Bittle

bump.......anybody?

Does anybody know if you can bowfish below the truman dam? And how has the fishing been?

This description was pulled off a website. The wader is an essential element to the fishing arsenal, giving you the freedom to move from lawn casting tight loops to a first-class fishing addiction in no time. The Simms Blackfoot™ is a value standout, providing a lightweight, puncture resistant package built to outlast several seasons of falls, thorns, storms, and big rewards. Features - Adjustable elastic suspenders Straight leg seam construction with articulated knees Gusseted crotch for enhanced mobility Built-in belt loop Improved abrasion-resistant material for more durable built-in gravel guards 3-layer Toray® QuadraLam™ Technology Approximate weight: 36 oz Blackfoot Wader Size Chart Men's Sizes Largest Girth (chest, waist or hips) Inseam (crotch to floor) Stockingfoot S 35" - 36" 31" - 32" 7 - 8 M 39" -40" 33"- 34" 9 - 11 MK 41" -42" 33"- 34" 9 - 11 L (9 - 11) 43" - 44" 33" - 34" 9 - 11 LK 45" - 46" 33" - 34" 9 - 11 XL 47" - 48" 35" - 36" 12 - 13 XXL 51" - 52" 35" - 36" 12 - 13 * These are body measurements This is a used pair of waders that have been in the water at most ten times. They have no holes, no leaks, no patches and are in like new condition. They are size Large and come with the original box and wading belt. I am asking for $100 because they are in such good condition. I really enjoyed these waders except the boot foot was too small for me. I had to go up to the XL size which I just received in the mail. These waders originally sell for $200.00 but you can find them for $150 new. I am located in St. Louis and would be willing to meet you somewhere centrally located. If I need to ship I would have to calculate the shipping cost. I'm in no hurry to sell these so if I don't get any bites on here I might try Amazon or Ebay. I will be traveling to the Branson area on the 31st of January and could bring them that way if necessary.

Was wondering if it would be worth the trip from St. Louis to fish or not.

I didn't know that there was a thread for areas like this so my report is a little dated. A buddy and I fished the lake on 7-19. We used my canoe and ran quite a bit of the lake. I fished a bit before he got there and caught one bass on a spinnerbait off a log in a couple feet of water. Picked up my buddy and he started throwing a senko and hooked a fish that we were able to see but got off at the boat. I would guess in the three pound range. We fished the canal system where we did the best. We picked up a fish here and there and had some long distance releases. The bait of choice was a white and blue spinnerbait bounced off of the brush. I ended up catching about 5 and my buddy caught about 3. Most of his were on a watermelon texas rigged worm. All the fish were fat and healthy. I wish this lake had some bank that was somewhat deep. Everything is eroding and the bank fishing is really shallow. If you can find cover in deeper water, I would guarantee it holds fish. Does anybody know of any deeper brush or structure on the lake? Is there any sort of lake map to show you these things or contour changes? Anyway it was my first time fishing there and I will probably be back. I hear the lake has crappie. I wouldn't know as I didn't hook anything on smaller jigs except one bluegill. I did notice lots and lots of baitfish swimming around. And with that came lots and lots of gar. Anybody have any other fishing advice on this pond?

Good to know slider. I was thinking about making the trip myself. Were you fishing after dark? Were they running any water?

Have you tried fishing the warm water side for any of those fish?

Do you have anything in a swimming minnow pattern? I'm looking for a 3 inch swimming minnow in silver. If this is something you could do I would be interested.

Monday two friends and I made it Below the dam at about 1130am. We started on the east side on the rocks below the fence. I started throwing swimming minnows and had a limit of crappie in a couple of hours. Another friend of mine had his limit just shortly after I did. The third guy only managed six i believe. He just couldn't get the hang of it. I kept only ten inches or better. Had a few close to 12. I saw three hybrids caught on topwater when we arrived. But I couldn't get any takers. We went to get some food and when we returned the Amish had taken over the rocks. We fished down near the handicap pier. I landed a 13 pound catfish that rounded out the night. The rainstorm ran us off the water just before dark, in the prime time of fishing really. We had our rain gear and was ready to fish it out but the wind just wouldn't let you cast very well. Tuesday we got down there about 8 and started on the same rock pile. I caught two white bass and one keeper crappie before moving down stream. We moved down closer to the slack water and started picking up crappie again. We kept about 25 or 30 fish on this day between the three of us. Had a good time and wanted to stay longer but work calls. I did hook a large carp and landed it on 6 pound line. I attached a picture. I enjoy fishing the tailwaters....quite the melting pot.

