Tightline

Nice pics Steve,I have always wanted to go to LOTW,my dad use to go years ago,and he would complain about his arm hurting and cramping from fighting so many fish.Where abouts did you stay? That OAF hat sure shows up good in the pic!

Tim, sounds like you did pretty good,you are for sure The Roaring River Fishmeister. Good report, thanks.

Just wondering how the water is,and if anyone has fished recently.

Ozarkers tend to call em like they see em,thats why we have so many different kinds and colors of Morel Mushrooms.The first time my son seen a Hog Sucker he called it a Desert Storm fish,so thats what I call them to this day.I really think that the White Sucker in its youth is White but the older they get the darker and more blueish grey they become,and thats where we get the Blue Sucker,maybe, I don't know,I do know that if you fillet and score these fish to cut through the bones and deep fry them at 300 degress till they float,you just can't find any better eating. The Yellows are the best,and I have grabbed all 3 colors plus have seen the Desert Storm fish in Bull Creek,so I know they are in Taney. Oh and Terry,you forgot about the other species here on OAF (Believeius Nothingius)

SM, that man from Palestine,not a rumor, and Billy Graham at the height of his multi million dollar ministry kept $100,000 a year,and lived in a very modest house,drove an ole Buick for decades.The only way he was super rich was in his faith. Bills right,someone should've said or done sometihng,maybe it is all our faults for letting this draw down happen.There is no telling how many tons of Trout food they let die on dry gravel and mud.It may take months to gain them all back.

GF,the white and yellow suckers are the best eating,they look just like what they are called.The yellows have a distinct yellow cast to their scales,especially on the stomach,the white sucker is more of a cream colored,or pale version of the yellow,white ones won't get as big as yellows. Blues and or black suckers are really a dark greyish blue,and are not to bad to eat,just not as good as the white and yellows,the blues tend to get bigger than the other 2.I see blue suckers alot while fishing up at the dam,and some are huge.I think the blues are the kind the MDC said eat alot of the fresh water shrimp thats in Taney.So catch em and eat em their not bad. Red horse remind me of a slim version of a carp,and they have a red cast to their tail.I have never ate Red Horse,but they say they aren't to bad and they get ALOT bigger than their cousins. If you ever catch more than what you want GF let me know and I'll take them off your hands.............GOOD EATING!

Terry, I thought you were a Quality Engineer( inspector ),thats kinda like the pot calling the kettle black ain't it.

GF if those were yellow or white suckers I would have kept em scored em and deep fryed em,absolutely nothing better.Taney is just full of them,but most are the ole blue suckers which aren't as good.Years ago we use to go out in the boat out of Empire park down by Forsyth and tie up to the middle buoy by the dam,drop night crawlers straight down and catch all the suckers we wanted.--------Yummy. Good report.

Single spins in faster water,madman craw,fish doctor on split shot rig in the slower pools.But like RS I have several others to fall back on.In July and August the Old Jitterbug is about as reliable as anything early and late.

Oh,I almost forgot,if you ever go night fishen with Slider take coffee along or a pillow cause he will flat wear you out.If he ever gets into night fishen Taney,watch out TROUT!!!

Its about time you got on here! May I introduce Slider .This guy has fish scales instead of skin,he is one of the best White Bass fisherman I know and nobody can keep up with him grabbing Suckers,not to shabby on Trout either.So if you need some fishen knowledge pick this guys brain. TL.

RS,was just wondering what kind of camera you use to take out in the boat with you.I am leary of taking our good camera on the water since I dunked it for about a second in Taney once,didn't hurt it thank goodness.Yours takes good pics.

Nice fish,my son just called,they floated from Shelvin Rock to Hooten Town.He had 22 bass all together and didn't know how many Goggle Eye but a bunch.He managed to catch all 3 speices of Bass,LM,SM and Kentuckys.One LM broke him off.Several over 15" and alot of 12-14". Sounds like I need to go float'n.

Taxi, there are several good reasons to post when you have a bad or not so good day fishing. 1. It shows that you are human,not everyone loads the boat everytime.Hec even our resident guide on this forum posts when he's had a rough day. 2.It lets the other fishermen know to maybe go to a different place or try another approach. 3.It may also prompt someone who is catching bunchs of fish to post,you know the ego thing! I say post,if you've had a good,bad or in between trip.

Jorob, thats exactly what I was getting at,if I seen that snake in my back yard I would have to put an end to its life,better him than me or my kids or my dogs.But at the same time I have several Garder snakes that make my garden their home,I won't bother them. As for the picture,my daughter sent that to me in an e-mail,because shes always telling me how I am gonna get bit running around out in the woods Turkey hunting.And I always tell her there aren't any real big snakes in Missouri to worry about.Now I am not so sure. It looks to me like he is holding that snake head high,so if he is 5 ft 5 or 6,that thing could be 9 ft.Don't know for sure,just thought it would make a good conversation picture. Really,the only snake I have ever come across that was aggressive was our native Cotton Mouth.

Hey Terry,what would you do if you found this monster on your patio,or better yet how would do it in? A 10 gauge maybe. This snake, a Rattler was found in S.E.Missouri,9 feet 1 inch long and weighed 97 lbs.Don't know any details on how it was killed.I am against killing any kind of snake also,but what would you do if this thing was lurking around your back yard?

