mjk86

Cant go wrong trolling flicker shads! I prefer them to shad raps, and they are half the price! For trolling, I prefer, the 5cm, and 7cm, (also 6cm) and if you can find any the 9cm are great. Fav colors....black/silver, blue/silver, gold/black, fire tiger and the blue tiger. FYI about smallies....I believe that stockton has the state record smallie, i think a 7 or 8lb fish. Love this lake!! Hands down my fav place to fish!

Im guessing it will be at least a few weeks before walleye start their thing? Given how this winter has gone do you think everything will be pushed back a week or more? Was hoping to get down in march sometime but im kinda scared there will be ice everywhere!

CJ-Agreed....I have found that on heavily fished public waters, about 90% of the anglers are just not very good. You will hear things like "all fished out" or "nothin but dinks in there" when in reality there may be a healthy population of larger fish, however the larger ones have often become very selective in their forage and will not chase baits that a smaller fish would. Living in the st louis region I have heard quite a bit about poor fishing opportunities around here, but ive always found quite good fishing around here.

Pflueger presidents are my personal fav. The supremes are great too if you wanna jump in price, but at 50$ Id go with presidents. I have a sahara 100 and 2500 and much prefer the pflueger reels. My 2 cents.....spend your money on a rod, and get a med quality reel...especially with spinning gear when you are fishing jigs or vertical presentations, you need the sensitivity. Casting/cranking gear id spend the money on the reel and get a lower modulus rod.

Busch wildlife CA.....on lake 33 at the dam, you can catch millions of 6inch crappie right there from the bank in the spring.....SHHHHH dont tell...thats my secret spot.

Blue....Im guessing you just cost most of the folks on here at least another 30$. Im sure everyones wives really appreciate that.

Ya, its pretty rediculous when the conservation dept magazine has an article on ice fishing in missouri. Last year I got drawn for a bow hunt there in late december, and all the lakes were frozen up and it wasnt even very cold, so I havent even considered going up there this year.

Ya, When I bass fish BW lakes here in st louis, its about 90% watermelon red flake dinger, that just kills the 12" fish here with an occasional big fish. Im sure any senko style bait works as well as the next, but ive always been partial to the dinger (maybe its the name). The white/shad colored ones worked well for me, I rigged them about 2/3 the way down the bait, instead of half way like a normal wacky worm, seemed to work better for me, maybe it imitated a sputtering shad better.

Arkie Jigs have worked for me, and the price is right! Also....I bed ned rig will work quite well on schooling, and even suspended bass. A few years ago, I caught lots of suspended fish with a weightless (or with a small split shot) senko knockoff (yum dinger to be exact), fished wacky style on a 2/0 gammy ewg, and the color was white/silver with pepper flakes. Some fish were surfacing, but the ones I was targeting were suspended under the surfacing fish. Took a while for it to get to 25 feet, but they would destroy it when it did, sometimes it would get whacked right under the surface.

Filleting fish at kimberling a few years back, the fish flopped and the knife went through the fish, and through my thumb almost out the other side. Wrapped my hand in the nasty fish/worm rag, and drove to the nearest ER (branson) the Kimberling city urgent care was closed....stuck in traffic on hwy 76 for an hour or so before finally getting several stitches and a tetanus shot. Ever since then I fill my livewell with ice, and they are long frozen before they ever see the knife.

Busch is in my opinion an incredibly under rated fishery. Lake 35, and lake 33 have excellent numbers of 18inch+ fish. I have caught several 4+lb fish from lake 35, never fished 33 hard, but its supposed to be an even better big bass lake. You will certainly have to wade through a dozen dinks though. Milfoil is all over lake 35, in the summer time. It is almost unfishable by july. Busch gets a bad rap, cuz it gets hit really hard, but its hit hard by mostly sub-par fisherman. It really does produce very nice bass, and crappie.

Didnt see any of the 9's which was what I wanted most. ( The big ones are hard to come by! Thanks for the bandit info, Im sure ill pick up a few of the bps ones anyway.

Semi-related.....Has anyone tried the BPS knockoffs of bandit cranks? They are called BPS crappie maxx cranks. How well do they mimic the bandits? Any reviews would be appreciated.

FYI.....BPS is having a crappie madness sale this month. Flicker shads are going to be on sale for 2.64$ a piece with a rebate (think its like buy 3 and get a 4$ rebate or something). Thats a pretty good deal on these cranks, cant beat it, buy em up!!

Wrench....This is probably terribly embarrassing on my part.....but what does the term "flashed" even mean?

Ha, that sounds about right. Fortunately my wife thinks all crankbaits are as cheap as flicker shads Who am I to argue?

Ya my grandfather lived in springfield and spent many days on TR and stockton. He was a tried and true crankbait hoarder, just like me. When I was just a wee lad my fav thing to do was get all of baits out and pick out my favorites that I wanted to fish with. I made such a huge cluster**** of treble hooks and he never even cared. He had loads of old hot n tots, shad raps and lightnin shads. I usually am only on TR during the mid to late summer and i go deep then. I was on TR in april of 08 maybe 09 during the flood (I could touch the bottom of the HWY 13 bridge from the drivers seat of my boat, and couldnt even get under on the south side of the bridge...it was insanity.) and caught em on that blue one on the bottom. They sure do have quite a reputation on the white river lakes ive noticed!

Alex....Here is what I have. They all have wiggle wart stamped under the bill with the exception of the two magnums, they have no markings. I would be willing to part with some, but not all. Id like to have some on hand. Let me know if there are a few that youd like, Ill sell them for 200$ a piece. Only seems fair. Ha, just kidding. Some are in good shape, others are beat up. They clearly got their fair share of time on the water (and in the rocks).

Coming from someone who doesnt fish wiggle warts and knows little about them, why are pre rapala sought after so much? Wider wobble? Also, I noticed on ebay some were pre rapala and sold for 12$ and others went for well over 100$, why the discrepancy? Do people just collect them and not fish them? Its like Wiggle wart mania on ebay geez!

Ya I want to double check to see if they are in face pre rapala. Like I said im not sure, they just seem old. Most are in pretty decent shape though, would probably wanna swap out hooks as they are probably 20yrs old or better lol. If they are, i would part with some or all, Ill let you know tomorrow.

When did rapala buy storm? I have a tackle box full of warts that were my grandfathers before he died (I very rarely throw a wart). I assume they are from the 90s or earlier. I may post them on here or on ebay if in fact they are pre-rapala warts. Not sure how to tell them apart....ill ask the google gods and find out.

Hey Im a scientist!! Although def not an excellent angler...wait....ok nevermind that. ha.

Cabelas Real Image HDS jigging spoon in gizzard shad color. Seems like a good choice for the conditions you are describing.

BW is a pretty nice fishery, lots and lots of dink bass, but also a healthy number of 18"+ fish too, lake 33 and 35 are best. Crappie are pretty good too. Also cats/trout are stocked in a put and take style in certain lakes. Boats are only 5$ to rent, but have your own battery/trolling motor. They rent batteries/motors too (dont know the price though).

I have an entire tackle box full of nothing but senko type baits....every brand....every color.....and....I should prolly pick up a few more, I mean, they are on sale. Thanks QB.