How is it that they will choke on corn but can eat other things the same size with no ill affects? Doesn't seem logical to me. I'm not saying your wrong, I would just like an explanation is all.

If I didn't have to go back to St Louis we probably could.

I know I should almost expect it but your right.....times are changing.

Sorry this is a late report but since I made it back home I have been busy at work and with the kid. Here it is. Sunday 4-7 Put in at Bridgeport with my brother and his wife. My mission this day was to put out some trot lines to get me fishing for some catfish. We dabbled around catching bluegill and tried our hand at some crappie at a few spots. We ended the day with five or six crappie and one or two white bass. All the crappie we caught were above the Flat Creek and James River Split. We caught some on both rivers. The fish we shallow. We caught some on flats and some on brush close to spawning areas. I caught no fish on the bluffs, and we tried. Monday 4-8 Dad and I put back in at Bridgeport and ran up to check our lines. End up catching only three catfish on the trot lines and four crappie in the shallow brush again. One crappie at 14 inches. I had an idea to run downstream so we broke for lunch and put in at Cape Fair boatdock. We ran downstream and began fishing deeper structure. My thinking was that maybe the majority of the fish were still in deep water. I was wrong. We hit a spawning cove and found the fish staging again. Ten feet of water was the magic depth. If you could find structure in that depth range near spawning areas, it would have fish. We ended with seventeen nice fat crappie. The average size was probably 11.5 to 12 inches. Water Temp in the afternoon was 60 to 61. Tuesday 4-9 We thought we had them figured out. We quickly ran to Bridgeport and checked the lines. Had three catfish, but one flipped off at the boat. I made the executive decision to pull the lines because I was spending too much time for not much success. And I would rather fish crappie. Pulled the lines and ran to Cape Fair. Ran back to the same areas we fished the day before. Very little success. We only caught eight crappie and the two catfish. Now I'm frustrated. Wednesday 4-10 Weatherman said it was going to be rainy and windy. Woke up at 8 expecting a washout. Ran to Bridgeport for the sole reason wasthat the water was warmer. Tried some deeper stuff around here and again, didn't catch much on the deeper stuff. The wind was terrible at times but I found places to fish. I landed on a spot that was again in that ten foot range, with wood, near a spawning area. I fished it and started catching fish. I left and fishing similar areas with some success as well. But that one spot was a flat with wood. The fish were staging on the wood and I also believe because of the clouds that they were roaming the flat feeding as well. I ended the day with twelve keeper crappie and a fat sow white bass. The white bass was the only thing I caught on the bluff. The crappie here were averaging about 10.5 to 11 inches. Not nearly as nice as further down the lake but I wasn't leaving now that I had a pattern. Thursday 4-11 I decided that because of the cold front that had moved in, I wasn't fishing the morning. I slept in and had a good breakfast. I left the house at 1:30pm and the wind was howling. The spot I had caught most of my fish on the day before was unfishable. I kept to my pattern and finished my limit of crappie in three hours and added another sow white bass. I caught her in open water on a flat this time. I pulled into my house with enough daylight to help my dad around the house before it got dark. I know I could have kept fishing my pattern and caught fish the rest of the day. But the wind was miserable. I caught fish this day as shallow as 6.5 feet. But the water had to be warm enough. Friday 4-12 I decided I was going to try to fish shallow again this morning. Run my pattern and see what came of it. Wind was still kicking my teeth but I went. Was gone two hours.............couldn't stand the wind and couldn't find the warm water. Warmest I found that morning was 58 degrees. Not good enough. I did hook one keeper out of a brush pile in ten feet of water. Flipped off at the boat and I took it as a sign. Ran home to eat lunch and my brother talked me into running to Blunks Hole to try our hand at the White Bass. Wind continued to howl but we were below Taylor Shoals and immediately started catching fish on swimming minnows and Rapalas. Only it was pretty slow for awhile. Near dark we started catching them a little better and finished our limits before the sun went down. Saturday 4-13 I was going to sleep in and leave early that morning to head back to St. Louis. I had some unfinished business with the White Bass. I woke up and my brother, father and I went back to Blunks. We got there as the sun was just peeking out. My dad and brother fished from the boat and I decided to use my new fly rod and reel. I waded across from the ramp and smoked the whites on a grey and white clouser. I caught my limit of good eater size males in under two hours. I got most of it on my GoPro Camera. I'm trying to upload it to Youtube and Ill try to put a link to it here when I do. I was all by myself on the point until a canoe showed up with two small kids and their dad. They respected my space and anchored above me, which I appreciated. Not long after I had my limit a boat nearly swamped me and ran almost into the hole I was fishing. Now I know I was catching fish at a greater rate than all these other people, and I know I shouldn't be suprised fishing down there but..... The next guy really pissed me off. He darn near swamped me and cut in between me and the canoe. I have a nine foot rod and I bet he wasn't more than fifteen feet from me. I had to watch where I was back casting just to keep from hitting them. I shook my head in disgust a few times but he still didn't get the hint. My dad and brother came to check on me at the right time. My dad came up and made the smartass comment to me, "Can we just anchor up right below you." I told him to go ahead seems like everyone else is going to. Well the guy upstream took offense to this. And promptly told me that I don't own the river. To which I told him that I didn't care I was going to let him set there and watch me catch fish. Which I did, and I threw each one I caught upstream toward their boat. I got tired of listening to him groan so I grabbed my stringer and we decided to leave. Now I know I don't own the river but holy hell. I hope that if your on this message board you should be ashamed or yourself. Judging by your character that day I doubt it though. Btw my dad and brother only had four whites that morning. A thing about the fish I did catch. When cleaning them, most all the white bass were males. We did catch a few females but their eggs were about to be laid. I think most of the girls had or have done their thing. The crappie were mostly males but the few females I did catch were still underdeveloped. Had enough fish for a fish fry and gave a bunch away to a needy family. If the water temp keeps inching up these crappie will hit the bank in gangs. I caught the majority of my fish on a grey swimming minnow with an eighth ounce head. I did jig a tube around some cover as well with some success. I caught some on minnows as well but not many of them. Good Luck Bittle

