hank franklin

My buddies and I have been jawing some about the possible weight of my fish. We never weighed it. Most are saying it must have went 6 pounds minimum. I feel that's a stretch, probably closer to 5 lbs. It was 21 inches, possibly 21-1/4 from tip of nose to tail pushed together. Girth was 12.5 inches. I took these measurements and also many photos for a possible replica mount. IN any case I did some googling and 21 inch, 12.5 girth seems to equate to close to 6 pounds. However I'm still not buying it. Seems once before on this board I saw a more accurate chart that would put a fish this size in the 5 lb range. Any pointers appreciated!

White fluke. I'm kind of like those bicyclists who go single speed these days. I used to throw everything, now I just throw the white fluke.

I haven't been on the board much nor have I been fishing much. But yesterday I got into one. Measured 21 inches straight up. It's probably been said here previously but one blessing of the drought is the jet boats can't run the river much. So we had the river to ourselves yesterday. And the fish were biting!

The whole elk thing is stupidity. All about politics, nothing about conservation. Experiments in "conservation." Adventures in politics. Stupid stupid stupid.

There's a creek entry just below Bird's Nest with a small scour hole under a log at the entry. Throw something there.

I've used foam blocks with no incidents for years. The key is just to get the straps tight. Been down I-44 many a trip with nary a wiggle (okay maybe one small wiggle). A rack is preferable for sure but the foam blocks are a fraction of the cost and treat me just fine. Main downside is you can scratch your truck with gunwales, thwarts etc touching down on top of cab when loading it. If you're proud of your truck then you probably have money to buy the rack. My truck is a beater and I think of the scratches like wrinkles or gray hairs. Give it character.

Black River, for sure. When I buy gin I'm make sure it's "Black River clear."

6lb test with medium or ML rod. I tried 8 lb test but couldn't cast as well and with same action on lighter lures. 4 lb is definitely too light.

Fines. Simple. A friend I know killed a buck with three points on one side. He did it by mistake but it was done. He was transporting the deer when as bad luck would have it an agent got right behind him. The agent pulled into a gas station and checked the deer, it was short. Bingo, fine. My friend who is an ethical hunter will think three times (not twice) before pulling the trigger on his next suspect buck. The MDC simply needs to spend some time on the Meramec during gigging season. If violations are found fine them. End of story. My personal feeling is MDC either doesn't care about poached gigged bass, or they are scared of taking on giggers. It is their job however and thanks to Al's research and others the problem is very well documented. Where are you MDC?

Al, Danforth is "your Grandpa's conservative" and the kind we need more of. I feel if Meramec Dam was proposed again today it would be Repubs for / Dems against. Repubs would talk about ec dev and Dems would cry foul on environmental grounds. Of course all the environmentalists are wackos so the Repubs would rally to try to crush them. In doing so they would be on the side of the Corps of Engineers and Big Government, the same Corps that blew the Birds Point levee and flooded most all of the middle Missouri River last summer. This may be (hopefully is) overly simplistic, as it's hard to imagine Repubs supporting the massive land grab that the dam would require. But money talks and if the price was right you never know. eric1978, I am conservative by nature and politically moderate but have moved right in recent years primarily because of personal dealings with the federal government. It is upside down and out of control and truly I believe an enemy of the people. I am on the side of those who want to quash it. I don't have the time nor energy to debate and discuss. State government (Missouri at least) is generally quite good. The federal government however is a monster. Both parties are responsible for this but only a true conservative vision will correct it. Danforth for president!

