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I've got a Team Allstar and a AS Titanium, both the 783 Zell Rowland topwater rods. Not only great topwater rods but also superb jerkbait rods.

John Storie designed the original Champion 16' 8" Super V hull. He did not design any of the other hulls Champion became known for in those early years like the 176, 184 and 201. Storie left Champion with a non-compete clause meaning he couldn't build a boat with a wedge V design so he took a Ranger 480 series boat, splashed the hull (made a copy), made some adjustments and that was the start of Cobra/Viper boats, then he started Hawk boats using the same molds. Hawk went out of business and the guy that started legend bought the molds off of Storie. Fisher Marine fiberglass rigs that came out in the late 90's were also built off the same molds. Storie is no longer in the boat building business.

It's been ridiculous for quite a few years now. The bidders are both lure collectors and those that will actually fish with it. Funny thing about WW's, because Storm's production methods were so antiquated the quality of a brand new wiggle wart out of the box was questionable. Out of 10, probably 2 or 3 would never run right and only about 2 or 3 had that special magic. The rest were OK only so needless to say I would never spend that sort of money for any pre-Rapala NIB and anticipate the thing would be fishable. In fact, from what I've heard, a lot of the used Warts that are on the Facebook sight and Ebay are the 2 and 3 that aren't worth a poop. If your's are half way decent, in the right colors (crawdads) and fishable you'd be surprised what those will go for. Used ones in the right colors often sell in the $5 - $25 range.

I was going to say don't worry, there's no way a dam will be built. I still feel that way but apparently there's been some push from county commissioner Tim Brinkman to get one built. The CoE still says it isn't economically feasible. http://www.emissourian.com/local_news/county/corps-union-dam-would-not-prevent-flooding-project-not-economically/article_c7fe569a-4ca2-57c0-acd7-d0cbd0871897.html

Little Dixie is a no-wake lake. It was a 10hp lake years ago. I'd add Washington County lake in Illinois just south of Nashville. Plenty of bigguns in there. Perry county lake just off the highway in Perryville.

Another older rod that's still made today is the Berkeley Lightning Rod. I remember when those first came out in the very early 80's. Maybe even as early as the late 70's. Hypalon Pistol grip rods in 5 1/2 and 6 ft lengths, IM6 construction. Those rods were w-a-y ahead of their times and extremely reasonably priced. I still have 2 of mine and even today those rods are incredible performers. They're still made and sold at Walmart. I haven't tried one made in the last 10 - 15 years but they feel great off the rack.

http://www.rollanet.org/~conorw/cwome/article69&70combined.htm

My statement concerning issues involved the actual construction and viability of the dam itself, not outside political or environmental issues. "Very quiet floating/fishing stream"? I've been on that river floating several times in the past. Let's not try and describe that river in terms of a scene out of a "River Runs Through it" shall we? Sand bars loaded with drunks, jet boats screaming up and down the river. Idylic isn't a word I'd use to describe the majority of the users of those float rivers these days. I'd have no problem not damming the Current, Jacks Fork, 11 point or some of the others in the Ozark watershed area though many of those rivers have the same issues the Meramec has but the Bourbeuse and Big rivers are hardly what I'd call pristine watersheds and the loss of either to damming wouldn't bother me a bit. Not everybody is on the same page as you in regards to keeping those rivers intact. In fact, you'd probably find the numbers for a dam on either of those rivers creating lakes close to St Louis would far outnumber those against it. Be that as it may, the corps haven't been in the dam building business for many years so nobody need worry.

I started with an old Red Ambassadeur 5000 I got for my 16th birthday in 1974. I remember well when the after market bigger handles came out and then the after market buzz gears that raised the speed from a pokey 3.8:1 ratio up to the blazing fast 4.7:1 !!!! It was like greased lightning. I still have that reel, works great but I've decommissioned it. Those Lew's Speed Sticks were all the rage back then too. Back in the day, the top of the line back then were the Fenwicks. If you couldn't afford those you bought a Speed Stick or a BPS rod. I also remember when graphite rods first came out. Graphite technology today is pretty cut and dry but back then the graphite rods had issues with snapping on hooksets... sometimes alot. Graphite was followed by the next big deal, boron rods. Those never caught on.

To be fair, I voted against the dam way back but my choice had nothing to do with saving the river or any tree hugging issues. No, it had more to do with the findings that kept popping up during the initial construction that was pointing to the dam as going the way of a boondoggle that would eventually leak, and badly, due to the geology of the ground in and around the dam site itself. You can read about it here: http://www.rollanet.org/~conorw/cwome/article69&70combined.htm Political pressures had that dam site moved from around St Clair up to Sullivan. The grounds in and around St Clair were more conducive to a dam with no issues, up around Sullivan, the Karst geology of the surrounding area made it highly likely that the Meramec Dam would've likely never held water without significant repairs having to be made after construction and even those wouldn't have fixed the problem. IE: see the Hales Barr dam in TN that eventually was decommissioned due to significant leakage even after costly repairs were attempted or the Cumberland Lake dam in KY having similar issues over the years. It would've been nice to have a reservoir on the Meramec, the Bourbeuse and Big rivers all within about an hours drive from St Louis. This city is sadly lacking in lakes/reservoirs around it compared to so many other cities in the US.

Well, this might have helped.

I remember when Real Line was going out of business. I bought up as many bulk spools as I could find. I'm starting to run out and was likely to switch to P Line. I've also used Yozuri Hybrid which was great line but they don't make that anymore either.

You were seeing a normal shad kill. Very normal at PC and most other lakes in Missouri that time of year. That's what the bass are feeding on which is why suspending Rogues or Lucky Craft baits are so effective. You're mimicking the dead shad's actions.

