Bassman755

Its a great creek when the water is right! I used to float it in the summer and make a whole day out of it. We used to use a two person bass buggy that did us pretty good but there were only a few places we had to get out and walk it across the shallows. The fishing was great. They would bite on anything we threw at them. Normally we fished for bass. When it finally gets warmer I would definitely suggest it.

As spring approaches I get more and more excited. I don't take to kindly to all the cold weather we've been having. Me loving the outdoors the way I do, Warm weather is way past overdue. The past few months I find myself dreaming more and more about the good ol' days if you will. Spring is the most beautiful time of the year. Every spring I look forward to getting outside as much as I can. The trees start budding and getting green leaves, grass starts to grow, and the woods we all know and love start to change their design and are full of life. The fish start to spawn, the shad start to run, and the lake starts to warm up, so fishing is good. Turkey season is near and the turkey start to gobble, off in the distance you hear hunters start to pattern their shotguns and practice their turkey callin so they can bag a bird this year. Warm weather sparks Camping Season! we get the row boat out, buy some trotline supplies and load the boat up to float to our favorite campsite (which we've had to ourselves for 13 years). Evening comes, we spent all morning and afternoon catching perch for trotlines and our fishing poles for a nights worth of catfishin. Nightfall sets in, We've baited the trotlines and the fishin poles, made a fire, and got the guitar out to pass the time until we get a fish. After a goodnights rest under the stars and fishing on a calm night we wake up early to a lake of glass so clear, flat, and undesturbed it looks as if you could walk straight across it. We start the fire up again, make some coffee, and go squirrel hunting. We cook the squirrel and our catch from the night for breakfast, pack up our gear to do it again another day. This is what spring is all about and if you've never done it you really don't know what your missing out on.

Im going to fish below the dam in warsaw tomorrow. Does anyone know if the fish are biting down there?

I am going out to fish below the dam in warsaw tomorrow. How are the fish biting down there? Are there any crappie or walleye around?

I am looking to buy a small trailer for a 12-14 foot row boat. My price range is $75-$100 dollars. If you have anything I might be interested in let me know. Thanks.

I went fishing yesterday in clinton. I was fishing up a creek and caught a few. Alot of them were small but I managed to get 6 keepers. It was rainy and I had heard that they dropped the water so I guess thats why they werent biting hot and heavy yesterday. The ones I caught were on black and chartruse jigs.

Thanks for the report I will look forward to this coming week. Good posts guys.

Good post ranger. Thanks for the info and if you get anymore info within the next few days let me know.

Whats the crappie report for Truman as of today? What is its current conditions?

I am looking for a boat and trailer around the 200 dollar range. I don't need anything real fancy right now. I have a 15 horse motor to put on it. I just want something I can fish out of till I can get some bills paid to get a decent boat. If you have something I might be interested in let me know. I have really no preferance weather its fiberglass or aluminum. Thanks.

I'm interested what are you asking for it?

Great fish! Its good to hear things are getting better.

4fishys the piles do get alot of attention in my opinion. I know there is a lot of fishermen that target the piles for crappie fishing. The shallower piles get targeted more for bass when the spawn is on and the water is a little warmer. It depends on the pile too. There are a number of brush piles that are hard woods which the bass relate to a little better than the evergreen piles but you can still find bass on evergreen and crappie on hardwoods. With the evergreen piles you will find that there are alot more crappie, pan fish, and young of the year fish that like to hang out in those types of piles. The reason being is the evergreens have alot more branches for cover against predetors. So to answer your question there are alot of anglers out there that target brush piles. Another type of pile dumped is rock piles. They do this in the clear water and they work amazingly well for smallmouth. I have fished some of the rock piles put in on table rock and have caught alot of bass off of them.

That cove you saw them working in and marking with the ribbon was probably a cove they were going to shock. Shocking is a method they use to monitor how well the brush piles are working. Since shocking is done at night they tie ribbons on a tree on the shore so it makes it eaiser to find the brush pile. For those wondering shocking doesnt hurt the fish. Just thought I would throw that in there. Eventually you will benifit from the piles just give it time. How long ago were they in your cove. I know that when fresh trees are sunk it sometimes takes a while for the fish to relate to that structure. Initaly the trees put off something the fish dont like but that doesnt last very long. It can be days or maybe weeks. Hang in there and keep fishing those piles you will eventually start seeing fish on them.

Jeff Thanks I didnt know I could get sculpey at wal-mart. I tried a different clay to make my main form but it was just too hard to work with. As far as that rtv I will keep that in mind. That brand is exactly what I have been looking at buying. Well talk to ya later.

I can tell you from first hand experience that the guys with the MDC dumping the brush gps the piles as they drop them and than send the points they have taken to someone that puts them on the map on their website. It does take some time to get the points put on the map though. You just cant send one point at a time. That would be a waste of time for the person putting them on the map. So what happens is,The guys dumping the piles wait till they have a sufficent amount of data to send and they send it. You can access these maps on the MDC website and you can even download the points straight to your gps if you wanted to. Hope this clears some things up.

Jeff thanks for the info! I have heard of all the sites you are talking about and I have even gotten some of my stuff from lurecraft.com. I have been looking into ordering some rtv from alumilite I think it will make a better mold than pop. Thats what Im thinking so far anyway. I still have yet to experiment with it. Let me know when you get into the area. It would be a great to get a hold of you and bounce some ideas off of ya. I have buddies that make their own jigs but I can't find someone that makes soft plastics close enough to get ideas from. Its funny I started out just wanting to do my own jigs, lead heads, and soft plastics but the further I research the world of lure making I find myself wanting to get into hard baits as well. Let me know when you get your new number and we can get in touch. Again thanks for the info. Aaron

Im in on the fantasy fishing I already have an account! Lets do this!

I agree its all on personal preference and there are many different baits that all have different actions. I used to work for Bass Pro and I bought a lot of their brand cause of the awesome discount. I had pretty good luck on their lures most of the time. In my opinion I'd say go for it. You really can't go wrong with them.

I have another question. Is there anyone on here that may live close to the Sedalia area that I could get together with that could show me the basics of making soft plastics? I would like a teacher so to say. I know its not all that hard but it would really help especially in the area of mold making. Let me know. Thanks.

I play the fantasy fishing. I think its awesome. I fish the BFL and have plans on fishing the bassmaster weekend series next year in hopes to start my ascent in the world of fishing. I'm hardcore when it comes to fishing as long as I have the cash to feed my addiction. I'm sure you all know what I mean. I too hope that one day I can represent the ozarks in a good way with my fishing skills.

I've never snagged from the bank but when I go snagging I use a penn reel spooled with 130# braided line. I think thats pretty safe since I know I'm not going to break it that easily. I know for some that might be a little much but hey its all in what you prefer.

Thanks for the info dutch. Yea if I have any more questions as I get further into this venture I will make sure to post them and see what you have to say. Again I appreciate your help so far.

Thank you RS for the info I will check that out. Dutch, I am using a hot plate as my heating source and the plastic Im using is either from barlows or lure craft. I dont currently wear eye protection or gloves but I do wear a respirator when I am working with the POP. Thank you all for the tips and if you have any more info feel free to let me know.

Dutch I have been trying to make molds out of plaster of paris. Is there a better material for making molds? Can I bake plaster at low temps say maybe 100 degrees or so? What have you used for molds? Well those are some of many. Like I said I am just getting started.