fishinwrench

For general spinnerbait stuff I like a 6'6" For long casts and slow rolling down to 15' or so I use my C-rig 7' rod.

Lots of good blanks out there, but so many are built with split grips....and I can't stand that. I've always liked something that is a little heavier than Medium action for Spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and C-rigging. Most Med/Hvy's are a bit too stiff for that. I just recently started pitching square bills on stiffer rods and I like the effect. I can't stand a slow spongy parabolic rod. Even when fishing light line I want the rod to be pretty fast. It's just what feels best to me.

Alright then, I'll keep trying. I just never find them within casting distance of a dock. Not even once. As for Ameren.....yeah they pulled the plug at noon today and are still pulling over 30k 😨😓😰 I just checked. Asshats!

I could use another 7' deep spinnerbait rod. I'm picky as all hell though, it can't be a split-grip, can't have micro guides, gotta be stiff enough to handle 1/2oz. Spinnerbaits but soft enough for casting square bills and lipless baits because I use the same rod for all three, plus Carolina rigging. I have a high-end Fenwick that is serving that purpose ok now but it has lived a hard life. Looks like I use it to poke fires and beat copperheads with. It needs to be retired. Plus it is a 7'2" and won't quite squeeze in my rod box, that's why it looks so rough.

Cool. Well your best bet is probably going to be heading ALL THE WAY up the Glaize as far as you can go and work your way back out fishing visable cover. Most everyone else is still fishing deeper drops and brush but you don't have time to locate that stuff, so stick to what you can see. Buzzbait, Chug Bug or Spook, Spinnerbaits, and Swim jigs. If you find yourself on a long stretch with no cover then pound the bank with a lipless crankbait or a square bill (you'll be surprised what you can catch just burning down a nothing-looking bank). Once you catch a few you can decide how to best utilize your time.

Where do you plan to launch from?

Alot of formats would be interesting for spectators. Mix it up and do several ! One where the earliest limit scored is 1st place, the second is 2nd place, and so on. Have a big fish division where the biggest fish of the day takes 1st. A race to 120 inches would be a hoot (rounded back to the nearest 1/2"). The possibilities are almost endless and the format switch throughout the year would hold more people's interest over the longest period of time I think. AOY would be the guy who finished best though all the divisions.

Here's another thing:. Does anyone ever catch Whites/Hybrids near a dock? Because I don't. I even had a really good point with a drop-off that was one of my best areas....until somebody bought the property, built a house and slapped a dock on it. Ever since that dock got placed there I haven't had a good visit to that point. They seem to hate docks and low bridges and definitely want to see the sky at all times. Can anyone dispute that? Who can I call to request a missle attack on this dock right here? 😉

Absolutely! That's something that sometimes drives those fishing with me crazy. Once I catch ONE good one I know there are plenty more nearby so I'll camp out right there in that area. There's no use running all over the lake after you've found one. Stay put and either try different things....or just wait until they decide it's time to go nuts. That strategy pays off for me way more often than running point to point, or flat to flat. Just bring drinks and snacks for the chill times. Fun business! There's another trick that I'm starting to experiment with, and that is to put the boat on a slow plane and literally tear up that area with a few repeated passes/circles. For whatever reason that seems to fire them up sometimes. I noticed that more than a few times they turned on right after a boat passed by "too close". Sometimes even in the wake of the passing boat. It kinda works.

I'm just hearing too much about what people want, and too little about what's best for the fish....and the areas of the lakes. Regardless of whether all caught fish are scored, or only the 3-5-10 keepers are scored, there's no need to haul fish away from the area they were caught from. Nobody longs to see bags full of keeper bass, we all know what a bass looks like. The potential thrill of seeing that is not worth the relocation of millions of fish.

I've been crowing about this for years. I sure hope it spreads like a virus. I am so sick of all the bass relocating,other needs to stop, like yesterday.

