CoMo

Not sure why reports are rare for Mark Twain. We lived in Palmyra for 3 years and I was on this lake every weekend. Always had a good trip. In my lifetime I have fished Stockton, LOZ, Table Rock, and Taneycomo. I would have to say that MT is out go to lake for two reasons. 1) it is close to Columbia MO and 2) you have fishable water feet from boat ramps. It always seems to have people fishing on it which makes me wonder why no one posts. With all the bass clubs that fish it one would think there would be more posted on this forum. Guess people don't what to give up their secrets.

So it has been awhile since my last post. Time and weather have not allowed me to get out much this year, but I did manage to get out last Saturday. We got on the water around 8:30am. There was not much in the way of boat traffic at this point in time. The wind was brutal so trolling was the only option that we had. The first crappie was picked up around 9 in 20 FOW on a lipless crank. Not much size. In fact the bait was half the size of the fish. The 10am rolled around and the place was packed with boats that should be on LOZ. Several boaters got within 30 yards of my boat and the wake was ridiculous. We toughed it out to 2 o'clock (didn't have anything else to do). My son swam and my wife read a book. We managed four 8 inch crappie for the day and the ability to take advantage of some decent weather. The comment of the day was from my wife when she and I remembered the day you never saw a boat over 20 feet on that lake. Guess I will need to adapt. No pictures this time.

Well now I am curious who this is. My profile pic should look similar as well. It was taken last year at about the same time. I usually post on the Stockton Forum and found this forum and thought I would see what conversations would spark up. Not much has been happening for awhile. In fact we have not been able to hunt ourselves. The boys are involved in other things that I need to support them in. Are you with the group that has that little UTV?

Got the chance to hunt Mid MO on Wednesday before Thanksgiving with the boys and darn the luck they out shot me. Only saw gadwall and teal flying.

You know I made fun of the thought of using hotdogs as bait. The first time I encountered it what on Lake Texoma and figured that was an Okie thing. Then we started using cheap out or date ones pond fishing and they work better than chicken liver.

They didn't say. My brother ate some of them. Pretty sure he had a belly ache the next day.

So I took my 13 and 8 year old to Lost Valley on 11/12. Due to the warm weather the kids have been bugging me to take them fishing every weekend. Lost Valley was able to feed that obsession before the cold snap. They have a really cool set up where kids can check out fishing gear and fish in one of the designated hatchery pond. Neither caught anything. They were using a mixture of hotdogs and worms. Just goes to show you that even in a controlled environment when they don't want to bite nothing is going to happen. No clue the water temp. Bobber depth was 3 foot then switched to fishing on the bottom. Total fishing time 1 hour.

Out at Overton Bottoms on the south portion. If you look on Google Map you can see where we were at. It is a hole that is maybe 50 yards from the levy. Right now any spot east of the levy is holding gar. As of Sunday the water was low enough to stand around the edges, but with last night's rain that may not be the case. If you go, bring plenty of Off. You will have to walk through neck high weeds and the mosquitoes are big enough to carry a man off. My wife was the only one to land a gar. It was a little one that might have measured 18 inches. My oldest son lost one that would have easily been 36 inches. And I had about the same luck. The one I had fought like a MMA fighter and got off half way to the bank. As far as I am concern you are not an accomplished angler unless you have landed a gar.

Went gar fishing last night and ended up catching this guy. Not a monster, but after the fight that my youngest had with it I had to clean it. He can't wait to eat it.

If I can weigh in. My suggestion is a slot limit. MDC does it on smaller lakes with bass. Keep the eaters and toss the big ones back. This allows you to keep the size that is reasonable to clean and catch larger fish. The strip pit I fish here in Columbia has a 12"-15" slot on bass and a majority of the trips I catch four or five 16" to 18" fish that I throw back and still catch seven or eight 11" fish to eat. Sorry bass people. Sometimes I fish because I'm hungry and not for fun.

Bought the Tracker last year late in the summer to replace my Tidecraft that the family out grew. The Tidecraft was purchased brand new in '86 by my father. Hated to see it go, but it was time. The Tracker is a '02 and I feel we got a pretty good deal on it. Sure works better on rough water and fishes 4 people better. We plan to rechristen it soon. All boats should have a cool name.

This fish was caught on Rocky Forks Lake in Columbia Missouri. I wish MDC would make more slot limit lakes. I feel that it makes the chances of catching a bigger fish much higher.

Sorry this is late, still worth the post.. Fished on May 21st. Trolling lipless cranks in 30 FOW. Everyone in boat was able to reel in a fish. 3 were small whites and one was the 21 inch fish in the picture. My son (in the picture) has not stopped showing this picture to everyone.

A couple of hours. Finder was spotting fish in 10 FOW (At least I think it was fish. Still get use to the new finder. And the new to me boat.) I was surprised we didn't get one hit. One guy was right on the bank when I saw him catch what appeared to be a crappie. I would be out this weekend if I could and I would be fishing shallow. Last year about this time I limited out just moving from stump to stump using a jug and bobber.

This is not much of a report, but went fishing and feel like I need to post what I observed. Day started off crummy when trolling motor wouldn't work. Was forced to troll with the big motor. Lost 2 lures. Kinda asked for it on account we launched at Route N and motored into Indian Creek. Still a nice day to be on the lake. Boats that we saw pulling in fish were on the bank using long poles. Storm then kicked up and we got off fast. Get away was not that graceful due to truck not starting in the parking lot. Jumped it with boat battery and got it to the in-laws house up the road. Good thing no fish were caught. After messing with truck for 2 hours and getting boat into safe location I would not have had time to clean them. Hopefully JC's will get my truck back quickly. Anyways crappie are on the bank and cannot go this weekend. Good luck to those of you that can go.

Hey! I do believe that those fish can hear. That is no stereotype when it is a fact.

Went fishing today with LoweSXT175 and trolled for 3 hours. Picked up 2 of these little guys in 18 FOW in the warm water arm. Water temp was 63 degrees. The 7 year old in the picture had the time of his life.

First time post. Went fishing with LoweSTX175 on Thomas Hill Reservoir. Trolled for 3 hours and caught only 2 of these little guys. The 7 year old in the picture had the time of his life. Fish were in 18 FOW in the warm water arm of the lake. Temp was 63 degrees.