Justin92297

Almost all of the biggest bass and crappie I have ever caught have been from ponds in this area. I'm 16 years old and don't have a boat so ponds are the only things I fish on most weeks, but I have to say, if you spend enough time on it pond fishing can be just as good if not better than fishing anywhere else. Every pond is different though, I fish some where you only catch one or two fish a day but they both probably weigh more than three pounds. I also fish some where you can catch up to 20+ bass in a day and not get one over two pounds. Either way is fun and almost every pond has a big one. In the past year I have caught four 6+ pound bass and almost as many 1+ pound crappie from two ponds within five minutes of my house. I also fished one of my favorite ponds yesterday and caught at least 60 bass between me and three of my friends. I hope this proves that you don't need a bass boat and a huge lake to catch good fish or good numbers of fish. Also if you guys have any good pond stories I want to hear them! thanks

This rain should help. My neighborhood lake rose at least three feet. I will be out on the lake on Sunday

I have always wanted to catch a muskie from that lake. Is bass techniques really the way to go for them?

Alright sounds good. Normally I fish with jigs or tubes tipped with crappie nibbles. Will that get the job done?

Thanks! I will try lake 35 and definitely Howell island. I live close

Anyone know of any good crappie lakes in the stl area? The ones at Busch are alright but seem to be pretty pressured

I went yesterday and did very well on thread jigs and beadspread.

Just checked the weather and it looks like its gonna be cold and rainy on Sunday. This is probably my only day I can go. Is it worth it?

Ok thanks a lot! Also Can you use a spinning rod in zone 1 and is the outlet hole in zone 2 or 3?

Thanks, and also what parts of the stream should I focus on? I'm only there for a day and don't want to waste any time

I'm heading down to Bennett next sunday for my first time ever. Any suggestions on what flies/ lures to use? What works best this time of year?

I was at my neighborhood lake today which was frozen all winter and saw at least ten dead fish. Just like at your lake they were all trash fish. At mine they were some kind of big shad or chub. No other kinds of fish were affected and the crappie were biting great

Pretty good fish for the middle of February. I hope the lakes are all thawed out by this weekend

Ok good to know. Will the ice even be safe this weekend after the above freezing temps?

Just my normal trout rods. One light one ultra light and I was using trout worms and power bait

Went out to lake 21 yesterday and did some ice fishing. Only had a few hits but it was my first time so I had fun. There had to be 5-8 inches of ice on the lake. Is there anything that works better than others when it comes to Ice fishing? I'm still new to this

After meramec springs closes before opening day can you still access the actual river through that park?

Yea there was a lot of ice on the lakes so it'll take awhile to melt. Im hoping there will be open water sometime in the next few weeks

Yea I was worried about that. I'll drive out there just in case. You never know with all this rain

Heading out this weekend to fish most or all of these lakes. Was wondering if any of you guys have fished them yet and if so what's been working. I would like to fly fish but if spinning gear has been working I'll pick up my spinning rod too. Thanks!

Yesterday I went to my neighborhood lake and found that the ice was at least 4 inches thick. My friend and I were able to walk all the way across. Anyone think ice fishing would be worth a shot on some of the trout lakes in the county or the ones at Busch? I know it's supposed to warm up a bit but I don't know enough about this to know weather it would be enough to effect the ice. Any suggestions?

I'm heading down there Tuesday also. Pretty sure they are always open

Last year when I went the smallies were biting better than the trout. You can catch them on anything from spinners to small jigs and streamers. And yes there are some very big ones in the deeper, slower water

Ok thanks. I'll be up there checking it out next weekend. Hopefully there will be some open water

Ok good to know. Looks like I might be at meramec springs also at least until the ice melts at busch