Stoneroller

i ditched the panfish/trout line for 20lb braid and haven't looked back since. Catch rates haven't gone down and I don't break off lures in fishes' mouths anymore. Sometimes it can make for an interesting recovery when you hang up where there is some current, as you can't just break off line when you want, but I'll take that trade off.

I don't use mono for anything. it floats. there is rarely a time I want my line to float and if I do, a leader works just fine. I use a 3/0 swimbait hook for 4 inch baits and a 5/0 for 5-6 inch baits. (1/0 for 3 inch) You can also try rigging them on: a weighted swimbait hook, a slider head, a donkey rig, and a darter jig head to name a few. Fluke is my favorite soft plastic and there are a million ways to rig them and fish them. Usually I dead stick it till it hits bottom then twitch it along like a jerk or twitch bait. In a lake, with submerged grass beds or water willow that terminates in 'deeper' water, a fluke on a slider head can be deadly when fish are negative or neutral. Zoom makes my favorite flukes. I like the disco shad color, but any of the silver flake/white combos work well. I also have good luck with the bass colored ones which are a watermellon color. Bass have a nerve that runs to their tongue. Bass that are hooked through this nerve have greater than 90% mortality rate. I had no idea about this until I read about it in In-Fisherman. Guess that's why single hook lures are always point up...

www.nasa.gov this only happens once every 100+ years. We'll all be dead by the time it happens next. Check it out, worth a look.

http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/news/angler-breaks-69-year-old-catfish-record-238050.aspx copied from the above link: Photo is with the Link^^^ The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has confirmed the catch of a new state record flathead catfish. Rodney Akey of Niles, Mich., caught the record 49.8-pound, 45.7-inch long catfish on Tuesday, May 22, on the St. Joseph River in Berrien County at 8 p.m. Akey was still-fishing from shore with an alewife when he landed the record fish. The monster fish was verified by Scott Hanshue, a DNR fisheries biologist, at the DNR's Plainwell office. The previous state record flathead catfish was caught by Elmer Rayner of Hastings, Mich., on the Maple River in Ionia County on Aug. 6, 1943. That fish weighed in at 47.5 pounds and measured 44 inches. "I've been fishing catfish on the St. Joseph River for the last 20 years, but it never crossed my mind that I would catch a state record," said Akey. "And beating a nearly 70-year record - that's a feat in itself!" State records are recognized by weight only. To qualify for a state record, fish must exceed the current listed state record weight, and identification must be verified by a DNR fisheries biologist.

it will be an absolute dragfest. and not the RuPaul kind. I would not advise doing that float. That's a bony creek in normal flows. I can't imagine what the half mile below kingston looks like now, it's usually barely over your ankles in the deepest spots once past that kink in the creek that creates the hole that people love to hang out at and leave dirty diapers and beer cans all over the shore.

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/fishadvisories/index.cfm note they aren't going to come right out and say 'don't eat the fish' as they don't want to deal with the panic and backlash that would happen. If they are saying something is bad in the fish, you better believe something is bad. If one kind of fish on a body of water has an advisory, assume they all are. Err on the side of caution. Look at what the EPA is saying about the fish in the Gulf, then look at the reality that anglers and commercial fishermen are seeing.

it's an issue with ALL surface water in the USA especially around here. These toxins all bioaccumulate and are extremely persistant. So the higher up the food chain you go, the higher concentration of toxins and they last a really, really long time. Put that in perspective? Nobody who is alive today will be alive when the water is only half as toxic as it is now. And that's only if we stopped polluting right now. The advisories pertain to all fish, regardless of species as the toxins exist throughout the food chain. Although you might not get as much by eating bluegill, how 'little' of an amount of any toxin would you like to consume, hidden in fish or not? Any fish that eats another fish is going to be really high in toxins as are fish that live a long time. Bluegill are probably the 'safest' fish to eat, short lived and eat mostly plankton and small insects, but it comes down to how many bullets you want in the gun for a round of russian roulette.

I think MDC misspelled it to start with. I was going to make the correction and it slipped my mind. The typical culprit list is a who's who of toxic metals, genetic mutagens and known carcinogens. Methyl Mercury, Atrazine, PCB's, Chlordane, Lead, and Dioxins are the most common in this area.

I have a Fishpond Gore range tech 'pack' although it's really a vest. there are times I love it and times I wish I had a smaller sling pack. The Glock doesn't fit in a sling pack though.

looking at USGS data it appears as though all of the creeks and rivers down there, and in most of the state south of I-70 are at 5-20 year lows. those are october lows and 5-20 years because that's all the further back the data goes. Think of this as the opposite of the 100 year flood. This is shaping up very quickly to be the 100 year drought. We need rain, lots of it, and over a long period of time. Although, oddly you wouldn't know it to look at NOAA's data.

bill is 100% correct. Keep and eat fish from ANY body of water in the USA at your own risk. No, you won't keel over dead the second you put it in your mouth. Genetic mutagens and heavy metals are far, far worse.

hhhmm, yeah I see that too. odd. you might inquire about it with some of the local canoe outfitters, see what their take is. that's a long road to hear banjos at the end of...

