fishinwrench

Aren't there a few bass clubs that hit the Meramec several times during the year ? Get some side pots going (put a bounty on 'em) and thin them out real good this spring, say in April or early May. And Again in October. Is it legal to keep river spots right before memorial day ?

swEET! I have no room left in my smallie boxes....But who can resist that one ?

All of a sudden, over the last day or so many pics and videos only show up as empty boxes with an [X] at the left-hand corner. Has something gotten screwed up in my settings or something ? Anyone know of an easy fix for this, or something I could check ? I did all the java, media player, and quicktime "updates" but still can't view a lot of the pics and videos that I was able to see just a few days ago. Thanks

Midges have a flavor all their own... pungent, but not overbearing. Less bitter than dogpecker gnats. Pound for pound, I'd take a dish of them over DUCK anyday. "prepared properly" of course.

Once it drops into the teens it might as well be 40 below, far as I'm concerned. Those midges at the high-bank yesterday (Monday), were rediculis. I inhaled/swallowed so many that I didn't have room for the sandwich I took, the cab of my truck is still full of them this morning. What is their lifespan anyway ?

Take a friend, for sure. Night fishing solo, .. far from horse, .. in winter....Bad plan Kemosabe.

Brush is not a necessity for a dock to hold some good crappie, docks positioned over or near bottom structure (points, creek channels ect.) will hold fish just as well...and sometimes better. Now that the lake is low and you can see the shoreline, look for docks close to areas where the bottom composition changes (gravel to chunk rock, or chunk rock to bluff, for example). or docks positioned at the spot where a creek or river channel swings in close to the bank. Those type docks are most consistent on a year-round basis, especially during winter and during severe cold fronts. One of the best winter docks that I know of on this lake has only 15 ft. of water on the out end of it, it is positioned where a little well defined creek ditch runs tight to a shallow point in the back end of a big cove. Bottom line: look for places that would be good even if a dock wasn't there. Brush is an extra (if there is any there) but it doesn't need to be. And pay close attention to the angle of the sun. If a dock cast a shadow 25 feet off one side there may be fish suspended at the edge of that shade line.....which will be behind you if you were fishing THE DOCK. One last tip on dock fishing then I'll shut up: The anchor cables that run from the corner of the dock to the bank, even though they might only be 10 inches below the surface where they sag down ? Never-ever pass up a parallel cast by them at different depths, fish relate to them in a big way...they love'em. Some docks also have cables off the out-end attached to concrete anchors down deep. And don't forget NO WAKE bouy cables on cloudy days (hint: they lean with the current during generation). Go get'em. Good luck

We do a little thing called a slingshot cast. It's fun and works great. There's also baits like the Knight "Little Fishie" and a few other flat sided soft plastic minnow types that skip really well with a circular sidearm type cast. With a little practice you can shoot a jig under the dock from one side to the other, and in between the pieces of foam or encapsulated flotation. It's a neat technique, I'm sure there are a few video's on YouTube somewhere. Bill Dance even had a episode on it once.

That's a pretty stretch of water, reminds me of the upper Current. What is the designation for the water outside the park there (red,white,blue) ? and how far downstream does the trout holding portion extend to? Wish it wasn't so far for me to drive to, but I'll get there eventually. Nice Bows too, thanks for the pics

Bill, I wish I would have had the same Lawyer when I was fighting a trespassing charge on Gravois creek a few years back, there were no signs, no fences, and I accessed the creek from a county road bridge and stayed withing sight of it. I was never confronted by the supposed property owner....a deputy and MDC agent just SHOWED UP, told me I was trespassing and wrote me up. What you said sounds like a very good argument, I would have to agree that is the way it SHOULD work out. But I was given the whole "ignorance of the law" speech....and charged anyway. At the time I couldn't afford to fight it. (1000.00 to retain counsel). Different situations (creek vs. dock) but trespass is trespass I assumed. In closing my input on this I guess I should state that I do service on boats at many of the condo and resort complexes here on LO. The people at some of them are pretty ticked about finding hooks hopelessly tangled in their ropes, holes ripped in their mooring covers from guys extracting their jig hooks, and hooks stuck in the hoist hoses. Like everything else, a few slobs can ruin things for everyone else. That's kinda where I was going when I mentioned the cell phone/driving thing in my earlier post. For Example: I am perfectly capable of making a brief phone call or text while driving without killing anyone or mowing down any mailboxes...but because some teenagers and stressed out soccer Mom's can't seem to pull it off, it will soon be illegal.

