Smallieguy87

That's some great pictures Greasy! I dig the title! Regardless of the ruling of 955(even though I'm pretty confident that it will fail) I'll always find a way to be out on that water one way or the other.

Joachim does have some smallmouth but id recommend mineral fork. It used to be that you could park your car on 47HWY by the bridge but from what I gather that's a good way to get a car towed so I'd recommend Kingston access off dugout road. If you want to venture a little further there's also access to mineral fork off of F HWY and of course you have big river which can be great smallmouth fishing especially around the park and Merrill horse access. If you need any help finding places or need more detailed directions shoot me a PM Alby

Thanks for the great report and awesome picture !

It's no problem chief! I told him I maybe trying to get back in touch with him soon once the hearing is over and a bit more of smoke clears. I have to say he was a really nice guy and I feel he genuinely tried to answer my questions and address my concerns as best as he could. Looking at his webpage he actually does a lot to help MDC (Not trying to sound like I'm endorsing someone's re election or anything like that) he's on the committee for agriculture, and the appropriations committees for agriculture, conservation, and natural resources Etc. If I get anymore info from him in the coming days or weeks I'll be sure to keep people posted.

Well he served on the committee for CWD and from what I gathered came to roughly the same conclusion that MDC did which is the first reported cases began in captive deer farms and prior to was not found in free range deer. He opposes the bill to reclassify deer from wildlife to live stock which would have removed deer from MDC's jurisdiction and placed them with the department of agriculture which he said also did not want the bill to pass. On bill 955 he said he was going to attend a hearing on it but what be voting against it. He says he does not support any bill that limits river access or reclassify the definition of the high water mark. When I ask him what was behind most of these attacks he basically mentioned that there's a group of reps that really have it out for MDC but he wouldn't elude to if he knew why(though right after that he went right back to the deer farms, maybe that was my hint?) I ask him about the Supreme Court ruling on the high water which sadly he was not familiar with but said he would look into prior to attending this hearing. Unfortunately I didn't get much more then what a lot of people already knew or have speculated. I ask him if limiting river access was just a precursor to some bigger plans for these rivers down the road but he didn't know. This is my first time ever contacting my district rep for any reason so I'm still new to the game as far as asking the right questions but I hope that did help some.

Well I spoke with my district rep Ben Harris and he will be voting against this. We spoke about the Chronic wasting disease bills as well as the bills to cut funding to MDC and what maybe behind it. He also feels it started with the deer farms but I'm sure there's more private interests then just that.

I'm looking forward to hearing your report sir!

Alright guy thanks a lot! It seems tough to find a good mushroom jig.

Has anyone tried the mushroom heads from BPS? I've been looking for a decent mushroom jig but i haven't had a lot of luck.

Really great article! It's nice to learn the history of all the different jig heads around and man there's a ton of them. I find when i'm fishing plastics i'm almost always using a jig head of some sort. Rarely do i need to do a Texas rig on most of the smaller rivers and streams i'm fishing.

I'm glad i'm not the only one who cant really make sense of the bill. I'm still waiting on a reply from my district rep. If i don't hear anything soon i guess i'll have to try his home phone!

Great article! I wasn't aware that there are that many species of sucker with most being in North America. I don't see that kind of hate toward sucker where I live however, people around my area feel that way about Gar. Local fishermen will frequently catch them and throw them on the bank or put large sticks in their mouth and throw them back in. It's ignorant and it should be stopped but as the article suggests the focus isn't on preserving these fish.

Welcome to the forums! There's definitely some great trout fishing to be had in the ozark's though I wouldn't be the right guy to ask around here. Give Phil lilley a buzz!

Beautiful pictures!

Already put in an email and a call to my district rep about this as well as emails to our senators. As i said in another forum thread, this sounds like the personal interests of a small group of people and will in no way benefit the huge majority of people who enjoy Missouri's waterways and resources in general.

I put a call and email in to my district rep as well as emails to our senators. It seems like there's a lot of private interests in mind and not the interests of anyone else who enjoys Missouri's water ways or resources in general.

well said old plug. Prior to buying my kayak i was always a wade fishermen so i tended to carry a handful of lures i knew worked best for me. I have a kayak now so i get a bit more storage but i still seem to carry the same things. I also try to keep things as simple and affordable as possible that way its easier for me to just enjoy my time on the water. It seems to work to...i've never once thought i was over worked and under paid while fishing lol

well you cant really beat that then! Look forward to hearing some fishing reports. If we don't hear any ill just assume you did extremely well with them and are trying to keep it a closely guarded secret.

Don't get me wrong i do think they will catch fish.....my thought is just is it necessary both in idea and cost.

I haven't paid a great deal of attention to the megabass jerk baits to know if the work done to them is worth the price tag. I have a tough time even paying the 15 dollars for some of the lucky Craft baits. I will say that I'm sure a tree has no problem catching your 30 dollar jerk bait equally as well as your 8 dollar one. The flip side to that is your not supposed to fish jerk baits in trees ;-). Like a lot of things now I feel fishing gear be it lures, rods, reels, line etc is broken down into enthusiast quality or price, and then the more layman' markets. In the end I guess it comes down to what you can afford and what you're confident in. Maybe you don't mind spending 20+ on brand x because you feel they "run true" or have a better quality finish or hooks etc. On the flip side the 7-8 dollar strike king that has a decent finish and good enough hooks for the job doesn't break your bank and you aren't as upset should you lose it. No doubt there's people who love brands like megabass and I do believe they make some very high quality gear so I can see why but I feel for most fishermen just out enjoying the sport of it all and break up the 9-5 monotony of the week will be served just fine with brands like strike king.

im stuck in the past gramps lol

i'm glad someone else feels the same way i do about that particular series. For the most part i think the live target stuff is decent but that particular series i think is kind of a gimmick. That being said if anyone reading this is tearing em up on that particular series of lure then please disregard lol

you bring up some good points chief. With the baby in the home now i probably wont be dropping the 400 dollars for a lifetime and i'd forgotten that detail about the state getting federal funding for each permit sold.

you got me on that one lol that honestly would be the best idea for me!

That's an awesome picture Joe!