I ain't above some Cow Fodder fishin'. 😊 It's been my experience though, that if strolling a jig works then stroking the jig usually works better. Can't say I've ever seen a time when scooting a jig slowly along a flat gravel bottom is the only presentation that'll get bit. Even if so the same presentation can be made by casting/retrieving.....just not quite as efficient. So the info shared is still quite valuable.

It ain't trolling. It has another name (Strolling). As long as you're fishing a single rod, and it is in your hand the whole time that the bait is in the water, what difference does it make if the wind is blowing the boat or you are using the TM to move it? Trolling is quite different IMO.

I left them all. I already have plenty in the freezer, so I was just sparring with them. 😃

Boys, I smoked 'em Tonite!!! 😋 Water was coming up, from a release at Truman I assume, since my mark at the ramp was 2" underwater when I returned, and surface temp is 82° The shad weren't surfacing at all and there were no surface blow-ups at all, but the big boys were in all the old familiar places. It was fast and furious so no time for pics, but I had at least 7 that were over 17", one that was real close to 19, and probably 20 that were over 15". Hands down the best evening I've had so far this year. Seemed to peak at about 6:30, then shut down abruptly once it got good and dark. The 1/4oz RedEye Shad and a Bandit 100 accounted for most, but all but 2 of the bigger ones ate a Swimming Fluke Jr. on a 1/8 Darter head.

For me the heads on F/S lines are too long and sink too slowly when cut down. What is important to me when streamer fishing is being able to pick up and shoot the next cast immediately (and accurately) without a big wind-up. For that I've found that carrying a selection of Rio sinking leaders in the 7' length do it best. All of my old F/S lines are rotting in the closet, and I feel I can hold my own with just about anyone when hucking streamers.

I dunno, when you see 30x more deer than you do squirrels, rabbits, quail, and feral cats combined.... Something tells me their attention (and funds) should be focused elsewhere.

How can a president save the East coast from a Hurricane? Does he think that people will not help other people unless he asks them to ? Or does he put the CEO's of Insurance corporations under suicide watch?

Intimidating? No. But bothered and detained longer than necessary? Yeah, a couple times. Actually I was intimidated once by an MDC agent on the Niangua who was giving his sweety a jet boat ride. He blasted through a run I was fishing TWICE when he could have easily ran the other side of the island, then he pulled in and made me drop my waders in front of his girlfriend. True story. She was pleasant and shy. He was a douchebag.

I think people who can’t swim will still swim Hu? 😄

I only care because the amount of our money MDC spends every year, fretting over a few road goats, could be used for more useful things. Even the trespassing calls they respond to during deer season is a waste of MDC funding. Trespassing calls should be handled by the county lawmen....Not MDC. Why do we have to pay DOUBLE for it? We're already paying the county to do it, so let them.

Stupidest thing I've ever heard/read. If someone is going to illegally kill a deer they aren't likely to bother with a permit in the first place unless they are a paranoid idiot. Just kill it and get it in the freezer. There's no need to get the government involved. With the number of deer that get smeared on the roads...why do they even bother with tags, checks, ect. during hunting season anyway? Killing one with a vehicle and letting it rot in the ditch is legal, but killing one with a rifle and eating it is illegal. Makes no sense at all. And we are paying for all this "enforcement".

The great LO topwater bite that I remember from the '70's was the Moss Boss over the milfoil in the Glaize and on the lower end. They'd raise the water level in June after the spawn and you'd have open water between the bank and the start of the milfoil beds. On some days the fish would be on the inside edge, on other days they'd be on the outside edge, and occasionally one would blow up out of the middle of the bed. In my recollection almost every fish was a 3+pounder...but I'm sure that's just my brain recalling the highlights. Nevertheless it was a tremendously fun period. I miss that beautiful turquoise water and the sound of that Moss Boss plopping through the matted milfoil. The anticipation was off the charts. I'll never forget how upset my dad was the first time we saw that barge going around spraying diesel fuel over the milfoil beds. Man was he pissed!

Happens at least once a year. Flatheads will sometimes eat anything that moves. They are pretty tasty!

Jacking around with a camera while trying to land it definitely upped the odds of that! 😃 Glad you got him regardless. Nice one!