cullinby9

No snakes but I did have a first a gnarly deer tick latched in my bottom never had that in January before

That was Spencer Shuffield and I think its called a swimming frenzy its a smaller three arm rig with spinnerbait blades in the middle of the rig. I'm thinking he was using a 3 1/2" power bait swimbait. I like the 5 arm rig with 3 5" powerbait swimbaits and 2 small dummy swimbaits on top the bigger baits on bottom act as a keel and keep it running true.

The jerkbait is the one for sure player, a big blade could be an option , a shad rap will get some attention, jigs may play. Alot is going to depend on the temps and rain over the next weeks I've seen that place light up in the rivers in febuary in the past. Right now I'm not sure there will be enough stained water to accomodate the amount of anglers that will seek the stain. I think Mclelland is the best jerkbait fisherman in the field and if the lake stays clear he's gonna be tough.

I'm bored sitting at home this first day of Febuary the thermometer is stuck at 10 above, the boats clean. So here's what I'm looking for list the top 5 classic finshers and the winning weight. Anyone who matches all five anglers or guesses the exact weight will win two megbass vision 110's (both broken) and a 5 year old can of bang walleye formula! Here's my top five 1. Mike Mclelland - 62.56 2. Ott Defoe 3. Brent Chapman 4.KVD 5.Jason Christie

I know the minkota and motorguide hole patterns are different than the OMC. I took dow rod and epoxy and filled the holes when I bought my boat it had the omc on it. I also put two 2x4's in the bow to strengthen the nose and used longer bolts its held up well and I beat the snot out of it. I also got rid of the plug and hard wired a breaker switch like the newer boats.

I have made the mistake of spot fishing my home lakes enough. I try to aproach each day like its the first time I've seen the water let the fish guide me to the window that is open for that day. Doesn't matter if that window is flipping bushes or spooning points. Obviously I use they're seasonal movements as a starting point and I go by feel from there. I've been up at baxter for the last three weekends and I've seen the same boat go back in a pocket fish the same 5 tree's with a a-rig, spoon a dock or two and drive off. Meanwhile I've been catching fish off stuff that no one else will fish. The guy who sticks to what he knows will have his days but the guy who fishes by the seat of his pants while he's out there makes each day his day. I hate being at weigh in and hearing the same tired lines of "I needed the wind" or "the rain hurt my bite" just excuses of why the angler couldn't adjust to the conditions.

I was there Monday caught 7 on a tube and 2 on a shad rap there was enough water to float before the rain (with waders) The fish are there just like they always are!

If you can I would recommend the 82 # tour motorguide I payed 799.00 for a new one at marine repair center in Springfield it was a year old that had been optioned off a 20 footer. It's plenty of motor for my 18 foot boat.

I fished baxter area saturday, had 5 keepers on the shallow stuff a few more deep best 5 16 pounds. The fish are on the bait whether I was fishing 5-10 or 35-50 when I saw bait on the graph I caught fish. My dad threw in a couple nice fish out of the back.

I've seen lamphrie's in the 11 point thats not what that was. Was it organic material or plastic? it kinda looked like a gulp that was biodegrading

I like the trout theory I figured it'd be below the powersite on bull shoals Ive seen a couple down there that fit the build needed to be 8+ pounds. I'd wager to say there is record fish in every lake swimming around the bigger rivers to I've seen a couple 5's on the gasconade that were shaped like a football. Good forage,fertile water = big bass

I use a soft medium action bps cranking stick 6ft. pistol grip. a 6:4:1 lews reel and always 8# line at table rock. The key to getting the right action out of any jerkbait you choose is twitching it on a semi slack line like a topwater. I can bring that bait by a tree and make the lure turn around dart side to side and not move the lure more than a foot towards the boat. Alot of times at table rock I want my bait to sink very slow but this past weekend they ate the one that suspends perfectly better and as shallow as they were the pause was very short.

he caught this at 11 am

I fished baxter area sunday and found the same type pattern 7lber was our big caught by my brother out of 5ft of water water temp 46-48

Thats where you'd be wrong everything in my life revolves around fishing and no one I know brings home limits of bass. Crappie walleye flatheads those species get caught and fried and as many days on the water that I spend I can keep the freezer stocked. The guy i saw last summer on beaver was using worms and had a stringer of smallmouth I was polite to the man as I floated by. The deal is I associate myself with other like minded sportsman that value the resources we have avalible and guess what they're tournament fishermen or people that I have introduced to fishing who have accepted the responsibility to protect our fisheries. I have nothing against people keeping a legal creel of fish but you'd better be starving to keep smallmouth out of small stream like these.

What I mean is I'm not at the lake fishing for money or anything exept the love of fishing. Creek fishing is my relaxation time it doesn't matter how big a bag i catch i can enjoy each fish i catch and catch is the word I have alot of fifty fish days on the creeks down here and I would tell anyone exactly where and how I catch them, anytime a friend wants me to take them fishing it always starts on the creek let someone have sucsess early in their fishing before I try to take them to the lake. I'm from swmo I know of the meat hunting dude's with a can of worms and a stringer of bass I see them. I don't think many of those people spend time researching the internet to become a better angler.

