top_dollar

I could not agree more.

This seriously made me laugh out loud. What a hilarious reference. For those who may not know, Reinhold Messner is a world renowned mountain climber.

I bought a book several years back called "buried by table rock lake" If I remember correctly there were some pretty good pictures in there, but the book itself was a fascinating read for anyone who may be interested in the history of the region. It is also a short and easy read, which is my kind of book!

I caught 8 or so Friday from about noon til 4pm, but they were all less than 12 inches plus 2 goggle eye. Caught another 4 or 5 Saturday morning, and a couple more goggle eye along with the striper, but once we got to rainbow spring I didn't catch another fish save for a sucker that I must have snagged in the face. The scenery was nice, but I wasnt particularly impressed with the river or the fishing save for the stripers. If someone could figure out a way to catch them with regularity it would be worth the trip. They are big fish in shallow clear water though, so Im sure catching them consistently is a challenge.

Do fish that eat crawdads taste better? I had never heard that before.

I'm just kidding about the above post, but I generally just eat crappie, bluegill and walleye if I can get em.

I threw it back. I only like to eat spotted bass from table rock and smallmouth from the rivers.

Well it was 3 years too late but I finally floated this river. Went from twin bridges to Blair Bridge. The river was clear and we could see the bottom basically everywhere. There were lots of long flat runs that were largley devoid of life save for suckers. There was quite a bit of grass/slime that made fishing a bit difficult. There were plenty of good looking spots though. Smallmouth fishing was good for numbers (all dinks though) down to about rainbow spring. After that it got nonexistent. They were mostly in deeper holes. I caught them on jerkbaits swimbaits and ned rigs above the blue ribbon area. Trout fishing was tough, our fly fishing friend only caught 1 (17inch rainbow) and he usually catches lots. We didn't even see many. We did catch several goggle eye. I caught em on the ned rig and swimbait and my buddy caught em on a rooster tail. I did catch 1 striper on a jerkbait out of the thousands we saw. They were all steadily swimming up river and not interested much in lures. It was odd. We did see several above the blue ribbon stretch, so i wonder if theyd eat live shiners where youre allowed to use bait? Those are the types of fish that could drive a guy insane trying to catch. They were everywhere and actively avoided any lure tossed their way save for the 1 dummy that ate my jerkbait.

I am not calling anyone a liar. I certainly do not fish as hard as Al said above. If I am on the water for 10 hours, I am probably paddling for 3-4 hours, hanging out at gravel bars, exploring, and watching scenery for another 2-3 hours which leaves about 3-5 hours of actual fishing. In that time I expect to catch 5-10 fish an hour or so. My day job requires rigorous note taking and attention to detail, so when I go fishing I generally prefer to just fish and enjoy the time I spend. The fact that I just like to "fish" probably hurts my skills as an angler because I am not constantly trying to maximize my time to catch the most or biggest. I cant help but be competitive when I am fishing with someone else, but I try to just enjoy my leisure time out there.

I don't catch them very well on jointed jerkbaits and I sure have tried because I think they are cool, but a 3 to 4 inch regular jerkbait works well for me at least by my standards. I've never caught 80 bass in a day though lol and don't think I would even with the best possible lure. I would expect to catch maybe 5-10 bass/hour of fishing tossing one around. My favorite is an xrap 8cm in river perch color for the upper big river. I toss it around any current I see. I work it very fast and aggressive most times. 4 or 3 hard twitches then ill let it rest for a few seconds, then Ill just "walk" it back most times. Obviously experiment with retrieves because what makes them react can change quite a bit.

https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/want-to-see-the-starlink-look-to-the-sky-tonight/#:~:text=A fleet of Starlink satellites,can look like single stars.

My comment was mean and unnecessary, so this is my deletion of that comment. Sorry to those who read it and to fishinwrench.

Yeah I guess I am the troll thinking that professional fisherman are somehow top notch athletes. 🤣🤣 Look at these pudgy bastards. They couldn't walk down a boat ramp without huffing and puffing.

NO IT IS NOT!!! tell that to a landscaper, factory worker or roofer. Fishing if only physically demanding if you are way overweight or out of shape.

What do you mean by that? I've posted reports, and pictures on this website for about 10 years now. Does someone need to vouch for me here?

That's pretty special coming from the most ignorant poster on oaf. 🤣🤣 Also...pro bass fisherman don't work that hard. They fish a lot, thats a bout it. Ask any of them if they'd rather work a real job and they'd say nope. They left they're cushy office job making 250k a year to fish professional. Hardly what I'd call a "grind". Give me a freaking break!

