Brian Jones

I'll pass as usual. Have never faired well at games of chance. I'll enjoy a peaceful weekend on some other body of water in the state since most of the hard core anglers will be at the bash...........

first timer.....................................

I had all of my "floating" rods with me Al which are six footers and pretty much had them positioned all day they way that you see them in the pic. One of the problems is that I am severely left handed and when I would make a "back handed" cast across my body to fish something on my right, I would often snag the rod that was situated over my right shoulder. A couple of times I almost pulled it out of the boat. There would have been room to lay it to the right of me; letting it rest on the seat and the back thwart. But that is where I laid my three foot "steering paddle" and there wasn't enough room there for both.

Based on the current river conditions at Jerome, If you're an above average jet boater in a smaller boat you should be able to run up 4-5 miles above Boiling Springs with minimal difficuty. Then the river is going to make a hard right and run along a mud bank. At the top of the mud bank, the river makes a hard left and that's when the running will get sketchy. If you haven't been through already, I wouldn't recommend that you try it at these water levels. Don't think I'd try the run up from Clearwater either. Gonna be a pretty busy weekend on the water everywhere.

Posting merely for those who hadn't seen it yet. http://www.emissourian.com/local_news/county/officials-discuss-bourbeuse-river-dam/article_0775fa26-e169-56d3-bbb2-846ecd2b72c7.htm

No bar scene for this guy mr. snagged..........

That sounds like something my grandfather would have said. Always trying to tear me down........Just like Joe....................... Maybe I'm an over achiever.........

Joe: I stopped caring about other people's opinions of my wardrobe 25 years ago. As far as the arms; consider this an official challenge to a bicep curl contest anytime you're feeling pretty good about yourself........... Also, a man your age shouldn't be staying up so late reading and posting on a silly internet message board......

Not at all smallie. If you'll recall, I got off to a rocky start with this rig (http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/topic/53157-solo-craft-update/?#comment-437480) and I solicited and received a lot of good advice from members of this forum as well as a couple of others. Most pack owners suggested that I move the seat forward and one on another site even said that he had widened his which really increased stability. So I crafted a new seat and two new thwarts out of some 5/4 ash that a local sawmill owner had given me. I positioned the seat about six inches to the back of center and centered the new thwarts half way between the seat and the ends of the canoe. I was also able to spread it out a little over 2 inches making it 34 1/2 inches wide at the center. When I took the "practice float" in it a month or so ago, the front pushed water leading me to think that maybe I had the seat too far forward. However, with the cooler positioned in the back as shown in the pic, the boat appears to be fairly well balanced and didn't seem to be nose heavy or push water. Other than initial stability entering or exiting the boat in knee deep water (which Gavin warned me about) floating in this rig wasn't all that different than in the old Alumacraft Camper tandem. In fact, it was probably some better. Wasn't sure how high to set mine so I went with the same height as the original seat, sat the folding seat on top, took it down to the pond and paddled it around. Felt good so I came back to the house and fastened it permanently. Gonna store the boat inside underneath our garage so it will never be in the weather except when I'm floating. I like it Chief. Looked all over for one of them back in January and couldn't find one new or used anywhere. Even begged siusaluki to sell me one of his at one point. As I originally said, I still have some tinkering to do with mine; especially when it comes to organization. I also had too many rods Saturday. Took five with me and though I used them all at some point only two did most of the work. So I'm gonna scale that back to three-maybe four at the most. One other thing. After nine hours my shoulders were shot. In fact, it took a couple of rounds of Aleve and most of Saturday evening before they started feeling good again. So I doubt I do any super long or overnight floats that would require me to carry much gear or a super big cooler.

What irony.............................

Back in the day, this was my favorite float on the river but I think I'd only fished it twice in the past 15 years. This stretch was one of the reasons I had purchased a solo craft and up until that big August rain I thought that a trip this summer had eluded me. Long story short; I floated 9 hours. Had 21 "keepers" split almost 50/50 between largemouths and smallmouths. Probably caught another 20 or so shorts but wasn't keeping track of them. Of the "keepers", 7 of them were over 15 inches including a 15, 2-16s, a 17 and 18 inch smallies. Two of the many positives of the day: the 18 inch smallie had a pretty fresh hook mark in his upper lip; a definite sign that at least some of the others who float this stretch are starting to buy into C&R fishing. Also, in the excitement and rush to get on the water, I went off and left my truck unlocked at the take out point. Not a thing in it was missing or tampered with when I got back. First pic is one that my wife took after dropping me off at the put in. Pic of my "nused" Old Town pack that I purchased in February. This was the first float I'd ever made by myself and I absolutely loved it. Still have a few kinks to work out and HAVE to get better organized. But I now understand why so many on here enjoy their solo rigs so much. I may never float in a tandem canoe again.. A couple of runs through this stretch of river A road block....... Though not the best, here are some pics of the better smallies I caught. I definitely need a little more practice with this new camera...

