fishinwrench

I had a really good day Friday bass fishing, and when I got back to the ramp I spoke to a couple guys had really stroked the crappie shooting docks. So Saturday I decided to go get myself a good mess. I failed miserably and kinda took it personal. Either Saturday was an off day for some odd reason or I have forgotten everything I thought I knew about crappie fishing. Nothing but baby bass around brush, and nothing but bluegills under the docks. I only caught 2 10" crappie and they were just up along a bare bank I usually hit for whites and apparently they were all alone partying with some drum because I wore that bank out trying to catch more. Nothing. I notice that beginning Saturday morning they started back watering this lake up, trying to draw Truman back down and I know from past experience that white bass hate it when they do that, maybe crappie do too. The bass bluegill and catfish are biting really well though.

Anyone wanna take a stab at this one? It is wood and has no markings anywhere. I'm guessing that it once had a skirt or something trailing it. Kinda like a Moss Boss ?

You two GET A ROOM !

You should be able to add a few other lake data resources to the site and generate enough advertising income to not only float it, but profit from it.

Are you planning to use standard temp guages that will have to be read manually, or something that allows you to check them remotely ?

I knew I had one somewhere. Found it ! Mine's in better shape.

Surface temp is a good reference when out in the boat, but for an online monitoring database being able to compare REAL temps lakewide would be awesome. A cloud covering 1/3 of the lake will alter surface temps as much as 8 degrees some days. That could have you chasing rainbows.

Surface readings aren't gonna be that helpful really. Having a monitor at 5' and another at 15' (at various locations) would be useful info that would be worth funding.

Bomber, or a Mudbug ?

So you're saying that they intentionally stock Stripers AND hybrids ? I'd be real surprised. Actually I would have to see them dump in order to truly believe it.

The only "hassle" is when a cripple gets under a dock (and they do that alot). Dock owners get all freaked out when a hunter trys to retrieve a injured bird. They call the sheriff and say "there are two armed men poking around my dock" and the law comes flying in like a military excersize. Trust me it'll ruin your day.

I bet . I built up some courage, called St.Croix and threw a genuine fit, they FINALLY came around and agreed to send me a Legend Elite for a small fee. I do still want that XP but it will have to wait until Spring now unless I sell a boat before New Years.

I read it. He is full of beans and just trying to show his voters that he is "TRYING". Nothing is gonna be done that will noticeably reduce the wakes during the Summer, there is no way to enforce any of their ideas. It's too late now, restrictions should have been implanted long before it got to this point. Hell, several of the politicians that are pretending to be behind that wake committee group own the boats that are making the big rollers.

They sign on at a reduced price, financed well below book value, then pay only interest and have to sell it or buy it within a certain amount of time. If you're shrewd you can actually make a little money on it PLUS get to fish out of a fresh new boat for a year or so for next to nothing. When you sell it then you pay off the principal balance and go pick up another one. The only real downside is that if you sweep a dock and put a scratch on it, hit something and bust the skeg, ect. then you gotta pay out of pocket to get it fixed right now. The boat always has to be ready to sell quickly when you have the opportunity to move it.

Freakin' Hoarders !

Ahh that takes me back a bit. I had a house on Gibson pt. and used to hang out in the little tackle shop at Redwoods. They had that sucker stocked with alot of good stuff. It's sad that we don't have places like that anymore. You didn't have to carry 5 extra baits of each size/color because if you broke off your last one you could just go have a soda and buy another one. Just throw a rope around their dock cleat, no worries of HUGE wakes tearing your boat up while tied to the dock. This place used to be so awesome when it was less of a party town.

I use Mitch's heads for 5" Chompers on the lake and they are the bomb. I've never tried them on the rivers just cuz I strictly flyfish then, but I'm sure you're right. I trashed the wire guards on several last year so I just cut them off and continued to fish it, it was a long LONG time before I would hang one up even with an exposed hook.

Not sure when they first began stocking Stripers but they stopped sometime in the mid-80's and started stocking hybrids instead. The Niangua arm from Bridal cave to HaHaTonka was a hot zone for them but they were scattered everywhere. It wasn't uncommon to get spooled while fishing a crankbait for bass, and catfishermen caught alot of them on trotlines. Nobody really understood them so nobody really fished specifically for them. A few guides from 4-Seasons finally figured out how to catch them and the word spread pretty fast. Shortly after that they quit stocking them. There is still some natural reproduction even though the biologists say it can't happen. I catch a few baby's each year and occasionally somebody will catch a biggun. I attempted to help a guy land one that was 30+ awhile back here in the Gravois but we lost it right at the boat.

What are they being called ? I'll start looking for them on TW after the new year.

I really don't have a problem with my jigs laying over on their side but I hear alot of guys fretting about it. Either the line tie orientation or the trailers I use keep my jigs straight. Or at least straight enough. I use footballs for heavy deep jigs but to be honest I'm not sure why. Seems a standard head would do just fine....plus come over brush better.

NEXT Fall ? Don't give up yet ! Back in the days of big Striper here on LO the full moon of December was looked forward to all year. Every guide on the lake was booked for 6 days straight.

No kidding

Are they going to be available by March ?

Yeah I love Mitch's 5/16 heads. I'm referring to football heads for deep water use on rock. I use 1/2 and 3/4 quite a bit just because I can stay connected to them in deep and rough water. I just see no need for lightweight football shaped heads I guess unless they are very lightly dressed (no skirt, just a craw or finesse worm).

We had a really good run of them in the Gravois back in 2009-11 but only a few lingerers since. Your best odds are in the Ha Ha Tonka area, and the upper Osage. I don't think MDC is stocking them regularly on this lake any more. Just occasionally. Hop over the dam into Truman and they are quite thick 6-12 pounders are pretty regular. Not sure why they don't stock LO better, we definitely have the shad to support them.