brianbarker

Me and my girlfriend were fishing the Little Sac between Fellows and McDaniels lake outside of Springfield at the E Farm Road 68 bridge Saturday, the 5th. I was catching some smaller largemouth when my girlfriend's worm and splitshot snagged a monster dead bass that had been cleaned at the bridge not long before. When I looked closer I saw 2 more, which I hooked and hauled out. If the pictures load, one has by boot beside them, its a size 11, so I don't think I'm far off in guessing the largest one at about 4 1/2 pounds, the other 2 around 3 pounds each. Am I wrong in assuming that bass season doesn't open on the little Sac untill Memorial day? I'm pretty sure that is the season opener statewide unless the impound rules state otherwise. I have caught largemouth bigger than these in the stretch and with them being dumped near blood on the bridge and were really fresh, I have no doubt they did not come from a lake, but someone caught them from the Sac and decided they did not care to release them. If the pictures load, you may feel as sick as I did to find them. If anyone fishes the area, keep an eye out for poachers. I will be from now on.

The Northen Snakehead is on the Missouri Department of Conservation's ANS (Aquatic Nuisance Species) list, which is species that are not in a invasive number but could cause serious problems without warning. I don't find anything about any being reported in Missouri but that doesn't mean they are not here. Here is what the MDC says about the Northen Snakehead. This Asian import is a voracious eater which has been collected in many states. Is has established breeding populations in Potomac River basin of Virginia and Maryland. All other specimens captured in the wild are thought to be individual fish released from aquaria. The snakehead has also been observed in live fish markets catering to Asian customers. Since it is a obligate air breather, the snakehead can readily survive both transport and fish market conditions. Snakeheads can spawn up to five times per year and both parents guard the nest. The snakehead can pose serious threats to native fish populations if introduced to Missouri's waters. Hope this helps. You can probably google the snakehead or search the MDC website and find more information. Be cautious with your pet fish and don't dump bait, anything to help.

Ha, yeah I was once I figured out that the only other walleye I heard of being caught there last year was one 10 incher. A friend that works at BassPro heard of someone who knew someones cousins brother or something like that that caught one down there on a nightcrawler. I had only been living in SF for a little while and knew its not uncommon for tailwater to told walleye so really didn't think a thing of it when I caught them, but later I relized that it was pretty cool to catch them. I guess there arn't all that many in there. They really weird thing is I wasn't even trying to catch them, just a #8 hook, slip bobber and minnows, they hit just like they would anywhere else. Just luck I guess, don't claim to be good or anything. HAHA anyways, hopefully I can get into those whites sometime. Cant beat running into a school of those males with lite tackle.

Good luck! Never been but it looks like a blast.

Whites below the dam? Was it later in the year? I always wondered if a few males would make it up this far if the water was high but I would think it would take them a while to make it up. Did you reaslly get into them or just a few here few there? I wouldnt mess with getting wet to catch 3 or 4. I have went down there and caught as many as 5 walleye in one night, we were crappie fishing and I caught 3 on minnows and 2 on white/yellow jigs. I think a guy is likely to catch about anything below there.

Wow, huge brown. When did you catch it? I assume that was the C&R?

I've never ran one but I've been in some jets that have been a good ways below Boiling, mainly gigging and the water is usually a little higher than it is during the summer. Once you get about a mile below Boiling it will probably get a little better to run the farther you go. The fishing should be good, lots of goggle-eye and smallmouth stack up in the first eddie below the swimmin' hole because of the spring and will be starting to scatter back out. I have caught some pretty decent smallmouth in that stretch the first week of April but its slower fishing than usual. Usually the topwater bite sucks but I've caught them on jigs and crawdad plastics on jogheads.

Fished on the bank below the bridge at Galena the other day and set out a few poles with minnows, figuring the boats would just run through them. 3 boats came, saw my lines out and motored to the far bank and went around before they made one cast. Not everyone is a jack#@$ but I don't think you overreacted in the least. Some people just don't give a darn about anyone else, I've found that to be more true on the lakes.

