riverhyker

We talk about what our chldren don't know? What about what we aren't teaching our kids! History is not a Mistorhy. My Grandmother kept a playroom with all of the people that created, that made me understand that because you're faith was different...it didn't make you wrong, My....okay...this is not the forum for that. But, really where we learn....from our parents/grandparents......what do we teach our children/grandchildren? Now we complain....really sad!

I am a Viet Nam Era Vet....My sons questioned me one day.....my response was this....MY JOB is to protect my house, let's expand this, in order to do so I have to protect my shores AND any threats to those shores....THAT IS MY J.O.B. They couldn't understand that.....okay, Sooooo, if someone knocks on you'e door, you answer, and get busted in on....It is you're neighbor. Magnify that by the parameters of the world....Now You have thousands against our family..breaking into our house (USA), I TAUGHT YOU to care...for it to matter.....

Wow.... I understand the sentimental part of your msg. I am an OH transplant 30+ years ago and the Ozarks is really hard to shake, especially with family. That is why I stayed here. There are some HUGE fish (Crappie and Bass) on this end. If you are land locked when you get here let me know and will try to help with a Sea Eagle inflatable, canoe, and a kayak. If it helps your family share some of your memories, I would be more than happy to do so. I just ask that everyone is outfitted with life jackets. Ryver

There used to be an app that worked with google earth and gps to plan river floats. It included distances between points and even between points that you marked on the river. You could then send it to other members of your float party and/or friends and family to show where you are going on the river of your choice. You could even mark where you spent the night or currently sit on the river (in case you don't make it to your take out) so that people would know either where to start looking for you or friends can find the access below you to wait to join you on the remainder of the trip. I don't know where it is now (I didn't have a smart phone until the Galaxy S4), but it is in my favorites on a desktop that I gave a friend. I will see if I can find it this weekend if it is still available I will post it. I had just stumbled across it by accident trying like you to search for the best way to make a multi day river trip plan. There is an app called Float Plan 2.0, but unless the app that I was speaking about morphed into this, this is not the app I am speaking about. riverhyker

VWM used to be a great spot prior to them renovating the pond. There were some big bass, bluegill and crappie in there and the night fishing was fantastic too. I heard about some people bringing stringers of fish out of there, but it was either prior to the reopening or immediately thereafter, I think it should just be turned into a catch and release pond or it will have to be restocked every couple of months. Some of the fish I have seen come out of there were way below the size limit, so unless it is policed 24/7 catch and release probably wouldn't work either. Riverhyker

I just noticed while gearing up for this weekend's trip that my Switch prescription sunglasses were missing. I had to have dropped them while loading my kayak. It was dark when I pulled out of the river and must have not noticed. They are green framed with my black prescription lenses in them. They are called Switch because the colored lenses are interchangeable. If anyone came across them or if you know anyone with them, not expecting anyone to "turn anyone in" lol, PLEASE let me know. I have a drivers license restriction because of an eye condition/sun sensitivity that requires that I drive with UV/Polarized prescription lenses and my insurance will not pay for another pair for two more years. With the huge price tag I definitely can't replace them out of pocket. Many Thanks

Man, That is a great catch and it is great to see that you had a "succesful" trip and great times. I am trying to schedule a trip either to Canada's shield lakes (kayak/canoe fishing & camping) or saltwater kayak fishing in the San Diego area. After seeing some of your catch I am really torn....I Love fishing new water.

Wow...Is it possible that this fish has a tumor growing?

Please just picture this....Look at the braggin' boards of the past, (nothing against them, we live and learn, Hopefully), but I saw a guy on the Finley that had set up a tent with his family catching fish w/minnows. No, problem. As my grandson and I got closer we noticed that he was chucking them into a 5 gallon bucket....it really screwed me up when I got close enough to ask him if I could see his catch....a Bunch of 5 to 9 inch smallmouth...while his kids watched..validating that this is okay....I looked at my grandson and told him....4 or twenty four years old if I ever caught him doing that...

I know that this post is late, but PLEASE LISTEN to MuskieBob and Pruett417 (you aren't my cousin Pruett are you?...lol), but in Ohio our water temps were no where near what they are here back before I moved to MO. These fish can not stand the strain. Their parent fish are cold water species and this makes it worst. I also noticed the "braggin" board at the boat dock before the new owners. I just shook my head...in defense of a number of these fishermen/women/children a lot of these fish were caught fishing for other species, but I still say let them go. There is still a chance that they will survive.

