laker67

I agree, give them a "pass" to 24 inches, then hold on tight. I recently caught a 24.5 inch ,female taney brown ,that went 9.5 pounds. The fish was in great shape and an excellent fighter.

It looks like a "log perch".

After viewing the videos several times, I have determined that it is an Asian Carp.

That's exactly what I meant to say.

The Roubidoux originates somewhere south of Plato,Mo. Where I am not sure. But I can't imagine it being an overflow of the gasconade. The area above the spring that you spoke of, I have heard that the river merely travels underground for a few miles. There is water at the south 17 bridge and water at the hwy 32 bridge. Curt Jones and I have fly fished for smallmouth just north of Plato. I think there is even a conservation area somewhere south of Waynesville. There is alot more to Roubidoux creek than just the spring in Waynesville. Sorry, this is all the information that I can add.

I hope you are right and I am wrong.

I heard this same rumor last year. Warm water will make them vacate the upper lake.

What is really interesting is the temp graph, almost 60 degrees. Where is that measured at? If that temp goes upward in the next few days we could be looking at another aborted spawn as in last year. The plus side for some of you will be those undesirables such as walleye, smallmouth, spots and the other rough fish. Maybe even that colony of river otters.

Do you think you are going to need that big of a landing net?

Jeff, Being a net builder myself{Rainbow Networks}, I must say that I admire your craftsmanship. Experimenting with exotic woods is a gamble at best. Thanks for posting some of your nets.

Wow! Congrats Terry! Do you have to fish every day to defend your title?

Very nice fish guys!

hopefully tomorrow night, save me one. good luck tonight.

Knowing that the kentucky bass is "native" to the mississippi river basin, I would assume Meramec would be a logical choice for them. Just like the rivers farther north in my home area.

This is only an observation and not directed to any one involved in this topic. As a kid, in the 50's and the 60's, I learned to fly fish in the most of the creeks and rivers in camden, miller, and laclede county. In all of those creeks and rivers I caught smallmouth, largemouth, and red eyed kentuckys. In all of the creeks, the kentuckys were the most common. To me they were a creek bass, and the largemouth was more of a rarity. That was 50 years ago and they were well established back then. Bagnell dam and tunnel dam had been in place for years, which means that kentuckys had to be in the system prior to the dam. Now if you fish a tributary that empties into a tributary that eventually empties into a lake. Most of those dams have been in place since at least the fifties. I don't see kentuckys being a "new" problem. They have been in the rivers and streams that I fished for 50 plus years. By making this next statement, I will expect to see my head on the chopping block. I personally think, that continual catch and release, leads to overpopulation and stunted growth rates. You see it most often in ponds, but I believe it has the same effect in rivers and especially smaller streams. Pretty soon the fish will eat up most of the crawdads, frogs, and other aquatic food that the creek can maintain. Just an observation, thanks for listening.

I guess I missed the discussion about putting pike in taney.

In the list of featured anglers, our very own OAF member Bill Butts is included. Congrats to Bill.

www.backcountryoutfitters.org

Great report and some great pictures. A clever and ambitious approach to float fishing.

"You" won't have to worry about fighting the crowd. "They" will want to fight you first. If you have never witnessed one of these derby's, you owe it to yourself to attend. It will remind you of a one day sale at the shopping mall.People will come from miles around at the chance of snagging a big fish. Did I just say snag? Normally they turn out 40 lunkers and 39 will be dead by noon. Most of the derby participants will have the streamside manners of a grizzly bear. You do not have to participate in the derby, daily fishing goes on as usual. Just keep an eye open for some unusual and comical events.

"Expoiting the resource", sounds like a fly in the making. Vanven said that the triploid fish would quickly gooble up the smaller resident fish. Wow! That would mean a big fish on every hook up. I agree with you, put them in taney and let's start fishing. Several other states have already jumped on the bandwagon. I think that California's lastest 28 pound state record was a triploid rainbow. Michigan and new york are raising seeforellen browns. That 41 pound brown was a seeforellen. If there were a classification for midget rainbows, then missouri would hold the record with their McCloud stain. Since triploids do not go through the spawning ritual, the upper lake would have no more of an advantage than the lower lake.

Man oh man! What a beautiful rainbow! Rainbows that size are getting to be extremely rare in the past few years. I haven't caught a rainbow that size since 05. Congrats on a great fish!

A great catch and a great story Tito. congrats !

Lighter rods are a little more forgiving, but the single most important thing is adjusting your drag as Vanven stated. Don't be afraid to touch that dial even with a fish in mid air. Your reel is designed to accomodate the leader. I am sure you would not use spinning gear without adjusting the drag. Never try to outguess a big fish with the hand over hand method. You will be telling the same story that you just told.

I have to agree with dave and greg. Trout are not as fragil as most in the trout fishing industry would have you assume. I am talking about the fight and the release. If you drag one up the bank, or handle the fish like you would a bass, at a bass world tourament, the fish will suffer some consequences. Probably death. It is the rough handling that kill the trout. They do not withstand physical contact as well as other fish. Hooking and landing a fish on 7x has no more consequence than the heavy handed tactics with heavy lines. Like greg, I have witnessed several large fish released and doing well on the following weekend.