jdmidwest

Thank God for the Urban Trout Program, it gives the Giggers something to do during the daytime... I drove by the Rotary Park here yesterday, some had busted holes in the ice around the edges and were fishing from them, about 20 people fishing out of 6 holes. You are not allowed to go out on the ice and fish, you can only fish from the bank.

Phil, its like everything else, you may have to shop around. Metz is an old name with some high quality genetics, but Whitings are usually longer and you use less feathers to hackle a dry. It is a matter of supply and demand along with production. The chickens are bred for the feathers and harvested for the feathers. They have to be separated to keep from damaging the feathers and the skins have to be dried and prepped by hand. A bad hatch could have led to a shortage of certain colors that drive up the prices also. Someone overseas could have placed a large order and dried up the market here. Of course, feed, transport, human labor are all factors. I have a selection of Metz necks from the 80's and 90's. I rarely use hackle in dry flies, mostly CDC and Hair, both of which I harvest myself during hunting season. The 100 packs are nice for most casual fly tyers. A full cape gives you a full selection of sizes, but the 100 packs are great if you only tye a few sizes.

When we left out yesterday morning, they were still running off into the median north of Jackson on I-55. Main roads were still snowy, side roads not even bladed. We changed direction and ended up in St. James/Rolla area for the night. Stopped in at Meramec Springs today and the spring was pumping mud. Maybe a dozen vehicles in the lots and few fishing. I did not even attempt to unholster a rod. Great days for Antique shopping and sightseeing.

Faststone Image Viewer does all sorts of image edits and its Freeware. You will need to downsize the image to 140 x 140 I think for a Avatar. Most images should post at 800 x 600. Here is a link. Faststone Image Viewers

Here is an article about the local trout pond. It is a good diversion in the afternoons after work. I fished it several times in November and early December. It was iced up most of Jan. and I was tempted to fish it this week, just never got the time. I actually caught more trout there than I did my last trip to the Spring River in Nov. Woolies and a green bead head softhackle have worked good this year. We caught several nice gills while fishing to the trout. One evening we even fished to some risers and had some luck. Come Feb 1 it looks like a mini Montauk for a while. Program allows anglers to keep trout caught in Jackson's Rotary Lake starting Monday Thursday, January 28, 2010 ~ Updated 2:52 PM By Brian Blackwell ~ Southeast Missourian Anglers are expected to line Jackson's Rotary Lake in the pre-dawn hours Monday for a chance to catch and keep trout in Jackson City Park. In its sixth year, the Catch and Keep program allows anglers the opportunity to catch up to four trout daily from the lake for free. While the program is scheduled to continue until Oct. 31, Jackson parks and recreation director Shane Anderson expects anglers to catch most of the trout by the end of February. "What's impressed me about the program is I see someone at the lake I haven't seen in years or even before they come out to fish for the trout," Anderson said. "They tell me the reason they come is because of this program. The goal of this is to use Rotary Lake as an interesting recreational way but also an added feature in the winter for park use." One-thousand pounds of trout were stocked in the lake weeks before the Catch and Release program, which allows anglers to catch the trout but requires them to release their fish back into the water. That season runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31. Anderson estimates that about 900 fish are in the lake. Eighty percent of the fish are 10 to 13 inches in length while 20 percent are 14 to 24 inches. Anglers from 16 to 64 years old must have a valid Missouri fishing license. A trout permit is need if anglers wish to keep their trout. The park is open 6 a.m. to midnight each day. The program is possible through shared costs between the city and the Missouri Department of Conversation. The cost is about $3,000.

Funny how a little snow is a major event in the news now, and for that matter, all this week they have been crying about it. I think we are going to get a few inches of snow here. Most of the crew was discussing how they probably would not make it to work in the morning. All own 4wd and live on paved roads, lol. I am planning a trip out of town this weekend to get away, Better half thought the storm would keep us home. The 4 Runner has a nice set of agressive tires and I like sightseeing in the snowy countryside. Unless it is ice, the trip is on.

