MNtransplant

Does anyone know if there are any good bank fishing prospects on Forest Lake near Kirksville Mo? I have a work trip coming up and wondering if i might be able to sneak in some night fishing for walleye?

Thoroughly enjoyed it my friend! I'm convinced I'd be hard pressed to find someone with a deeper relationship with that stretch of river..fried those walleyes and whites for the family a couple hours ago! We'll have to do it again soon! Maybe I can convince you to come night fish with me on Taneycomo and I can try to do some of the teaching 😄.

Do the eyecons have the same 15 year warranty as the avids?

Dtrs, what other setups do you have and what do you use them for. I'm thinking my next one will be a light action with lighter line for trout jigs..

After some research and low pressure salesmanship from @JestersHK i finally decided to pull the trigger on purchasing my first higher end rod..a St. Croix Avid series Spinning rod in a 6'-6" length medium light power fast action...i went over to the Bass Pro outlet and found a good deal on a Shimano Nasci size 2500 reel at half price and threw some 10 lb braid on it. This will primarily be a jerkbait setup for night fishing on Taneycomo but I decided to tie on a mono leader and try it out as a jig rod on some creek walleyes and white bass last night..everything worked as advertised! Very sensitive, smooth hooksets and played fish very nicely in the current..i could feel the gravel while swimming a jig along the bottom very easily...and unfortunately I got to test out the durability of the setup when I took a face plant and bashed the rod into a mud bank...cleaned it off at home and hardly a scratch..can't wait to try it again! Well worth the purchase price so far!

@Seth I will gladly steal your partner. DJ and I are planning to fish as a team!

Saturday May 22nd

Wondering if anyone is planning on fishing the CAM tournament and looking for a co angler? I would consider myself an above average jig fisherman and a so so jerkbait thrower..happy to pitch in for gas and food...sounds like a great time..pm me if you have an opening!

It's unfortunate because Lew's used to make very affordable rods with great balance..now almost all their rods have a foam EVA butt section that is way lighter than the old style which makes em very tip heavy and clunky...the base Mach 1's used to be what I would consider a premium rod and you could catch em on sale for $40-50...now to get the microwave guides with a balanced feel you are looking at a tp1 or tp1 black for $100 to $130. I've been looking for a new medium light or light action setup for light jigs and im consoderong the new Abu Garcia veritas (great reviews) or forking out the extra cash to get into a st croix avid series. Part of me is scared that I will still like my $60 pflueger trion combo better haha! I've caught so many fish on that darn thing and i never seem to miss bites even tho it's sort of a moderate action...ive looked all over for a replacement rod and cant find one that's exactly like it...bought it at the catalog outlet for $20 and its my favorite rod that I own. The closest ive seen is maybe tje fenwick HMG that makes a 6-6 light with a moderate action..

So far everyone I've met thru this forum has been an A+ fishing buddy so let's setup a future trip!

Nothing big for me, caught a 17.5" a 16", and a 14.999999"

I went back and forth on how much to share but as a few folks have pointed out, no matter what I share or don't..there will still be gobs of people fishing this stretch of river...also when I first moved to Missouri, I had no idea about where to fish or what baits to try and I have learned a ton on this forum so here it goes... Friday was my first 215 to Taylor float ...also the first time I've had the new kayak in any current..what a great way to experience that stretch of river! @trythisonemv has a lot of knowledge and experience on this stretch and I almost felt like I was paying for a guide. He was also kind enough to do all the shuttling since my little Hyundai Sonata doesn't quite answer the bell in that regard..lastly, he is hilarious..thoroughly enjoyed the comradery my friend! We will definitely do this again. As for the fishing, @Ryan Miloshewski has the totals correct, I was hoping he would join on this trip so I had to let him know right away how we did 🙂. The walleyes came on Bucktail jigs (shameless plug - I tied them myself), the whites on a chrome mini rattle trap, and the drum and the big sucker came on Bucktails as well. We did not find as many whites as we thought we would but saw others catching several on a rigs and flyrods. As is true with most rivers, there were several featureless dead stretches so we tried to focus on the fishy looking spots and hopped out to wade the interesting parts. I did have a couple stringer mishaps that are worth mentioning, had my chain stringer clipped to the back of my kayak and rolled over a rootwad going Mach 1...heard a "tink" and the stringer stayed with the rootwad....miraculously I went back and retrieved it with both walleye still intact...that was all fine and dandy until it happened again 100 yards later only this time one of the walleyes popped loose for a delayed catch and release...not smart..I couldn't help but think of my late Grandpa who had a list a mile long of stringer woes....several times when I was fishing with him as a kid he would throw a stringer full of fish overboard without remembering to tie it off to the boat, or have the stringer in the water after getting up on plane with his big motor...he was a great fisherman and taught me a lot but had a little "Dorf goes fishing" in him too🙂. He passed away about two months ago so this was a fun memory to revisit. Since I, like Alex, have small children and don't get a chance to do a longer trip like this often, I probably sensationalize the recaps a bit, but it is just amazing to have access to such a scenic place with the excitement and anticipation of catching quality fish as well. I probably slept 2 hours the night before and was like a kid at Christmas when it was finally time to get up. A true passion for the game. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading🙃🙃

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I think there's only one logical conclusion here...i wait a couple years then order a lews rod online, it gets dropped on my doorstep the next day by a drone and i get a notification on my phone haha!

Does anyone know what the gameplan is for Lews? They closed their awesome store here in Springfield and now they are sorda selling their stuff half heartedly through a bunch of online retailers and bass pro but they dont keep anything in stock... I contacted their customer support team a while back and they said they plan on moving to direct sales on their website..anyone know if this is true or when the change might happen?

Sure...pick on the guy that put on the quarantine 20 this year 😆...i hope to only need the fly rod but ill use whatever they bite on...there's nothing like fighting a pissed off white in the current on the 6 weight.....just thinking about watching my fly line jump upstream is givin me the shakes..

You said it dude...these past couple of days have been creeeeeping by. I might trip and fall while im sprinting to the river Friday morning. Cant wait to get out there!

That's awesome!! Grew up watching his show for years..cool to see him in the Ozarks!

The other guy in the boat looks like Ron Shara from Minnesota bound ha!

What kind of minnows does baitmasters carry? Thinking about trying live bait for the first time in forever..

If I want to mount a trolling motor on my kayak does that mean i need to register it in Missouri? Or does the change per body of water? Does a trolling motor bring any other rules into play about lighting needed? Boaters/captains license? Thanks!

Well I couldn't stand not trying it with the weather being so nice...headed out to Taylor to join the crowd...only managed one really nice female white about a half mile hike upstream from where i parked....water was stained but not chocolate milk....caught the fish on an all white 1/16th ounce maribou jig i tied....i probably spent 80% of my time trying to find a spot with enough space to cast..that was sort of annoying...it was also annoying trying to lift that extra 20 pounds of quarantine weight up over trees and brush....next time im bringing the kayak and not crashing thru the woods...im tentatively planning a most of the day trip on Friday April 2nd if anyone wants to join...not sure if the water conditions will be floatable or not but we could try to setup a shuttle from 215 to Taylor. Happy fishing!

Do any of my OAF folks have an extra baitcast reel that they'd be willing to part with for around $50? I'm looking for either a bass pro formula reel or something lews. Right hand retrieve, dont care too much on the gear ratio Thanks!

I have an older lews mach 2 spinning rod that is 6'-9" medium light power fast action with the microwave guides that i absolutely love. Looking for another one like it or similar. Thanks!

Thats awesome buddy! Was going to ask how you did...time to get the kayak ready I guess!.