How far up have you been fishing?

Bow fishing tournament put on by bass pro.

I've been looking at past threads about the magnet and I have some but haven't had any luck on them. What size are you guys throwing? I've been throwing the 1/64 and was figuring it was too big or too small. Bittle

I went to the Florida Keys in 2011 with the wife and had a great time. I went fishing on a personal charter called Sniper Charters Backcountry Fishing. It was a little pricy at $500.00 for a full day of fishing but it was a great experience. $500 was for two anglers I believe. My wife was planning on going with me but got cold feet the day before. She gets sea sick pretty easy and wasn't sure about the trip. The guide was a pretty good guy that knew his fishing. The first stop we hit, the tide was dropping and I landed my first tarpon. It was maybe 15 pounds but a ton of fun. Couldn't stay long so we left and hit a wreck until the tide got ride. There I caught yellowtail, sharks a goliath grouper (about 80 pounds) and had a cobia spool my reel on 50 pound braid before the guide could get us off the achor. After the tide got rite we hit some smaller islands targeting snook. I hooked several snook pitching live bait into the mangroves. We hit a tower in the open water and caught a couple sea trout. I had a great trip and marked several fish off of my must catch list. I know the price was steep but I don't regret it for a minute. I dove while I was there too, and highly reccomend it. And I ate fresh fish for every meal. It was to die for. One stop I would reccomend was to eat lunch at Robbies on Islamorada. The fish sandwich is great. After lunch walk out onto the dock and feed the 200 pound tarpon. Its a blast. Wish I was going back. Bittle

What weight is the TFO, and the Essence. I'm looking for an 8 weight and love the TFO rods.

I'm going to try my hand at some night time fly fishing tonight. hope to see somebody else down there. If you hear a big yell I probably just hooked myself.

Bill if you havn't heard Jose Wejebe died recently in a plane crash in Florida. I loved his fishing show. seemed like a nice guy.

i just had a pair of simms resoled for about 70 bucks in case you were wondering what it cost to have it done.

