MOsmallies

Impressive... I still remember reading the Hawaii story!!

Very cool! And although you didn't find a bunch or any big ones, I'd still say it was a success! Thanks for sharing... How many states have you now caught a river/stream smallmouth in?

Very nice! Chief you all have some bruiser river largemouth down that way... And you know how to catch em!!

Very nice! You've been on some nice fish all year WeekendWarrior. Thanks for the report!

I'd guess this fish was every bit of 20"... I'd bet there's very few 18" Missouri Smallmouth that would weigh 4 lbs. Congrats Seth! A beast for sure!!

Makes me wanna puke!!!

Hahaha just my sister-in-law with a Marlboro Light

I actually considered keeping it and freezing it for catfish bait

But I will never know... I wanted to share a fish story from yesterday (Labor Day) on Lake of the Ozarks. I was crappie fishing off my family's dock in the very back of a cove at the 25 MM about 11 am (Crappie report on the LOZ forum). I was using minnows under a slip bobber about 9-10 feet deep. Hooked this fish thinking I had a slab before it came shooting out of the water like a baby tarpon. Initially I thought it was a Mooneye. We took some pictures and measurements because I knew it was a somewhat rare catch on Lake of the Ozarks. It was just shy of 17" but we never weighed it. Unfortunately the fish swallowed the hook and was dead when we tried to release it. Not even considering if it could have been a state record we cut it into chunks and fed it to the turtles. When I got back home last night I researched it some more and determined it may actually be a Goldeye. I came across a 2012 article about the state record Goldeye which was also caught from Lake of the Ozarks (16.5" and 1 lb 12 oz) and realized my fish may have been or at least came close to the state record. Today I emailed Greg Stoner, fisheries biologist for LOZ, to share the stories and pictures. He called me back within a couple hours and confirmed it was a Goldeye and it would've at least been close to the state record. He agreed that the strange part was the location it was caught. He's been surveying the lake for 20+ years and the only place he's seen them is below Truman Dam when surveying for Walleye. At least it'll be a good story! Oh and the crappie fishing was pretty good!

Bass fished early on Saturday. Only caught 7 or 8 with two 15-16" keepers. Beaver, D-stroyer, S-Crank, and Ned caught em. Biggest one came out of a brush pile in 15' of water on the D-stroyer. Never really bass fished the rest of the weekend because of boat traffic and family. Luckily the crappie on our dock kept us plenty busy. Only fished our dock and caught at least 50 between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning. 24 nice keeps. Most were in the 10"-12" range. Minnows about 9-10' deep under a slip bobber did the damage. We have tons of cover around and directly under our dock which sits in 11-15' of water near the back of our cove. Just had to keep moving around and they would bite in flurries. The best spots were the deepest, darkest parts of our boat wells where very few if any boat anglers could cast. Also had a surprise catch that I'll post about in the General Discussion section shortly!

My comments have been sent as well. I told them I don't know what the perfect regulations are but I gave them some suggestions and also urged what Wrench mentioned. Enforcement is key. I keyed on illegal gigging and poaching. They really do need to patrol the main gigging rivers at night including areas only accessible by private ramp. They need to be proactive instead of reactive when it's usually too late. Stricter regs will help but enforcement is vital! I hope they get inundated with messages from hard-core catch and release anglers. I doubt many of the meat hunters will share their thoughts but who knows. We need to outweigh them handily so they can see who these fish mean more to!!!

I'd say so... Looks like some cool locations

Killer video and editing skills... You are very talented! Thanks for sharing!! You ever get the gar trip in?

Nice fish and great pics! I love reports with pictures... Thanks for sharing!!

I couldn't figure em out this past weekend either... And you are correct WeekendWarrior, LOZ has some impressive tournament anglers who call the lake home!

Awesome... That mouse pic is very cool and interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I've had Adrian paint a handful of baits and have been very happy as well. He really listens to the customer and wants to get every detail down right. Fast turnaround and a hell of a nice guy!

I've always liked the way the Dirty Jigs jigheads. It looks like they airbrush their jigheads to get the accent color effect. It probably doesn't matter to the fish but it's one more detail that I think looks cool and would give me a little more confidence... http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dirty_Jigs_Tour_Level_Finesse_Football_Jig/descpage-DJTLFFJ.html#multiview

Sounds like deflated balls were involved

Be prepared for a rain delay Joe... Wacha is a walking/talking rain delay waiting to happen

Never thought of using it for this... Will need to try it out next time I get a gnarly backlash... I mostly use it before and after trips to keep my line fresh while it's sitting. Seems to help.

Walleye came off the same spot

Sadly, this is more likely to protect stocked trout rather than native smallmouth

Thank you Dan for taking the time to update everyone! Your efforts with the MSA are very much appreciated!!!

I was down last weekend in the mid lake area... Couldn't get much going on typical baits (7/8 oz jig, 10" worm, magnum shakey head, 6XD crankbait). My father in laws electronics are ancient so it makes it tough when the fish go deep... So I broke down and threw the Ned Rig (Dave's 1/8 oz head and a Canada Craw ZinkerZ). Got bites fairly regularly but only 3 fish worth mentioning. That thing really does catch a little bit of everything. I caught Largemouth, Spotted Bass, Walleye, Channel Cat, Flathead, and Gar. Gut hooked the walleye, so we kept him for dinner. Snagged the gar in the tail. 8 lb line and a medium action rod made for one hell of a fight. It turned a slow weekend into a fun one...