Seth

The only thing overrated about fish/fishing is chasing the same fish all the time IMO. I like variety.

Yes. Search weedless ned on Tacklewarehouse and you'll see quite a few show up. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=30&prevsearch=flatland&searchtext=weedless+ned

That's a friggin unit!

I wreck smallies on a Zman Big TRD paired up with an EWG weedless ned style jighead. I'm assuming it resembles a hellgramite. One thing I know for sure is that there isn't another bait out there that will outlast a ZMAN product, which is my favorite quality about them. Basically lasts until I break it off. Buy jigheads and baits at a 1:1 ratio.

I'm going to try my darndest to make the Lookout Cookout event next month. Only getting to fish Taney a few times in the winter months aint cuttin it! I need a fix!

I'm right there with you. I only follow a few outdoor groups on FB these days for the same reason. Too many idiots out there. Hunting groups seem to be worse than the fishing groups.

That's a good bird! We've had a good turkey season so far. During the youth season, Dad and I each got our nephews on gobblers. Dad shot a gobbler Monday morning on the opener and my brother and I both got ours yesterday morning. There are still several gobblers around too so chances of filling both tags is actually looking good this year. The gobbler numbers have been low on the properties that we hunt the past three years and it has made for some tough turkey hunting. I've only managed to harvest one bird over the past two seasons. I had filled both tags for a decade straight prior to that. Lots of fried turkey breast, carnitas and pot pies in our future!

I would see them fairly regularly on the Gasconade in the fall/winter while gigging around Vienna. I've not gigged much the past few years so I haven't seen any recently.

I sent your wife my venmo/paypal deets on the Facebook. Thanks brotha!

Missouri Disabled Sportsmen is holding a raffle to help raise funds to help offset the costs of an upcoming fishing trip that they are putting on for mobility-impaired anglers. If you would like to purchase tickets or have questions, please let me know. I have Venmo and Paypal available for accepting payments. Check out their Facebook to see what opportunities they provide for mobility-impaired and youth outdoorsmen. They do several events throughout the year so be sure to follow them if you know somebody who might be eligible to participate. https://www.facebook.com/missouridisabledsportsmen

Running on plane at lower speeds is a big reason I want one. I'd probably start fishing the Meramec again if I had a small rig that did that.

I love my boat, but I am constantly on the lookout for a small rig like what you used to have. Boats a tool like anything and there are many times when I wish I had that smaller boat.

How many people do you know that actually wear a life jacket when running their boat? I can't think of a single person who actually wears one except when required for tournaments.

I run an 1860 Legend SS vbass and love it. Several buddies have Alwelds and they very nice as well. If you're running areas with a lot of "can opener" boulders then you may want to look in to something with a thicker bottom. Most of those setups come with inboards though and cost a lot more. Boats like mine can take gravel strikes all day, but it doesn't take much of a rock to open one up. Ask me how I know.... That's what insurance is for though.......😁

Damnit man! I'm sorry to hear that. I'll send a few up for you and your family.

I need to try and make it down for some spring training games next year. Cari would all for it, we just need to plan ahead so she can put in her time off request soon enough. We'll be at Busch for the opener this year so I'm pretty stoked about that! Hopefully the weather cooperates for us.

How many times he say "SON!"? 😁

It's about time somebody beat those boys. They've been on a roll! It seems like every year we have something going on that first weekend of March and can't make it down there. I'll let dad know you said hello.

It was. I've only made it down for the winter tourneys the past few years so I spent my time pre-fishing below Fall Creek preparing for those. This was the first time I'd been down just fun fishing in a while so I was able to actually go hit the trophy area. My only regret was not having more time to do it since we had to get back home. I'm hoping to make it back down for a few of the charity tourneys this year. I'm not as serious about those so I'll gladly go play in the trophy area on those trips.

Same here. I’ll drift when needed but give me a jig bite any day! The jig bite was better for me last two days than it was in any of the winter tourneys. Not sure if they have changed up their stockings recently or what but it was a pleasant surprise. Definitely felt like old Taneycomo again.

Fished yesterday evening between Fall Creek and Trout Hollow. Driffting scuds worked OK, but I think them cutting the generation hurt that bite a bit. My best bite ended up being a 1/8oz black jig in the slower water across from the upper end of Trout Hollow. Had several solid fish around the 1 pound mark. Biggest was a 17” brown. This morning I fished the trophy area. Best bite was black or white jig along the bank across from Trophy Run. Also hit a few pockets of fish along the bluff wall between Lookout and the Narrows. Nothing huge but quite a few chunky 16-18” rainbows. No browns wanted to play.

Fished 1:30-4:30 and landed eight. The water visibility is around a foot. I threw the jig for a while, had several bites that I missed, and managed to land one. After messing with the jig for a few hours, I gave in and started drifting rainbow power bait on the bottom and caught the other seven. Four were decent sized (13.5-16") and the other four were dinks that I put back. There were a few fish on stringers when I arrived, but I only saw one other fish landed by another angler while I was there.

We're heading down tomorrow evening. Going to snag for paddlefish on the James arm on Wednesday and then hopefully meander over to Taneycomo Wednesday evening. If not then definitely Thursday morning. Hopefully some of those shad will find their way through by then. I always look forward to fishing when the gates are open.

Smoke is a hammer, especially when it comes to the best five format. He'll be a force again this season for sure. It's also no surprise that Wheeler was right there near the top again. It doesn't seem to matter what the format or body of water is, he's always right there! The highlights don't show much FFS going on. Looks like it was mainly shallow around docks and sight fishing. Just goes to show that there FFS is a tool like anything and not always needed. These guys are good enough to know when they need to get away from it.

So many seem to hate on Maramec, but I feel like the quality of fish has been really good for several years now. The past few times I've fished Montauk, it was hard to catch fish worth cleaning.