented, biggest and most fish 'awards' for me. (we have a gentlemen's style bet on first, biggest, most, and most species of fish caught on each outing) steve, being the blood sucking vulture that he is, comes over and starts hogging my water. the next cast after I lost my fish, steve hooks up with a decent 13-14 inch largemouth. it stays on the hook long enough for him to give me a gloating glance and wry smile, one of those "yeah, you just got owned" kind of looks. Guess the fish gods didn't appreciate that and his fish spits the hooks. 4-5 casts later he hooks up with another largemouth in the 13-15 inch range and before he can ruin his karma, this fish spits his lure too. water temp where we caught our fish, which was closer to the warm water discharge was in the 66-60 degree range. we saw some larger shad breaking the surface occasionally, looked like singles, and i suspect it was small groups of gizzard shad breeding in the 1-3 shallow areas that had quick access to deeper water, but only saw that in the 60+ degree areas. Thanks to the girlfriend looking out for me, she messaged us with just enough time to spare, to let us konw that the storm was headed our way. we managed to get all our butts off the water just before the first lightning strikes could be seen and got everything loaded up and pulled out of the parking are just as it went dark and the rain began to pour.

spotted bass roundup looks pretty locked in then. if duck creek ca pool #1 is low or just crappy (i'll scout it in the next few weeks) then we can shoot for wapapello around holiday landing, or clearwater maybe.

what was the water temp? I'm probably heading to kinkaid sometime next week to land my first muskie.

they need to fire their concrete man, a blind man with a sledgehammer could have finished that pad better.

oh so no Guelah Papyrus update?

i'm going to look into possibly getting some rulers that would be available, at cost to anyone not having one. if i can get them for free, then they will be given away. i'm kicking around some 'sponsor' ideas, mostly for a 'capt's bag' but i'm trying to keep it free or as cheap as possible.

Bitch, I better be included in on that team and those tourneys. or are you scurred of getting shown up?

i throw mine in the trunk of the company car. i'm seeing a trend with mice and waders, tomorrow headline: OAF members invent a better mousetrap!

could you add the following lakes to the Illinois forum: Baldwin Lake (another powerplant lake about an hour from st louis) Kinkaid Lake (home of monster muskies) Cedar Lake Crab Orchard Wildlife Lakes (Crab Orchard, Little Grassy, Devil's Kitchen) and maybe an all-other catagory? Thanks!

I was at the dam and spillway on tuesday. The lake is still low, but close to being back to overflow stage. Therefore the spillway is NOT running and there was NO action in the tailwater. Tailwater was 44 degrees. I went up to Marcum Branch South access and fished in the lake a little. Plenty of seagulls, no fish biting though. Water temp was 44 degrees in the lake at the ramp. a week or two of some more precip and warmer temps and the spillway should be runnning.

i'm all about HP restricted lakes, they seem to produce better, maybe more opinion than fact, but that's my take on them. Bourbeuse is now on the list. If I remember correctly, MDC just finished up or are currently finishing up improvements to the campsites down at Duck Creek. I'm mainly interested in going down there so we can see first hand some of the really awesome things MDC is doing to restore habitat. 500 acres or so is about the minimum lake size that makes for good space for say 10 fishermen or so. clearly we could hit smaller lakes and/or have more people, but at around 500 acres it would be rare to feel like someone is crowding you, or like there are only a few decent spots to fish.

So I'm going to put together a 'rodeo' (for the love of god, do not call it a tournament) for selfpowered fishermen this summer. What is this? you may ask. It's basically a Catch, Photo, Release fishing event open to any self powered fishing contraption. (see redneck fishing chair) so you can wade, bring a float tube, a canoe, a kayak, a couple of 2x4's nailed together, whatever is self (or wind) powered. NO MOTORS OF ANY KIND. Artificial lures only, no "live" bait. you may use freeze dried or prepared baits, ie stink baits, dough baits, gulp, powerbait, etc. More details on 'rules' later. there won't be many. unlikely to be any 'entry fee' either, unless some kind of sponsorship appears, but we'll deal with that when/if the time comes. (of course probably not any 'real' prizes other than bragging rights at first) What i'm looking for now are some suggestions for either 'small' waters, or areas of larger bodies, including rivers where we can fish. short list so far: Council Bluff Lake Duck Creek CA Pool #1 Glaize arm, LOZ Niangua arm, LOZ also looking at the following rivers (some will include a spotted bass roundup) Big River Meramec River Gasconade River Big Piney River I'm trying to aim for places between spfld and st louis to make it accessible to more people, but i'm open to any suggestions.