Bman

Welcome, keep the pics coming.

Thats my boy...I can hear it now, Dad, can I have the keys to the boat tonight?

If the silver bullets in Taney got as big as the Browns they would be awesome. I've never caught a big striper, so I guess I'm not qualified to comment. I'm not expert for sure, I wonder what the real experts on the board think though. I do know this, a pre- spawn male Brown in the 20 lb range is MEAN!!!

LOL, You're not the first to mention that. Actually the authorities do like them because they are more stealthy than normal outboard jets. We all know those out board jets are Noisy!!! The River Pro has dual water cooled mufflers. Water Patrol runs them here in Missouri. More in northern states. Minnesota DNR loves them. Maybe it will help me escape the evil Taney Squid.

Jets have little reverse thrust, so they can be hard to get off the trailer. She loads on the trailer easy. Trailering you don't even know she's back there. Powered by a Mercury 200 HP Optimax powerhead. Merc calls them the Sport Jet 200. It's like a 18 ft. Jet Ski ... on steroids. Turns easy, no heavy outboard to turn, only the nozzle. Turn the wheel 1/4 turn to get max deflection. No trim, throttle & steer gets the job done. It planes at a slow speed so ya don't have to go fast to go shallow.

FFM, You betcha! Patfish, Thanks. Gentlemen, Half the time I'm at Taney by myself. If we happen to be down at the same time, and you don't feel like wading(or can't) we'll have to meet up and fish from the boat. Warning though, when they have 4 units open, it takes at least 9 feet of tippet to get the flies down. And that makes my fly casting DANGEROUS! It's more fun running a jet with 0 units. Would love to run up to the cable with 0 units...and no one wading, but I don't think thats going to happen.

Thanks, That's special coming from folks from my home State! I remember walking the banks of the Snake River Canyon with my grasshoppers, and wicker basket! Had to look out for those Rattlers!

Love my new toy! Perfect for Taney & running skinny water. Built right here in Hillsboro Missouri. The pic on the water was taken on the Meramec River, right where the Huzzah and Courtois Rivers join. Close to home, and good Smallie water! And fun to run this time of year before the canoe hatches.

I will say kudos as well, a fine example for us. The difference between men and boys...the price of their TOYS!!!

With 2+ units ya oughta take a trip up to the Dam! The section from below the MDC ramp to Look Out Pt fishes well with Lilleys jigs. Use 4lb test. And the narrows just up from Fall Creek (on the left heading upstream) just up from the overhead power lines. tight lines

Big D, You might want to consider a used boat. In this economy there are quite a few decent buy's out there. It all depends on what your budget is. With 2-3 people including yourself, you don't want to be under powered. A wider boat with go more shallow than one more narrow. Example a 1756 ( 17 ft long X 56 inches wide) will run shallower than a 1752. The same with shorter or longer boats. This bears true with jet jonns, inboard or outboard. A jet john will have a transom of the correct height to set up a jet out board engine. Do a little research on River smallies.com under the motorized boat section. http://forums.riversmallies.com/forums/ind...hp?showforum=47 These guys are guru's when it comes to running skinny water with jets. Inboard, or outboard. You could look at the River Pro website under classifieds, http://riverpro-boats.com/component/option...nd,0/Itemid,48/ Regards,

There a lot of different set up's for jets. Boat length & width, hp. Let me know if you need pointers.

Big D, For river fishing and shallow water running, have you considered a jet boat? There are several configurations. I don't know about Montana waters, but from running the upper mississippi for smallies, or Missouri shallow rivers, or Taney at no generation. Jets are awesome, if ya don't see it you probably won't hit it. And a foot operated troller. Works for me.

Ya, whats up with the Hibernator, something Arnold, the Terminator/Governator uses? A pic?

Way to go Andy, Leonard, thanks for posting the pic and report. It's awesome to get a pic of the catch.

Leonard, Great meeting up with you too. Thanks for the bugs. Awesome. I will be staying at Lilleys the last week in April 4-26 thru 5-1. I just might have to take a bansai run down there for a Fri-Sat nite sooner. Taney's only a 3 1/2 hr drive for me. Good to see your are back online! we've missed your posts! Bman

My start in fishing started out west trout fishing in California with my dad. Dads job brought us to Missouri in 1964. Dad took me to Fall creek trout dock at Taney, and the rest is history.I first started taking my son Matt down to Maramec Spring Park when he was about 5 yrs old. Now Matt has a family of his own, with a beautiful daughter soon to be 5, and a handsome little son soon to be 3. This year we will pass along the family tradition and introduce them to M.S.P. I can hardly wait! As the years have passed, everything I've introduced Matt to, he's ended up giving me a schooling. Watch out world, here comes the grandkids.

Wow! way to go, awesome fish.

We were there at some point, we went around the whole park at least 1-2 laps. On the move looking for a spot to fish, and looking for lunkers. We would stop, stick one or two and move on. A tough day.

And you can get one heck of a long drag free drift with the fly/float method!

How do I change the email address used on the site? Nevermind, I fixed the problem(remembered password)

No extra weight, use weighted jig heads have some different sizes.

I agree!

My son Matt and me got down to M.S.P. about noon, and found the parking lots pretty full. We were throwing the long rods so we looked for places to fit in. Water was pretty cloudy. The average size of fish were smaller and fewer in numbers, some pods of pretty small fish, skip a small crackleback though them for fun. Caught my best with ice shrimp. and a roo bug. Matt was using ice shrimp and WD-40's. Nice weather, an enjoyable day to be fishin. Heres a couple.

Uh, Oh, I'm gonna get myself in trouble around here if I do this... What is Bosco bait? It's the best there is! Thats what Ole' Bosco would reply when asked about the seven different formulas of bait he was killing them with. There was a topic started "Best Lures/Bait/Flies for Maramac Springs" in the forum under Meramec Spring Park, back around Sept of '07. Do a search, or page back to that topic, or http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7804 Now some folks didn't care for the old timer, example... If you were fishing some spot, but not having any luck he might just cut right in front of you and start whacking them! In his view you weren't fishing the hole right. There is a bait that is sold that is VERY similar. You can find it at D J's sporting goods and booze at the St James exit off 44. It's called Double D Trout bait. I would try the white and yellow colors, or what Bosco would call the "old stuff" and "the good old stuff"these were code words for the colors. It wasn't all about the bait, mostly the method. Use light line, 1 or 2 # test. a float and jig hooks of various sizes.Fold the bait around the jig hook like a taco,kinda like a grub body. You need to employ some fly fishing techniques, like geting the bait down, and getting a DRAG FREE DRIFT!!! hope this helps