thewhitesnoop

I doubt Native Americans gigged very many bass

MDC is lazy and out of date when it comes to our genre. They do seem to be pretty good at collecting money though. That's a skill I guess.

Between otters and giggers, it's a wonder any decent bass make it through the winter alive. The only consolation is that giggers nor otters probably have the time to target smaller bass, so hopefully the resource will always be able to renew. Just fewer pigs for everyone

This is a MDC issue. MDC seems to be all about people gigging game fish, otters eating game fish and people keeping game fish. *They can stock otters, but not bass *They allow gigging but I don't think they do much regulating of it. *They won't protect stream bass from catch and keep. They even open bass season on Memorial weekend when every live bait user in the state is out there putting every fish they catch on the stringer. How dumb is that? I'm not against gigging, just the gigging of bass (which we know goes along with it, since I doubt MDC has too many agents on the midnight shift to ticket these incidents). Their solution to the otter problem.....let people trap them. I don't know about you guys, but I haven't seen too many 1760's style French fur trappers floating downstream in wooden canoes, so I think we are screwed on this one.

Nice work with that marked measuring device Bigs! Way to legitimize the size of your fish !! Very refreshing

Yes, it must be psychological. It's pretty clear that I have a Freudian case of "Al envy"

Sounds like Hog has a board in his boat.

It's also sad when I read about a fish that's 20 inches or 18.5 inches that probably wasn't even that length. If you don't know how long it was, just say it was a good one. You can't just call a smallmouth a 20 incher cause you paddle says he was close and you want him to be 20. But that's just one jerk's unpopular opinion. If you guys want to worship a fishing god that doesn't use a measuring board, then more power to ya!

Fair enough Al. There is no rule that you have to have or use a board, so if you are happy without one, that's cool. Even though I don't think it creates that much clutter in the boat. It's not like you are traversing in The Royal Debacle or anything 😂. Now that's some serious clutter! Thanks for the honest reply. I prefer that to being attacked by Seth or berated by Mitch anytime.

Mitch- I don't know what you're talking about with that Rand Paul comment. Seth- I don't know why I have to explain simple things to you. Here's how it went: Wrench told me to STFU. In return I told him to STFU. Wrench brought up my kids (for some reason) so I responded likewise. So, see if you can tell us who was the instigator here......that's right! It was Wrench. Especially since I hadn't said anything negative to or about wrench. I merely called Al out for estimating the length of his fish. Wish he obviously wanted me to do. I just thought that since Al is the "GOLD STANDARD" of stream bass fisherman, he at least wouldn't measure his fish in a way that you would expect from some once a year memorial crowd guy that you you might come upon, that thinks every smallmouth he catches was a 4 pounder. It's called a measuring board. You can get one for $12-$15. It will tell you EXACTLY how long your fish is. It's worth the investment, although it might cut down on the number of 18, 19 and 20" fish you catch compared to previous measuring devices such as paddles, rods, the bottom of your shoe, or that stupid tape measure sticker MDC gives out.

Hey wrench. Why don't you STFU. Just because my posts aren't incredibly long winded doesn't mean I don't have the right to say anything. I'm the only one on here that thinks if you are going to call a fish 20+" or 18.5" or whatever, that it should be verified accurately?? I would think a guy that's all about detail in his writing could use a little detail in measuring his fish. Especially since everyone looks up to him. That's not setting a good example for all of Al's disciples. Also, I would hope my kids would have too much going on in their lives to look up thewhitesnoop and his posts on a fishing forum. Where as for you Wrench, your kids would find posts of you telling people to STFU

It makes me a guy who measures his fish

I'm not on a crusade. Al pretty much asked for this one.

The clear difference here Seth, is that I am not a self promoting guru. Why must I explain the obvious?

