Gavin

No worries...Bourbon, MO is not the Everglades...those snakes wont survive the winter.

Think their homeowners policy would cover most of that stuff. You better lock your stuff up...or it will get taken....I don't care where you live... Sorry that your truck was abducted Chief. It could be worse...My old vehicle was stolen from a friends driveway during a week long fishing trip to Canada years ago. They found it in the city impound lot after it was wrecked and abandoned in N. St. Louis. I don't think that the police even looked for the dirt bags. Not enough damage to total it.

Looks good!

Its 2070cfs and falling....still a tad high for me...but it might be fine by Saturday AM. Talk to Justin before you head down.

Good for you guys...Headed to the St. Croix near Grantsburg, WI for a 4 day float in the AM....cant wait.

Once you get it, its second nature...I look at my line hand as the gear shifter, the rod hand is your engine...no slack....good stops...once you get the timing down...learn to shoot line on your back and forward cast...a drift while your shooting line on the back cast really adds some range of motion and extra distance. Best to take a class if you have one available. Good luck.

Pretty easy to avoid a strainer.....Pretty easy to control your own actions....It is sad when people die because they did not.

CPA...is my profession...but I don't give advice on my off time...That is a great little rig...saved the day on the G. Nade a couple months ago...lots of fish...but not selective....brown & orange is a great combo....Great write up!

You all tie some great stuff......as for the prop bait...My buddy Greg Coffey developed one...Not the easiest thing to cast...but it can be great at times...here's a pic of his Coffey Grinder plus one of my own creations. Greg turns the foam on a dremel tool then he cuts a slit end to end...The hook is lashed to a spinner form that is shaped like an elongated Z.

I agree with Joe D....welcome the new kids and lets hope they get a decent education. There will be some issues...but so what. The kids will sort out a new pecking order amongst themselves...they always do.

TMI, Blazer...but a great catch!

Have not tried them...been pretty happy with the KVD's...will give them a shot when my current stash runs out.

Good for you guys..

Wow, great catch.

Arkansas is a 4-5 hour trip for me...Thinking of something within 2 hours of St. Louis.....Gasconade, Big Piney, Big, or Meramec.

Looks like you had a lot of fun! Good for you...

Headed out Thursday-...if interested....was gonna go solo on the river Thursday-Friday......Week following is wide open....booked up through the end of August after that.

Lee, you should check it out, it cant be more than half hour away from Richland.

Those look fantastic! Great Job!

I don't recall any difficult runs on the last half of the float. That ledge was about 5 miles down from our put in.

JD...the worst spot was just a 50 yard long boulder run with a 2' ledge drop at the end of it. Nothing scary. We paddled like heck to make it in 7 hours...All day or overnight would be required to do it right. Yes the concession at SAB has some insurance issues...but you aren't going to rent many boats to family's if you cant toss two small children in the canoe with you. They encouraged us to rent rafts...No way...Will bring my tandem canoe in addition to my solo next time...No real size to the bass (15" was best). If there are better fish up there we didn't find them. Wanted to float Big Creek...but way too low.

Its hard to fill a bag on most of the popular stretches...off the beaten track...you will find plenty....I don't grab it unless its handy...or my purpose for the day. Some of those old vehicles, tractor tires, and dumpsters..hold good fish.

Had a long but fun float on the St. Francis last Friday. Put in with 2 buddies at MDC's Coldwater access and floated back to our camp at Sam Baker last Friday (11 miles). It is a river of contrast. Mostly long stretches of deep frog water mixed up with some short boulder gardens and one boulder garden ledge drop. Good fishing for numbers and variety...Smallmouth, Spotted Bass, Largemouth, Crappie, Channel Cat, Goggs, several sunfish species. Nothing big...My buddy got a 15" greenie...Measured my first...14" greenie, nothing bigger..Most bass in the 10-13" range. The pattern was wood in moving water, brown and down...maybe 2 miles of that...caught a few bonus fish trolling cranks through the froggy stretches with a headwind blowing upstream...Thinking 25-30 bass per person, plus a few bonus fish. 11 miles in about 7 hours. Our wives and kids were waiting in the swimming hole at Sam Baker when we got back at 3pm. Time for short boat rides and more swimming. We wanted to float our kids down to 34 on Saturday...but the douche bag canoe rental at SAB only allows 3 per canoe and they were very adamant about it. They ticked us off and lost half their rentals for the day....More swimming and boat rides instead. Our wives really wanted to float....so they took the boats and did SAB to 34 on Sunday. Dad's took the kids down to 34 for lots of swimming and some fishing lessons. Came home Monday...Fun weekend!

Know a few fellows that round up to the nearest benchmark...Usually take it in stride if I enjoy their other attributes, good conversation, good cigars, vino, scotch, good cooking...just don't talk fishing with them.

Slabtown is too long for a day float unless you start at dawn and paddle through all the slack water...The shuttle is expensive.$55-60 last time I paid for one. I'm not sure if they even offer it on a Saturday or Sunday. 6x down can be a Zoo if you hit the plug of renters.