Went to the James at Galena and fished at the Blunk hole and only caught 3 smallies about 8 inches. Started the day throwing a Northland Mimic Minnow in gold and hooked up with a smallie first cast, but the luck crashed from there. We were the only ones on the bank and 2 boats in sight and they only caught 3 small whites. We fished from 10 am to around noon and met 2 guys going out that had ran into the guys that caught the 3 whites by us taking out and they only had nine 2 hours later. We gave up on the mimic minnows, swimmin' minnows, rattle traps, and whatever else I could tie on and went for minnows. Got back and 2 guys were in our spot with 3 fish on white sliders and they moved on. We fished the minnows for a few hours and caught 2 more little smallmouth and packed it in. Rained a lot more than I would have liked and the "1 mph light wind" was more like 10. We saw somewhere around 2 billion minnows or shad get smashed on top but they were random and moved so fast you couldn't get on them from the bank. Anyways, saw a few whites caught but nothing compared to all the fish I saw on top all day. Maybe someone else can get em'. Good Luck

Got access to about 1 thousand private acres in Dent and Texas county between the family farm and 5 other farms, so it's going to be hard to decide where to go. Texas, Dent, and Phelps is covered up with turkeys this year. If you get the chance to hunt it, check into White River Trace CA a few miles into Dent Co. More turkeys killed there every single year than any other CA I've heard about. It's a amazing place, aside from all of the traffic. Good luck

What I heard around BPS too so I'm headed there in the morning and maybe Sunday, I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Anyone know where the whites are? Hopefully the rain didn't mess things up too bad. Let me know, lookin to go around Galena this weekend, if everything is good down there.

Went to Springfield Lake the last 2 evenings and have caught a limit of catfish both times, all pan size but some up to 2 pounds. All on nightcrawlers and chicken liver. Most have been right at the outlets but got into the smallers ones and caught about 20 too small to keep on the very end of the point casting towerds the dam. Caught a handfull of carp, some around the 10 pound range. My girlfriend hooked and faught one for well over 5 minutes that cleared the whole outlet area and got under the barrier and broke off, must have been a really nice one. All of the carp were on wheaties and strawberry soda mixed together into a paste. Caught one walleye about 10 inches on nightcrawlers and one really big redhorse. 9 bass this evening on 7 1/2 worms, motor oil, but all were under 15 inches. Stopped below the dam for about 5 minutes to watch the snaggers and watched them hook and land one about 20 pounds, and had one on the stringer around 30 pounds. Anyways, thats about it.... btw, hows Fellows? Anyone been lately?

I have posted in the Hunting section about my bow I am trying to sell. If your in the market for one.... check it out! Thanks alot

I have a Ben Person Pride compound for sale. I bought it brand new from Aarsons Archery in Newburg in 2006, hunted with it the 2006 and 2007 season a few 3D shoots in between. It is 31" a-a and shooting 64 lbs. right now, runs from 60-70. Right handed. New vapor trail string, only hunted about a week and shoot less than 5 hours at targets. Other equipment included are the Cobra Sidewinder 5 pin coiled micro-adjustment sights, Limbsavers S-Coil stabalizer, Muzzy Zero-Effect drop away rest, string bats, BowJax limb and cable gaurd dampners, 5 arrow matched quiver, 10 Easton Axis with 100 grain field points and 5 100 grain Muzzy 4 blades, 2 releases, one hard to find compact TruBall and the other is a Cobra junkie I picked up for free from someone, string loop, traget/hunter 1/116 Peep sight, and also a case and string wax. Everything you'll need to start shooting. I'm asking $250, everything is in great condition. Has not been abused or ever dropped. All of this has cost me about $1100 in the last two years so it is not cheap equipment and preforms very well. My contact info it: Phone: 4175313738 Email: bb0937071@otc.edu

I was down at fellows last Sat. and tried some cranks looking for some bass and 2 guys fishing at the concrete ledge where the water runs under the highway were catching a few crappie but all I could get out of them was that they were againt the edges of the walls and down really deep. I think they were using minnows or jigs but no floats. Bite seemes really slow, atleast the time I was there.