Ok. I'll bite on Al's troll. 80 fish is great. But how many keepers? Who cares about the little ones. Next time I catch a good one, I'll just slap it against some random object in the boat and call it a 20+ incher. Sweet! Seriously Al, how long have you been fishing? And you don't use a measuring board? You claim all these fish you catch are a certain length and you measure them on a paddle? You can get a board at almost any tackle shop. Make sure you get the 22.5" version. I'm sure you are going to need it.

12 inches on a paddle may not be a legit 12 inches Al. You should throw whatever you have confidence in. I wouldn't have confidence in those baits so I wouldn't catch fish with them. You obviously do so keep pounding on them. The last post was supposed to be my last, but now it's this one. Lol

I enjoy reading the forum just like you guys. I just don't post pics or spoon feed info. As much as reading Al's self serving posts where he finds limitless creative ways to compliment himself does agitate me, I must admit it is still entertaining. If you guys don't like what I have to say than I will concede and to your unyielding pressure and cease to post. You guys that that call me a troller can all shove it up your ---

Ya Hog, the only thing that could inspire a first time forum reader to keep wanting to read would be countless pictures of your fish.

On average we are off the water between 5:00-7:00pm Sometimes later during the summer, earlier in the winter obviously Are you figuring two guys fishing and not just one?

I know, it has to be hard to believe that we could catch that many fish without throwing a midge Oreno, twin spin spinnerbait or homemade walk the dog topwater 😂

No Phil. No one did that. I was simply responding to wrench with a little added detail. And I didn't mean any disrespect to wrench.

fishinwrench - I don't think I ever said 50 fish is an average day. I was surprised that it was a "banner day". I would think banner day would suggest that is your best day ever, or at least one of them. I'm sure Hog has had days that where better than that, hence I was surprised. I also realize the Meramec isn't a great river for numbers however. 50 fish is a below average day for me, especially when fishing with a partner, if you must know. I however only count bass over 12 inches (although everything gets thrown back, catch and release all the way). Fish under 12 inches we do not count in our total. If my partner and I go out and fish all day and don't catch 100 keepers, honestly we are disappointed. If we counted ALL fish, on days when you are catching 2 or 3 sub 12" bass for every keeper, that total can get pretty high. It wasn't always that way. Back in the mid 90's we thought 30-40 keepers was really pounding them. We learned a lot over the years, by trial and error and using our own brain and not listening to magazine articles that always tell you the same old thing or learning from the message board gurus. Also, unlike "The Master" Al Agnew, we measure our fish with a measuring bump board, not a paddle. So that way if we catch a largemouth that we claim was 22" it was actually 22". I don't know about that if you are measuring with a paddle. Also, unlike Al, if we have a tough day on the water, we don't make an excuse and blame it on meat hunters. We try to evaluate what we could have done differently and learn from it. We aren't so arrogant that we think just because we didn't catch them, they weren't in the river because meat hunters must have gotten them.

Mitch- Thanks to this board I think Everyone knows the general area that Hog fishes. Also, check the name of the topic - Meramec River

And Phil, I love the website, I read it all the time. I don't dislike the board. It is always interesting reading.

Fair enough Phil. Thanks for the fair handed response. I have fished rivers and streams for bass all my life. I only fish for bass. I enjoy catching all 3 species. Of course spots are my least favorite, but I don't throw them on the bank. Strictly catch and release. I use baitcasters, occasionally a spinning rod but not very often. As for where I fish.....I tell no one....except the couple of guys I fish with. I don't care if guys blab about their fishing spots on the board, I don't like it if it happens to be one of my spots also. I could tell lots of guys about the same spot too and hurt that guys fishing like he does mine. But I don't. Just wish they would do the same. It doesn't bother me at all when guys talk about tactics or lures. I don't even mind if they post pics as long as they aren't giving away a spot. It gets on my nerves when I read post after post of self serving dribble as some guys try to convince us how much of an "Expert" angler they are. I don't fish the Meramec very much, just standing up for some of the guys that do. When you blab about a fishing spot, you don't effect just yourself....you may affect another guy who that is his favorite spot. Did anyone ever think about that?