Buzz

Great report Wader....It sounds like persistence paid off. I love those big blow ups. It nearly makes your heart stop. And those spinnerbait fish are nice too. I love it when they are on the spinnerbait, one of my all time favorite baits and also one of the most versatile baits you can use.

I never thought about it before but, I've had a few just disappear from the fly. It wasn't above the eye and it didn't look like it was possible that it could have slid off the back. I didn't buy them at BPS, I bought them at Southtown Bait and Tackle in Joplin. There is no brand name on the package so I can't be any help there. I can say that I have lost more to fish and rocks than I have to them blowing up or disintegrating.

Thanks for the refresher Al. The first time I ever saw this attempted it was on a Bill Dance episode. He hooked himself in the hand with a crankbait. After showing how to make the line to pull it out he gave it a pull but the hook did not come out. From the look on his face I think he may have peed a little. He did manage to get the hook out on the second attempt, although he was bleeding profusely by then.

Dude, you have no idea. Rant away. We should all question our government and it's actions and or inactions.

I could take offense to that Wrench, , but I won't. I do know that there was an interesting stocking in Capp's Creek back in January that was all browns, somewhere around 600-700 fish. They usually stock browns in the Fall, but I don't think it is nearly that many. When I asked about it, it was suggested to me that it had something to do with the flood last year and the drop in numbers of Rainbows available. Dunno. I also wonder about the actual numbers of fish stocked, but this year I think I have an inside contact that will help out with that, at least for our local WR fishing. Buzz ( Kyle Buzzard )

I'm not surprised at all by the obvious TYPO. Most of our elected officials don't take the time to read any of these bills and amendments that they vote on. They have their staff read and tell them what it said. So this is what I think happened........... All of the staffers are morons and said " You know it's the stuff that they make those Styrofoam coolers out of." So they all sat down and said, "We can't have that stuff littering our beautiful streams." The law was born. These guys are all a little bit lazy IMO.

I do believe we should plan another trip to Crane soon, it has been a while since we've been down. Like Chief said, we always stop and spend a few dollars each when we are in town. As far as letting them know why we are there, I think they know by how we are dressed, LOL, but just in case I'll remind them of the great little resource that they have.

Good report Wily. I'm glad the kids had fun. Also glad that the undercliff is out of the canoe rental business. I fished in that area today and did pretty good also. I caught fish on poppers, buzzbaits and jig and soft craws. All largemouth, not a goggle-eye in the bunch, although I did jump off a couple of good brownies. Buzz

That reminds me of a story........... Kansas has different laws than Missouri, so this really blew my mind, and then I LMAO. There is a wealthy landowner, not too far across the state line of Missouri and Kansas on Shoal Creek, who has always harrassed floaters and fishermen. He has strung barbedwire and the whole nine yards. He has even reportedly fired shots over the heads of floaters passing his property. The last time he tried that stunt, the guys in the canoe picked up a .22 and fired a few back at him. I haven't heard of anymore stupidity out of him lately.

Or.................An application process that allows you to apply for an evaluation of a certain stream or stretch of stream to determine if it fits the criteria of a navigable stream ( Yeah I know, who is going to make that determination? ). I'm not talking about the old standbys, but something that actually fits the times that we live in NOW, TODAY. Most of the creeks and streams we are talking about are not ever going to turn into the party streams like the Elk, Jacks Fork, Current, and far too many others to mention. JMO Thanks for the idea OTF. Buzz

Nice brownie Al. Well, I decided to give your top water advice a go today. I dug out a popper that I had used in the past but had never caught a fish on it. I had made a few casts in some moving water with no response. I moved to a fork in the creek with some slower moving water and a nice shady spot under an overhanging tree. I cast the plug up under the tree and began the walk the dog popping action. The bait moved about 5 feet when I saw the bass shoot out and inhale it just before it cleared the shady spot. It was a great take and a nice largemouth on the end of the line. That was the only bite I had on the popper, but I will definitely try this method in the clear streams. I didn't mention it, but the fish came out of Shoal Creek. I didn't land any smallmouth, but jumped off two that would have been decent. I did catch several more largemouth, all well above keeper size, on soft plastic crawdad, and buzzbait. The only difference was that I couldn't buy a bite with a smaller buzzbait. They went crazy over the big thumper though. Buzz