Well, I do know the conservation department used to routinely shock a 10-11 lber in Bee Tree lake way back before they screwed that lake up by contouring the banks. In fact, Bee Tree used to be a phenomenal bass fishing lake back when it was full of timber from the beavers taking trees down and before they built the pathway around the lake. Ever since they drug the sunken timber out of that lake, contoured the banks, got rid of the beavers and made the entire lake easily accessible by building walkways and bridges around the lake the bass fishing there hasn't been the same. I quit going.

I've also spent a lot of time fishing Perry County over the years. There are lots of crappie in that lake but as mentioned, they're stunted. The conservation department wants you to pull as many out as the limit allows but seriously, how many people are interested in filleting up a bunch of 5" crappie. It's hardly worth the work. I'm not sure how they'll fix that issue. As for the bass fishing. My personal best of 8 1/2lbs came out of Perry. I've caught numerous fish in the 5-6lb class in that lake. It can be hit or miss and some days all you'll pull out of there are small fish.

Back in the late 70's, early 80's I figured Little Dixie lake, east of Columbia, was going to turn over the next State record. It had already turned over an 11lber. The lake was perfect for it back then. Not anymore. Much of the upper half of that lake has silted in. A group of us had a little informal bass tournament there around 6 years ago. The best fish caught that day was 8lbs, I had a 5 1/2 lber. IIRC, there was a 13 lber caught in a BASS tournament in the mid 80's on Truman. I recall it was like 10-12 ounces under the current state record. Most figured the bass was probably one of those that had been in the ponds the lake flooded. I've seen bass suspended under the docks during the spawning season at LOZ that could scare 10lbs so I wouldn't doubt a 10lber caught there.

I fished Simpson back about 08-09. Launching a 18 1/2 foot Champion bass boat from that launch ramp was quite a challenge. I probably fished there around a dozen times over that time period. Caught bass up to 4 1/2 to 5lbs. I've caught quite a few 15" + keeper sized bass. You won't catch a lot of numbers but the quality of fish was pretty good. The biggest tip is to remember those are a couple of old strip pits. The banks drop off quickly and what I found was that most of the water around the lake wasn't worth spending time on as far as bass fishing. Area's where I caught the most fish. Around the ramp, about 50 yards or less on the left side (facing the ramp) and the bank on the right side that eventually winds back to the creek feeding the lake. Target the laydowns. From that spillway and the bank that abuts the park area all the way to the fishing dock and then from that back corner to the right of dock (facing the dock) and all along that shore out to the point. I've especially had a lot of success on that bank fishing laydowns and submerged timber. There's a little cove on the north side with a home towards the back end I've caught a few fish out of but basically you need to stick to fishing the shallower banks with cover and avoid those long stretches of banks where the water drops off quickly into 15 - 20 feet of water. BTW, despite the fact that sewer input on the West bank looking like a good spot, I've never caught a fish there.

Hmmm.. Using Florida F & W's own measuring system on the website, the fish is pushing the absolute maximum on weight given the length and girth of the fish. I think I would've found a way to get that fish onto an official scale vs. just releasing it.

If it was up to me I'd select Little Dixie as the trophy bass lake. 10 miles east of Columbia. It's an older lake that has a history of holding large bass. I remember the lake record there is right around 11lbs and was caught back in the late 70's. The lake has changed a lot since then. The upper end has silted in somewhat and a lot of the standing timber has long since rotted and fallen over. As little as 6 years ago a group of friends went there for a little friendly tournament and an 8 1/2 was caught and I caught a 5 1/2 so the big fish are there and the lake is very capable of producing large fish. Alas though, when your conservation dept. is funded by a state tax that everyone pays it becomes beholden to all taxpayers to make everything they manage user friendly to everyone vs. catering to the needs of a smaller niche.

A lot of his ideas are based upon the scope of the lakes he has the most experience with. Obviously you can manage a 50 acre public/private lake a lot easier than say a reservoir like Table Rock which emcompasses over 40,000 acres. We got a chance to talk with him after the presentation. He has a wealth of knowledge on bass behavior. Knowledge that would hold true regardless of how large the body of water. Unfortunately, a lot of his idea's on management in order to build or rebuild a successful fish population on a lake just won't work on public bodies of water. Politics would be the biggest stumbling block in getting ideas into action. How many remember the very strong opposition to the 15" size limits place on bass on lakes like LOZ and Table Rock in the late 70's. There was near full scale outrage, mostly from lake business owners fearing the size limits would run fishermen (business) off. It didn't take long before the results of those size limits starting reaping rewards for bass anglers on those lakes. It would be nice to have a single body of water in this state that would be managed for trophy fishing but I'm afraid that single purpose smacks in the face of what the Mo. Conservation Dept. is about.

That first fish in the photo's has an awfully big head compared to the rest of the body.

He gave that presentation at the Bass Resource.com road trip at KY lake back in 2009. I attended that road trip and was present in that room when he gave that presentation. Very knowledgeable guy. If you wanted to build a farm pond he'd be the guy to plan it and school you on managing it after it's completed.

G3's are made in Lebanon and the company IIRC, is under the Yamaha umbrella. They make very good boats.

Nice article. Quite a few blast from the past names in there. Thanks for posting.

I once put a Pflueger Patriarch narrow spool crank side plate onto a Revo S reel frame. Everything lined up perfectly. The only difference was the Patriarch used the Pflueger style handle release system which caused an issue with the drag not working properly on the Revo Frame. Otherwise, everything lined up. I would bet the spool may be interchangeable.