Hog Wally

Green with envy over here.

I personally haven't caught a sauger on the meramec. But I've caught a truck load of walleyes and they have been smaller ones for the last year. Nothing over 22". I'm on my way home from Florida and my boat awaits me. Rain coming so I know the walleye are gonna bite good during daylight hours this weekend.

I love dog baits. Especially on or near current seams

Wrench, you ever gonna be over this way ? It's about time we go fishing

Well , it's been a good trolling motor but it finally shot craps. I just put 2 new optima's in my boat and I guess it sent the Minnkota over the edge. Gonna be in the shop for a week I have to say I have had the best year of Smallie fishing since prolly the late 80's or early 90's. Some of the guys I have met on this forum and became friends with have revived my love for catching smallies on the river. Since I started again I rarely use the lures I used to. Fishing for walleyes the last 8 years has left me with so many crank baits I can't count em. One old crank I could never do without again, and I buy em 5 at a time , is the........ Don't laugh , SR9 rapala shad rap in chrome with black back. It has hands down caught me more walleye, hybrids and some big bass. It's a balsa crank and it works when nothing else will a lot of times If your bank fishing don't even tie it on, it will get snagged on first cast. From the boat I can let it float off and usually that's when it gets bit. Anyway, I'm off the river for a week. Enjoy her boys!

The last 2 big fish I caught were on dog baits on river. Both were after it pretty hard I turned my head to resist premature hook set and just kept walking until I felt the rod load up. Trick I learned on hybrids. I almost always look away when a hybrid is blowing up on it. If I don't I usually set the freaking hook and it's hanging off whoever is in the boat with me.

I've always liked the spook on the river but when I started hybrid fishing years ago I quickly learned bone and white were the ticket

And then Monday happened!!!! Rear end went out on my main service vehicle. Maybe I just take off all week then ? And fish.

Anytime my friend. I never take it for granted I'm a very blessed man

It's a tough bite today. I'm thinking tomorrow throwing nothing but topwater and crank baits to find if they are in the middle of the river like they were when me n al agnew went the other day. In which case I will drag a centipede or Mitch craw

Zero. None. I've lived here for most my life and there are some very grouchy landowners along that stretch At Many of the slabs you've got about a one hour window before the 5.0 shows up to right a trespass ticket. I quit fishing it 15 years ago

Not at all blaming anything on you al, but it did suck today. And Saturday when I went with my buddy. I think you underestimated your catch today though. Several solid fish on your homemade crank, that's success in my book.

Update! Smallies and largemouth on beds and guarding, meanwhile in the weeds along the edge , tiny little black bass from first spawn

I wish I could help you. I did own a sweet place on the little meramec but now I live on the meramec. I spent many years wading it but it's a lot of swimming to lol.

I witnessed my first Smallie fry At sand ford boat ramp. They were 1/2" long and definitely on their own

Yeah, that could turn this thread into a mess.

True that. I took a good buddy yesterday out fishing. But he's not a good enough buddy that I wanted to share my home waters with if you know what I mean. So we put in at my house and took off on a run after going past the second boat ramp he said, are we gonna fish? I just smiled and kept going. He has a jet boat too and I wanted to go to new water I haven't fished this year. It was a good choice. I moved so fast I don't think he could possible remember where we were or how to get there. Even so the fish were off their beds guarding fry downstream from bedding areas. I guess the high water blew the fry off. Caught mostly sows

Every single one of the 25 keepers we caught in 2 hours, were on the latest color pattern we whipped up the other day Mitch. Maybe they would've bit other baits? I couldn't buy a bite on a crank which is what I consider my go to bait on the river. There is nothing better than the feeling of a giant Smallie picking up the craw. It's very obvious

Here's one for you, mostly for Al, I missed a good bite today on a craw and surprisingly it ripped both pincers clean off( haven't had that happen before). I had just rigged it and figured to keep fishing it. I couldn't get a bite on it. Finally but the bullet and tossed it. First cast nailed a 14" Smallie. Casting where I had been for ten minutes. What the heck.

This high water has been tough but we are catching girls finally. I honestly think the sows we caught today were spawned out and didn't fight very hard at all. At least they are biting. Bunch more rain on way I hear. Awesome.

I'm starting to like this pose.

I'm actually liking the small craw for the spawn bite. They can't Carry it away by the pincers without eating the whole thing.

I forgot to show this brightly colored craw I painted that the fish really liked.