MoCarp

I always liked an incoming tide, also for flounder and reds right where the surf starts to break in a good spot on the pier you don't need to get out on the end unless your after cobia and kings...some times the dolphins will steal your fish specially spanish... sheepshead can be fun around the pilings, gather fiddler and hermit crabs for them

fish was weighed on a deli scale.....if you want to see it on the wall in Joplin

This fish weighed 11 pounds 7oz was 26" long with a girth of 19"!

Speaking of hooks how long has it been when we got hooks like this?

I grew up fishing that area, great fishing! you can go offshore but its pricy...if you watch the tides you can do really well big mackerel (kings) and Spanish are around, I don't remember what these lures are called "gotchas?" but this is what you want to fish a snapping retrieve makes them walk the dog....line capacity is important 125 yards won't cut it a 6500c type reel on a 7 foot rod is what you need google you tube vids on pier fishing the area lots to see and learn

I have been on a shocking survey before, big fish are VERY uncommon.... food is not the issue for growing larger smallmouths, it takes a very long time to grow a big smallmouth IF and I mean IF..the individual has the Genetics to get large..some of those 12 incher may be 5-6 years old while a 18" may be younger....fish over the years get "fished down" I would like the state to realize that, perhaps capture some big fish, or select the fastest growing biggest fish from a brood and work on getting sizes up...(selective stocking) Large smallmouths should be returned, the genetics are important, I know guys who gig suckers in the winter, I know guys who have whoopsed big smallmouth, they felt horrible for it ...but it does happen....spotted bass should have no limit in "blue ribbon" Ozark smallie streams....I have fished many many a mile of Ozark streams.... for huge smallmouths, more have come from shoal creek and spring river....trick is finding they right Habitat for old brown bass...that and both those waters don't get the pressure on bass like others...

don't know the columbia area, carp can be tough to catch, usually night is a better time.... chumming a spot for a few days with soaked feed corn can help.....

Who remembers theses old tv shows?....

I have not landed a grassy yet, I am told frozen fresh green peas are the bait to use, I saw where several huge ones where shot out of TR.....I never saw one in TR

Corrupting our Youth for Carp.... 19 pounds

Another Bull Shoals Capture low teens...this guy was from St Louis area came here just to fish for carp...

a mirror... Bull Shoals

Here is a low 20 from a Kansas small city lake

Here is a big Brown my fishing buddy caught (and mounted) he has caught and released 7 fish over 10 pounds, there are big fish to be had in Capps if you know its secrets as a note my friend is 6' about 250...a prize for the closest guess on what his fish weighed....

any trip to LOZ should include fishing for big blue cats a good flipping stick and level wind reel 20# test..... fish sliding egg rig 5/0 circle hooks..and fresh shad... bends in the river channel you should find the bigger fish...jugging can be fun, pitching docks for bass...LOZ is a very big lake..don't be afraid to trailer to different areas....big wipers too... pick them up fishing for big blues

didn't a previous state record rainbow get caught on a french fry?

yeah into someones live well.....

Should have some clouds, and a SE wind find some NW points and try those, chunk stick baits try a three snaps and a pause, prob pick up some nice bass as well another good bait is a 1/4 oz roadrunner flo red head white marabou body tip with a med minnow, you'll catch everything bass, walleye, crappie...good search bait.

button bush is common and great cover in higher water, willow as well

never caught them in flint creek......but yeah shell crackers aka redears we camped at arrowhead camp ground, near Maretta FL on Merritts Mill Pond, another bucket list place to return to, we paddled a canoe all over that small lake..'gators.. huge bass and world record class 'crackers.....spooky in that clear water would love a chance to try that place as an adult....divers go there to go into the cave springs there, ice age animal bones can be seen in those but not removed place had snails in it big as a plumb, saw my 1st siren in that lake...below the dam was good fishing, it used to hold the world record redear..... FL set special regulations to preserve the trophy potential of that watershed Merritt's Mill Pond Special Regulation: Redear Sunfish (shellcracker) daily bag limit: 10. Redear Sunfish less than 10 inches in total length must be released immediately.

going back and fishing "home" is a wonderful thing...we moved from Mobile AL to Joplin MO in 75, right on the banks of Shoal creek. as adults we had always went wade fishing shoal creek in August as omage to our early teens at least till My brother moved for work to the Atlanta area 17 years ago .........We we lived in Mobile we camped at Flint Creek near Wiggins MS a Pat Harrison Water Dist. lake. often....fishing was good there we walked the reddish clay sandy shoreline, chunking yellow snagless sallies, rebel crank baits for green trout, red wigglers on bottom for bull bream, and in the fall under latern lights dunked minnows on long poles for white perch...fishing became magical.......hooked me for life below is a list of what we caught in proper southern slang "white perch" = Crappie, "Bull bream" = bluegill, "Goggleye" = warmouth "stump knocker"s = spotted sunfish "green trout" = large mouth bass we kept saying we will make a bucket list trip there to reconnect to our fishing child hood, wondering how much better we could do with our knowledge now

I have caught some nice gills near,... the campbell point area, and some huge rock bass well over a pound.....2.2 is the state record TR may beat that one day Fishing Shoal Creek once in the 70's my brother caught a rock bass that weighed 3lbs even on an old Zebco de-liar scale ...and let it go because he was to lazy to clean it he still talks about it...would have been a state record easy, we lived on the banks not too far below grand falls, wade fished almost every day

Even prolific species get fished out with high fishing pressure, I have been reading about Reductions in bag limits etc increase the sizes of sunfish...in some urban lakes they even stock Common carp ....it sucks when one of our personal favorite fishing spot gets wiped out..... http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/documents/outreach/Bluegill RegsRypel2015.pdf

as a side note I'd love for MDC to stock these in our lakes for zebra mussel control.. perhaps we could get some of these pigs!