rFisherk

For decades, I've fished 200 to 300 days a year, worked as a professional guide, tested baits for manufacturers and so on. And somewhere along the line, it sunk in that of the three aspects that trigger strikes (action, size and color), color is the least important. But all this obsession on color sure makes the lure manufacturers happy, because all they have to do is put a new paint job on an old lures to catch your dollars.

They carry Cocoons at Bass Pro too.

The best I've found are Cacoon Aviators. They are designed for pilots and made large to fit over regular glasses, if needed. The polarization is integral, not coated, so they don't scratch up, but the best thing is the wrap around design that blocks all light from all angles. This increases the effectiveness of the polarization beyond anything I've used. Not expensive, either. Check them out at http://www.cocoonseyewear.com/

Got into some more doves on a north-west CA. Hunted with a local named Kory. Nice guy. Doc liked him too.

I love Rooster Tails for open water and white bass and largemouth jumps, but they get hung up too much along the bank or any kind of cover.

...go small and light. I recently fished a CA pond and had a catch that would be considered good anywhere: lots of fish in the 13-inch range, some smaller and 5 that were between 3 and 4 pounds--all this in about 3 hours. I've learned from decades of fishing and guiding other fishermen, that when the fishing gets tough, or the water is heavily pressured, I switch to light lines and small lures. Among small lures, a 1/16th ounce Road Runner with a curlytail grub is, I believe, the best little lure ever invented. Also very good are Charlie Brewer Bass Sliders, and Strike King's Mini-King spinnerbaits and Crappie Cranks. All these are fished on 6-pound-test line.

I've done it a few times. Only problem is shallow riffles. On most, you can just turn backwards and hold your feet out behind you, but on some, you are going to scrape your butt. You can lift your butt some by pushing up on the pontoons with your hands, but then you bump your heels. But trying to wade these riffles with swim fins is impossible, and without swim fins, you can't maneuver well enough in the pools to take advantage of the best fishing spots.

Haven't waded the upper Meramec (above springs) for decades, but do so while visiting my good friend, Bill Cooper. Caught a few smallmouth, and Bill caught a big largemouth.

I've never shot that well before. Actually got every dove I shot at, though it took two shots for the last one. But I've always shot my 20-guage Classic Double well. Normally, so few doves would have meant a poor trip, but seeing Doc preform up to his champion breeding made it a great trip. Wish I could find some doves around Ironton.

Hadn't hunted doves for over a decade, but wanted to see what Doc would do. Drove to my old favorite, Whetstone Creek, for the dove opener, but plantings had failed and few doves were on the area. Was camped, so stuck around Whetstone for opening this morning anyway. Saw a total of four doves, but was able to knock down a double from the first pair that came buy. They both fell in a completely impenetrable tangle of briars and brush. Doc didn't see where they fell. In fact, when I shot, he jumped up and looked the other way, but didn't advance until I told him to fetch. No way I could go in there more than a few feet. The birds fell at least a dozen feet in. I told Doc to "fetch" and pointed in the general direction. He disappeared into the tangles. I could hear him rummaging around, and occasionally see bushes shaking, but couldn't see him. In just a couple of minutes, his head popped out of the thicket with a dove in his mouth. I sent him back in with another "fetch" command and within a few minutes, he came out with the other bird. Two blind retrieves in short order. I'm telling you: it doesn't get much better than that. What a dog! Shot another dove while walking out. Three doves in four shots.

I remember when Tom caught his first 15-plus-inch brown from the Meramec. Much later, I had him build a 10-weight Sage for me, which I still use. Tom is truly a dedicated fly fisherman; something of a legend, I suppose. Anyone who doesn't know him should visit his shop in Manchester and shake his hand.

Nice editing skills.

Doc is not a squirrel dog, but he will retrieve anything I shoot, including tearing paper targets down off tree.

I purposely miss a lot of doves too. Feel sorry for the shotgun shell manufacturers and try to support them all I can.

Our favorite way is to dip them in egg, coat them in flower and deep fry them. Then we dip the fried mushrooms in ranch dressing.

How in the world do you keep such an accurate count?

Looks like a wonderful trip.

Volunteers needed for one of the nation's largest and longest-running river clean ups. The Open Space Council's 48th Annual Operation Clean Stream event will take place in various locations throughout Missouri on August 22. This is the Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region's premier event in which annually, along with the help of volunteers, they remove thousands of scrap tires, yards of debris, and other litter out of Missouri streams in order to improve the overall quality of Missouri's waterways. Do you want to help clean up the Meramec Watershed? Sign up for Operation Clean Stream today by clicking here. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/operation-clean-stream-2015-tickets-17361647154

Anglers at some northwest Missouri lakes might find a hard-fighting surprise on the other end of their line. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has stocked hybrid striped bass in several lakes. The stockings are part of an experiment in controlling an over-population of gizzard shad in small lakes, and anglers will also have a new opportunity to catch a specialty fish. “What’s not to like about a fish that will knock a rod out of your hand,” said Tory Mason, MDC fisheries biologist. The first stocking of two-inch fingerlings went into the lakes last year, and some of those fish are big enough now at four to six inches to start hitting lures and bait. More hybrid stripers were stocked in June. A five-year study and stocking plan will determine if the addition to the fisheries is successful and if sport fish like bass, bluegill and crappie have been helped by a reduction in gizzard shad numbers. Lakes receiving the hybrid stripers include: Belcher Branch Lake, Buchanan County; Hamilton City Lake, Caldwell County; Limpp Community Lake, Gentry County; Little Compton Lake, Carroll County; Nodaway County Community Lake, near Maryville in Nodaway County; Willow Brook Lake, near Maysville in DeKalb County, and Watkins Mill Lake, in Watkins Mill State Park in Clay County. Also, five lakes at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area near St. Louis in St. Charles County were stocked with hybrid stripers. And Sunfish Lake in St. Louis County received hybrids.

