Seth

I just cycle through a couple of baits and see if they find one more interesting than the other. Today it was the white trout magnet and the orange trout worm. The time before that, they were on the rubber legged jigs. They pretty well always bite one of the three at Maramec as long as it's not high and dingy. The biggest key is presentation though in my opinion. With a jig or magnet, I can shake it in front of fish and make them react to it. Most people setup too far downstream for the fish they are targeting and it doesn't allow them to keep the bait in the strike zone as long IMO. You want to be about 45 degrees above the fish so you can let your bait/lure get down and swing in front of them. It's tough to do that when you're besides or below them in flow.

The fiancee and I fished from 12-2:30pm. She caught three on orange trout worms and I caught 9 mainly on white trout magnets. The five I kept weighed around 7 pounds so all pretty decent sized fish. I only saw three other fish caught by somebody other than us while we there. We missed plenty that never took the worm or magnet all the way in to their mouth. Lots of short strikes.

I totally missed it due to it being out of focus.

Is this suppose to be like an old person selfie where half of what they were trying to get in the picture is cut off?

I use a carolina/slip rig so I can keep the sculpin down on the bottom with quite a bit of weight, but also so that the trout can take the sculpin and not feel any extra pressure on the line.

Which is why I laugh when people get upset about the pressure the lake is getting. New fish are put in all the time so does it really matter? There is no shortage of lunkers to be had either.

Dipping worms around rocks at night on Taneycomo for bait is kind of fun though! We used to catch crawfish for bait in the same manner when creeking when we were younger.

I've fished sculpins a few times in recent years in the same fashion and caught some very nice fish on Taneycomo. We also missed a lot of fish. The way that was rigged looks like a good way to solve that issue. We were just using #2 circle hook through the lips. The majority of Taneycomo is open to fishing whatever so you're fine. The upper few miles is artificial (no plastics or bait) only. The White River has similar areas as well.

2# or equivalent tippet size is always recommended in low flows for anything under and indicator.

Is there something holding the line in place towards the tail to keep it streamlined? Looks like something is wrapped around to hold the line against the body, but I can see clear enough to say for certain.

They definitely don't mind the Glaize and Niangua arms in the winter. You see several weighed in during winter tournaments out of those areas.

Fish will be on the move this time of year and things will change a lot in a weeks time. One thing that surprised me when I started smallmouth fishing is just how much and how far they will move when they start moving in the fall. We've had days this time of year like you mentioned where we crush them in an area and then not even get a bite a week later. This is on the Gasconade where they have plenty of water to roam in.

There ain't much to it really. Green/white rubber leg jig, white trout magnet and orange wacky rigged trout worm always work for me. Check the first hole I caught most of the fish in my video and just above and below the water fall/dumps. The swift water below the dumps can be good and that is the one area where I do better drifting bait (rainbow or yellow powerbait paste is all I carry). A super duper is another lure that I am going to spend more time trying. The fish were all over it in the video. I'm betting it would be a bit more effective in swifter water where they don't get as good of a look at the lure.

It's about 40 minutes away for me so I go there to scratch my trout itch from time to time while I dream of being on Taneycomo. I've been to Montauk a few times and while it is a nicer park, I didn't feel like the fishing was any better than Maramec for me personaly. A lot of people seem to struggle at Maramec Springs compared to the other parks though.

I've found that it's usually easier to catch numbers below the trophy area than above. It really just depends what you're going for. Hard to be the flat just above the narrows. It's chock full fish and great if you want to try your hand at sight fishing.

There are a lot of people that aren't happy unless they have something to gripe about.

The winners, Jaime and Nathan, are tough cookies to beat this time of year. The two best anglers in my river bass club both fished it. One finished 4th and the other finished 14th.

What bait/lure are you using and where are you fishing? Sculping/ginger and black jigs are my go to. A pink power worm under a float will wreck stockers as well. The flats between Fall and Short Creek, just above Lilleys Landing and just below Cooper Creek access, head of Monkey Island and flat between Scotty's and the powerlines just below the 65 bridge are usually full of fish.

Sounds like they are some crappy chiropractors. I've only been to a couple and there is only one I'd recommend. My lower right back has given me issues for years. After finding the good one, he treated me a few weeks apart and then stretched them out until my back pain was gone. He offered exercises to help permanently fix the issue and avoid having to come back again. My back hasn't felt this good in years. The other chiros never did anything like that. They'd crack you and head on to the next patient with no advice on how to permanently fix the issue.

Wacky tobacky. You ever hear about Snoop Dogg or Willy Nelson complaining about body pains? 😁

Yes. I believe it's also called the Lacy Hole by some old timers. Not sure why but I have heard that term used before.

I do this when dipping brush. Use the light wire non-sickle hooks so they straighten out. Sickle hooks and bright mono get the nod for dock shooting though.

That was the worst thing we did. We'd build up a stock pile of Amazon boxes in the garage and the recluses loved it. I made sure to wear gloves and long sleeves when cleaning up that cardboard because the recluses were all over it!

That would be nice for open water crappie fishing where you don't have to worry about losing baits. You shouldn't ever have to change one out. Problem is lose jigs to docks and brush way too often.