I was up 2 weeks ago and posted a report. Crowds were light and fish were taking the usual suspects. It warmed up that day and they started looking up some. River was in good shape before the rains, should be back down now. I will be in the area if the roads are good enough, it looks like most will go south. I will fish a while Sunday.

Nice chart, thanks for the info.

Last year, several hunters confused Trumpeter Swans with Snow Geese and killed a few illegally. If we use the analogy of most on here, Snow Goose hunting would be eliminated. Has anyone ever fished a small stream and watched the fish in a stream. I have noticed that Smallies for some reason will school with the suckers in a stream. So I can see a pattern as to why that they may get stabbed while gigging for suckers. But they should know what they are stabbing at. Frog giggers in streams will target bass also, but we don't need to abolish frog gigging. I have observed it and Al's statement confirmed it, Greater Blue Herons will stab a fish larger than it can eat for some unknown reason. When they stab a fish, it usually kills it.

Was it murky or muddy? Spring River almost never runs crystal clear, it usually has a milky greenish tint with good visibility. If it is up, it would have been brown muddy. I was just wondering how it was, thinking about heading down next weekend. Was the campground very full or did you stay in a cabin? Its a good river to float and fish, you can rent canoes from Riverside or they will shuttle you if you take your own. This time of year that would have been a good trip and you could have seen more of the river.

That really does not look like a gigging scar since most gigs are 3-4 pronged if I remember right. It would have been hard to stab a fish in a side angle attack as the wound shows and not hit it with other prongs. I read a paper a while back that lampreys were on the rise in a few rivers, could that have been a culprit. The wound does not rule out a Greater Heron beak either. I don't gig so I don't have a dog in the hunt to protect them. But I don't like to attack other sportsman that legally enjoy their sport. I don't see how that could have been caused by a fish gig. Anyhow, nice fish.

I agree with most, it is dry except when the Mississippi is up and backs up into the canal created for the river. When I was young, it was call River De P_ee_uu for the Monsanto plant and the sewage smell as you crossed it. I have never thought about fishing it. But if the river is up, I am sure carp and other fish run up into it. I don't think there would be any laws against fishing from its banks, but the city may have some. Pack a weapon, you may encounter unfriendlies in the area.

Per Smith and Wesson when I sent mine back for repair, no problems found, shoot CCI Mini Mags. Amazing that someone would develop a 22 lr pistol to only shoot one type of ammo. It was certainly not the quality of the Walther PPK 22 lr that I grew up shooting on the farm. I have owned several Ruger 10-22's, all have shot well out of the box. I have owned one for 33 years now and will still shoot nickle sized groups at 40 yards just as it came out of the box. A Ruger 22-45 is a nice 1911 trainer, same grip and control locations. There is a Glock 22lr clone made by some company.

I own a P-22. It only shoots CCI Mini Mags, all the rest have problems jamming on the second round. It is not very accurate. Get a Ruger MK2 or 3, Browning Buckmark, or Single Six for some good accurate shooting. Or get one of the Heritage 22's, they work good too.

According to MDC, trout do not successfully spawn in the Current River, so why would they close it for that reason? I think it may have to do with the stocking and control of the additional river miles. They may have to staff more people to manage it.

That's just the way it has always been, no rhyme or reason, it ends at the first low water bridge. I would like to see the whole park open for C&R season. I like the campground stretch myself. Its probably a number of fish reason or feeding the fish problem. I think they feed the fish in the stream during C&R season during the week at least once. At least they put a few fish in the lake this winter and I got to fish it again. In the past few years, the lake has been void of any fish every time I go thru. They used to keep some nice ones in there.

Tournament fishing sucks. Fishing should be for fun and relaxation. Add money and competition then it becomes work........

So where exactly did the 6" rule come from? I have not seen it in any of the rule books other than spacing for trout lines. Same goes for 33 hooks.

