Quillback

I did get a spare, but if this one lasts 6 years like the previous one, will I remember where the spare is? Or even if I have one?

Yeah buddy, Mr. Hughes can paint a bait! Tracked down a spring at TH Rogers, got it in, I'm back in business.

Thanks for the 2 foot advice, but my mission today is to find a spring and fix it.

It is kind of weird the fish aren't on top more. When I was out in Indian creek area a couple of days ago, there were plenty of shad on top, when I running down the creek I was spooking a lot of shad. There did seem to be schools of spots chasing shad but it was all sub-surface. Kind of a head scratcher why they aren't busing them on top.

Got on the lake at first light - I motored over to a chunk rock bank that had held some fish last time I was on the Rock a couple of weeks ago. Caught 4 bass on my first 10 casts, one of them was a keeper smallie. It got tougher after that. Didn't help that about into an hour of fishing the little spring that pushes up the button you press with your foot to activate the trolling motor broke in half. TM was now in continuous mode unless I shut it off. Not used to fishing that way, made boat control a bit difficult for me, almost packed it in, but since I was there I decided to stay and fish. Ended up with a dozen bass, all shorts except for the one smallie. Caught 4 LM that were all just short, fun fish to catch but they would not help anyone in a tournament. The rest were spots, had a dozen bass total. 1/2oz Nutech jig in PBJ or Sunfish, with a Rage Craw trailer worked for me. Most fish were on steep chunk rock banks. 2 bass were caught when I was retrieving the jig back to the boat, had another good one get off the hit it on the retrieve. Darn fish only would do that when I wasn't expecting it, wouldn't bite it when I deliberately swam it. Caught a spot on a Lucky Craft US shad that has a Tim Hughes custom paint job of Japan Craw - I think this bait is going to whack them when things are right for it. When I got back to the parking lot there were two identical, brand new Denali 4 door pickup trucks towing identical Ranger trailers (Different color on the trailers). Just kind of funny to see identical rigs parked next to each other, very nice setups, sharp trucks.

I'd say you're bringing the right stuff.

Some big boys there BH. I don't hunt them, but last evening driving out on the road from Indian creek on Beaver, probably saw 20 does and 1 buck, not all in one group, but several groups of them. I've done that drive many a time, usually you'll see one or two, but not that many, so it seems to confirm the cold weather has them moving theory. Saw a doe swim cross a cove also while fishing.

OK, I have 11 confirmed stays now which will about fill the Cedar lodge. Still haven't heard from Les or Brett. Phil is a probable for Thursday and Friday. Dunno if he is dragging Duane and Babbler down. Thinking we're going to need 2 lodges again.

Didn't get to the lake until 11 AM, had some stuff to take care of in the early AM. Still pretty cold when I got there, mid forties and temps increased a bit as the day went on. Water temp was around 67. My plan was to fish the dam area for smallies which is what I started out doing, throwing cranks, jigs and the shaky head worm. 2 hours later all I had was a couple of bumps and no fish in the boat so I headed up Indian to see if I could find some fish up there. Was tossing the jig when I noticed a bunch of fish on the sonar suspended in 30 FOW. Only thing I had available for suspenders was a jerkbait, so started tossing it and working it hard, no pauses like I would use in cold water jerk tossing. Started getting spotted bass on it, very location dependent, when you could find them, they'd bite, but finding them was difficult and when I did find them, they'd usually be moving. Put 10 spots in the boat, no big ones, 12-15" fish. Did manage to catch one smallie on a crank for the last fish of the day. Had a double on the Pointer 95.

Yeah I hear you on the road funding, personally I think they should do 2 separate initiatives, one for road construction/maintenance and one for further funding for the state patrol. Too late for that obviously.

How much is the proposed increase in gas taxes? I am not a MO resident, but do sometimes buy fuel there.

That's pretty neat, looks like a great place to visit. I saw a fly fishing show a couple of years ago where they fished for browns in Iceland. The fishing looked to be pretty good. I remember them saying something like the browns there are pure strain, they haven't interbred with hatchery browns brought in from somewhere else. Maybe you can smuggle a bag of fingerlings past customs and put them in Taney? 😃

When I lived and fished in Massachusetts, many of the ponds looked just like that picture, just full of pads. Used to drag the Ol' Johnson Silver Spoon with a white Uncle Josh trailer across the pads, when I hit and edge or a hole in the pads, I'd let I drop and flutter down. Never was a numbers game, but used to get some nice fish doing that.

OK, thanks. Doesn't look like much breeze in the forecast for tomorrow, but seems like it always blows a little harder than the forecast.

Just needs a little wind:

Did you have wind for the crank bite? Might go over to Beaver and fish the dam end, would love to see the smallies hitting cranks.

Couple of cold days coming up, like seeing the water temp drop.

You've said that before when you've created a false alias for yourself, it's kind of sad you feel a need to lie about that. Carp need a better spokesman, because you are not it.

Did some ice fishing when I lived in the north. Bare minimum you'll need something to cut a hole in the ice, something to scoop the chips out of the hole you made, and your fishing gear. I had an ice chisel, or spud, you can get them online at a lot of places, do a search. In my opinion the heavier the better, get one with a strap. If you're fishing in NW MO you're probably never going to chop through more than 8 inches of ice and a chisel can get the job done pretty quickly. I always targeted panfish and would make several holes in the area I wanted to fish and would move from spot to spot, I always targeted panfish with a little ice jig tipped with a wax worm. You can buy special ice fishing rods but I always used a 5 foot light spinning rod. Be careful and check ice thickness, I always liked 4" minimum of hard ice.

I am itching to get out there, had to babysit the dog this week, his stitches come out Monday, so I'll have time to fish once again.

Rain gear time this morning. Nothing like taking the dog for a stroll on a cold, rainy morning.

Didn't know those things existed.

Who is "he"? Are you in Nebraska or NY?

I say the same thing when I am out on Table Rock on a Tuesday and every point and cove has a boat or two fishing it. "Does anybody work anymore?"

Hey Fishlover, just curious what school it is that you are attending that has that freshwater management major? Are you the only one in your class that is doing this survey, or are others?