MOsmallies

I don't think any of us doubt this, but these people are doing exactly what you said... LEGALLY keeping LEGAL sized Smallmouth using a LEGAL method. No matter how much we may hate people keeping smallmouth legally, we can't turn them into the authorities for doing anything wrong. It's obvious that more smallmouth are removed from our streams every year by legal methods and "over-the-limit" harvest than by illegal gigging. That's a fact that I don't dispute. However, that doesn't discount the fact that illegal gigging is still GREATLY hurting our already slim trophy Smallmouth populations. You're lying to yourself if you think it's easier for a rod and reel angler to catch an 18" smallmouth than a poaching gigger. I've only caught one over 18" this year. The point of this thread wasn't intended to discount all of the other factors that are and could be hurting our overall smallmouth populations. It wasn't intended to bash ethical giggers practicing within the law. It was intended to notify anglers of a very REAL and illegal situation that is taking place on our rivers every gigging season. It was intended to ask for their help if they witness illegal poaching.... and it was intended to show people the resources they can contact should they see illegal poaching taking place. In the end, we're all here for the same reason. We love our streams, our fish, and the outdoors in general. No one on this site is intending to ruin our resources. We're all trying to better it for ourselves and the future generations. And we're trying to prevent those who are hurting our resources. And Chief I agree with you on needing the regulations changed. I would love to help if at all possible.

Those are some monster. freak of nature, Green Sunfish! Very cool

Absolutely Awesome... That Elk sure holds some good numbers of quality fish! Thanks for the report and pic

Seth... I agree with you 100%. I personally don't have any issues with legal, ethical, law-abiding giggers who are targeting suckers. I'm sure it's a blast and I would probably enjoy it. I'm sure ethical giggers, such as yourself, would probably be in favor of more enforcement at the accesses to weed out the poachers that are making a bad name for giggers.

Chief the point Al is trying to make is that giggers can and are strictly targeting large smallmouth... Rod and Reelers may be keeping more than their limit, but that's usually gonna be a bunch of 10-12" fish. We all know how long it takes our smallmouth to grow. Giggers have the advantage of selective harvest that rod and reelers don't. Both are hurting the populations, but gigging is hurting the population of larger smallmouths much much more!

Check out Flatbottom Boy's report on 9/16. He caught some shallow on a brushog and some fishing shad schools in the backs of coves (ripping a spinnerbait through them and then killing it). I haven't been down since Labor Day, so I have no first hand reports. You may wanna try twitching a fluke on dock corners (especially if they're being hit by wind). I would try topwater early and late. Maybe a football jig on main and secondary points. Good luck and report back. I won't be back down until November when I have two trips planned, so I need to live vicariously through other's reports. Paul MOsmallies

Great report! Are you finding the shad schools back in coves or out on the mainlake? Are they still those schools of small 2" shad?

That's great to hear 405z06... Thank you for sharing that info with your buddy and thank you to your buddy for choosing to act and do the right thing. We need more people like you guys on the rivers. Feathers and Fins... You make a good point

I totally understand your point Feathers and Fins.... And let me go on record saying that I also don't like lumping legal, law-abiding giggers in with illegal, poaching giggers. It's not fair to those abiding by the laws. I have no issues with giggers targeting suckers within the law. I totally understand that we should not refer to it as "poaching season" as well. I'm just interested in promoting awareness to everyone that enjoy our streams that illegal gigging of smallmouth, largemouth, trout, and walleye is taking place and to keep an eye out and report incidents that you may witness. I'm against all poaching in the fishing and hunting world. Smallmouth just happen to be my passion and I'm most aware of the methods and severity in which they are being poached. I'd be extremely upset to find a Striper with it's gills slit as well. I respectfully agree and disagree with your last point. On one end turning it over to the law and allowing the legal process to take place is important. I can see how not talking about it online may allow for them to catch more poachers in the act because the poachers won't be aware of a sting operation.... But there's also benefits to talking about it. Take the Huzzah spearing incident for example. I'm the one who first posted the photo and information and to be honest, I'm glad I did. Several people here on OAF were just as outraged as I was and began calling the local agents, putting pressure on them to act. The poacher in that case was prosecuted. That thread went on for weeks and eventually another OAF member mentioned that his friend witnessed another spearfishing poacher on the Huzzah weeks later. He turned the poacher in and that poacher was prosecuted as well. I may be naive in thinking this, but I feel that our discussions and efforts by talking about it online helped raise awareness and helped lead to the prosecution of two poachers that were targeting Native Smallmouth and Largemouth. Now the individual who witnessed and turned in the 2nd poacher may have never even known that we the poaching thread even took place here on OAF. But it's just as easy that he was aware of the thread, and the passion behind the discussions lead him to act as opposed to ignoring the situation. Like I said, I may be naive, but I think that by having constructive conversations, whether online or in person, that we have the ability to make a difference and help nab some of these poachers who are hurting the resources that everyone on this site love. I'll get off my soap box now. I just wanted to thank Scott for posting the MDC contact information and just mentioning to be on the lookout.

I figured you were on the same side fishinwrench. And you're right that this really is a tough, up hill battle that we are trying to fight. Unfortunately there are a lot of remote, private stretches that really can't be policed like you mentioned... At the same time this is taking place on popular, easily accessible stretches of the Meramec and Gasconade. I've seen way to many pictures from Mitch and Scott of 17"+ smallmouth with gaping gig scars in their backs from these popular stretches. We need to do whatever we can to draw the MDC's attention to these accesses at night during gigging season. And I also agree with you about accesses becoming more and more scarce. Finding those little off the beaten path gems is harder than ever. Good luck in finding a few and protect them once you do.