There is no public access that I'm aware of between Cane and Greer.

the faster you dry it out, the less smell there will be. DO NOT try to use your oven. That would be a really bad idea. The more surface area there is, the faster it will dry out, so chop up the leftovers as small as possible and spread them out in the sun. Flies are gonna be crazy for a while but by the end of the day the majority should be mostly dry. 3 days of this kind of sun/weather and you should be good to go. Set up your drying station downwind. use a piece of screen to improve air flow and dry it faster. once it's dry enough there shouldn't be much odor from your pile. If there is, something might be wrong. You may need more dry matter in your pile. Brown grass clippings or shredded newspaper works well. Too early for leaves or they are also good. Compost shouldn't smell like a rotting garbage pile. We always dumped 'wet stuff' like kitchen scraps (not eggs, dairy, meat) on top for a day to let it dry, then turn it over the next day. Depends on how you have your compost setup rigged. If you open up your compost pile and it's wet, inside, that's bad. Moist is good, actually seeing liquid is bad. Mix in more dry stuff and turn the pile more frequently. And don't be afraid to toss a shovel of dirt into the pile once in a while. especially if your pile seems to have slowed down even though you put the same amount of stuff on it. Might just need a bacteria boost.

you will want to let it completely sundry, then compost it. you never want to put organic matter that isn't composted on your garden, otherwise it's a garbage pile that you are eating from. Lots of nasty stuff that can end up on food that goes in your mouth. You don't want that, trust me. Sun dry completely, crush it up (grind it if possible), mix into the compost pile, compost, apply. The heat from the composting kills all the 'germs' (love that term).

I couldn't make it. Had a chance to make money instead of spend it and had to jump. good thing too, client caught a 21 inch lmb. He was very happy. Scott couldn't go either his best friend of the past 12 years isn't well and I think he had a tough decision to make this weekend. =( pets never live long enough.

go to college and get a degree in fisheries biology, zoology specializing in ichthyology, or general biology.

I was just looking at that one mitch

Shoestring's Mo Better Buzzbait sold by BPS. comes in a 1/4 and 3/8 oz versions. Not a great buzzbait for heavy cover though, but can be rigged for a WTD/Buzz presentation and gets on the surface in a hurry. CreatureCatcherlures.com makes a "CrazyBuzz" which is a spoon/buzzer hybrid that is pretty awesome. (pictured below) doesn't get much faster on plane than a spoon and the action and quality are excellent. I also like the frog/buzzers that are available, Stanley makes the Buzz-it frog which uses toads instead of a hollow body frog. Scum frog makes the ThunderToad which uses a hollowbody scumfrog behind a buzzer. (you'd think they could have switched those two names to make it easier to understand) Also, I prefer a squeaker to a clacker any day, any conditions.

they look great! they did a nice job. the 3 part MDC method is really only temporary anyway. Probably cheaper in the long run to get them resoled or buy new boots.

we dragged so many times I can't remember one rock garden from the next. shortly after we made it past that bridge it got dark and things started getting a little desperate. It was the first time on that section for me and I wasn't sure how far we had left. after 13 hrs of dragging, I was spent. I chalked the loss of a rig up to a donation to the fishing gods. Gives me a reason to rig some rod leashes.

no but I ended up losing a rod to the river downstream from there. if anyone finds a berkley amp'd rod with a mitchell reel and a rod floater (which does nothing for locating a rod that's overboard when it's pitch black) it's mine. but finders keepers. that section has some great spots but it's a mess. took us around 13 hrs, unfortunately we didn't get started early enough to get off the river before dark. d'oh!

I agree, I did come across as an A hole. It was intended in this exchange as I was peeved over the entire issue. Granted I could have worded it better, as email tends to leave much to be desired about interpersonal communication, and it's possible that adjustment would have gotten a better response. But in my defense, simply answering my inquiry when originally asked, would have alleviated much drama too. As I've said, I really can't fault Spro as much as the title indicates.

I heard that menard is going to anchor the 'newly redesigned' northwest plaza in bridgeton. Probably only need an AK and 500 rds to get to and from your car though...

actually the emails are backwards in order, read them bottom to top. And I'm really not trying to be a zealot, that's the messed up thing. It's not like every single photo that was posted on the group, I rushed to tout the benefits of C & R. two times total I have commented about c and r on that group. That's what set me off as there are plenty of other people who comment on photos. I just happened to provide some actual proof about growth rates. lesson learned about poseurs on social media pages. just because it says a products name, doesn't mean it's really associated with that product.