Ryan Miloshewski

No kidding? Well don't read anything I said before. Now next time I will be down lake throwing my arm off. @Travis Swift let's try it out this summer

I agree with that for sure. But, you'd think with all the bass fishing that occurs a giant brown would be caught every now and then. Surely they'd eat a jig, swimbait, A-rig, etc. They do on the Great Lakes. I was in your shoes for years with the belief, but I just don't know anymore. There are plenty of people who fish down there (not like above the Landing, but still). The lack of evidence ever, really, beside Dwiggins catching the triploid by Kanakuk is just too strong for me. I hope I'm wrong lol

Theoretically they do not make the spawning run. But with anything, there are outliers. Lower lake there's just so much water. Even scanning with LS you'd need a week to find areas they frequent. My buddy and I scanned on his LS some of the bluffs past the landing and there were fish, but never really anything big. I think the idea there are giant browns lurking in the depths is just not that true. I'm sure there are some, but 40 ft deep bluffs do not have the constant supply of food the shallower water has. Kelly Galloup wrote a book about his diving on the Michigan rivers he grew up on. You'd be shocked at how many of the "big fish looking areas" held nothing. They pretty much hang out where everything else does, just in their own little space adjacent. Look at all the giant browns caught at night in 3-4 fow. They are up there eating sculpins, scuds, and rainbows like the 20-inch fish.

You and me both, buddy! Phil can correct me, but I think all of the really big ones that have been caught this spring have been diploids, which is an interesting trend. Not that they'll breed, but still cool to see 2N fish getting that size.

Went down with John Sunday-Wednesday for the floodgates. Naturally, they shut them off at 9am Monday. I fished Sunday evening for an hour and a half after turkey hunting and did well on jerkbaits from the dam to the boat ramp. Other than that, it was pretty eh. I got back to the dock early and Phil called me over to the tank "Milo, we got a big brown." And big it was. 30.25" and 17 lbs. Robert caught it on a Signature Series 606 in FP down from Lilleys out of a pontoon boat. I was going to fish that bluff but was tired from hunting. Amazing what has to go right to land a fish like that! Monday morning I started early at 5:30 am. Fog was a little bad so I stopped at the top of the bluff above Lilleys. Immediately I caught a 22" rainbow that was as fat as we has long. Next cast I threw a bit upstream and had a little drag so I started burning the jerkbait back to recast. I noticed a giant shadow following so I stopped it and started working it. It was a brown that was bigger than the 17 lb fish I saw the evening before. It swiped at it four times and missed each time. This is all 10 ft from the boat. I stopped it, burned it to where I had 18" of line left, 2 ft from the boat. It finally ate it. I really didn't set the hook, just kind of held on. I jumped down to get the net as it thrashed at the boat. As I grabbed the net it came undone and sauntered back to the depths. I grabbed my jerkbait and realized the middle hook he had was completely straightened out. I always change the back hook on these jerkbaits since it is the one that usually gets them best. I will be changing all of them now. Biggest brown I've ever personally had hooked/engaged with my lure. It had to be 20+ lbs. Pain! The rest of the trip was just meh. The fish were definitely adjusting to the flow change. We could have dragged scuds/eggs and caught a ton, I'm sure, but we stuck with jerkbaits and jigs. They just didn't want to eat, it felt like. Little to no engagement on jerkbaits and short strikes on jigs. We caught fish, don't get me wrong, but it was markedly worse. Our biggest Tues/Weds was a couple of chunky 19" rainbows right below the dam. I had on a 20" or so rainbow by the steps on a jig Tuesday evening but he came unbuttoned as well. One of those trips! Still a fun time and enjoyed staying at Phil's. Really is one of the best resorts I've ever been to in the country and they make you feel at home every time. Here is the only pic we took, a nice 18" rainbow John caught on a jig below Lookout. And a nice pic I snapped above Trout Hollow. Here is a pic of Robert's giant in the net.

How'd you do the enchiladas @BilletHead? I think that'll be my next foray

I was too busy doing the cooking! Next time I won't disappoint you or @Johnsfolly

Didn't take any pics because it didn't last, but turkey camp this weekend had my cousin, grandpa and buddy Dave down. Friday night we did prime ribeyes, asparagus and portobella shrooms on the grill. Breakfast was hog jowl, regular bacon, fried eggs, deer sausage gravy and homemade biscuits Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night I fried walleye and crappie I caught this spring with fried taters and onions. Dessert was a peach dump cake I made. Warmed it up on the cast iron fireplace. Didn't get a turkey (came very close) but truly a heavenly weekend with the food. I'll take pics next time!

