Brian Jones

I hope they expand the Big River management area all the freaking way to Council Bluff dam. All the local butchers who used to float the entire river are now focusing on the area between Cedar Creek and Leadwood and pounding the stretch pretty hard; especially since we've had an unbelievably wet summer.

I really have no facts to back this up aside from my own observations but I believe that most of the motorheads came to the river 8 to 10 years ago when it got too expensive for them to hang with the big dogs at the Lake. They can come to the river and be big fish in a small pond so to speak. That's the good thing about drought years; the big boats are limited to where they can run and are generally restricted to the lowermost sections of the river. Though I currently run a 115 on our river boat, I wish there would have been some foresight and horsepower restrictions put in place as jet boats were coming on to the scene instead of letting the genie out of the bottle and not being able to rein it in.

A friend of mine who has fished the middle and lower Meramec since the mid 80's theorizes that not only is the river filling in but that the water table has actually dropped. He has shown me places where concrete steps that use to be at water level are now 18 to 24 inches from the water; even in wet years. Could it be that we are pulling more water out of the river and it's watershed through more wells being drilled and people living and developing the watershed and that is having an effect on the river getting shallower??

Which, unfortunately, is EXACTLY why I carry. No law enforcement presence generally means no respect for the law.

If something did go wrong in that situation there'd be one less alcoholic, dope smoking, graffiti tagging, poaching litter bug to deal with. What's wrong with that???

Been going on since 1989 I believe; which is before most of us-with the exception of Al-were even fishing the Meramec. Therefore any and all talk about how detrimental this once a year tournament is to the overall fishery is purely speculation.

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/nixa-man-dies-after-snake-bites-him-twice-while-in-the-james-river/21048998_33223088

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/sewage-spilling-into-gasconade-river-draws-concerns-from-fishermen/21048998_32521018 WeeksHollow.pdf

Forgive me for getting further off topic, but isn't there a cave on the top of Pilot Knob called the "devil's ice box"?? Didn't a kid get trapped in there back in the mid to late 80's and end up losing a limb in the rescue? Seems I remember this happening, and that Reader's Digest had an article about it in their publication. But every time I search the internet for info, I find nothing.

sold pending funds

SOLD

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Father in law used to catch a bunch of good smallies on the rapala's as well as the old floater/diver rogues. Remember one day on Mineral Fork years ago that he absolutely wore the smallmouth out with a firetiger rogue.

One of my all time favorite SNL skits and I've been 100 percent sober for 100 percent of my life. We are all humored by different things........

Boat ramp courtesy is a thing of of the past; along with most other manners, etiquette, and courtesies in our present day narcissistic world.............

The Midge oreno is another great smallmouth bait from yesteryear.

Shannon twin spin. Always has caught fish and I assume always will.

I saw the video of your trip with Bill on his facebook page. Looked like a great trip.

Quality fishing water OR quality lakes??? There is a ton of quality fishing water within an hours drive or so of StL. It just may not be impounded.

My two big issues with gigging are length of season and lack of enforcement. If enforcement were better, then I would have no issue with the length of the season. There's no doubt in my mind that what happened in Ripley County also takes place on other Ozark rivers and could be largely curtailed with better enforcement and harsher penalties. Anyone who has fished much in the fall or winter has undoubtly caught smallmouth and other game fish with gig marks or open wounds on them as a result of being stuck and shaken off of a gig. The problem I see with limiting gigging on trophy smallmouth water are the length of them. Generally speaking the trophy smallmouth areas tend to be longer in length than the trophy trout areas. Take Big River for example. The trophy smallmouth area pretty much extends the entire river. Though fine by me, if that were to happen it would limit the area that a person could gig to basically a couple of small sections of river around and upstream from Leadwood. Also, not trying to pick a fight or argue but accidentally sticking a game fish is no different than someone shooting a spike buck thinking it was a doe. Though both happen, neither are acceptable. One of the ten commandments of firearms/hunter safety is positively identifying your target. That should apply to gigging as well.

I use Bass Pro's XPS rod in a medium action for throwing jerkbaits and would recommend it to anyone. Have also used it for topwaters as well.

I've had an 844 GL3 for years. It is stout and I rarely use it anymore since getting away from throwing bigger jigs. Anymore I'd rather throw something with a little more tip. Would actually sell it if someone was interested.

I saw that swan back in October in the slough by the bamboo patch. When I was out there on December 13th, it was in the hole above the yacht club.

SHHHH!!!!!!

Fished on the middle Meramec Saturday for about 6 hours and had a pretty good outing. I wanted to get one more trip in before the bottom fell out and the water got too cold for me to catch them. Put in at 10:00 and was back at the ramp a little after 4:00. Caught 9 bass over 12"; mostly largemouths with 2 of them just a tad over two pounds. Also caught 8 crappie and ended up bringing five of them home. Of the ones I kept, they ranged from 10" to just shy of 13". Water temp was 44-45.