I was down for my annual fishing trip this past week. Here is what I found. Wednesday, 4-11, I was determined to catch some crappie. I put in at Cape Fair Marina and ran down lake to the area of Piney. I fished deep, shallow, sticks, rocks, gravel, minnows, jigs, swimming minnows. Long story short I fished most of the day looking for fish where I had caught them in the past. I did find a few fish but it took me all day. I ended the day with 9 keeper crappie. I found the few that I caught on some timber. The first group of fish were on a tree on a bluff in about 25 feet of water. I caught two or three keepers and one short from that tree before it went dry. One on a silver swimming minnow and the others on a minnow under a float. The next tree I found a few more. probably would have kept three from this tree as well but I had one get off at the boat and one break me off in the tree. I only got one in the boat that kept. Threw one back I believe also. This was a cedar tree with lots of limbs. I was dipping a red and chartruese tube with a crappie nibble here. I found with no nibble, no fish. I worked the rest of the day for the six others. I only caught one fish shallow and it was in about 3-4 feet of water in a spawing cove. A male black crappie that went about 11 inches. I did throw a wiggle wart in Piney for a short time looking for bass. I found a few short fish on some chunk rock banks. Nothing to brag about. I ran down to Virgin Bluff chasing the trees as well. I caught one or two crappie down there before calling it quits. As I was leaving I saw some whites chasing some shad in the middle of the lake. I got to them in time to catch one before they retreated to the depths. So I went back to the ramp and talked with an older gentleman that told me that he had found 8 keeper crappie. We exchanged stories and I felt like I had won until he told me that he caught his in a two hour time span. Said he found them on three trees. I never saw the fish so you know how that goes. But I do believe that if you can locate them on a tree you can do pretty decent. The problem is the trees that are empty far outweigh the ones that are not. Thursday I didn't fair to well. Put in at Cape Fair again early. Started in the back of Piney on some timber. First cast, keeper crappie. The curse was on me then. Thirty minutes later my trolling motor battery died. I took some trot lines with me and decided to put them out. I had bought some worms and caught a few bluegill. I baited two short lines before getting mad at the battery and the wind. Relocated the crappie to a new cove, then headed to the house. Ran into town and found that the battery had gone bad. Almost 90 dollars later I'm back in business. I went home and helped my dad mow to help me gather my thoughts. Friday morning put in early again. Ran to my first trot line. There was an older couple of guys fishing in the cove towards my line so i fished for bluegill to bait with as they fished by my line. As they past me they showed me about a five pound largemouth they had caught. Bad news is they had it in a cooler. Said they caught it on a wacky rigged worm in about three feet of water. They past my line so I went and grabbed it. Felt that wonderful tug. Now here is the best part. I had 13 hooks on this line, 6 of them had fish on them. A mix of channels and flatheads. I would say the weights went from almost 10 down to about 2.5 pounds. Fat and healthy fish. Looked like they were feeding hard getting ready to spawn. Rebaited and moved to the next line. Found three channels on this line, same size range. Rebaited that line and started chasing the crappie again. I worked until about noon. I found two crappie that would keep. Both on pole timber but the catch this time was that they didn't want the bait moving. Either minnows or a tube held still next to the tree. I found one good one that went 15 inches. I took out and put in a bridge port. Two weeks ago I had a limit of crappie here. A bunch of the crappie were shallow and I wanted to see what was going on here. I started working the bluff across from the ramp. I worked upstream until it runs onto the flat. I caught crappie here in three feet of water two weeks ago. Saw tons of beds but nobody home. Not sure if they were crappie or bluegill but there were a bunch. Worked my way upstream and continued fishing the bluffs. I found two more keeper crappie in the middle of a brush pile. Again the bait had to be almost motionless. I threw a couple shorts back also. I ended the day with 9 catfish and four crappie. Had it not been for the cats it would have been a long day. Saturday, my dad went with me. We ran back down to the trot lines first. First line had only two channels on it. Rebaited the line and fished a piece of timber that has been good to me lately. We caught a couple of keeper crappie off this tree using minnows. Worked out way to the other trot line and found that it only had one channel on it. After rebaiting we started running pole timber looking for crappie. Worked them hard with minimal results. We ended the day with five keeps and I know we lost two at the boat that would have kept. We looked at a lot of trees, and went through a lot of minnows. We did catch a couple small bass on the trees but nothing special. We checked our one trot line at about noon and found that it had about a 8 pound channel on it. Those catfish were eating all day it seemed. Sunday I was leaving town so we ran out to pick up the trot lines before the storms came. First line had three catfish and the second one had two cats and one gar. We picked up the lines and mad it back to the house dry before I had to head back to St. Louis. Here is a couple from today. Hope this helps some. The main thing I learned is start fishing for the catfish, they are eating better than anything else I could find. When we cleaned them some of them were about to burst with eggs. It won't be long and they will be nesting. I'm not sure if the lake is turning or what but every female crappie we cleaned was full of eggs too. I hope the fish end up spawning or this will be bad year for the babies. Thats all I got for now.