It was within 5 min of me sending the pic that you shot yours, another buddy sent me a pic of his, and another 10 min later with his. It was like 8:30 hit and it was on. @Seth and I finally got to have our dinner date, too. We went to Rich's in Owensville. First time and it was darn good. Great job by all. Missouri sure is bouncing back nicely with it's turkeys. I would have no problem taking 3-4 birds total on the place I hunt this year. And even 2-3 years ago I'd say one was max.

Guess I'll add on. I haven't shot a bird on the opener since 2019. It's always second day or the hellscape of the last weekend with the ticks and other biting fauna. Sat up on the far east end of the property as I have been seeing a lot on camera there. It was windy as can be and cold for the first couple of hours. I finally heard a gobble on the far west part of the property. I called, but I knew with the west wind I could not be heard. So I left everything but my gun and mouth call and made the trek. I figured he'd head down the gravel road that leads into a nice, calm spot. I called sparingly, waited, and repeated a couple times. Nada. Finally got to where I thought he'd be headed, sat down and called. Nothing. As any good turkey hunter does, I stayed put, even though I was wondering if I'd bumped him. About 10 min later I hear "pffffttt" about 75 yds away. Then I saw the fan. He was strutting down the gravel road I figured he'd take, just being silent about it. I let him get to 35 yds. 11.5" beard, 24 lbs, and 1.25" spurs. Really a cool bird. Almost white spurs and a really light color to his fan in spots. Done by 8:35 am. Made a good lunch, napped, and listened to the whip-poor-wils at dark. Went this morning to listen and heard 6 different birds sounding off, and all appeared to have hens. I will be back the first weekend in May to try and tag out.

Really sucks. Started as prostate cancer in July 2023 and he was doing fairly well. He fell and hit his head while deer hunting this past season and when they did the CT scan to check they found tumors all in his brain.

I will be down Saturday for Chuck's memorial. I think he'd be ok with it if I fished before and after. See you then, Phil.

Not a marinade, but a great way to do white bass/walleye/drum is to lightly bread it with panko bread crumbs and good parmesan cheese. Mix the cheese and bread crumbs together, coat the fish, bake. It's fantastic for any white, firm fish.

A few turkey nuggets and that's Missouri spring on a plate. You've inspired me. I think I'll catch a few big bluegill Sunday and fry them whole in preparation for opening day.

Burn the reel and bury it somewhere dark, deep and far away from civilization.

People don’t just fly fish for trout. Any folks on here would’ve liked it for sure. It was a great time. We even named @fshndoug Missouri’s state fossil moving forward.

Great story from this trip. Thanks to Marty and Pat for coming. They’re my favorites. But yes that kid traded me a streamer for a streamer. I helped him and his 10 (10!!) year old friend tie some flies. And let me tell ya, they were both talented. I had about two hours of me helping them along. I had my Great Uncle Jack Neporadny teach me when I was their age. So I was all about it. Jack would be proud. And I loved it! Never asked their names. End of the show comes and the one kid comes up “hey Milo, would you trade a fly for a fly?” I said sure thing buddy. He took my most expensive fly and I got his great deceiver pattern. I said “hey what’s your name?” “My name is Jack.” I had chills run up me like I’ve never had before. Jack Neporadny was telling me something. What a great event.

It sucked. They wrangled up all the meth heads and gay people that were there and tried to make it a political statement instead of focusing on the tragedy, and to be honest, much more heroic stories around it.

@Lancer09 let me know if you don't get them tomorrow and I'll just drive down and we can meet to get lunch or something. I am tired of the USPS this year. I could've walked the darn things down there and made it back by now.

Called USPS today. They will be there Saturday. So they say...

I will get them sent out this week. I have been chasing the walleyes and whites, forgive me

Guess we three need to fish together again after our good fortune. Your turn for a 24" in 2026.

Carol's beans would be a great addition to the already amazing food lineup.

Nope, MO. I'm on the good side of State Line.

I went 9 days this winter without sight or sound of a mail truck. And I am in the city. Absolutely asinine. I mailed mine. Let's see how long it takes to go 175 miles.