I've caught bass all up and down the james last spring I caught an 18 incher up at y hwy ten miles above crighton acsess. Below the Springfield lake dam down to rivercut can be good in the winter I've caught smallies largemouth spots and meanmouth good ones to. I don't really know why people would be tight lipped about creek fishing I personally don't know anyone who harvest's smallmouth anywhere or any other bass out of public waters(exept the gigger's) Just about every creek in southern mo has good bass fishing I havent been to one yet that I didn't think was full of fish when I left. Here's my list of favorite streams in the state that I've fished. 1. Beaver creek 2. Gasconade river 3. Big piney river 4. eleven point 5. Swan creek 6.Jack's fork 7. Finley creek 8.James river 9.Bull creek 10. Flat creek Honarable mention to Current River and Bryant Creek I've caught fish in both but not like the others maybe I haven't done the right sections or maybe the giggers keep the numbers thinned out I caught a big smallie this fall on the current that had been pierced by the gig had a bad wound in the back. I've seen the giggers on Beaver too but there's not enough water to run a jet so they can't get very far from the access points I personally think the MDC should try to regulate it a little better by being seen some around these streams. They make they're presence felt at every lake in the state during the crappie spawn but can't send one agent out on a friday night in december.

normally the fish stack up in they're wintering holes I pretty much throw two lures a small tube and a #5 shad rap suspender both in craw colors

a few pics from december the first two on the point the last was a couple weeks before on the current

I throw a black zoom horny toad on the creeks in sw mo. I like it being weedless I can throw it anywhere without hanging up. They're a little more suttle than the buzzbait and relatively cheap I just rig one casting rod with 12# florou and a 5/0 ewg hook then I can alternate between a senko and the toad. They seem to work well in any warm water stream from april to november. My favorite stream around is Beaver Creek lots of fish with little to no fishing pressure.

If there is a way to private message on this forum I'd be glad to tell you exactly what I was fishing but thats been a week now and the chances they are still up there I would think is slim and the biggest fish I've seen in two trips is 3+ #'s not exactly the quality I expect up there.

I normally use the deeper divers when the water is below 45 and the fish are on bottom its more a specific need tool. Like a brush pile that tops out in 15 ft I can get the bait to suspend 12ft down and thats about what I get out of a stacesy. most of the time I make the bait tickle the rock until it releases then keep it still but I don't use the deep diver as much as I used too. I'm convinced a fish will rise out of 20 feet or more to get a jerkbait. its all about patience. When I need extra depth out of my vision 110 i add extra split rings to it until it sinks at a rate of about 1ft every 30 seconds this has made a huge difference down at table rock, stockton anywhere I'm not fishing specific brush cover or shallower than 10ft. I use three colors and keep 3 of each a slow sinker the suspender and a slow floater. So unless I'm trying to get to bottom and bang the bait around I just stick with the regular models.

most of the time I start with a good pull to get it down then twitch twich pause twitch pause and so on but I will vary my cadence with every cast till i find the rythym for that day. All the bites were on the pause on that trip some would just tighten up others would jump the line. I use three basic motions with my retrive pull, twitch and snap, I think the twitch is the hardest to perfect I want to give that bait action without moving it more than the length of the bait especially after it has been sitting still for 10-30 seconds I'll twitch it a couple times give it a pull to move it 4-6 feet and let it sit for a shorter pause then twitch it a few times I just try to make it look as natural as possible. I've spent alot of time at lake of the ozarks in the dead of winter fishing and watching shad die its amazing that two people fishing the same baits in the same boat can have that dramaticlly different results because of the way the lure is worked. I would guess the vision 110's are 4&3/4" long the rouges are shorter by about a quarter inch.

Walcrabass, I fished that day from mutton up river to where the timber starts in the swing at schoolhouse cove. Your right on that the shakey head was producing alot of bites my dad threw it out the back some and had a couple nice keepers on it as well as some shorts. The better fish were holding in some area's that don't exactly look like typical jerkbait water and grouped up in schools of 5-10 we had several doubles and would catch several off a spot as big as a boat might be on the point or 100 yards down the bank the only consistent thing we could find was around the mouths of the creeks on the flat sides towards the channel. I believe if I was tourney fishing I would concentrate on the first five miles from the dam and I would try to run the same pattern. when I put in and the truck is reading 18 degrees the main lake windy point pattern doesn't seem like fun the upper section turns enough I can get out of the wind a little bit and in the sunshine some.

I fished up there yesterday from mutton up and caught a lot of shorts had 4 keeps all jerkbaiting like the other guys said the vision 110 megabass is my #1 choice. I like the old smithwick rouge alot too a much more affordable choice for a recreational fisherman. There's something about that lake they eat table rock shad all the time kinda strange a blue high sky and they munch that chartruse jerkbait all day. For crankbaits anything you throw should produce but here are three bandit 100, rapala shad rap, wiggle wart. In the spring when the water first starts to warm take those baits and fish the transition banks and flat points from the main lake to the backs of the creeks the key is making the bait deflect off objects and to grind it on bottom. For colors I stick with three chartruse, a shad pattern and a crawdad green for the crankbaits and for jerkbaits shad colored or table rock shad.