top_dollar

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.

I fished the same stretch again yesterday. I specifically targeted bass and tried my best to actually count without a clicker. This was harder than I thought it'd be, but i was solo, which helped me focus. Anyway, I caught 37 bass and had 8 come off. 6 of them came off in a row before I realized my hook point had rolled over. Doh!! I did catch what I am pretty sure is a spotted bass, which would be a first for me so far upstream. I'm no expert, but it had a rough patch on its tongue, and it sure looks like a spot with the jawline. Most came on a worm, biggest was a 19ish inch lm on Mitch F's shark tail worm. Also had 4 smallies bigger than 15 inches. I did catch a few on a finesse jig and a jerkbait and caught 1 on a top dollar.

It is not really a prediction, there will certainly be some exactly where I said. Idle around the gravel at point 7, or the points around schooner creek. They will be there. I don't know why, but in 25+ years of fishing for bluegills at table rock in the summer that is where I have found the bigger ones. I don't often see them suspended in the middle of the channel, but they do suspend around the Kimberling city bridge. I never fish the back end of any coves in summer, so I couldn't tell you what is there. I have fished docks and brushpiles quite a bit, and as I mentioned, they are generally smaller fish.

Generally, in my experience the bigger eating sized blue gills will be on flat gravel points between 15 and 30 FOW this time of year. IDK about livescope but they are usually pretty easy to see on the 2d, just off the bottom. I use drop shot or split shot rigs with whole crawlers. Docks also hold a bunch, but they tend to be little guys especially in the shallower slips, and suspended under the floats. The bigger ones still seem to set just off the bottom in deeper water, but underneath the boat slips. All that said, my experience is limited to the Kimberling city area in mid/late summer.

The shark tails in cajun melon have been working for me on the upper big the last month or so. In fact I need to hit Denny Dennis to see if they have more cuz im down to my last 4 or 5. I just rig it on a 16th oz jig with a #2 hook, so its basically a "nerd" rig, but it works for schmucks like me. It works at least as well as the chompers DS worm I normally use. The smallmouth my son caught in my last post was caught on it, although the worm isn't in the pic. It is a bit too soft for my liking to fish on a shakey head, as I generally prefer a more durable worm when tossing into brush piles and such, but on the crappie jig it is dynamite. Ill also be at table rock in about a month and will certainly give it a try on a drop shot.

Been out the last few weekends n the mounts to TDL stretch. More of the same. Few feet of visibility. Lots of sunfish have been spawning the last few weekends. I spent one day throwing a panfish rig, but mostly using the same baits as always.

Do you use a clicker or something to count bass? or just can remember really well? I have a hell of a time remembering how many I have caught, and I am never anywhere near 75 bass in a day. I feel like once I catch 8 or 10 bass I really start to lose count.

Yeah I agree. Catching lots of fish when I fish sucks.

Hot N Tots sure are a nostalgic bait for me. Glad to see you caught a mess on them!

His website says he does.

Another thing to remember about renting a boat is that if you are only doing it for 1 or 2 days, the marina wont open until 7 (or whenever the hungover college kids lumbers in) and you wont be fishing until 8 or 9. If you can rent it for several days, or you can get the keys in advance you may be able to fish early. When it comes to pontoons, party boats, and jet skis, renting is the way to go, but for fishing renting seems impractical for me.

Yeah I have my sticker, so they don't bother me any. I understand the lake usage requiring a sticker, but I don't understand why they police the river access like they do. It just seems like another way to squeeze some income out of the local population in the form of tickets. I just looked at the guys website, and it looks like it is 5$ per adult to launch there. You got that right about charging to launch there, it is an easy cash grab. I'm not exactly thrilled about the excess people there, but since I cant do anything about it, Ill just deal. I do think most people who float that stretch once will be inclined not to do it again. https://www.facebook.com/p/Big-River-Outdoors-Campground-100083020016409/

The access is still fine. You just have to pay the guy 5 bucks to launch. He did put in a group of 10 or so, just before I put in. I didn't pass them until "Brown's Landing" right about the TDL take out. The TDL gestapo was waiting for them with tickets in hand when I took out. I would think the guy running the campgrounds at mounts would have a deal with TDL to use the access, but it looked like the cop was gonna harass them as he was parked directly behind their truck preventing them from leaving. The TDL cops have NOTHING to do, so they just go around looking for people without stickers to bother. That dumb cop was probably sitting down their for hours just playing on the internet and waiting to ruin someone's fun day.

Not just kids, but sub par adults! It's about the only way goobers like me know how to catch em!

I fished Mounts to TDL this past Saturday for the first time this year. It was low, and seemed a bit dingier than usual. I could see bottom in about 3 FOW. It was a pretty good day for me, although I was solo which makes fishing that stretch way easier. I caught about 25-30 bass and a few sunfish. Most came on a worm, but caught a handful on a jerkbait and top water. Also caught some bigger fish than usual, I caught 3 bass 15+ and another bass was 17+. I did catch a large redear, almost 11 inches long, it was probably a personal best for me. I fished a megabass X-nanahan +1 instead of the usual X-rap 8. I dont know if it caught me any more bass than an xrap would have, but it sure looks good in the water. Ill be picking up a few more of those.

I met him a few times, and he sold me a canoe that we just used about a month ago. He was a super nice and knowledgeable guy. Very sad to hear about his passing. It seems like he had a very positive influence on his friends and family.