snagged in outlet 3

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

Yes it does LMW. I usually catch a few cats everytime out. I have a great carp spot here in St. Charles on the river. I've written a couple reports here on OA about it. SIO3

Hey Phil. When I was down there a couple years ago my wife, daughter and I went out flyfishing for baby tarpon in Cancun bay. Awesome evening and fished into the night. Nothing fights like a tarpon. The bay is the nursery for baby tarpon. By the way babies grow to 90 lbs in the bay. Rodman Hunter was the guy. http://www.cancunsportfishing.com/flyfishing.html If you go, ask him about the night fishing trip with a 5 year old when the saltwater croc attacked the boat trying to get a tarpon I had on. SIO3

Headed back over to the subdivision lake were we tore em up last time. See previous report. Went over around noon and it was sunny, 67 degrees and again a good wind out of the south. Those are my 3 "must haves" for winter bass fishing. Went to a new point with no luck and then pounded the area where we caught em in late November. Nothing, not a bite. Lake had been iced over for 2 weeks and all the snow that was on the roads melted and brought the lake level up around 3 feet. I guess it cooled it off enough to shut em down. Still good to get out. SIO3.

I know, I know. I'm all city all the time. Never could stomach the stuff. Don't hold it against me. Different doesn't mean wrong. On the other hand I'm all carnivore. I'll eat any meat and if tries to get away I like it even better. Kind of like a bear. If it rolls over and plays dead it has a slim chance of survival but if it runs, it turns on my attack instinct and there is no chance at all. SIO3

I think I'll pass on the food. I can't even eat biscuits and gravey or grits when I'm in Memphis. You should see the looks I get when I refuse to eat those "treats?" down there. SIO3

Hey guys. I just got back from working in Memphis for 2 weeks and saw this post. I'll try and make it but if they send me back to Memphis that week I'll have to bag it. In all honesty I probably won't be able to go but I'm trying. I'll probably camp at the state park for the night. SIO3.

I make one little off hand remark and you guys go nuts with it. I guess I opened can of worms. Worms, get it? SIO3.

We got 3-4 inches of ice followed by 6-7 inches of snow here in St. Charles. I shoveled our 3 car driveway of the snow and chipped ice off of half of it. We have a pretty good slope down to the cul-de-sac and all the kids in the neighborhood were sliding down the ice half all day and into the night tonight. My 7 year old daughter was out there all day and cried when we took her boots off because her feet itched and burned. Then she had dinner a couple minutes ago followed by hot chocolate and she passed out right there at the kitchen table. I'm using a mister bottle tonight to really get it slick for tomorrow. Tomorrow maybe we'll get out the outdoor firepit and roast some mellows. Gotta love snow days even if there isn't any fishin around here. SIO3