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Thanks for keeping my family in your thoughts, guys. My mom is not taking this as well as my brother and dad, but I'm honestly not worried. The first 2 times I was sick the cancer was in stage 4b- I had tumors all over my body. This time I just have one small growth about 3 cm., and it's only stage 2. I'm just glad we can take care of it with radiation. I've had every chemo treatment under the sun and 2 stem cell transplants, but never any radiation. I guess it's like my grandma says, my cancer is as stubborn as I am.

Hey, all. I just heard about this organization last week from my boss- He is a cancer survivor and signed up for a retreat. He spent this last weekend in Flippin, AR but the group travels all over the country. He said had a great time, and it far exceeded his expectations. ALL EXPENSES ARE PAID (minus travel) for qualified applicants, complete with lodging, food, equipment, tackle and one-on-one guides. If you have cancer, or are a cancer survivor you can fill out an application on their website- I'm including the link below. If anyone is in the market for a TFO fly-fishing outfit, you can get some on the Reel Recovery website for a $275 donation- it's much cheaper than retail, and money from every purchase goes to fund the program. In fact, it is funded ENTIRELY by donations, so they need all the help they can get. I have had cancer three times, once in 2004, again in 2006 and now. I just found out mine has come back last month and I am starting radiation as we speak, so I didn't get to go down last weekend, but I will be attending a retreat in the future. I will also be offering my time to volunteer if they come around this area again- I'm young and healthy (except for the cancer), so the treatment doesn't hit me quite as hard as some other patients. If nothing else, I just wanted to give this program a little publicity and I thought this forum would be a good place to start. Take a look. Eric Reel Recovery Website

Hello.

Those are some nice fish, guys. I was down there last Saturday, and every time I see someone else's pics it just makes me want to leave everything and head to Crane. It is definitely one of the most beautiful places to fish around here. Here are some pics I took at the lower access when it was foggy, right at sunrise last March: (My Brother) I actually use these (and a few more I took that day) as desktop backgrounds spread across 3 monitors on my home CPU- kinda makes me feel like I'm there.

Chompers and Bitsy tubes are my favorites. I get them both at Pro Bass.

Well, I woke up this morning and on a whim decided to drive to Crane and fish for a while. I arrived about 11:00 a.m- it was cloudy, and still a bit nippy- it stayed that way all day. Saw a couple of guys fly fishing at the lower access that said they had better luck than they expected, but mainly little ones. That's where I usually start, so I decided to head that way. The water was a smidge on the high side, slightly stained, flowing pretty fast and everything around the bank was pretty muddy. On the bright side, all the vegetation was still mashed down from the floodwaters so hiking in waders was not as difficult as usual. I was using my UL spinning rig with 2lb. fluoro, and I strung up a 1/32 oz. gold panther martin. That's what I caught the little guys on- caught 4 of them (7"-9"). I just looked for pools forming behind points, or downed trees, cast into the current and let the spinner drift down to the pools. Every fish I got today came this way. After about 2 hours I decided to head to the park. I wasn't expecting much, as I usually catch smaller ones around there, so I didn't bring my net with me. Sure enough, I'm in the middle of the creek just downstream from the red iron walking bridge and I hooked a huge one. I got him all the way to me, and I reached in to try and help him out of the water with my hand, but no dice- line snapped. Frustrated, I went back to the car to re-tie and I got the net this time. I was now throwing a Worden's rooster tail, 1/32 oz. brown and white color. I threw it right in the same place- let the current take it just beyond a mess of exposed tree roots and hooked up with the big one in the picture. I don't think it's the same one I had, no black rooster tail in the mouth, and he didn't fight nearly as hard. It was still a challenge to land him with 2lb. line, and he ended up being a personal best (McCloud) for me. I don't know how much he weighed, but he was fat and my net is 18" across the loop, so I figured him to be 17". Anyway, it was a great day for fishing Crane, as always.

Be that as it may, I'm glad most of it doesn't show up on screen.

I learned to fly fish on Crane (although I'm still not that good ), and it is also where I caught my first trout. My dad started taking me down there in the late 80's, and when I was growing up my family always attended the broiler fest. I would hate to see it all go to pot because of some reservoir, so if it helps to buy gas and a bottle of pop down there I'll do it. I don't know if I'm up for buying a truck down there, though- mine is 25 years old and still putterin' along.

Agreed. This is the only blog/forum that I am a member of- mainly because of the vast amount of information available, but also because there is an absence of hostility between members, and there are NO SPAMMERS!!! It's a lot of work to keep a forum clean from both spammers and people that are just downright rude. I think I speak for everyone when I say we are lucky to have admins who care enough to keep things that way. Great job, guys!! Keep up the good work!! Eric

For ticks, I always use vaseline. Just put enough on 'em to completely cover them and cut off their air supply- they'll wiggle themselves free after about 10 minutes. Lamp oil works well too, I just think it's easier to apply vaseline.

Great Fish!! I tried for some crappie last week, with no luck. Maybe next time.

I'm not quite that enthusiastic, but that's another great tip I'll have to remember. Thanks, Al!!

I just learned of the "wheatie balls" this summer. A man was using them at Fellows trying for cats. He was with his buddy, and one of them swore up and down that the ONLY thing you should mix the wheaties with is cream soda while the other one swore on root beer. I assumed it was personal preference, but I hadn't even heard of anyone using this bait. Interesting.

What are hard plastic tackle boxes made of? Hope it's not polypropylene.

Here it is: Angling For Oddball Fish

Wow, I never woulda thought. Thanks for the info!!

I fish for crappie on Fellows all the time. I know the map you're talking about showing the MDC brush pile locations, but at the marina when I registered my boat this year, the guy gave me a brochure that showed the locations of the "moss beds". I know they are predominately on the North side, but you might check that out next time you're there.

How do you get the 3 inchers? Seine net I assume?

That's a tall order. I've spent many an hour on google earth finding "possible fishing holes" and when I get there most of them are on private property. I finally got to know a landowner with a nice pond so I've been sticking to that, but I might check out the Horton Smith pond. Do you know if the course actually allows fishing? Anyway, right now it's closed for fishing, but within a year or two Valley Water Mill Lake will be open (it's about the size of a big pond). It's on Valley Water Mill Rd. (imagine that!) right by Fellows, and looks pretty nice. You can read about it on the Missouri Watershed Committee's web page, I put a link at the bottom of my post. Can't wait to try it out! MO Watershed Committee

Nice fish!! Fellows is a GREAT place for night fishing. I've gotten my biggest crappie there at night off the dock (13", 1 1/4 lbs.). Looks like I need to try something besides ultralight jigs & tubes. Were you throwing a baby bass colored crank?

NICE bucketmouth, Pat!! 21" is a monster no matter what the weight. Glad you stuck 'em back in the water ASAP- gives us other fisherman a chance to hook up with the beast.

Very informative post, Al. I've also found "run and gun" style fishing brings the fish out when finesse presentations don't seem to be working, (and vice-versa), but now I want to try some micro size buzzbaits- that's something I have never used on streams around here. Thanks again for the detailed post, Al.

I've never heard of bass fishing with sunnies or gills, but now I've got something new to try on my next outing!! Thanks for the idea!!

Loved your post, S&M. You set a great example for all fishermen.

I've caught tons of bluegill on an ultralight setup w/ 4lb. mono, and a small grub on a 1/16 oz. jighead. Also pulled out some bass on 1/16 oz. bitsy bugs w/ craw trailers- none real big, though. I usually fish around the park, and Riverside Inn.