Hold it wait...I caught it first...I just "Threw it back bigger."....(so that it would get to be bigger)....that was an ultralight when I caught it

Okay...and please understand....When I moved here from Ohio I caught a smallie that jumped up between me and the sun...I could actually see the colors in the drops of water coming off of it as it flipped in the air...kinda like the only slow motion moment I have ever had in my life. When I was a kid I would watch fishing programs, one I believe was either Sports Afield or Field and Stream something like that. I just know that I wanted to live somewhere where I could walk a river, catch a fish and see it jump in the air above my head...I moved here 30+ years ago...when I caught that fish I looked at my cousin and just said, "Man, I am home." That being said please understand why I am saying the following w/all do respect to the Land Owners on the banks of the rivers here. I really don't understand how "public" resources are considered private property. I really just don't get it. This on the water is public, and the land below the water is private thing is crazy. We pay fees to take care of both, there are a lot of us that volunteer to take care of and monitor both. I totally agree that some land owners may need water access. But, there are ways to do so w/o restricting floaters, waders from downstream access. In Ohio a lot of the water was not wadeable unless you were wearing scuba gear, but we had laws about denying access if it was not direct access by/through your private property. The banks were even not considered private property for so many feet from the rivers edge. I am finding that this issue of non access is more common than I have thought as I try to find new water. Not to mention if the river is up and you are swept into this bobwire, or like in some instances the fence is not taken care of and it falls down or hidden under the waters surface, but still catches something you are dragging. Also if the surface of the water is public domain, then the property owner is breaking the law because can he say that one of those bottom strands of barbed wire is not riding (in contact) to the surface of the water? I Love MO, it's rivers and even a lot of the landowners, but this is ridiculous....My son and I have gotten caught in rivers in either bad weather or to far down stream (wading), to get back to our vehicle before dark (just caught up in great fishing), and we have never intentionally trespassed on someones property w/o permission. Sorry for being so long winded....just have been holding this in for a Verrry Long time.

A BIG DAMMMMNNNN....To you Bilethead...I fight for that, and had it at one time, but if I leave the homestead to work it goes to crap..Much respect to you for having the organization and know how to Really get it done...are you looking for a balding wife??? LOL

Before my son moved to Oregon, looking for more of what I taught him, we went Tiger Musky fishing at Fellows Lake. We didn't catch one, but made the best of the day catching crappie, and bass...(all released except 4 crappie...dinner). This is a Prime fishery for a chance to actually catch a really Big Fish...I know that it is hard to let something go that you are proud of. I kept a 5lb bass from Springfield Lake some years ago...paraded around showing my boys....the most stupid thing I have ever done in this sport. This was before camera phones, but I should have just let the fish go after getting the thrill of figuring out where it was at...fishing from the bank...and I took a long time re-teaching my boys the importance of catch and release...that fish would have never reached 5 lbs if someone had taken it out of the lake... I am from Ohio and I have caught both Muskie, and Pike...I have also seen the end of some great fisheries...Fellows is one of them...but we have to protect these fish...I have seen the pictures in the shack and move my grandchildren away from them because they were dead fish.....

I have also fished from a lawn chair for cats and smallmouth at Shelvin Rock and other parts of the James River in the past. I would set up at the end of a riffle where I would be out of the way of canoes/kayaks and drift minnows down through the deeper areas under below those riffles under a small stick bobber. Then if I didn't get a bite on the drift down river I would work it back and sometimes pick up something coming back. (Have also done this with floating/diving hard baits). Walmart used to sell a backpack fishing chair w/a pocket in it for a plano box/boxes. I would put that on my back and walk the rivers. If I got tired on the longer trips, especially walking back upstream against current, I would set up as above and fish/rest. It is a lot cooler when it gets hot than sitting on the bank...scenery is better too... PS - If you are wading any distance they also sell a small, approximately 8" tall minnow bucket that I would tie to a belt loop with a stringer just long enough to reach the water.and let it float when wading through pools or thrown over my left shoulder (cast w/right hand) thru riffles.

I have never tried it, but precision trolling is now an app.....

Thanks Lilley. Hope to meet you with my wife this spring....if it quit snowin'. April showers bring May....hmmm.....Kill may flowers.....so crazy. My 2nd grade teacher is laughin' at me now from OH.