The Meramec truly is one of God's great creations. Being so close to where I live I used to sniff at it for a while and spent my time for a while on the Current, Piney or points further south. In recent years I've returned to the Meramec and the stretches near the park, Onondaga, further up near the spring, are among the most high-value stretches anywhere in the Ozarks. Sublime. Even though I was raised on the Bourbeuse, (weekends at least) I've always thought that if you HAD to have a dam, the Bourbeuse might have been ok. I don't really know the Bourbeuse dam back story very well but if you're going to destroy a section of river the Bourbeuse might have been worth the sacrifice. That's kind of a sacrilege coming from me, but the recreational qulaity of the Bourbeuse is second-rate compared to the Meramec. Having said that, as I said from my perspective today I am frankly amazed at the complete government trespass that this project represents. And, as usual, it's disappointing to see discussions devolve into some kind of political argument, L's vs' C's or whatever. I'm a very solid C who also, gasp!, believes in conservation. There is nothing conservative about dam-building. Though I was not attuned to the politics of the 70's, it appears there was some L vc. C going on back then. Would it be the same today? Almost certainly. That's what's disappointing, that a true people's resource--the river and the wildlife and all the bounty that comes with it--could become a political football, pitting the dreaded L's vs. C's. Shouldn't we ALL fight off the government when it comes to take your river, not to mention the land beside it? If Dill and the others resorted to dirty tricks to fend off the government who could blame them? I would fight to the death too. Conservation is one area on which L's and C's should generally agree. Conservation is a legitimate purpose of government and while I don't like government takings and useless and flat-stupid regulations, we do need reasonable laws to protect our resources. One of the great beauties of the Meramec is that it is a mix of public and privately owned land--you have magnificent public parks, some rather robust private businesses (Oz Outdoors and others), your large heritage farms and then that most beautiful of Meramec creations, the clubhouse! Grandpas and kids and the grandkids and the neighbors and the cousins and the rugrats grilling and tipping a few and throwing horseshoes on a sweet summer evening. Trotlines by evening. Ask anyone at a July party on the river if the river ain't the greatest thing God ever invented and to a man they'll all say "yup." And chances are most of them would vote against any dam L who tries to tell them what they ought to do with it. As it should be. At the same time we don't have the great river we have without some of the gov't initiatives to help protect it, CRP, soil-water districts, stream teams even. There needs to be a little bit of government when it comes to conservation, emphasis on "little bit." Protect the resource! I think we can all agree on that. I'll try to stop while I'm ahead. I am sick of the massive gov't intrusions of both political parties. Period. We have got to get back to small limited gov't by, of and for the people. Yes the Meramec dam vote saved a precious precious resource. It also kept big government out of our neighborhood. Hooray, and hallelujah! This was a monumental win for the people. Come on down to the river sometime and we can have a beer over it.

Mr. Skeeter, I wouldn't advocate buying up any property, period. In hindsight I question why the government was involved at all. For what purpose?

I live in Franklin County and was 12 the year of the vote. Most of my family was for it because of the supposed economic development potential. I was against it mainly because I didn't think we needed to be LOZ east. I didn't really thoroughly understand the value of the river resource but I did understand how the development would change the character of the region, and I basically thought we were fine they way we were. The visions of economic development grandeur I thought were snake oil. Going forward I now see it for the massive government intrusion that it was. Buying up property and destroying high value environmental resources for what purpose exactly? Flood control? Buy up the properties that might get flooded instead. Recreation? The river is a recreation mecca. Hydroelectric? Good luck with that. Flood control is probably the worst justification of all. Ask people in Northwest Missouri how the Corps' Missouri River Flood Control is working. It's terrible policy and a great example of how we think we are bigger than nature. Go tell the river that we can "control" floods. The river will laugh at you, time and time and time again.

Beautiful.

Where I come from fish and wildlife are king, everyone knew the local MDC agent ("game warden" back then) and a poacher was THE LOWEST OF THE LOW. You could drink and smoke, drive too fast, cuss, and, okay, on occasion shoot your .22 at something you shouldn't. But poaching was just OFF LIMITS. We knew a few guys with reputations as poachers and they were bad news and unwelcome. That's why I have such a hard time believing that bass gigging on the Meramec has become such a problem. I still think it's just a few bad apples, but maybe times have changed. Then you read a story like this and you start wondering if poaching at least in some circles is "the norm." If so it's pretty sick and twisted.

I am jonesing to do the Meramec from Bourbeuse confluence down to Castlewood maybe. I am also looking to get back on the Missouri, Jeff City to Hermann.

I love the Meramec trout water, I just never catch any fish there.

Al, I hadn't heard that stuffed mailbox story. If true, wow, that's way over the top and needs MDC investigation. I've gigged the Meramec with extended family and friends and no one I've been with would even THINK of intentionally gigging a smallmouth. Aide from being illegal it's just NOT COOL and the "good guys" just don't do it. Period. No doubt there are some bad guys and it appears from your experience and others that smallmouth are being targeted. IN this regard then absolutely MDC needs to step up enforcement, which frankly wouldn't be that difficult. Dedicate a crew to sweeping certain river sections on select evenings and go from there. Just like this "mistaken ID" is pure BS, so is the "no funds for enforcement." MDC can direct or shift resources if need be. Sounds like they haven't and now they 've got a problem on their hands.