Sorry it has taken me awhile to get this up but I've been busy with the new kid. Saturday 03-31-12 my father and I put in at Cape Fair and started working our way up stream. Fished around Virgin Bluff a little and found a few fish holding on standing timber in deeper water. The water clarity was poor, even for Cape Fair. We were throwing swimming minnows and even tried for a shallow water bite. No luck shallow there. We continued upstream and stopped in a cut in a main lake bluff. I caught one black crappie in about three feet of water here. Not other bites. We continued moving upstream and decided to run all the way to Flat Creek. We started fishing the bluffs working out way almost to the bridge. We picked up a few here and there but no solid pattern. We finally got into a solid pattern just below the bridge. We found some brush in about 5 feet of water. We started flipping minnows into the base of the brush piles. These fish were no doubt on the bed and were sitting in about three feet of water. We were mainly using minnows at this time. But occasionly I would dip a tube also. We ended the day with 14 keepers and one white bass. We had some good fish over 13 and some a shade over 10.5 inches. Sunday we decided to try the white bass above Blunks. We ran upstream and found the bite to be tough. We only found 5 white bass in a few hours up there. We ran back downstream and tried to flip the brush again and the found a few but not the same. Clearing skies and increasing wind didn't help us at all. Monday my brother, his friend and I went back up to see if the white bass were there. Not much better only keeping five fish. We drifted downstream and started dipping some standing timber. Found a few keepers and I believe I cleaned eight fish. Monday afternoon I decided to put in at Cape Fair boat dock and fish downstream. I caught a ton of fish downstream last year and was hoping I could find them there again. I fished from 3 till almost dark. I caught several bass, one keeper crappie and one small channel catfish. Not a clound in the sky and no wind. Rough. The water downstream was a copper color and I'm not sure that helped much either. I caught my limit of crappie on Tuesday. If you want to know what I was using just read my shirt. With the wind it was hard to light the fuse but I got it done. Just kidding. Tuesday I put in at Bridgeport and made a point to stay in the cleaner water. I put in at 7:30 fishing the bluffs and pole timber. I found a few fish in shallow water in the brush again. Tubes and minnows were the ticket again. I located a laydown where there were some fish stacked up. I kept about four out of that laydown. I ran back up to the Flat Creek Bridge but found the brush I was flipping to be losing water fast. I caught two out of the deeper brush but the majority was too shallow. I actually saw a couple of crappie on the beds but spooked them when I got close. I continued downstream trying to replicate the brush bite and was successful in a few spots. Today I was mainly using tubes with a crappie nibble attached. It was important to have a long rod to help get into the brush without spooking them. I was using a nine foot rod for this that worked well. I ran back to some standing timber where I had caught some fish before. I found some fish in about 10-12 feet of water. I fished two stickups and finished my limit by 2. This spawn, I hope anyway, is just getting started. I'm not sure that this dirty water is allowing them to spawn like they want to. I fished several areas they were stacked up last year spawning and didn't find a fish. Below Cape Fair especially. So I'm hoping that with the clearer water the fish with continue to move up to the banks downstream. I'm coming back down after Easter to see what happens. I'm really hoping this thing isn't over already but I'm no expert. All the fish I caught still had eggs and they weren't real bloody yet. Lets just cross our fingers and hope there is more to come.

Greg Bittle Table Rock Lake 04-03-12

Greg Bittle 04-03-12 Table Rock Lake Stripe Nose or Mowhawk