Thanks for the flashback to ALL that we seem to have forgotten. I remember when I was a kid my mother's boyfriend taking me fishing and using these techniques. Now it is all about $20 lures, high end boats and these practices have been back shelved. I threw an old Daredevil spoon I kept from my mother's boyfriend (Dad) from the deck of a friends Ranger after he told me it wouldn't work....caught a 3lb white bass and a 6lb largemouth. Maybe they were just to young to remember them. Everyone needs to flashback to help the catch, but they have to first find them and I really believe You have hit the nail on the head......Thanks for the reminder and notes.

I Truly understand...Are you going to be okay? As the years go on the ticks with these diseases are multiplying, increasing our chances of getting bit by a tick that is infected. I have family members that have been tested from Buffalo, NY to Dallas, TX. I really feel for you brother. I used to run through the woods of Ohio and never thought twice about the ticks I would pick up. This has changed though. I know 5 people with tick borne illnesses. It totally sucks..no pun meant. But, there is a way to decrease this I believe (for all landowners-see end of notes)...... Use tick repellants, especially in areas of your body that you can't see, especially around the hair line of your head (use fingers to apply). As far as your backside, have the significant other check for you....unless she is eyeballin' your insurance policy...ha, ha, ha. I have about 3 acres that my house sits on and a second 3 acre lot behind our home that is wooded....it is wooded because I feel that I will have to dress for WAR in order to deal with the ticks. I so want to clear the brush and garbage trees (thorn trees) etc.I told my son to go stand at the fence line about 8 years ago and he had at least 15 ticks after standing there for less than a minute and a half. I have come to the conclussion that I will have to burn them our since we hardly ever get winter freezes hard enough to put em down. But, that will only work for so long. The squirrels and other animals will eventually bring them back into the area and I am really concerned about pesticides that poison our wells, waterways, caves, etc. I got so distressed that I contacted a leading researcher about this. Here is what she said about a possible use of nematodes to attack the ticks - No updates since then, I no longer work on the tick project. The problem with deer ticks is that the immature stages feed on small mammals (rodents and such), and so deer fencing doesn't keep them out of your property. On a property the size of yours, the nematode treatment would be quite expensive. I would suggest that you research a technology known as the 4-poster deer feeder, which treats deer with an insecticide when they come in to eat from the feeder. It is quite effective in reducing tick numbers in the surrounding environment, and I believe it is available for purchase. The 4-Poster Deer Treatment System The 4 Poster Deer Treatment Station Fight Lyme Disease and other tick transmitted diseases at their source. Lyme Disease and other tick transmitted diseases have been documented throughout the United States. Now there is a way to fight them at their source. The White Tail Deer is the keystone host for the tick that transmits Lyme disease. By using the 4-Poster Deer Treatment Station an approved tickicide can be applied to the head and neck areas of White Tail Deer while they feed. The head and neck area has been shown to be where 90% of the feeding adult ticks are located on the deer. Studies show that the use of the 4-Poster Deer Treatment Bait Station with approved tickicide has resulted in control of 92% to 98% of free living ticks after 3 years of use with approved tickicide How the 4-Poster works: A central bin on the station is loaded and maintained with whole kernel corn which acts as a bait and feed for the deer. As the deer feed at two application / feeding stations located on either side of the device, special rollers which contain an approved tickicide apply the tickicide to the head and neck areas of the deer. This is not meant to SCARE ANYONE. Although I may be fighting clearing that lot...it ain't fishin'....I will die fishin' and that is it. Give me a honey hole....I am going to get to it one way or another. If I die doing so, let it be with a biggun' in my hand and a smile on my face!

My grandson and I took the canoe out on Sunday at Blunks in Galena trying to catch some whites. I caught one undersize smallmouth (on a minnow) and had a 15 in. smallmouth on a brown inline spinner w/a gold blade. The larger bass hit right as I paused to speak to a fellow boater asking if we had caught anything. Normally I fish for what is biting, but I was really focused on white bass or I would have started fishing for smallmouth. I would have had a better fishing day....ha, ha, ha. I believe the key would be to fish a little slower, but I don't normally fish for smallmouth until after the spawn so I can't say for certain.

I have learned a few things from reading some of the posts here on this site. I usually fish the James and Finley between Nixa and Galena. Have started fishing the Finley from the bank in Ozark park from time to time and would like to put my canoe in there this spring. The only lakes that I have much fishing experience on are the lakes in Springfield. Just looking to learn, learn some new locations on both the other rivers and lakes. I don't have much to offer in terms of different places than these river locations and what I find there, but I promise I will post on what I find when I go out.