Stoneroller

the Rock Bass, Ambloplites rupestris, has 21-25 scales across it's breast (pectoral to pectoral) and rows of black spots whereas the Ozark Bass, Ambloplites constellatus, has 20-26 scales across it's breast and a freckled pattern on it's side. Ambloplites ariommus, the Shadow Bass has 15-18 scale rows across it's breast supposedly 'similar' to the Rock bass in appearance but with irregular marbling of brown or grey on light green or brown on its side. based on this picture i'm going to lean towards the rock bass. I originally thought shadow bass as soon as I saw it, but after looking at this picture for a while and referencing a couple of books i'm going to lean towards Rock Bass. without scale counts though, its really only a guess. keeping in mind rock bass can change how dark their vertical stripes are at will just like a smallie can be a light golden color all the way to near black, depends on their mood (and a few other factors like background, sunlight, etc). this kind of thing produced many sleepless nights for me in college before ichthyology practicals. try identifying fish once they've been preserved and have no color. still much easier than doing vein counts on dragonfly wings.

rebel teeny wee brown crayfish crankbait with 6lb vanish fluorocarbon and a rapala knot. beetle spin would be good to, probably in something orange. you might want to bring some wax worms and fish some rock piles and root wads for some google eyes with your son. I was down there fishing about 2 weeks ago and we cleaned house on smallmouth, google eye, longear sunfish and caught a couple of spotted bass too. you can check water levels at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/current/?type=flow

I live near the harvester exit off of 94.

Yes this book could be more comprehensive especially if the title were to be appended. although each river usually has an access marked that is only floatable during high water and another downstream that is considered the highest floatable put-in during normal flow, making the area between these two points prime for wade fishing. I think MDC went with the larger streams and rivers in part because of the trespassing issue, had they outlined many of the smaller streams they could be seen as sanctioning public access to those waters, even though it's a grey area of legality. also because it's a floater's guide, although there are many specifics about fishing in the stream/river descriptions.

This book title should be edited to say "Paddler and Angler's Guide to Missouri" This book is published by the MDC and is very extensive both in the information about general paddling including what to expect, what to bring, and what not to do and excellent details about access points to all of the major rivers and most of their floatable tributaries. There is even a section from MDC concerning tresspassing and floating access. The book is broken down into the river drainages, which makes referencing nearby floating/wading/fishing options very easy. There is detailed information about the major landmarks along the river/stream including spring branches and their drainage. This book should be issued to fishermen when they purchase their license. The book is spiral bound, making it very easy to open it fully or fold one side over to keep a map handy. The only real drawback I can think of is it would be nice to have it printed on water resistant paper instead of the raw stock they use. But I'm sure that would hurt what is probably the biggest perk to this amazing resource, the price. It's an entire $6 to have this indispensable piece of literature in your library. Get to your local outdoor store, book store, MDC regional office, or www.mdcnatureshop.com and get your copy. Do it now!

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/1582/Native-Watercraft-Ultimate-145-Solo-Angler-Kayak.html http://www.austinkayak.com/products/2711/Wilderness-Systems-Commander-120-Angler-Kayak.html here are a couple of hybrid options. basically rotomolded canoes, but with some angler specific features.

569.140. 1. A person commits the crime of trespass in the first degree if he knowingly enters unlawfully or knowingly remains unlawfully in a building or inhabitable structure or upon real property. 2. A person does not commit the crime of trespass in the first degree by entering or remaining upon real property unless the real property is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or as to which notice against trespass is given by: (1) Actual communication to the actor; or (2) Posting in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders. 3. Trespass in the first degree is a class B misdemeanor. Trespass in the second degree. 569.150. 1. A person commits the offense of trespass in the second degree if he enters unlawfully upon real property of another. This is an offense of absolute liability. 2. Trespass in the second degree is an infraction Federal Law says that No one can claim ownership to the flowing water or the creekbed up to the average high water mark. (not flood stage) Missouri has written their own law skirting around this. I know it just got changed recently so that property owners can claim ownership of the stream bed, but I'm pretty sure that MDC is following the federal laws, at least they have told me there is no private flowing water and as long as you access the stream/river from a public access point and you are within the stream banks, you are not tresspassing. They were also keen to point out that if a land owner possesses a firearm and in any way points it near you or threatens you with it, to call the local law enforcement and press charges for unlawful use of a firearm. They can complain about 'tresspassing' if they want, but you cannot pull a firearm on anyone regardless if they are tresspassing or not. if they want to try to press tresspassing charges against you let them, it's a class b misdemenor, unlawful use of a firearm is a class D felony. you do the math. all that being said, it's much easier to request permission than it is to deal with the hassle of pressing charges on someone.

