shrapnel

Bass, Crappie, Drum, Carp....all spawning now. Bass are on beds like crazy and as long as they waited, it's gonna be a shorter than usual spawn season for them but you will still have some on beds in the coming weeks for sure. Amazing how fast, and how many hit the banks at once. Crappie will be 90% spawned out by next week and could get a little tough but...they're crappie and can always be caught..

I think I need Gavin as my CPA.

I have 10 Tatula's, and nothing else. They do anything I need them to very well, including skipping jigs. Guys I fish with are sometimes surprised how far a jig will skip under cables and docks.

Congrats to John for the big win, seemed like it couldn't have happened to a better person. Also, pretty sure he was fishing by himself so no worries on how he's going to split it...unless he's married! I can't believe how tough fishing is right now on LOZ. Pre spawn, water upper 50's and I failed to put together a limit of keepers either day. We weighed 3 fish for the weekend, 1 to hit the 3lb mark and 2 to hit the 4lb mark. No damage done here. I think we only caught 16 fish total combined both days.

Average weights are up quite a bit this year, not a single fish under 4 getting a check today. It will be interesting to see what the weather change tomorrow brings.

SO here's a question...in most conventional tournaments the cost and winnings are shared equally by partners. How does everyone approach the bash, even split or each man for himself?

Congrats to him, the weather isn't warm enough for me to rough it like that, I opted to wait until warmer temps to stay out after dark. I do want to get my 11 in to qualify for the fish off though.

It will be on the deck. East winds and rain this weekend, I like my chances if the other 3,000 guys don't show up.

My arms and shoulders will be killing me after this weekend.

Man, my old 200 EFI will eat 20gl in a day pretty easy. makin me want a newer motor,

You guys are fishing too deep.

Since I've moved away I don't mind sharing For bass it is an excellent Chatterbait lake. I have done very good on LARGE spinnerbaits, like #7+ willow leafs burned shallow over the coontail. Jerkbaits are a staple and It also turns on for a top water lake sooner than most lakes, as soon as that water touches 52* I'll be working the water to a froth with buzz baits. Don't be afraid to get BEHIND the coontail either, like in the 2' space between the rip rap and where the weeds start...need a realy good trolling motor and plan on cleaning it off often. Oh, I NEVER fished it without a fluke tied on, absolutely deadly dropping it into the weed pockets and skittering it across the top. I never, not once threw a frog there....so cliche. Summer gets tougher but they group up better and the catching stays good for those on them. Tubes, shaky heads and morning top water should produce. Most people are casting towards the bank, find one of the many major points (that aren't so obvious to the eye) and then around and cast out into the lake, it's nothing to fish 100yds offshore and only be in 12' of water there. For crappie get in or on the edges of that coontail. Don't be afraid to stay main lake either, it's a relatively calm lake accept for holiday weekends. They will flat STACK up on points with weeds....there are several weed points that come over a hundred yards out into that lake most people run right over and have no clue they are there. Fpe spawners I always did better in smaller mail lake pockets than the larger coves with standing timber...unless it was one of the many beaver dams those always produce pretty good as well. Depth depends on clarity no matter the season, I have seen them spawn from 2' to 8' deep if rains didn't muddy it up.

I don't think they use any of those. They announce where they are releasing them so as to be 100% transparent. They have released at Robin's and Tantara for sure. TONS of ramps round here...ya need to git out of the Gravois once in a blue moon

They use a trailer, fish get weighed, dumped in a trailer then driven to an off site ramp where they just back in and open the doors to let em out. So, ya they are transporting them by road. Not sure of the legalities, but Joe Bass runs a pretty good trail, I wish they would do something here during the summer.

Fished Joe Bass yesterday, had 3 fish just under 5lbs each but that was it. I respect that they use a release trailer and put the fish back elsewhere, and not the same place every time.

I chased green fish all weekend. Lakes back up 3' and the water temps gonna jump just in time for a massacre during the bash it's looking like.

Kinkaid was on fire this weekend! It took 31lbs to win the Midstate Open Bass Tournament on Saturday. It's also holding true to it's rep for huge crappie this year. Sorry for your misfortune...chalk it up as a learning experience and make a note to never fish that depth/bait/places/conditions again!

Just came in from the dock, caught 25-30 in under an hour and some big girls to boot. 6-8' on jigs.

Thanks for posting!

I bought 2 at Wal-Mart last week for $4.99 and hammered fish on them so they are worth $4.99 to me in excellent condition.

If Honda outboards run anything like their 4 wheelers I'm surprised their isn't a bigger following for them, only see a handful of them on the water.

She was pretty lethargic, barely even pulled drag. Set the hook, she rose to the top and made one short run to the back of the boat and then into the net.

The crappie definitely backed out some after Friday, we followed and caught about 50 fish per day Fri, Sat and Sun, Sunday was our best day. Also caught a 5lb Drum, 6lb largemouth, 4 lb striper and 4lb walleye all on all on an ultralight and crappie jigs. We didn't keep a single crappie under 10" but had to really weed through a ton of dinks. Fish over 12" were scarce for us.

I ran from the Gravois to Tantara to the 10MM of the Glaize yesterday. Osage from Tantara to Gravois stained but very fishable. Glaize...Muddy Gravois only went a couple miles in but it was clear. Temps ranged from 44 to 49.