Fisherman Sam

Hey everybody. I'm heading down to the Cape Fair area in late September and wanted to see if anyone had any advice, locations, depths, baits, techniques, etc. for targeting smallmouth in the upper James River Arm on Table Rock. I've never fished that part of the lake before so any advice would be great! Thanks!

Thanks for the advice everyone and sorry for the lack of specifics in my original post. I am mainly after bass (lm, sm, and spotted), but some goggle eye here and there aren't bad either. I would really like to stay within an hour of Columbia, if that helps with the distance.

Thanks all. I caught her on a green/black jig and frog. Depth was approx. 14 ft as I was dragging the bottom. Location was in the Little Niangua Arm around the Big Island.

Hey all I recently moved to Columbia MO and have been trying to find rivers other than the Missouri River to float and fish. Does anyone know of any rivers/creeks that are floatable and good for fishing near Columbia?

Hey all, I haven't been on here in a while but I thought I'd post this picture of this hog I caught at Lake of the Ozarks last Friday 3/16/12. The official weight was just short of 7lbs at 6lbs 15oz. Check it out. I was pretty proud of it

That's some great paddling advice, Al. I couldn't tell you how many times I either flipped or took on a ton of water the first time I ever canoed; and it was because I did exactly what you're not supposed to do-turn away and paddle like crazy. Luckily, a seasoned paddler watched me flip going through a curved riffle. After much snickering and helping me get my gear and canoe back, he proceeded to instruct me on the ferrying technique. This complete stranger taught me a valuable lesson that has kept me from flipping since!

Thanks for answering my question Smalliebigs! I'll start saving for one today!

I've actually been thinking about getting a Coosa for while now. I want something I can go out in by myself when I don't have another person to go in my canoe. To those who own a Coosa, how far back does the front storage compartment go? Does it go back far enough to fit a 6 foot fishing rod? On the promo video, Drew Gregory makes it sound like you can but maybe he is referring to a two piece rod. If that storage area does fit a one piece rod, I wouldn't hesitate to get one. If anyone could answer this question for me, I'd appreciate it!

I would like to ask everyone to keep my grandmother, Jerrine, in your prayers. Over the past six months, her health has declined at an extremely rapid pace. She can barley walk or talk anymore, she has constant tremors in her hands, she says she has so much pain in her back and legs she can't bare it anymore. She has been seen by numerous doctors, and none of them have any idea as to what is going on with her body. We even had to put her under around the clock medical watch for a few weeks because she was talking one day about how she wished she could "just end it all". I pray everyday that she gets better and I would appreciate prayers from you all. Thank you God bless.

Welcome to the forum Bulldog402! You are correct about the bluegill for bait. I've seen much success with Flatheads by using bluegill (or any other sunfish for that matter), cut bait, and even stinkbait. In my opinion, the kind of structure you should look for is flooded timber. Table Rock is beautiful and a great fishing lake so I'm sure you will enjoy yourself regardless! I hope you are successful this August in your pursiut of flatheads on TR. Good luck! -Sam

Haha the $75 reward would be tempting! And in no way did I intend for my reply to sound mean or unpleasant to you, and please accept my apology if it did. I just felt that I needed to make it known that I was not just going after the money. Anyways, Al thank you for helping me to keep my fishing motives in the right place!

I can see your point of concern Al. Maybe MDC shouldn't have publicized the exact streams in which the tagged fish were. However, from a conversation I had with the resort staff of one of the resorts on the Courtois, the tagging has caused no significant increase in fishing. My feelings on the issue are that the tagging only presents a great opportunity for the avid fisherman. People who do not regularly fish on MO streams will not be willing to put forth the effort to make a trip they would not normally make based on the prospect of having a slight chance of making money. So I do not believe that this project by MDC will harm our streams in any way. Furthermore, to politely and respectfully combat your proposed "example" of my desire to catch tagged smallmouth, my excitement towards catching tagged smallmouth is solely planted in a scientific viewpoint. As a 3rd year biology major with a special interest in studying fish habitat and life cycles, I could hope for nothing more than to help my state's conservation department gather data on the habitat and movement of smallmouth. I want nothing more than to preserve and protect the fish we love. Believe me, Mr. Agnew, when I say money is of the absolute least concern to me. If you have any other questions or concerns for me, please feel free to PM me.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info Gavin!

Is it floatable at all upstream?

I'm thinkin about giving the Courtois Creek near Steelville a try this weekend. Anyone know how the fishing is there or what stretches are the best? I know that MDC released some tagged smallies in there. I'd like to get after some of em.