fishinwrench

I'm picking up on the sarcasm. But when was the last time you had that much fun fishing for trout or Smallmouth? I just think our native species that are doing so well WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE deserve the same concern as the ones we have to spend time, money, and worry about all the time. "Oh, here's a fish that is doing good all on its own....lets load the freezer with them while the gettin's good." Nothing wrong with a few fish frys, but massive numbers of anglers hauling them out by the bucketfuls until they are just " too tired to clean anymore fish" is a bad habit. I don't care what the legal limit is, it's wrong. What happens when the whites have a bad year (like happened at Pomme) ? When will they come back? What was that, like 3-4 years ago? How's the white bite on Pomme? Nobody knows, cuz they ain't caught enough to know.

Upon second reading you're probably (hopefully) right. My apologies. I've just seen such an open and encouraged raping of whites the last few years it's making me defensive.

After being drug around on a stringer and then laying out on the tailgate for awhile ? Seriously?

I think it's like the Winchester mansion, where they have to maintain a never-ending state of construction so the ghosts of past trout fishermen remain civil. They must believe that if they ever stop "improving" that all hell will break loose.

I saw a big one (2.5' and thick) caught in a minnow seine from a chain of ponds near Richland, Mo.. When you think about how it got there it is beyond amazing. Mean basturd too!

What makes Bennett a better place for THAT? Can you not grill, take family along, or be sociable without concrete casting decks, surveillance cameras, and discharge outlets that pile the fish up in balls positioned for snagging? There was grilling, family friendly atmosphere, and all that jazz several million dollars ago. So what has all of these "improvements" done to improve on any of that? I can't think of a single thing, but I can easily see what it has taken away from the place. That's all I'm getting at.

That's kinda what I was thinking, champ. A "Pro" Tournament Angler with 5 in the box is not late for weigh-in. LOL

Every fishable mayfly 'hatch" in the Spring branch is either cream or celery colored and size 18-24, they are baetis and hatch out of weedbeds (if you wanna get technical about it) and the spinner fall happens over land. The "pale evening dun, and the PMD" that you hear about all the time (via Weavers report and from JR) doesn't even exist at BS. The Caddis's are coffee bean brown with slate wings, and #20 (they are divers so the "hatch" really isn't a hatch, it is egg laying. And they die mid-stream or in the surface film after laying their eggs. The crawl to the bank to "hatch". Midges are creamy gray and smaller than any hook made...but a #26-32 works. There's a lime green/red legged hopper hatch in June (#10) Those are the only dependable/fishable "hatches" at BS as far as I know.....except for the "Gut hatch".

This is the best I can do. http://server.odd.net/waterlevel/index.php Gives current and past, usually good enough for my purposes.

Well yeah, but a racetrack is gonna be roaring every Sat.-Sun. all season long. I'm assuming that the only reason y'all had airboats up there for that particular event is because a bunch of bayou swamp-boys came up for it. Airboats are by far NOT the preferred craft for all bowfishers in this region. Speaking of which, I have an 18' Lowe pontoon stripped down.... that would make a SWEET bowfishing rig.

Best to leave those doctors alone, they'll see to it that your never healed until your funds are gone.... Somehow they just know.

Outstanding SM, Have you met Paul Dallas yet?

Yeah the fact that the "agency's" condone this conversion so far away from its natural state with all the concrete casting decks, stairs, and spillways is sickening to me. It appears that they won't be content until the whole place resembles Big Surf Waterpark (with fish in it). Maybe they should just forget about the fishing aspect and add log slides and tube rides.

Been awhile since I've Pomme'd in mid-April, but a 5" Chomper in grn.punkin', and a C-rig lizard (same color) never failed to get some quality bites. I wouldn't hesitate to pound the gravel banks with a Wiggle wart for awhile either.

I can share some useful tid-bits about pond/small lake fishing without inviting the world to any one location. I can tell ya that if you are scouting for a pond that has some BIG bluegill in it just be the first one to fish it in the early Spring. The biggest bluegill in the pond are always the first ones to start biting. The big gill bite will only last for 2 weeks (or less) and then you'll start catching mostly smaller ones. If a major cold front blows through the process repeats itself, so start hitting it again the very day that things start to warm back up. Tomorrow, if the wind is not too crazy would be a killer day to prospect for some big honker gills. I think I will if I can finish up work soon enough

Sure! Perfect timing too cuz the ponds/small lakes should be on fire by now.

Maybe it's just me getting old, cranky and resistant to change, but BS has been transformed into nothing but a cheesy roadside amusement park IMO. I miss what it used to be. My only hope (personally) is that the bigtime updated hatchery will eventually lead to improved management of the trout holding portion of the Niangua.

So much cool stuff to do in the Spring......so little time. A guy just can't do it ALL.

There IS a USGS guage online. Check the guage and Just keep some John Deere's, cracklebacks, and globalls in your box and you'll have the "Weaver's report" covered year-round I think.

Where'd ya dump the yak and how far up/down did you have to go? Post 13 threads about loading up on morels or all the turkey you heard gobbling and you'd prolly have the whites to yourself. LOL

WTH are y'all doing to those boats down there? I work on a sizable fleet of Champions, some dating back to 1978 and run on the roughest water in the state.... all still have solid transoms. Just curious.

Right on! O you could just spare yourself all the pretentious drama by keeping a few key details to yourself, or between close friends, and encourage others to do the same. I didn't count myself but was told that there were 9-13 white bass hotspotter posts on this site alone in the last 48 hours. Wow!

I don't know about all of the ones shown, but the ones in the upper Gravois are just marking stuff that drifted in naturally and has been there for years. They didn't "plant it".

Water in the transom? Can you elaborate a little more? Do you just mean that the boat is "taking on water"? If so it is probably just a leaking livewell hose or pump fitting.

Just listen for the yodeling. LOL