Gavin

I like hair jigs...and I tie a variety of them....Black Bear is good, that Finn Racoon is good, Arctic Fox is good but super pricey...Craft hair makes a good jig too.

The MF starts late and ends early....Most of those fish are probably back down in the Big by now..

Definite yes. We covered a ton of water, and we were able to make more casts than you could ever get in while canoe fishing. Mitch's skill on the troller played a part too...Windier than heck but we were able to work over the good spots thoroughly.

We usually camp at Montauk over Thanksgiving weekend...The park is darn near vacant, so don't pay extra to make an online reservation if camping. Not sure how full the cabins get.

Thanks again even you Cgb;) By no cigar I meant that I missed 20 by that much Lrh. My second best ever from a Missouri stream. Mitch deserves the credit. He has been hunting big smallmouth for decades and he is darn good at it. Knows where,and how. Learned a lot about cold water river bass fishing in a very short time. Was fishing the wrong areas or fishing to fast when I tried it on my own.

Al pretty much summed up the method...but you do need a selection of baits...different sizes, colors, and actions. Pay attention to how your bait is running...how deep, how wide is the action, how it responds when you apply different twitches, how it comes to rest on the pause, does it suspend, slow sink, or slow float. Does it sit horizontally, nose down, or nose up.,,,how does it sound...loud rattles, soft rattles, no rattles...All of those things can make a difference at times. Toss some suspend dots, extra hooks, split rings, and a spool of lead wire in your jerkbait box in case you need to tune one up. Most of the low priced baits need new hooks and a tune up before they run right so they really aren't good baits to learn with. The pointer 78 (3"), pointer dd78, pointer 100 (4") and a Spro McStick (4.5") in minnow colors would be good starter baits. See what they do then expand your selection from there. In a couple years you will be fluent in Japanese and flat broke from buying jerkbaits. Enjoy the ride!

That's a good guess...Top to bottom...18'' 19.75", and 17". Close but no cigar....

It is an expensive education, be careful about what you ask for!

Thanks gents...and many thanks Mitch...We put in a long day on the water...Put in around 9:30am and fished till a little after 4pm, no lunch break, then a long run back to ramp as we were losing light. Leaves were thick...Mitch had to clean the jet pump a couple times during the day...and at least 5 times on the way back. I'm sure that older gentlemen wasn't the first person to eat it in that shoal. There were lots of shiny spots on those rocks.

Met Mitch this morning for a bit of fishing...What a great day! Was a bit of work to sort through a good number of dinks and the occasional 12" till the big ones turned...Mitch has that place wired...great jet boater...he ran some tricky shoals, and I never had pucker factor....we caught a couple nice fish to boot...Mitch got a couple on top in the warm spots, some jerkbait fish for both of us...but it was the jig bite...some pics....got my best of the year...and second best...Mitch caught one in between and very nice....All were measured...you guess.

I usually use that 6lb suffix...thinnest braid that I've found....20/6 is like rope in comparison...it knots pretty well with mono or flouro. A weak knot can be caused by a difference in diameters.

Nice deer!

Might give it a try...only took him a minute and a half to tie one.

Think I'd look at the Hardy Ultralite....sharp reel...it comes in disc drag and a click check version...Cant see getting an Able unless you want one of those fancy anodized ones.

Thanks for the report...looks like a fun trip.

There are lots of time consuming super strong fishing knots. Might want to learn them if your fishing the salt....to be honest...you don't need it in Missouri, unless your fishing for stripers, cats, or paddlefish....I fish braid a lot and I want to be able to break off at the line leader connection at will...break off, go fetch your plug..retie...The uni-uni is the one to use if you already have a plug tied on the business end. .

Not much water to cover on foot on that river...maybe a couple hundred yards from an access unless you fish way up around MDC's Bootleg access...a canoe or kayak is the way to go on that river...lots of long dead deep pools...even in the upper reaches.

The Shenks was the basis for one of my favorite flies....Usually tie it on a shorter shanked hook...unweighted, and I use rams wool instead of rabbit.

The pitchers did well enough....no offense from the Cards so far.

use a triple surgeons knot and you can tie a leader on in less than 30 seconds

I always use a leader with braid...the 6lb that I use has very little abrasion resistance...Flouro leader for subsurface, mono for topwater..

A color or fly change will usually get them to eat on top. .. But that does work occasionally.

Nice ones drew & QB! Lake fish always run a bit bigger...more girth for given length.

Fish counts were at historical lows earlier this year...Think they stocked the heck out of it this spring...Should be good numbers of small browns from this years stocking....but its always been an on or off fishery.

Thinking low....and clear...dragging the boat if you are floating. Just like the gauge said. Long leader...long casts..