Greasy B

Mum's the word on local places. That's not too hard because I really don't have many secret hot spots, just places I like to go.

Does look nice, haven't been on that stretch in a long time. Guess I need a nice rainy Sunday to quiet it down enough to tolerate. On last weekends trip the horse flies tore me a new one. The satisfaction of feeling their exoskeletons crushing under the weight of my hand wasn't enough.

A man who has his priorities straight.

I don't count, don't measure, don't care.

Can anyone on this forum who has smallmouth fished in other states honestly say that Missouri has better quality fishing? Not me. Whenever I fish out of state I always fish under more restrictive regulations and I always catch more and bigger fish. Joe D is correct; the state of smallmouth fishing in Missouri is deplorable. For those who think we do have quality smallmouth fishing, you have no idea what your missing.

I liked the timeline, here's mine: Early 70's- Limburger Cheese/Hamburger stink bait. Late 70's- Beetle Spin. 80's- Rooster Tail. 90's- Funky Chicken. 2000's- Zara Puppy. 20teens- Senko.

Hands down the most productive fishery I have ever been on. It would love to see a Reelfoot category on this forum. Back to the bait question as it relates to this lake. I spend the better part of May and June every year fly fishing for Bluegill, I try to spend one or two weekends on Reelfoot during this period but darn if I haver caught a single Bluegill on a fly there. Best I can tell it can't be done. Bait or bream buster jigs are the only way.

Makes sense, I don't use deep divers so I never ran across the need for more torque. I guess if I started to fish more large spinner baits that would also apply.

I apologize if this is a dumb question: why all the different retrieve ratios? Why wouldn't a person want the highest ratio reel and crank slower to get the desired effect?

Crickets, slide bobbers, Reelfoot Lake Bluegill. I have never had so much fun.

This creek is a long way from home but I'm enjoying reading about this issue. Thank you for the update.

Yet. My wearover sunglasses took two direct hits this year.

Yep,

This fall as usual, my expectations are low, I'm never disappointed. These past few years almost all my smallmouth trips are overnighters, more fishing for the drive. With gig season starting soon avoiding the irritating drone of generators all night will be my primary goal. The quality of fishing and the quanity of big fish will take care of itself.

Before the flood we ran across quite a few trout down from prosperine. At that time water levels were still fairly good and I think water temps still low enough for trout. Haven't been back since but on my home creek the higher water after the flood kept temps low.

I agree 100%. Chumming should have been banned when herding was banned. Arkansas F&G needs to wake up.

What if a couple of them swam down to Blue Springs Creek and repoduced? Far fetched I know but this same what harm could it do logic resulted in the loss if countless native fisheries across the country. While I realize reporuction at this latitude is unlikely can they prove without an absolute doubt no harm will come? A non native replacing a non native?

Rest assured Mitch, you don't have to take up trout fishing to enjoy flyfishing. Fly rods are plenty effective for smallmouth especially in that surface to 3' depth where we most like to fish. Whether I'm using a fly rod when Smallmouth fishing has more to do with boat handling than fish catching efficiency. On those rare occasions when someone else is running the boat or if I'm in a canoe and the wind and current are not spinning me out of control the fly rod is always my preferred method. The argument about what is method is ultimately more efficient really doesn't matter. As others have stated quantifying success by counting and measuring every catch kind of misses the point of sport fishing. Linda and I had the unique experience last week fishing similar hardware and fly imitations side by side. Her throwing a PopR and me a Block Head Popper and her throwing a LC Pointer and me a Clouser/Deceiver hybrid. With a little effort it was easy enough to get the flies action very close to that of the hard baits. Sure the treble hooks may have hooked up a little easier than the single hooks but over the course of two days that didn't make much difference. True success had far more to do with adapting to changes in habitat, weather and the cycles of the fish turning on and off several times each day.

We had fished this same area of the New River the evening before, a deep run of boulders with a prominent ledge running diagonally just upstream of a waterfall that spanned the river. Our guide Brit said he had one last big fish spot to try before we took out below the falls, a couple of 14-15 inchers were our last fish of the day. This morning Brit held the boat in place upstream of the ledge while Linda tossed a soft jerk bait on her spinning rod while I threw a Clouser with my 8wt. Our first four fish from the ledge were in the 16-19 inch class, each fish required Brit to row upstream to avoid being swept into the falls so the fish could be landed and released. On our next pass a huge shadow appeared behind the fly, a fish that dwarfed any caught the previous two days. I didn’t see the fish take the fly but when the time was right I struck him hard, Brit jumped up excited, “woo hoo! That’s a big one, hit him again”, I struck again, “hit him again” Brit said. Luckily I didn’t strike that third time because the fish immediately jumped clear of the water and landed with a deep sounding splash that signaled a fish of a lifetime. Oh my gawd, that is a big fish Linda said. As soon as he hit the water Brit said he’s going to run be ready to give him line and when he stops don’t go to the reel, you won’t have time, just strip like crazy. Sure enough he went down deep, the long rod bent double, “let him go, let him go, ok, ok, now strip, strip, strip, keep your rod low and to the side, good, good, get ready to lower your rod if he jumps again”. Sure enough he jumped again right in front of the boat, wow what a fish. Somehow I managed to follow Brit’s instructions bowing when he jumped and pulling alternately left and right to turn him when he bore deep into the boulders below, a couple of times I could feel the line scraping the rocks. On the first swipe of the landing net I couldn’t quite hold him and he bore down again, but now he was wearing out, it was looking good. Brit held the net while I led him to it, the fly popped out of his mouth, the rod snapped straight, and he was gone. Last week Linda and I canoe floated one day on the Greenbrier River in West Virginia and took two guide trips on the New River near Pembroke Virginia. We had three incredible days fishing some of the best Smallmouth rivers in the country. Below are a few pictures. Greenbrier River Near Alderson West Virginia This was my second Appalachian Smallmouth, caught about 10 minutes into a float on the Greenbrier River, WV. A class 2.5 rapid on the New Big Water Linda and Brit Stoudemire Linda caught this fish just before the big one struck. Thank you Gavin for recommending Guide Brit Stoudemire of New River Outdoor Company. You were right Gavin, Brit is a great guide and he can find big fish with both flies and gear, I seconded the recommendation. Mike

Would you be willing to rent Bernie?

And me, especially when sight fishing on a strip pit.

I've been using the same couple of $30.00 coolers for close to ten years, never had to suffer through a warm beer yet. The most importaint part of a close shave is hot water. The most importaint thing with sharp razors is storing them dry.

Food from the self proclaimed "food manufacturers" is poisoning us. If you eat anything from the middle aisles of a grocery store you are surely harming your health. Even the produce, dairy and meat sections of the store contain things that hardly resemble real food. Frankly I think most Americans don't even know or in the case of us older folks hardly remember what real food taste like. In my work I have visited many food factories. You honestly can't tell the difference between the facility that makes the packaging from the facility that makes the so called food product that goes in the packaging. A good example is high fructose corn syrup, these plants look and smell exactly like a smaller version of the oil refineries in Roxana Illinois.

Now thats a good idea.

Thankfully sometimes is most times.