Bird Watcher

I fall fished LOZ about 9 years ago up the little Niangua arm. Best I recall, they were holding right underneath the foam on the dock. We were pitching to the back of the stall and letting it swing back. I think we used red and white tube jigs with 1/16th ounce heads. Seems like it was youth deer weekend. I hope this helps. You are welcome.

Hey DRBM57, I owe you a big thanks for about 300-400 Hybrids I've caught this year. You probably don't even remeber it, but when I first became obsessed with catching them, you posted up a pic of a 15# fish that you caught in early March. I asked you a ton of questions about it and you gave me one really good tip regarding water temp. That put me on the right trail and started me down the path of finding a lot of places to catch them. If you ever want to come down to NE OK for a trip, I'll put you on some. I owe you one.

that's a good looking pup QB. I love those GSPs

good job!

that's sad. I've only seen one in my life. My cousin caught it on worms while we were fishing below the falls on Shoal Creek near Joplin 20 years ago. We took it home for the afternoon and played with it then took it back to the creek later. Probably the only one I'll ever see.

nice. I wish I had some vaca to burn. I'd be out shooting them this week too. I've got the good problem of more geese than time to hunt them this year. It's usually the other way around. We shot 24 in 40 minutes last weekend. 25 minutes Sat. and 15 minutes Sun. to shoot out 4 guys each day. You gotta love it when you can actually throw a blind down in a field like that and still get birds to work. It looks like it's going to warm up a little. I'm thinking it might put the geese I'm watching back on the cattle pasture ponds. We'll see.

FWIW, we caught the LM fairly well up Spring River on Sat. afternoon. We weren't trying to catch them so I don't know how the fishing would have been if a guy was targeting them. They were underneath the baitfish in 5-8fow. The young man in the back of the boat really put in on me. He said this was his personal best LM ever. The smile says it all.

Who in the heck told you they don't like catching hybrids? Were they smoking crack? The absoulute king of fish in these parts pound for pound IMO. Some other fish get bigger, but nothing is faster, stronger, or has more stamina pound for pound. Those are nice fish. Congrats!

That would be a good place to start QB. Up or down from there. Don't forget over in the Elk too. It's pretty shallow in spots with the lake being pulled down for the millet planting so be careful. You can get through all of it in a bass boat if you know what you are doing, but you can get yourself in trouble real quick if you don't. Be careful at the junction of the mouth of Sycamore creek and the Grand if you go down from TB. There is a way across that flat, but you have to know it and there is a lot of submerged timber stuck on it.

you might look up the tribs a little bit QB. Shallow and on wood on gravel. I'd try 4-5" chartreuse square bill or a spinner bait and try to bang it off the stump or log. There's usually a good afternoon topwater thing going too. LM are not what I've been fishing for, but because I am usually fishing live shad, I tend to find a lot of them whether I like it or not.

Hey Jeff Foiles, is that you?

Man, I hit it hard last Fri. 8 am to 8 pm with 40 perfect shad. Balloons, Freelines, downlines, humps, shelfs, points, you name it. They all produced the same amount of nothing. I had some chasers on the graph on the hump beside the island at Starkey, but other than that it was just fishing and paying dues. I wish I could help you more, but I thought I would just commiserate with you. FWIW, I had first hand reports of a great bite in 30 FOW on freelines, but that didn't work for me. It might be the full moon. I've always heard that daytime fishing for stripes is poor during the full moon because they feed so heavily at night during those times. I don't know, but it sounds like a good excuse.

reminds me of the old 1960s skeeter bass boats.

I agree, although you might want to check on some pro-biotics. J/K, but I'm sure you'll be happy with them. Patagonia makes some good products. They probably weren't worth what they were originally asking, but hopefully you'll feel they were worth what you paid for them.

This is a really cool project. I think it will make a great boat when finished.

Just another thought...thank goodness you pulled up this two year old thread and provided everyone a little insight into your philosophy on C&R.

I can go about 2-3 times a week if I want to. If it's just me in the boat, I may take a trip based on what I think are favorable condidtions. If someone is going with me, we just go when the schedule allows. Does it make a difference? maybe, maybe not. Sometimes I think it plays more to my own confidence than anything. Kind of like picking up your favorite bait on your favorite rod. Somedays I just have a feeling they will bite, but I'll still go on days I don't think they will just to be sure.

Northern Banded Water Snake. They come in a few different color phases.

It depends on how cold of a creek you are talking about. I don't know about a tailwater, but most of the spring fed creeks should have some channels in them, especially on the lower third before the confluence with a larger River system or lake. A lot of them will probably have a flathead or two as well, maybe even a blue if the creek feeds into the Mississippi. I've caught a lot of them out of root wads and brush piles in the clear creeks around me as a kid. I would drop liver or hot dogs on the upstream side and let the current take it back in the shade underneath a little bit. If you don't catch something in 5 - 10 minutes move on to the next one. The tailouts of riffles at the head of big slow pools is another spot to catch them as afternoon turns into evening and dusk.

Nice job rps. You're becoming a witch on the upper end walleye. It's been fun to follow along on your reports over the last few summers. You definitely have figured some things out on how to find them and get them to bite.

That's what I've observed about the pheremone type traps. Put them in your neighboors yard. If you put them in yours, you'll just attract all of his to you.

I can't think of anyone who deserves a fish like that more than you. Congrats.

Shoal creek doesn't fall out like the rest of the creeks in SWMO. It's the one I alwasys started floating when the other ones dry up. Your biggest problem with the girls will be the strainers or the lack of frequent gravel bars. Don't get me wrong, probably won't be many strainers but there could be and there will be some gravel bars but not as many as Elk, Indian, or the Sugars.

I've floated that stretch from Smackout to Ritchey Mill a few times, but it's a pretty long float. At least 8hrs if I remember correctly. It's a nice stretch with good fishing though.

I did...until I finally opened it up to see why a guy from Oregon was inquiring on a fishing forum based in the Ozarks. Might want to edit the title to your post and you might get more response. There should be carp in just about every body of water you can find in that part of the state - or anywhere in the state for that matter. They are very common. Some places will have more than others, but you should find some.