Taxi,thats a good days fishn,but you forgot to say what general area you were fishing.Bull is a big lake and while the upper can be stagnant the mid or lower can be busting loose. Also, I would be careful throwing down the gauntlet to people you don't know,there are some very good fishermen who never show their hand on this forum,they just don't want to get caught up in the (Bill Dance syndrome) or compete for the alpha male award,but just like reading the storys and seeing what the other fishermen are talking about. I think you must be a darn good fisherman from what I have read of your post.

Fished the Mcdonalds tournament out of Port of Kimberling yesterday and had a blast.Can't remember alot of details of the weigh in except 1st was 19 something lbs,then dropped to 17 for 2nd and 3rd.1st Big Bass was 6.? lbs and 5.? lbs for 2nd and 3rd. This was an excellent tournament for the average Joe like us to fish, they had 166 boats and paid 20 places and we sit for about 45 minutes while they gave away prizes.They gave away digital cameras,TVs,power tools,$50 walmart gift cards,$100 checks,Thermos,coolers,and much more.Sport Boat USA donated a Polar Kraft boat,which some lucky guy from Branson got the draw for that,dang it, I just knew that was gonna be mine.Missouri Lakes Bass club did an excellent job of keeping it all organized. My partner and I got 14th place with 13.18 lbs.Funny, when we weighed in we had 13.40 lbs but when they called up for our check they said 13.18 lbs,but it didn't matter because the place above us got the same money as we did.We caught 10 keepers and weighed 4 largemouth and 2 Smalljaws and fished 13,Mill Creek and Baxter areas.Just couldn't get a big fish to kick us up in weight. Thanks to Bill and Phil for all the info on Bass you have posted in the last 2 weeks,we put it all to good use,since I have only Bass fished twice in the last 3 years, I needed it.Thinking about doing it again next week!

Humm,seems its not to hard to get ole Babler going. Bill I think everyone would agree Smallies put on a good show but you said a Smallie would kick a Whites butt,and I just don't think that would be the case in a pulling contest.But I am glad you conceded at the end of your post (maybe the same braun).You might be right about more brains,thats why the Black Bass family is the most fished for species in the US,because they are so smart and hard to catch! I really thought I'd hear more about Ford,Chevy comment,oh well,everyone have a great week end its gonna be nice outside.I am going Perch jerking tommorow on TR,hope its cloudy and or windy.

Bill,don't think theres any way a Smallmouth(over grown perch) could kick a White basses(True Bass) tail in a head to head or tail to tail pulling contest.I know all you Bass fishermen (Perch jerkers)are very passionate about your fish,but since I (former Perch jerker)fish for all kinds of fish and have discovered that I was blinded for years by the adrenalin rush,beauty and aerial display (sometimes) that Smallmouth give you. I would be willing to bet (not really)lol for a free guide trip that I could get a 2 lb SM in before you could get a 2 lb male White bass in,both using 2 lb test and fishing in a normal current,say in James River. Poor ole White bass aern't that pretty,but when it comes to torque they are kinda like Fords over Chevys.

Thats a good bunch of fish in 2 hrs,I have several nephews that do that to me too! Is there any moss down in the dam area? we fished last weekend at Baxter and had trouble fishing rigs and even grubs.Huge strands of the stuff everywhere.We finally ran toward 13 and got out of some of it.Surely its not all the way up White river arm the way they been catching fish up there.

Wayne ,I was down there fishing Swan last Friday and caught 32 Whites,and you are right the fish I caught were either yearlings or bigger 3 year olds.You would think we would catch all sizes,seems 2005 was really a bad year for the Whites down there. From what I have seen there have been 3 runs of White bass up Swan this Spring,2 smaller ones in late March and early April and then last week which was bigger but still not near normal.The male to female ratio seemed like about 15/1.I left at about 9:00 PM and they were cutting circles and spawning as far as you could see up Swan under that bright moon and not that many fishermen after them.By Sunday evening I heard they were mostly gone.So maybe they had a really good spawn and will repopulate upper Bull.Swan looked great. I didn't take any home and had a blast catching them.

My brother called and says they have really started catching Walleye last night and tonight he walked the banks and talked to several he knows and they all had fish several in the 4-6 lb range.He has only caught short ones.One of the guys who works at the dam said he talked to 2 guys leaving at 3:30 am thursday mourning and they had 6 keepers.Both sides and get as close to the dam as you can,they were all throwing stick baits.

Wow, thats great Wildminnow,I was down there yesterday mourning and didn't do any good from the bank on River Run side,but I did see a boat down stream from the dam fishing the ledges about where the big rock is at,and he was catching something on about every drift.Maybe we are going to have a late run,hope so. What were you trolling with if you don't mind me asking,and did you try up in Swan.The thing about Swan is it can have nothing in the mourning and then that evening can be packed with fish.People that don't live down there rely on reports and word of mouth.Glad to hear a good report.

Went over Swan yesterday mourning and there were hundreds of Buffalo (the fish) in the mouth.They were all in the 4-5 pound range and from a distance looked alot like White Bass.I wonder if they would be any good smoked or pressure cooked.I thought about grabbing some and takeing them to Beeson,I heard he would try anything once!!Kinda like Mikey. The water in Swan didn't look so good,had alot of soapy looking bubbles floating.I'm not even going to report how I did fishing,too embarrassed.I guess I need to forget about Swan and start going to Roark creek, huh ,who would have thought. I was fishing at Powersite early.