Buy what you can afford, but you get what you pay for. Cabelas stands behind their waders with a lifetime warranty against leaks in boots or seams. It does not include tears. I like Orvis waders, I have a pair of Goretex silver label waders I bought in 2000 and they are still waterproof. I have used them on duck hunts, kayaking, boating, and fishing and they are still going strong. I have Hodgeman Horcotex waders that leaked around seams after 2 seasons of duck hunting. I bought a pair of Drake Equawaders Goretex for duck season this year and they worked fine. Neoprene seems to start leaking around the seams before the actual waders are wore out. Goretex is simple to patch with an iron on patch kit. Goretex lets you use them all year long, cool in summer, layer up for warmth in winter. Goretex is lighter and more flexible like a pair of jeans. Stocking foot usually lets you buy a boot that gives you more ankle support. Bootfoot waders work better in mud and muck.

I guess you could look at it that way but I have seen them try to eat the fish they kill. They can't of course, so they leave them lay. I don't think the heron can reason to the point where he could eliminate the competitors.

Smallmouth do get shallow when chasing minnows in riffles and edgewaters and along weedbeds, so the heron is still a culprit. And for some reason they will strike at fish larger than they could ever eat as you witnessed in your pond. I have seen them kill 18" plus fish out of a pond on our farm. I think most poacher giggers would throw the bass in the boat if they gig it and not leave it in the river. It has less bones.

After over 2 months of hunting ducks and deer and working my butt off, it was time for a nice relaxing fishing trip. We made no plans and had no schedule. We really only worked hard on having fun and that we accomplished. Left out Sat. Morning and hit every gun shop between Cape and Rolla. Stopped in for a while and checked into a motel at Licking. We travelled as far as Burns Army Surplus off I-44 before we turned back and weaved our way back to Licking thru the Little Piney area. That pretty well killed the day, no fishing, but non the worse for wear. We saw alot of nice scenery and had some good laughs. Supper at Oligs BBQ which was excellent and back to the motel for a football game and some sleep. Out of bed after a good night sleep and a big breakfast at the Coffee Cup restaurant. Had a big meal on something made of hashbrowns, bacon, green peppers, onions, and salsa. Arrived at the park after 10 am. Weather was perfect, water was fine, crowds were light. Started at the lake by catching a few risers on a Dry CDC Caddis. Noted a crippled Mallard hen wintering in the spring ponds, gotta love steel shot. Entered river at the upper end by the springs and spent some time there getting into shape. I missed several nymph strikes till I got my rythem back. Then a doe and a fawn stepped out and started munching cress, so I got distracted. I spent some time watching them, and followed them out of the river and watched them join others in the woods between the lake and the river. We fish till 3 thru the upper area, caught most on bead head nymphs. There were several caddis and blue wing olives out, but not many risers. Largest fish about 3 lbs. Several fish damaged, looked like a heron or something had gotten ahold of them. Leisurely drive home and mission accomplished. 550 miles on the 4 Runner and I am ready to deal with the publick once more starting tomorrow.

Neoprene can be patched with Goop or Aquaseal. Goop should be available at the local hardware shop or craft shop. I like the marine version. Seams come unglued but can be repaired. Punctures are easy to fix if not too large. You may have a repair kit that come with the waders, most are shipped with some repair in the front pocket of most waders or in the box.

While fishing Montauk Catch and Release today, I noticed alot of scarred and stabbed fish in the stream and one on my hook. Sorry, left the camera in the truck, so no photo. I am pretty sure they were not gigged, probably stabbed by the lowlife Heron or snagged by an Otter. This may be some of the damage you were seeing in some of the areas and thinking they were caused by giggers. On the other hand, I did notice about dark in the town of Licking, MO, a major hatch of jon boats with jets and gigging rigs migrating west toward the Piney River. Seems like it is a great thing to do in that area. I don't think we need to control the population of any species of fish other than the non native species that are threatening the native ones. Without human intervention, I think our streams would control themselves. We don't have to hunt down suckers to keep them from overpopulating. We do need to catch and release game species to insure that there are some to catch in the future so we can enjoy our sport.

That is an interesting part of the river that I am sure most on here have never been on. We used to dump the canoe in at bridge in town and pull out at the dam. I have seen alot of fish and caught some nice bass in that area. Seen some huge snappers also. It has been a long time since I have fished that part, I am going to have to paddle that this summer sometime.