thanks for the heads up on my photobucket account. I've fixed that and you should be able to link to the photos now.

and here is the HUGE bonus to the OK trident series, that long black center hatch allows me to keep a full rigged 8 foot fly rod inside the kayak and ready to go. when I'm on a river, I keep my other rods down inside the 'rod pod' (their terminology, not mine) and there is no chance of them getting snaggedon anything. when i'm on a lake and paddling to a location, i put my rods in the rod holders, on the boat and in my seat back(they have rod keepers on them too) and troll lures to my new spot. Had great success catching crappie at Little Dixie Lake using that technique.

http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h159/eaglethrust7/Lake%20of%20the%20Ozarks%20july192010/ here are some pictures of the bass bonanza me and my friend had in the Glaize arm of LOZ tuesday. We caught around 30 fish between us in about 2hrs. The white bass were big and plentiful. The largemouth were voracious, but emaciated. looks like they are in early post spawn as they were all really thin, but when they hit, both a dark texas rigged worm and the white spinner bait and white beetle spin I was using it was like getting hit by a truck. After battling some retards who were allowed to operated boats and jet skis, we got back in a cove as lake traffic died down and started seeing fish hitting all around us. Steve landed the first fish, a largemouth, that was really nice. then quickly landed two more decent largemouth on a red worm with blue flakes. I started getting worried, he had 3 nice fish to his credit and I hadn't even got a bite yet. looked like all the fish were stacked in a creek channel next to a flat at the back of the cove. gravel bottom with a few submerged trees all around 4-5 feet deep with the channel only being slightly deeper. (non scientific depth sounding method done with my paddle) from about 6pm till dark we caught one fish after another. I went 3 casts in a row with 3 nice fish at one point. I also caught a freshwater drum on the white beetle spin, definately not something I expected, but he did have a really cool blue iridescent sheen to him. Definately ranks in my top 5 best fishing days ever and it wasn't even a new or full moon. Except for all the floating trash on the lake and the idiots who had no idea or business operating a watercraft beyond a float tube, I'd have to say a great first experience at the lake.

coon or more likely, otters. either are incredibly smart and more than capable of taking the fish from the basket. if it were a coon, i suspect you'd see scales and fish parts on the dock, but otters would leave almost no trace.

pirhana will die when the water temp stays down in the 50's they are a tropical fish and require water temps in the high 70's low 80's for their metabolism to work. with no warm water discharge from a power plant on LOZ, i'd say little to no chance one would make it through the winter.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 255WT it has free traffic included, no subscription like the MSN traffic. Regardless of which unit you buy, get one with the larger 4.3 inch screen, you will be much happier. also plan on spending another $120 next year for a lifetime map subscription from garmin (or whomever you buy one from).

hemostats, hands down, necessary for proper release of fish.

I use Berkley Vanish, just the regular stuff, not the coated or pro. I really can't see paying twice as much for "pro" line when I spool my spinning reels up with vanish in Februrary, leave them in my car, in the sun all summer, and never have any issue with the line breaking. I use the 4lb for tippets and 6 and 8lb for my spinning reels.

I have an Ocean Kayak Prowler Trident 13 Angler edition and my buddy has a Tarpon 120 Angler. Both have their bonuses, neither really has any drawbacks. Frankly any kayak or canoe you get could be made to work. check austinkayak.com for their deals, thats where we bought ours and I think we got great deals. Always check locally though to see if anyone can match their prices.