ozarkgunner

Real....! The local small lakes around here are hot hot hot! I have one I really like that is north of town.

Is there a Columbia, Mo area on the forum? I don't see it?

Speaking of keeping bass, in the last 3 weeks I have turned in 2 differnt people to the game wardens for keeping bass. I see all kinds of people keeping black bass below Bagnell, it's clearly a river and clearly closed. I stopped telling people about the closed season because they don't want to listen. I just get the plates now and call them in. The second place is a lake north of Columbia, where there is a 12"-15" slot. I have been slaying the crappie on minnows and I just happen to have a jackass stand next to me and throw a fit everytime I let my bass go rather than giving them to him. First, I didn't want to kill the spawing bass that were all right in the slot (good healthly 14" fish), second the guy was an asshole. I told him there was a slot and it just went in one ear and out the other. He left with 7 bass that he caught, all of them were in the slot. To top it all off, he was trying to snag spawning crappie. (Like it's really that hard to catch them) I hope MDC caught him, what a prick.

LOL

I have been knocking the socks off of the fish up here (Bass and Crappie) PM if you want a report.

I have been knocking the socks off of the fish up here (Bass and Crappie) PM if you want a report.

Thanks for the report! Turn them in to the game warden if they are killing (keeping) bass out of the river right now. Streams are CLOSED for killing untill late May.

Columbia, MO =COMO Columbia, Mo, Boone County= COMOBOCO Tight lines. The crappie are starting to spawn.

Sweet!

I didn't go to the dam, but went north of COMO and got 12 crappie and a bunch (15ish) of 13-16" bass. Hoping to hit Bagnell on Sunday.

Bill, thanks for posting! I love this site and your posts have encouraged me to post my own! Thanks a milliion! Heck, I'm stuck in Columbia, Mo for the next three months, but I still love reading your posts as TRL is my " home water". Have a great night!

WOW... the boys up in St. Louis must be cut from a differnt cloth. That said, anyone who wants to come down is more than welcome as long as they don't kill our spawing bass. Tight lines.

Nice to see the family fishing together!!! Great report. Tight lines!

I don't think so.

Speaking of agents........... In 15 + years of fishing on Table Rock ( at times very hard) I have only been "checked" once and that was on opening day of spoonbill season. I'm interested in how often some of the guides who are on the water 200+ plus days a year get checked.

Wader, It looks like I might not get down until Sunday. I will report if I do go. Just wanted to give up a "heads up" so you didn't think I forgot to report.

Thanks Wader, I'll make sure to post on Friday. I hope you are right about the fishing breaking loose. Tight lines.

I shoot a hoyt. It's almost 6 year old right now but it still does the job. I purchased it because it was super fast at the time (310) and it simply looked awesome. This fall I am finally going to get a new set of arrows and replace my wiskerbiscuit rest.

LOL I like to fry them in Jiffy mix or just simply cook them in butter with onions. However, you can just give them to me..... that would be a LOT easier!!

WOW!

I'm heading down on Friday afternoon. Can anyone give me a report? As always, I will post my results when I get back.

I like Lilley's thoughts. Growing up legal bass went into the freezer, now they almost always go free. Table Rock is a huge lake with millions of bass and I'm sure the trend towards catch and release is only helping.

I understand where you are coming from. I always say I "got a limit" if I caught 5 "keeper" bass even when they are released. If I landed 10 "keepers" I would say I got a double limit. I understand that people may think it sounds like you are killing the fish, but I think that is just Ozark slang for getting 5 large bass. I don't keep bass during the spawn (or generally ever), but it's a free country. Prehaps we need to apply a "season" like they have in the streams on the large lakes during the spawn if there is a large problem. My gut feeling is that most guys don't keep the bass during the spawn and even if they did I would let MDC take care of fixing the rules. Have fun catching your "limit", but toss them back if you want better fishing in the future. Tight lines.

Anyone ever hear the story about the cop who was fishing on Table Rock back in the late 1980's? Apparently a big snake fell into his boat from one of the trees. Instead of using a pole or an oar to get it out, he emptied his .38 into the bottom of the boat. I sometimes think this is an urban legend.

Learning is funny, but part of it all!