I've been using Real Magic for years. I almost never backlash and think it might be helpful to share why: I always have my thumb so near the spool, I can feel when it is not smooth during casting. All common backlashes, except when the rod tip hits something while casting, are preceded by a slight unevenness of the spool, so whenever I feel this unevenness, I strip off some line until the spool feels even again before the next cast.

Thanks Al. I just sent an email, too, about the Black River migration. I'll probably send a few more on other subjects and attend some meetings.

Overall, these are significant and exciting changes. I have very little to add to Dan's eloquent posts. He speaks for me. But I would like to reiterate at least one of his statements: "Angler input can still have some impact on the scope of these proposed regulations. Let the MDC know your thoughts, comments and concerns either via e-mail, phone call or at the upcoming public comment meetings - dates/locations TBA by MDC. Please be respectful in your communication with the MDC as it does appear they are sincerely trying to be responsive to angler concerns." Intelligent and respectful pleas will go a long way in this matter, especially at the public comment meetings. Once they are announced, I would hope these meetings become packed and dominated with concerned anglers. Please remember that, despite how it appears here, we who favor stricter regulations are a small minority in the state-wide populace, but if we can show a vast majority at the meetings, we will appear as the vast majority. I think it is very important that we do so at this juncture to not only support these proposed changes, but to encourage the MDC to further their efforts to create quality fisheries across the state.

The Black is very infertile. That's why it is so extremely clear. I've checked the bottom rocks in various areas, and they have almost no aquatic insect nymphs. About the only thing it does have in abundance is crawfish and tadpoles (later frogs). I believe these sustain the fish during the summer, but when the frogs go away and the crawfish burrow in to hibernate, the bass all head for the more fertile waters of Clearwater. Once they leave, I think all fish leave, including panfish, because I don't see anything, except the occasional sucker in the river during the winter. Likewise, I believe that as soon as the crawfish come out of hibernation, the smallmouth smell it on the currents entering Clearwater and head back upstream. The two winters I checked the migration closely, as soon as I found crawfish, I found bass. One might think the trigger for return migration is a spawning urge, but they run back up more than a month before they actually spawn. During the warm winter that I was really able to keep tabs on the migration, I saw and caught my first smallmouths around CC access in February. I kept following them upstream and finally caught smallmouths at Sutton's Bluff two weeks later, around the first of March. The following year, with more normal weather, they didn't start until mid-March. Water temperature may have something to do with this also, but water temperature also prompts the crawfish to climb out. I strongly suspect they don't make a move until they smell succulent crawfish on the currents to fuel their journey.

There was one short paragraph about the Black River migration at the end of the study. Even though the report shows that 87 percent of tagged fish reported were caught within 5 miles, and only 7 (didn't state percentage of total) fish were reported from Clearwater, the majority of the time all bass were up in the river to be caught (hence the 87 percent); as you stated, half of them caught within the first month. Only 13 percent of tags survived to migrate to Clearwater, so 7 fish, I think, constitutes a huge percentage of the remaining survivors, and as the survey showed, these fish migrated up to 28 miles, which was from the confluence of the three forks. That's as far upstream as they tagged. If any fish had been tagged in the upper forks of the river, this distance would be greater, because they all migrate. I've carefully check many portions of the Middle and West forks during the winter and found no fish in them. None. The Black is a very unique ecosystem, with probably the most extensive and lengthy migration of smallmouth in the state, requiring unique protection. If protected in Clearwater during the winter, there's no telling how good a fishery the Black could become, because the fish that do migrate to Clearwater are comparable to see-run salmon, taking it easy and fattening up all through the winter. During the especially warm winter we had a few years ago, I was able to fish the migration back up the black in early spring. I saw schools of smallmouth working their way up river, and most of them were of 2 and 3 pound. Every fish I caught was fat, almost football fat like those I catch from Dale Hollow. I would strongly suspect that bass from the Courtois and Huzzah also have an extensive migration to the Meramec River, but there they are protected by river regulations. In Clearwater, it is a free-for-all.

This is a lively, intelligent and somewhat complicated discussion, and I don't mean to further complicate it, but two important aspects of management are not being considered. They are quite simple, actually. One is the Black River, and how the almost total migration of the river' smallmouth population congregates along Bluff View and other spots in Clearwater Lake during the winter. This makes them very vulnerable to fishing pressure, which has increased dramatically during the past couple of years. I strongly suspect the anger mortality of these river fish during these few winter months in Clearwater (no smallmouth are caught in Clearwater during the summer) is greater than the entire angling and natural mortality in the river during the entire spring, summer and fall. A 14- or 15-inch MLL (at the least) there would do more to improve the smallmouth population in the river than any regulations on the river itself. The other is that all the special regulation on our favorite streams only covers a small percentage of our smallmouth waters. The rest are left to a 12-inch MLL. This is an antiquated rule, implemented when fishing quality was not addressed, only maximum harvest while still allowing a population of mature individuals to provide the next year class for the population. The idea was that smallmouth become "mature" at about 12-inches. What I've noticed, however, is the vast majority of the individuals are not 12 inches, but slightly under. Raising the state-wide limit to 13 inches would, I think, greatly increase the number of mature individuals actually able to spawn successfully, etc., which would not only increase the average size statewide by an important inch, but boost the population statewide. I firmly believe that within a year or two of a state-wide 13-inch MLL, the number of "harvestable" fish in the population would equal (possibly exceed) the number of 12-inch fish now available for harvest.