LOVE. Thanks for posting, watched the whole thing.

I know I am late to this thread but is there ANYONE here who thinks the current statewide 12 length six creel limit should stand? ANYONE? It is quite frustrating to think we have documented angler support, excellent support from the MSA and others who have spent real time and energy on this, and yet we have a decades-old reg that does nothing to value the smallmouth bass in Missouri. Smallmouth bass apart from the SMAs are treated no different than largemouth and IMO are basically second-class citizens. Missouri has spent huge resources on trout and deer (good for them) but smallmouth have not reached that prized status. If I was Missouri Smallmouth Alliance leadership I might change strategies and try to get the smallmouth more valued by the state. For whatever reason it is not a valued species. OTF and others, I agree a day on the water is its own prize. But that feeling comes with maturity and a lot of experience in the wilderness. A kid just learning to shoot wants to see deer, he'll learn the appreciation for the fine points later. A kid learning to fish streams wants to catch fish, and yr d-mn right the bigger the fish the bigger the impression. Why all this fighting and cussing on this issue is beyond me, WE WANT BETTER FISHING. For MDC to sit on its hands and do nothing, or very little, to promote and protect smallmouth, is inexcusable. We need a 21st century regulation that reflects smallmouth as a prized species and the overwhelming support of anglers for more protective regs. I have NO IDEA frankly what the best reg may be, just that it needs to be MORE PROTECTIVE. Duh. Missouri has deer hunting that is the envy of many many states. Trout fishing is very strong. My number one outdoor interest is float fishing the smallmouth streams, and truly this activity does not enjoy the MDC focus like the others do. That's what irritates me. If I had a few minutes with Robert Ziehmer I'd try to pound home this point. I guess this board for now is the best I can do.

Al, just to clarify, is there a new smallmouth reg now under development in MDC? Following the survey and the newer staff research, has there been a directive from Ziehmer or the Commission to work on a new reg based on results of the survey and science? I think of new smallmouth regs in the context of the 4-point rule. Hunters want bigger bucks. Surveys and the hunter orgs showed support. MDC says fine, develop a new reg. Now we have 4-pt rule. I personally don't like the rule but it's the law. New smallmouth reg is similar. Surveys show support for bigger fish. Fishing groups support as well. MDC should say OK, draft a new reg. Not everyone will like it but it will be based on angler input and science. Al, maybe result of recent smallmouth survey and science is new reg development in MDC. On this point I am unclear. If you have info on this please share. Thanks

OK, there's 70% support in MDC survey, science that says fish numbers decline after 12 inches, support from the top smallmouth org in the state. So Ziehmer needs to tell his staff, develop a new reg and bring it to the Commission, put it out for comment. See what comes of it. Simple. Dan and Al, forgive me if I've missed something but to date no actual draft reg has been brought to the Commission? Is there a draft reg under development in MDC, with directive to bring to Commission when complete? If not there should be.

Wow, haven't been on here in a while, what madness. Great info Al, thanks.

I agree, don't overcook. But I also think with bass you can undercook too. If undercooked the fish doesn't "set up" so to speak. BUt don't overcook, hate it when the edges get chewy. Another little simple thing: Cheap 39 cent breakfast biscuits fried in oil. Drop 'em in, they balloon right up. Basically a fried donut. Don't overcook, they'll burn.

Good thread. I like to keep it simple. Hot oil, Andy's breading, and filet o spotted bass. Wet the fillets, drop in Andy's in a bag, shake and drop in oil. Fry till they float. Key ingredient: Hot sauce! Just a little. This is almost always on a gravel bar, which is part of why we go simple. If at home, put on white bread. Learned this from a friend in rural Ohio. Fried catfish with a squirt of hot sauce on white bread. Soul food, he called it. Andy's is not my favorite breading by the way. A while back my grocery store carried "hillbilly breading" or something similar. Made in the Ozarks. Anybody hear of it? They stopped carrying it and the store owner said he wasn't sure where it come from.