snagged in outlet 3

No, never have, never will. Don't believe anybody on this subject, trust me. When you go, call the dam line often. Don't be foolish with your life. SIO3.

Stick with John, you'll be very happy. SIO3.

No ramp at RR. But you might as well just go to the confluence if you're that far down. I'm assuming RR is what we've always called handicap access. SIO3

Sorry about not catching your reply. Better late than never. I like to use flukes or unweighted plastic worms in the winter. I don't get in a big hurry unless they are really nailing it. In that case I go to a spinnerbait to see if they'll bite that because that's my favorite way to fish. Jig and pig works too. Sometimes it's surprising how well bass bite and fight in the winter. A couple sunny, warm days in a row with a good south wind will turn em on. I really like a 20 - 30 mph wind because I've done real well on those days. those conditions when a front is pending is even better. I was just looking though my fish picture book and there is snow on the bank in one of them. I started winter fishing for bass because I couldn't get away for a full on trout trip because of the 4 hour drive. I would get the shack nasties and just say what the heck, better than watching TV. If I lived in Branson or somewhere near the big resevoirs I'd be out there more. As it is I just hit the local ponds that are available and occasionally the golf course lakes. SIO3.

Count me in, keep us updated on the final deal. SIO3.

Hey Bill. The power plant gave me the number to call. It might be the same number you called but here it is anyway. 417-881-1204. Funny thing is, when I called a couple weeks ago and used the number given on the MDC website I got the mining division at TH and the guy says "let me just look, yeah we're shut down, but here is the number to call for power generation" When I called that number he said we can't give out that info. He told me to call the number above. I like the mining division guy better. Let me know what you find out. SIO3.

Just got back online after the ice storm. Looks very cool out here and the roads never did get bad. I've got some tree damage but nothing serious. I'm in St. Charles county just west of St. Louis. We have a good half inch on everything even though the news "pro's" say we got less than a fourth inch. I guess a ruler wasn't included in the weather guesser's toolkit. I haven't been without internet for any real length of time before and I was wondering how I lived without it before. Man, it's like livin in a cave my friend. Lucky I had satelite high def TV, heat, popcorn-maker, football game and my fly tying stuff. Oh yeah and cold beer! I mean without those things how does a guy survive? I even went clothes shopping with my wife and daughter. I got in trouble there though. I was trying on this leather jacket that had an alarm system attached to it and the last thing anyone heard was me saying "hey what's this?" The high-pitched squeal really only bothered you if you were on the top floor of the mall. Then the lady couldn't get the code right to turn it off and people are running out the door screaming, thinking the place is on fire and the whole time my wife and daughter standing back as if they don't know me and they're pointing at me. Well the lady runs and gets the key to turn off the stupid thing then she asked "would I like to try on anymore or did I want to just buy this one?" I said no I was just kinda, checkin it out. She gives me this dirty look and when I turn to leave the girls are gone. I never could find em so I went to the truck and waited there for them. When they got back to the truck they acted like it never happened but I swear I heard my 8 year old daughter in the car-seat behind me snickering. This morning I told my wife I still needed dress shoes for work and that I might head out this afternnon to get some and she says "Don't go without me, okay" Actually she screamed it. Anyway I'm back online so if you need anything just let me know. SIO3.

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.