I understand that most of these replies are meant to be funny, but to the die-hard smallmouth fisherman here, this REALLY REALLY is a huge issue!!!!! Bird Watcher, Feathers and Fins, and fishinwrench - I know you're probably just making jokes, but everything you mentioned really are issues that affect smallmouth bass populations. However, with that being said, illegal gigging (and illegal underwater spearing) are probably by far the biggest issues out there affecting trophy smallmouth in Missouri. I know you guys are die-hard line-side fisherman, so imagine if White Bass and Hybrid populations were being GREATLY affected in a negative way by illegal practices. I may not agree with people legally harvesting smallmouth, but they have the right to do so and I won't berate them for it (may try to educate them, but won't berate). But when someone is ILLEGALLY destroying a resource that I'm passionate about it makes my blood boil. Thanks for posting this Scott, as I didn't even realize gigging season had already started. It's imperative that anyone and everyone who witnesses illegal gigging contact their local agent as quickly as possible and with as much information and evidence as they can gather. The recent Huzzah spearing incidents are a perfect examples... With the efforts of several people here on OAF and the one guy's buddy who actually witnessed the 2nd incident, two of these @$$hole poachers have been prosecuted. We DO have the ability to make a difference and if anything ram it down the MDC's throat over and over again that illegal gigging is more prevalent than they may have ever thought.

I almost strictly use light wire hooks on all baits. I believe light wire hooks penetrate easier. The only exception is when fishing heavy cover or I need a little faster sink rate on weightless soft plastics (i.e flukes or senkos). I'll also use a heavier gauge hook when fishing buzz frogs (i.e. Stanley ribbit or horny toad).

Thanks for the report... I won't be back down until November, but I enjoy seeing reports periodically to keep a gauge of whats going on. Keep us informed if you don't mind. And an 18" Largemouth on a buzzbait isn't anything to be disappointed about. Nice fish!

Great Report and pics! No fish pics though??? Congrats on the nice green bass Larry

In regards to Seth's last post.... On one end it sounds great that those tournament fish may be doing fine after release and are biting again, but at the same time it's really concerning. Tournament anglers are purposely trying to catch previously weighed and released fish over and over again. The amount of physical damage and stress these anglers are putting on these river fish is sickening. You said it yourself. There's not that many 5 lb fish in the Gasconade and your club is continuously catching the same poor fish weekend after weekend, dragging it around in their live wells, lugging it in a bag to a weigh in and then after many hours dumping it back into the river to be caught again. Eventually enough stress is going to be put on that fish that it dies, and that's one less 5 lb bass in the Gasconade that could be spreading it's genes every spring. Not to mention these tournament anglers sound like they're not that great of fisherman. Go find your own fish. Seems pretty easy to sit around and wait for someone else's released fish to bite again. Really no skill in that. I wish all river tournaments would be CPR mandated. I hope this doesn't come off as offensive... Just my 2 cents on what's best for our resources Blazerman - Great report and glad you found a cool new bait. Stacey King is known for fishing that bait on a jika rig. He did pretty well on it in the PAA tournament at Table Rock last weekend. Did you get a pick of the 18". Would love to see it.

Great to see you back on here Andy! Missed your reports and insight. Hope you've been catching em good this summer.

Awesome... Anytime I use circle hooks for wacky rigged baits or catfishing, I usually have to remind myself not to set the hook like normal. Just lift your rod tip and reel. They'll hook themselves. You probably already knew this, but my brain forgets and i usually miss my first couple bites because of it.

Please use a circle hook to minimize the chance of gut hooking... Good luck

Fishing was terrible for us (25 mm). Caught one that barely touched 15" on a baby brush hog, 1 12" spot on a custom poured craw, and a few more shorts on an x-rap worked along dock corners and boat slips. Nothing on a 10" worm. Missed one on topwater. No bass on the Ned Rig (I got desperate). Little 2" shad all over the place that I think are hurting the bite some. Didn't get around to trying the night fishing. Catfished one night with no luck either. Fish were in a funk! It was just rough, rough, rough. Won't be back down until early November and then again for Thanksgiving. I'm hoping the spinnerbait, squarebill/wart, and jig bites will be on fire by then. How'd everyone else fair?

Like you Al, I used to fish that creek once maybe twice a year, but I haven't fished it in 3 years because I know how much pressure it's getting. To be honest I was seeing a steady decline in numbers and size for a good 3 or 4 years straight. This stream has a special place in my heart, because it's where I caught my first really nice smallmouth (17") and my 2nd biggest ever has also come from it (19.5"). It was a killer little stream in it's day. I'm glad to hear there's still some numbers and quality fish in there! I sometimes have access to a section a few miles upstream from the 2nd bridge that gets a lot less pressure because the access is private. My buddy has caught a few nice ones (18+") up there this year. Great report.

In a small pond like that, if you can't at least see a few bass just walking the banks, then there probably aren't any. Like the others said, catfish and bass don't usually thrive together in a small setting like that. You could always try stocking a few bass in it from another near by pond if you have any access by chance.

That's a nice smallie anywhere! What was the winning weight?

What a beautiful meanmouth at that. Thick and healthy looking with absolutely no blemishes on it whatsoever. And look at the size of that tail!!! Nice largemouth as well

March is the main month I believe, but Feb-April. And the fall oct-early dec is pretty good too. Mainly when the water temps get in the high 40's to low 50's

Yep... Asian. The spillway is choked full of em. Hope you slit it's gills and left it for the turtles. Pretty cool you caught it on a homemade inline spinner though. You catch anything else? Or only the carp?