Gavin

Marabou jigs work great...crayfish are a major food source down there...I'd also add some inline spinners... Rooster Tail, Mepps Aglia, etc, some spoons.....Kastmasters & Pheobe's in gold & silver, and some minnow & crawfish crankbaits..Smaller hardbaits tend to work better for rainbows. Cheers.

Hard to go wrong with an Old Town Disco 169...There stable enough to stand & fly cast out of and walk end to end. The only thing I dont like about the Disco 169 is the weight and the crummy plastic seats. If your going that route...you might look at the Wenonah Northfork...Similar boat, same price, better factory seats. The 16' Buffalo's are good paddling boats too. Cheers.

There are a several that I'm NEVER without.Topwater...Leroy Brown (see the OAF fly swap thread) & Gaine's Sneaky Pete's in size 2...the other one...Greg Coffey's sparkleminnow in pearl, olive, or brown/orange..Size 4 on a 3x nymph hook..... The Sparkleminnow will knock a Clouser in the dirt most days but if you have to resort to one...Coyote tail with black, red, gold..or silver flash. Cheers.

Hook tangles are not a big issue..but a #6 works allot better than a #8 for bass. Not a fan of the floating raps smaller than 3.5" or so...3.5-5.5" seems to be the optimal range for minnow baits. Think the fish like to eat stonerollers allot.

Lots of good rods out there...3wts arent built for long distance casting so I'd cast a couple and see which one work best in the 15-30' range..Roll cast it and over overhead cast it at some targets and buy the one you like best. Cheers.

Think its $54 a day...plus $4 a pound for any fish you keep.

If the water is clear in June...its usually a Zoom Super Fluke in pearl or glimmer blue, or a variety of dark colored plastics (olives or brown shades usually) on the bottom when I cant get them to take a topwater lure. If the water is stained, I go with a topwater, spinnerbait, crankbait, jig & chunk with a rattle program. Wiggle warts & Norman Baby N's are pretty good. Wee Craws can be good, but you'll probably want to upsize the stock hooks from a #8 to a #6. Cheers.

Congrats on the baby girl! and thanks for the report...The fish in your picture looks like a striped shiner...

I'd call up Redbeard's and have them haul you up to Bennett for a float back down to Redbeards..think its about 7 miles.

Up early with John Barleycorn again, Coldwater?

The pics dont do it justice..Wally's website if you want one....he's got major talent and build anything skills. His website.. http://zymostudio.com/

Double sided foam tape makes a great indicator in a pinch....Make one as big or as small as you need anytime you want.

Picked up new boat net from my friend Wally yesterday...Simply awesome! He's selling a few hear and there if interested.

Al's assement is spot on....except for night fishing.....Dawn or Dusk is better than night time in the winter... Best night fly roddding is in the Summer..when its hotter than heck...no moon on the water.

Joe those are recent pictures...My 23.5 & Kip's 25" were caught January 1st & 2nd of 2010...My 23" was caught January 6th of 2011 and Josh got one in the 18-19" range the same morning..Kip got a 20" right in front of camp a couple days later. We didnt get a picture of the heaviest fish that I've seen come to hand recently. Kip caught that one on Thanksgiving weekend when we were out below Baptist Camp...It was a 24.5" female that so fat that you couldnt get two hands around it, 7-8lbs easilly, unfortunately, both of us left our camera's back at Montauk that morning. Senior's 22" was in 2009 I think..Think Coldwater got a 22" or so in April of 2009 as well. If I was expecting 2-3 a day that size...I'd be disappointed. I've had days like that down in Arkansas...but never on the Current..If you can do that on a consistant basis....I want to go fishing with you! Cheers.

Fall is good...but winter is the time to go for the big ones we stay out for 3-4 days usually. Never a guarantee of a good fish...but someone usually sticks a nice one during the trip.

Dunno...the last couple of years have been great, IMO. I've seen more 20"+ fish caught on that river in the past two years than I have in the previous five. You have to have realistic expectations though. Are the crowds are bad? Spring through fall they are. No worries though......Most of those anglers will never have more than a random chance at any of the better fish down there. Most dont have a clue about how to fish for them, others have different objectives, and many wont expend the effort. I'd say that 24" is about the upper end of the range though...which isnt bad for a small freestone river anywhere in the US of A..Cheers.

Filling mine out now. FWIW, it appears that the surveys or serial numbered with a hand stamp on the return address page...mine was #10XX. Not sure how many they are sending out..... but my last name starts with a P..Still a few to go in the rest of the alphabet so I'm guestimating that there are 1500-2000 surveys out there...which is pretty darn big by any statistical measure..

Nice looking bunch.....Been tossing blocks in the swap for 2-3 years nown...just need and excuse to keep my box stocked....like Jeremy Hunts addition...its about spot on for a sphinx moth...not that those catch fish anywhere.

It looks like boats are OK on Unger...here's a link to their boating policy..Print it out and bring it with you. http://ww5.stlouisco.com/parks/pdf/department-policies/boating-policy.pdf

Amend the last.......6.5

6.90lbs

Its running at 2.3 at Akers & falling today...thats about a foot up from dead low. Should be in good shape for streamer & cranbait fishing. Call Jadwin canoe if you want to float Baptist to Cedar...or Akers Ferry Canoe for Cedar to Akers.

I've never been above Cane Bluff...but there are some good spots to camp between Cane & Greer...Some nice gravel around Spring Creek, at Long Hollow, & the Boom Hole...possible drive ins at Long Hollow.

It depends on water clarity...but I'd go with natural craw & minnow shades in clear water..brighter or darker stuff in stained water. They primary craw in the 11pt is the Coldwater Crayfish and they eat lots of them..Last fish I cleaned had 6 of them in its belly..so make sure you have some wee craws that look like them..There not always this red..some more of an olive/blue with hints of red. Cheers. http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/coldwater-crayfish