I'm going to try this Yozuri line and see how it does. I've only ran braid on my baitcasters, never spinning but I have some newer rods and I'm positive the guides will stand it so I'm going to slap some #12 braid on it and see how it does. I usually dont fish anything on my spinning rods besides flukes, weightless worms and every once in a while a frog, so I need something with little or no stretch, so braid might just work. I'll give it a shot, thanks alot.

Anything they were hitting better than most? I'm headed down there this weekend, depending on how the water looks after this crazy rain, and try some bank fishing. TRY being the key word. I'm in Springfield and some buddies want to give it a whirl but I've only trolled in Truman for whites and hybirds and never caught any from the rivers so I'm gonna see what gives. Should hurt the population too much, have any advice on here we might be able to wade for a little stretch near the bridge? Never been there. Thanks for the report. Wish me luck (I'm gonna need it)

I was just going to get on here and ask the exact same thing. I have tired alot to try to get rid of memory but with no results. I did try that Reel Magic spray that you can buy at the reel counter at BassPro and it does retard a little memory but its expensive and doesn't work enough to be worth what it cost. I have tried alot of diffrent brands, running PLine now on my baitcasters and its just as bad at any other. The best I have found so far is, suprisingly, the Bass Pro Shops Xtreme Performance Series (XPS) florocarbon. It still has enough memory to piss me off sometimes but its decent. I think just about all mono is terrible for memory. Any tips of any mono or floro that has little or no memory would be awesome.

Agreed... my mistake. I was thinking of the grass pickerel that lives in the current river. I usually find or catch them in or around springs or where springs flow into the river. I have took some pictures of one of the biggest pickerels I've ever seen in the spring at montuak. I've never seen any as big as Pastor is talking about, they would be alot of fun to get ahold of.

Awesome... musta chased that fish around for a hour two weekends ago but you know how it goes sometimes... good picture and even better fish.

Agreed! No bad floats but the rare bad day... usually there are always fish to catch somewhere on the piney. I have 3 smallies on my wall over 4 pounds, all from Piney. One my dad caught at Slabtown about 15 years ago, I caught one just before you get to Slabtown 3 years ago and caught a 5.4 along the bluffs below Mason Bridge (old) so there are still some big smallies in Piney, always have been. You just have to know how to find them and get em' in the boat. Good Fishin!

Headed down to stay with the family last weekend (15-16) in Licking and put in at "the bottom" and motored to the shoal at the end of the eddie and motored back up and caught 30 legal goggle eye and 3 smallies over 12. Caught too many 8s and 10s to possibly count and not alot of small goggle eye but a few. Also hooked up with 2 largemouth about 10 inches and caught 1 small flathead about 1 pound. Pretty good trip. Also stopped at Boiling Springs and fished below the swimming hole Sunday and caught 2 little smallmouth and a handful of really small goggle eye. Good weekend fishing. Good Luck

Caught a ton under the concrete bridge and at the blue hole on spinning tackle and jigs but they are all small, I've never seen one over 12 inches. They arn't pike, they are chain pickerel, a cold water pickerel that is in the pike family but rarely do they get any size to them. I catch a few every smallmouth trip on the current. Hope this helps.

HAHA Its C&R so they can stack up all they want I guess. Hes gone along with the other huge rainbow too, don't know where they took them. Still a handful over 5 but nothing like there used to be in there. Mostly stockers and fish under 12 inches... but a few tucked under the logs that are over 20. I caught the only 2 bigger ones I could find last trip, 03/09. Good fishin'