snagged in outlet 3

There was a post here a while back about this same subjuect. You might want to look it up. SIO3.

That's good advice from BILL. But like he stated that would be for 5lber's. If there is any chance that you hookup anything over 10lbs you are probably undergunned. For the other end of the spectrum concerning fish that will exceed 10lbs this is my setup. Loomis 9 foot 9 weight saltwater rod with a fighting butt and a big ross reel spooled with 200 yards of backing. I have a full sink line or a bonefish taper that's full floating depending on conditions. With either setup I use a 3 foot butt section of 20 lb leader material with a 3 foot section of 14lb vanish flouro for the tippet. I've tamed some pretty big hybrids with this setup and it has enough feel to enjoy the 5 pounders. This same setup has caught many redfish, bones, baby tarpon, spanish mack's, barracuda, largemouth bass and a bunch of surf fish that I didn't know what they were. Oh yeah I also use it for night fishing on the White River drainage for trout. This was meant to illustrate the other end of the spectrum as far as rod size. SIO3.

Hey Russ. '99 Yukon 4X4 with 150K on it. Michelin LTX-MS tires have over 80,0000 on em. I think Michelin by far has the best tires out there. Had the same experience with Wranglers on a previous truck that LMW had. I couldn't get 40,000 out of em and would never purchase another Goodyear product again. Followed that set of Wranglers with Michelins and never looked back. Point is, wasn't the truck or setup that was wearing them out. They were just overpriced soft rubber tires. SIO3

Bill. I was just looking for the closest available for short trips. I have a little crawdad boat that would get us around the discharge canal if need be. I've heard rumors that hybrids can be caught around the dam on the Mississippi near Alton. I told you I'm on mission this year. I had caught stripers in the ocean before but when I caught that first hybrid this past year in IL I was hooked. Seems there is plenty of opportunity in IL within 3 hours of me so I'll be all over that this spring. I'll probably concentrate on tailwaters since it puts them in a confined area. This section of the forum came along at the right time for my new quarry. I'll report what I find. SIO3.

Thanks Butts. I saw that article when I was googling everything I could about hybrids in my area. T.Hill was just so close I really wanted to check that out. I'm on the far west side of St. Lou so just to get into IL is 30 minutes. I'm going to try and keep tabs on T.Hill because I think you're right it should be awesome when they fire back up. Let me know if you here anything on it. Maybe we could meet up there sometime? I might get over to one of the IL lakes soon since I have to go over to the eastside for work and I'll sneak away and check one out. I'll report what happens. SIO3

Hey Whodat. Waist deep in the water with no waders on?!?! Dude, you gotta be the toughest SOB on this site. We gotta fish together!!!!! Way to go on reviving the fish. SIO3.

Thanks Bill. I called and you are are correct, shut down. Do you know of any other places I might try relatively close to St. Lou? SIO3

Feathercraft in St. Louis has them. Order em from the catalog and shipped to your door. SIO3

Hey guys. I'm trying to get away to Thomas Hill this week for the first time. Any help would be apprecated. I was hoping Bill could give me a run down like he did for Sooner Lake in a previous post. I'm looking at the weather and Thursday looks good with rain moving in. Any thoughts about which day this week would be better? I am going on a scouting mission without the boat and wanted to fish the warmwater discharge canal. I'm bringing my 9 weight and also conventional tackle so any info would be great. Thanks in advance. SIO3

Hey Terry. Good topic. I use left-handed reels for everything, including baitcasters, and I'm right-handed. I do it because I have better rod control and hooksetting ability with my right hand. No need to cast and switch hands or set the hook and switch hands to reel. Thank Bill Dance for that advice. I've told several buddies to switch to left-handed reels for baitcasters when bass fishing and all have commented how they have better control when casting, feeling the bite and setting the hook. Same for flyfishing when you get a big fish on and want to get him on the reel you don't have to switch hands and risk losing tension and ultimately losing a trophy. I have a buddy who can't set the hook with his baitcaster which is right-handed and I convinced him to switch to a left-handed baitcaster. He went to Basspro and the clerk told him the left-handed reels are inferior and will break and not to buy one. So he bought another right-hand reel that he rarely uses. He uses his spincast outfit whenever possible. He regrets that purchase all the time. What a joke that clerk is! Does the reel know it's left-handed? Did the machine that made it know it's left-handed? I guess cars with the steering on the right don't hold up either. SIO3

You should always follow the manufacturer's advice. Some lines should never be cleaned with soap and with others, soap is fine. SIO3.

