Wayne SW/MO

I don't think most people realize that the Missouri Farm Bureau is not Grandpa's Farm Bureau. It is now a very large insurance company who takes on the job of supporting the corporate farms, or the equivalent. Don't let anyone tell you different, look at where there income originates and the biography of their directors.

A Fat Free Shad, but I can't say its been a good lure for me. Its probably more important to not get any preconceived ideas on what they will hit, but to keep searching. I think I have a tendency to stay with some methods too long, because they've been hot in the past.

Dan you need to find a more localised place to live.

Thanks! Yes it will be.

I don't have my Missouri Fishes book at hand, but I believe it lists Saugers in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and possibly others.

I'm about 8 miles or so from River Run, 18 from the TR tailwater, and about 25 or so from the James.

Do a search for information at that time period. Bill Babler and others post up information regularly. TR can be tough, as Ham pointed out.

Anyone had any consistant luck on something other than Smoke or Purple?

Could it be the water temps lower due to the colder winter?

If you're throwing stickbaits for anything I've found its helpful to sharpen your hooks every trip and every time you hit a rock.

I know they'll come a long way for soured field corn. A tin can filled with syrup and placed on some burning briquets will give you large scent area.

If you head east on the road to Shadowrock there's a turnoff that will take you to another access, its gravel to the right. If you continue on down toward Shadowrock to the ballfield, that area is all public. You can cross Swan and swing around toward the community building and fish there. On the South side you travel on through River Run and there is good access down the two tracks on either side of Silver Creek, which is the creek crossed on a whistle bridge. During normal water you can continue to follow that road to the water where you have a choice of going toward the dam or turning back to the right where you can travel about 300 yards downstream. I think most places that aren't posted and lead you to the water are OK. And this time of the year there are trout down past Silver.

I don't think I would want to try it in a big truck either, that slough on the left could sure eat a big truck.

Where's the water at in the Pothole, I assume its over the powerhouse road, but how deep?

My take on the O Fork is that the fish are finicky and you have to find what they want. My last trip was down to Hazelgreen and I didn't do well until I started fishing a particular type of lure, things then pick up enough to save the trip. I know that there was an 18" in an area east of Lebanon in 2005.

I have to smile guys, cause I was born in this state and those little buggers have probably always been the most prolific fish. They are also popularly known as Black perch. I might add that if a male bass isn't jerked from the nest the perch have a much tougher time. I'm not advocating to cease fishing, but fishermen could avoid targeting nesting fish and this would make more sense to me than blaming it on a native fish thats been here for probably centuries.

713lefty go west of hiway 65 on 76 past the first stoplight, when you see the Dogwood Inn sign on the left look for Fall Creek Road which goes south, to the left, just pass the inn, follow that until you come to a curve to the right with an exit straight ahead, take the exit (there's a Lilley's sign there also) and when you have to turn, turn right.

You run that area at your own peril for sure. The channel swaps sides between the dam and River Run and there's a stump on the south side of one change. There's also a couple of shoals. I hope the boater made it out OK, but you would think he would have needed help and there's not much secret in Forsyth.

Phil is the third one dark green or black?

I suspect that the fish showing up last year were from the last spring with water in the creeks, about 3 years ago. Neither Swan nor Beaver get enough water flow for a good spawn very often. If the drought ever breaks I would imagine they will return, if the creeks flow in the spring.

Probably the most popular areas are the banks immediately below Powersite dam, because of the easy access to all. The "Island" is more commonly known as the Rockpile. Boaters fish all the way to Barker Hole which is about a couple of miles east of the 76 bridge. Beaver creek is another nearby area thats popular with boaters. Swan in itself doesn't produce much. Lilley's isn't too far away to make a trip to the pothole, and its easy enough to find.

I think when when it comes to keeping fish you have to consider what it does to the resource. Walleye aren't going to be hurt, they're stocking more than I personally think they should, Largemouth can be supplemented if necessary. Rainbows could use a little more protection in the trophy area but otherwise they are endless, Browns aren't exotic unless allowed to reach full potential. River Smallmouth on the other hand are on their own and fighting an uphill battle. The White Bass are running uphill also because their spawning window has been very narrow and when they do get it they're hit pretty hard by fishermen. :ph34r:

There's a now defunct magazine that carried a very interesting story by him about Smallmouth and their habits through the seasons. He even managed to locate them in the winter, in BS I presumed.

Is your tab adjusted properly?

They were in that area in the 50's and they run to the base of Truman, they can't have gone far.