Show off.................................... Mr. Wally is en fuego.

Years ago, my parents bought their first brand new car; a 1990 Chevy Corsica. A few weeks later, Mom and Dad were out running around and decided to stop in a sporting goods store in Pevely. Parked next to them when they came out of the store was a freshly restored 1967 Black Mustang convertible. As my dad went around to get in the car he notices a black ding in the left front fender that wasn't there when he went in. Instantly angry, he opens the passenger door of the mustang to see if it fits the ding. Unfortunately for the owner, it's an exact match. Discovering this, he loses his mind. He closed the door of the mustang so hard that it broke the latch. He then mule kicked the panel on the door completely in, pulled the mirror off the winshield and was climbing onto the hood when my Mom was able to get control of him and back into the car and out of town. Nothing ever really came of the outburst as this was before most retail stores had surveilance cameras and especially outside ones. But the incident taught me two valuable lessons: One, park away from other vehicles when possible and 2, be careful when getting in and out of my vehicle when forced to park in close quarters............................. Moral of the story: every once in a while, "the center of the universe syndrome" comes with a price to pay.................

You really think so Smallie?????? You mean that an employee of a government agency would feed a line of BS to a taxpayer???????? What in the hades is this world coming to?????? Read 5, 6, 7, and 8 if you really want some entertaining responses............... Pretty sure that the only reason the MDC hosted those meetings was to bait concerned anglers into arguments that they could win. Regarding the fishing above Bluffview; have at it. I have several buddies with lake boats who fish down there in the winter and their best days are VERY average compared to the winter smallie fishing on the 'mec. I'll stick to the 'mec and its solitude in the winter and leave the merry go round at Bluff View to the poor saps that don't have river runners..................

Read line 3.

ba dum tss

Great fish and good report. Congrats. But with all due respect, saying Meramec tributary and then posting a pic of a fish laying in the bottom of a jet boat kinda takes away the anonymity.

Al, is the number of spots that you caught more, less, or about normal for that stretch of river?

I don't. I've fallen out of the boat and tore up more equipment (i.e. trolling motor shafts and transducers) in muddy water than I ever have in low clear water. I don't have to fish so badly that I have to fish muddy water. It isn't worth the headaches anymore.......

Airboats are loud and obnoxious; very similar to frat boy power drinkers in their 20s......................

This is not a thread to bash the MDC. As one can see from reading the attached article, they did their job. Shame on the Jefferson County Prosecutor's office for basically letting a convicted felon off the hook, as well as House Agriculture Policy Committee chair Jay Houghton and the rest of the House Agriculture Policy Commitee for being turds and killing a bill that would have increased penalties of convicted poachers. VERY DISAPPOINTING............... http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2016/05/27/missouri-poacher-fined-only-9950-killing-black-bear/84986704/

Also, as Wrench has mentioned before, I wouldn't buy any used outboard without first checking the compression.

There's not a boat made that can run as shallow as a jet boat needs to be able to run and yet still take on the choppy conditions of a lake. That being said, our 1752 SS handles the choppy water of the lake better than our 1650 Alumacraft did. I think it has to do with the longer rake which changes where the wakes hit the SS as opposed to the shorter rake of the Alumacraft. As Seth said, though you'll gain some improvement in ride with a mod v, you're not going to get the ride of a glass boat from any aluminum flat bottom or mod v river runner. I wouldn't be afraid to run our 1752 on any of the lakes you mentioned if the conditions were right. But I'd definitely not try it on a summer weekend; nor at anytime would I get more than five or six miles from my put in.

Not all of these are fishing areas but all are great places to explore the outdoors. St. Joe State Park by Park Hills, St. Francois State Park just north of Bonne Terre, Elephant Rocks, Johnson Shut ins, Taum Sauk Mountain, Fort Davidson, Red Bluff, Meramec State Park.