Hey RR. Go to Rio's website and click on FAQ under the RIO community tab. Scroll down a little and they tell you everything you need to know about cleaning your line. SIO3.

Went to my favorite subdivision lake again today. 57 degrees, partly cloudy and a good wind out of the south. Fished for about an hour and caught three fish. They fought really well for cold water. Big front came in from the south and it started raining sideways so I left. Should have stayed since storm passed through quickly. Headed to Montauk tomorrow for a quick day trip with my buddy. Hope to report good fishing. SIO3.

Hey guys. I think it's like any other fishing, switch up if you're not getting action on what you're using. I wouldn't discount any color. Hang on very tight is right Drew. I'm on a mission for hybrids this year. Hope to report often. SIO3

Hi again Bill. I was looking at the MDC map for Thomas Hill and was wondering if you can bank fish the warm water canal? How far is it from Columbia? Have you been there? SIO3.

Hi Bill. I asked this question before but never got an answer. Do hybrids feed in the winter in the tailwaters? What temperature shuts them down? SIO3.

Speaking of late turnover. I was telling my daughter how we used to skate across Creve Coeur Lake in St. Louis County years ago. It's a 320 acre lake and now it rarely freezes over at all. What are we doing to this planet? SIO3.

Nice Phil. I went down last year and had some people tell us to skip the LONG roadtrips. I caught a couple baby tarpon. One was around 40 lbs and it fought longer, harder and jumped more than any fish I've ever caught. It was a blast. I thought the same thing, give me boat and I think I could hook up. Glad to have you back at the helm. SIO3.

Phil. You still have time to delete this post before too many people see it. Merry Christmas Phil. Thanks for the site. SIO3.

Hey guys. I think you guys saw my posts about hybrids. I'm ready to quit trout fishing and start chasing these bruisers more. I use a 9 weight with a floating line. Clousers, clousers and clousers. Don't forget blue/white. I let the fly hang in the current sometimes for 5-10 minutes believe it or not and have had the rod nearly jerked out of my hand. Hey Bill do these fish bite in the winter in the tailwaters? I know there are spillways in IL that have them but where in MO can they be found? That Jacomo place looks inviting since I visit family in KC once in a while. SIO3.

Hey Thom. I saw that report. Every year I hear of a big fish caught out of Busch but never saw one or a picture to verify it. If it was caught in lake 21 or 28 it shouldn't have been kept till Feb. 1. I live in Cottleville. I got to Busch every now again when I want to fish but can't make a trip of it to Branson or Arkansas. It has it's place and I'm glad they do it. SIO3.

Hey there Silvermallard. SM said "SO there's no fishing in the park M-W" Just to clarify, you can only fish in the park on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Below the park is the Current River were you can fish anytime. Don't know about the cabins but you can call. All the previous 411 on the fishing is spot on. Hope this helps. SIO3.

A few of us went to Busch for the St. Louis urban trout fishing experience at one of the catch and release lakes. I had a particularly good few hours. Everybody caught some, but I got on a spot that must have been loaded with em. Relatively nice sized fish around 14 inches. Great afternoon weather and my brother even fished in a tee shirt. If there were riffles on the water they bit, if not, no action. Just like Taney. It was nice to get out. I wish I could get down to Taney for the get together but I just can't. Oh well. Merry Christmas!!!!!! SIO3.

Good luck my friend, I've been there. SIO3

Hey Cajun. There is a free ramp down the road from the state park. If you went past the state park when coming from the dam it's either the first or second road on your right. Some of the guys on here might know the name. Hope this helps. SIO3