They don't even have to get out of their boats to fish, nor do they have to get wet. They never have to walk down a bank on foot, or drag a canoe through a riffle. They just simply stand there, looking down at the graph and cast all day long. They are independently wealthy, and fish out of rigs that most people can only dream of. Pro bass fisherman are simply the most entitled group of anglers that exist. They are by no reasonable metric "tough". Any regular person can do what they do for 10 hours a day 4-5 days a week. If standing on the front deck of a bass boat catching 2# bass is wearing you out, then folks need to get in better shape.

Anyone who thinks pro bass fisherman have a hard job, or are somehow athletes are completely deluding themselves. It's fishing, not work. Pro bass fisherman are independently wealthy people who decided they would rather fish every day than do real work. I don't blame them, but to say they work hard, or even worse refer to them as athletes is ridiculous. Hell Rick Clunn won a tournament at like 70 years old a few years back. How many people over 40 can compete at the highest level in real sports? Basically zero, but bass pros can fish til they are 80 because fishing is not that hard. I just find the whole concept of tournament bass fishing being hard to be laughable.

Lol almost every single one. Bass fisherman are not athletes. 🤣 99% of regular people work harder at their day jobs than pro bass fisherman.

Our family did our annual table rock trip. It was hot. WT was in the mid to upper 80s, and I saw 90 on Thursday afternoon. The lake seems down a few feet, and I could see bottom in I'm guessing 6-8FOW or so. I go out most mornings for a few hours with the family, and get 1 or 2 afternoons to fish by myself. I generally fish with live crawlers, either on a modified split shot rig, which I have discussed before, or a drop shot. Ill catch a fish here and there on a jigging spoon, swimbait or plastic worm, but I catch them 10 to 1 with live crawlers at my skill level (or lack of). I wanted to troll crankbaits, and pull spinner rigs for walleye, but never really found the time for that because of the heat. I almost always just fish at the bridge pilings, and the points at schooner creek. I used to go to the deep docks in Schooner, but the last 10 years or more, the points, and the bridge pilings have been good so I haven't even bothered to try the docks. I also used to catch them pretty good on the steep side of point 7, but its been a few years since I have tried fishing there. Most of the fish I caught were in the typical 20-30 feet down. At the point they were hanging around the drop off, and at the bridge they just suspend there. I have learned that fishing at the points generally tapers off throughout the morning, but the fishing at the bridge gets really good in the heat of the midday. Thursday afternoon I sat at the bridge for about 3 hours and caught well over 30 bass just sitting in the shade and pitching a crawler out about 25-30 feet. I didnt count bass, but I eventually got hot and tired and went back, but they were still biting about 3 or 4pm. Most of the time they would grab it as it sank down about the 5-10 feet mark, but the fish I was sitting on top of were 20-30 feet down so I think they were swimming up and grabbing it. I have noticed that in the late afternoon and early evening they will stop biting at the bridge pretty abruptly. IDK if they just quit biting, or leave the area entirely. They are quite often spitting up crawdad parts so unless crawfish suspend on the bridge, the bass must leave when the sun goes down. At the bridge I catch 90% spotted bass from 12-17 inches, and the occasional bluegill LM or SM. At the points there is quite a bit more variety, with bass, bluegill, catfish, and lately quite a few walleye. One last thing that I have learned is that 15-20 inch largemouth hang around the walkways of the docks in kimberling city and are really catchable on a lure. Oddly enough the best time for me is during the middle of the day. I catch several every year midday while the kids and family are swimming and doing jet skis. I will see 2 or 3 in a small group herding bluegill. Toss over basically any lure and one will grab it. They really like the little area between the boat ramp and the dock. Ill sneak down late in the evening or early morning with little or no luck, but in the middle of the day they will bite. I don't get it, but fish don't read the same articles I do I suppose.

Yeah I have never caught one that far up either, but I guess it was only a matter of time. It was pretty disappointing though. I'll have to bring a fish cooler with me now and take any home I catch.

This is the front of my house last week! Saint louis had had some pretty nasty storms the last week or two. My old boat is such a piece of crap even the tree avoided it! 🤣🤣 fortunately im mostly cleaned up now and can resume fishing.

DOH!! I guess I need to learn how to read. I will most certainly post my report.

Oh ye of little faith. I am not above stealing someone's spot! 😏 I'll tell you how I did in a few weeks. I got a few Mag warts and reef runners that'll get down that deep. Looks like cow creek is awfully close to where ill be.