Pro-choice....that's good ! But yeah, I'd prefer a tuna salad sandwich over a fillet from a 8lb. LM That tale has BS written all over it....But then again, my ex-wife once noticed the diamond off her wedding ring was missing after feeding our chickens. Bet I don't have to tell ya where I found it

"Have not checked the records in Camden, Benton, or Morgan County. It would be public record of people arrested for fishing on docks, and would be easy to find." Sir Bill, There is no "specific list" of people who have been fined for trespass on private docks, so unless you had a specific name to run on casenet to see if they had been cited I'm not sure how it is "easy to find". For the WP or sherrif to snort and laugh at a report of someone on a private dock without permission would really suprise me, especially during the winter when LOTS of moored boats are vandalized each year. And there WERE moored boats where you guys were...it was not an "empty dock". I don't know which officer you are pals with but I doubt that Jody Hughes would condone it. And yourself being an ex-officer of the Mo. State Water Patrol should not condone it either IMO Now that I've said all that let me say that Personally I'm not at all offended and couldn't care less who's dock you were on, and I'm glad you guys had a good time and caught some decent slabs....but showing something like that on the web might make a few guys want to go out and give it a shot themselves....and they could potentially get in trouble. No? Actually I was just bustin' your chops a bit cuz I've read rants from you guys down there on Taney in the past concerning people that commit little infractions of the same magnitude. ya know, like fishing bait where they weren't supposed to be...or fishing across the cable somewhere, shuffling.. ect.ect. My comments were honestly in jest ... so chill. "One of the guides I talked to said he walks docks 100 plus days a year" That sounds like Pat L. (was it?) if so he DOES aquire permission first, he is a customer and good friend of mine. "Someone always has to make a big deal out of everything." Tellme about it....can't run to the store without putting a seatbelt on, can't walk a creek, can't drive and talk on the cell phone, can't drink a beer on a float trip without getting the shake-down, can't carry a pocket knife..... I hate it too. Peace, Wrench

15 inchers ? A nice mess for sure, but C'mon now...

Shouldn't be any different from filleting crappie while still on Lake Ozark....right? you can't very easily look at and measure a fillet to check if it is a legal species of the proper length. Which is the reasoning behind the rule. Head and tail intact until you are home..unless you wanna carry the carcass with you I suppose. But who does that?

There are no "public" docks on the lake (except for the courtesy docks at the MDC access ramps). You need permission to set foot on any dock or you are risking being busted for trespassing. They nail a bunch of guys each Winter that way.

Fine Brown....from a tough piece of river Ducky still wins the hat prize tho.

Knotty Pine resort on EE outside of Greenview, and Robin's resort in OB (knotty pine being a better choice, IMO) used to allow fishing for a fee without staying overnite. you'll have to google their number and call to check though. Knotty Pine is loaded with brush and positioned on good structure. Take along some blue/silver 2" Kalin' grubs and 1/16 weedless heads.....and/or minnows if you roll like that

Man DD that's a cool hat !!!

Awesome. Sturdy hull, and looks like she'll clean up nice. What more does a guy need. Have fun with her.

Right on ! What did ya get ?

"As in a fur trapper navigating the waterway for commerce. Precedence?" Absolutely. Commerce is commerce.....they follow the word to the letter in every other aspect. The gray area in my case was the point where I entered the stream (at a county road bridge) and no one could come to terms with whether that was considered "trespassing" or not, one deputy advised me that I was legally within my rights to be there but warned me of a cranky shotgun totin' old man that had crossed the bridge and saw us there. I had my kids with me so I just left to avoid a scene. I went back alone later that evening because I had saw some really nice smallies earlier and a different deputy and a MDC agent showed up and said that I was trespassing and wrote me up. I was of the thinking that where ever one public right of way (the road) crosses another public right of way (the stream) that I was within my rights to access there. That's the way it was up in Audrain/Monroe county's where I was born and raised. I researched it to death and really felt I could have beat the charge, even if I had to represent myself. But around here judges don't go for "representing yourself". The same exact words from a lawyers mouth are heard and respectfully considered, but statements and explanations coming from me alone weren't going to even be listened to, much less considered. So I had to pay the fine and haven't been back to that stretch of water since....but I really want to someday, and hope I can without fear of breaking any laws.

The degree of gravel buildup would not keep it from being considered navigable any more than a tree blocking the channel would. Many "navigable" streams have portages. There is a back-door method of determining what is considered a "navigable" waterway, the original federal definition includes any stream "used for commerce". The definition of "commerce" does include mining and/or dredging of gravel for sale. If gravel has ever been taken from a stream in question, and sold to anyone, then that classifys' it as a "navigable waterway" in federal court....but if you can't convince a county prosecutor of that, you gotta have the money to retain counsel to take it to a higher court. I attempted to fight a trespassing case in Morgan county concerning a major tributary of Lake Ozark....but couldn't afford it. I was charged, forced by the almighty dollar to plead guilty, and I was given a stiff fine.....but oddly enough it never showed up on my record. Whaddya make of that ? I then formed a MDC Stream Team on the same creek It has been hard to keep volunteers helping so now it is just my family and a few friends...but we keep it free of trash and have gotten excessive dredging and dumping of RV waste stopped ALMOST entirely. It is a cause worth fighting for, because not all landowners are kind to the waterway that runs through, or borders their property.

JDM, Which river do you own property on both sides of ? if I may ask.

There's this: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/12001.pdf And this: http://www.missouritrout.com/weavers/winterseason.html

Hmm, interesting. I was basing that statement on the fact that some guys got busted for having a stringer of smallies during the C&R season several years back. I'll have to look into it deeper....but heck the Ranger should know better than me, for sure. A mess of G'eyes, baked beans and hushpuppies sounds pretty good. Update (edit): Nope, here's the way it reads word for word. No fish may be possessed during the catch & release season, and all fish caught are to be released immediately, unharmed. Proper catch & release techniques are essential for released fish to survive. Doesn't say "no trout", it reads "no FISH".