Thanks Al. After reading that, I think I need to get a few more top water sputtering baits. I have all of the rest of them except for your homemade baits. I'll give your advice a try next time I float. I have been having a little harder time with the topwater bite this year than last. Buzz

Nice report Wader. I fished a spinnerbait last weekend on the Big Sugar and didn't have a lot of hits, but the ones that did hit were good sized fish. Two largemouth at about 2 lbs. each and one big goggle-eye. I know they are two different types of water so that doesn't really mean a whole lot. Bottom line is that, I almost always have a spinnerbait tied on. I like to throw the big SB's in the deeper water and bounce them off of the big rocks and every log I can throw to. I'll use the smaller SB's in the shallower water and usually work them a little faster. Good luck with the experiment. Buzz

Except for the Mexicans and Rednecks. No disrespect to anyone. I've been called a Redneck and my wife is a quarter Mexican.

I voted fluro. Like many posts before mine, different applications are needed at different times. Sometimes mono, sometimes fluro, and sometimes a furled leader in either mono or thread with either a mono or fluro tippet. Really just depends on what you like best. I try to have some of each.

I know I won't forget this trip. It was a pleasure having both KC and Weston in my boat. A little back story: Weston had brought a pretty well stocked tackle box with him and asked me about some of the baits that he had. He pointed out a fresh package of gold (ish ) colored tubes, and wanted to fish them. I showed him how to insert the tube jig (correctly) and even showed him how to tie a polymar knot so he wouldn't lose too much of the line strength. The boy walked over to a place you probably wouldn't even have considered fishing and caught 2 fish back to back. After watching him catch a couple more fish, I noticed that he was just swimming the bait back to him and the smallmouth were hammering it. Several fish later he broke off and wanted to change to a different lure, I told him he should stick with it because it was doing good and I thought he would catch a big fish soon. Not too long after that he did catch the good sized fish pictured in the earlier posts.

I've always wanted to take a dog fishing but just haven't done it yet. Nice fish. I agree, we do need to start planning a get together.

I gotta get me some of them tubes.

It is a great creek. It's become one of my favorites. It's loaded with smallmouth and goggle-eye, with the occasional largemouth thrown in. It is a very clean and clear creek. What I like about it is that you can catch the smallmouth on everything from grubs to spinnerbaits. It's just a great fishing experience. Thanks for the post and pics Fishin'. Hey Chief and KC, I think it's time to hit it again soon. Buzz

I've been waiting for those pics. Those boys look like they were having a blast. I'm sure you had a good time too. What did you catch that pond fish on? Man I want to get back on that one again. Thanks for the pics. Buzz

Ok. So, I didn't think I would see that pic of that small fish. Anyway, it was a good float. Very nice, with big chunk rocks in the deeper holes and some really nice fast runs. I didn't catch a lot of fish, but I did catch more smallmouth than anything. I caught them mostly on crawdad crankbaits, both large and small, and some soft plastic craws. I really hate to admit it but , the cranks were working pretty good.

Glad you enjoyed your trip down to our neck of the woods. Looks like it was worth the drive. Buzz

I'm glad to hear you all had a good time on your trips. We missed you at the stream clean up, but I figured you were out of town on your vacation. Was that big bass as big as that catfish you caught? We'll have to do it again before summer is over. I'll get in touch with you when I've got some more time off during the week.

Very cool. I would be very interested in seeing those pics of the streams. Spreading trout around the world, good for them.

The one tool I would have to have is my hemos, which I use for both trout and smallmouth.