MOFishwater

Not sure if that post was meant in jest or not, I'm still waking up. As Trav posted, they WILL indeed offer assistance to landowners. We actually had an agent come out to help us assess the current population in our lake and give us suggestions on what exactly he thought we needed to stock to maximize our carrying capacity. I'm pretty sure they gave us some stockers, we also purchase some fish at our local grain elevator on "Fish days" and toss them in every now and again, usually catfish and crappie. The MDC takes a lot of heat from folks on boards like these, but they are out there and willing to help if you follow the right channels. Cheers. PS~ There is no requirement to allow public access to stocked ponds either as far as I know, never heard that.

bassmaster.com

I could be wrong, I am absolutely no economics person by any means...but I thought I heard the other day that the only reason the economic growth and consumer spending went up the past 3 months was due to the increase in food/gas prices. Like I said, that may be incorrect but I believe that was the explanation I overheard on the radio. Carry on:) Still waiting for my check...

Google is your friend, my friend:) www.scottcampbellfishing.com If you would like, you may call him or email him,he may be glad to answer any questions! (don't quote me on that, just saw his info on his website) Contact Info: scottyc32@hotmail.com Cell - (660) 641-3973

Just curious, seemed like a dandy to catch again sometime. I like to eat the little ones myself, understandable if he was injured. Do what ya like! Cheers.

Didja eat that nice smallie? No C/R?

nice feesh! FYI~ You can also host pics easily and without any account logins, etc at www.imageshack.us I use it on a daily basis.

Looks like a blast, glad you were able to salvage the trip. Memories of a trip like that'll last forever. Wish I still could find the time to get out w/ my old man some more, gotta cherish those times. Thanks for sharing the pics!

Awesome fish! My backyard sucks I've decided. Nice one.

i know a number of folks that have started looking and come up empty. Supposed to hit 32 here tonight, dont think that helps anything. Here's a morel site's map where reported findings are shown, I'd say its a tad early still. We normally start finding them about the 2nd week of April out near Hermann.

That's a great tip too. I have a bunch of the Basstrix swmbaits and I had a problem with them flying off the baitkeeper every now and then when I'd try to make a long cast, even a fresh new one that i just screwed on. I started covering the spring w/ glue before threading it into the nose of the bait and havent lost one since. When you combine the glue AND the spring, its hard to lose the bait or have it moved out of place. Cheers.

Agreed. I'd say try fishing some smaller local tournies to see just how much competition there REALLY is before you are even dealing w/ the big dogs. I've read a lot of books and articles from the pros, its really a struggle even for some of the big names. Non stop travel and very little free time for family and "regular" day to day life. The more I see the more I think it would not be as fun as it appears to be on the surface. Like he said above, having that much pressure on you could very easily take the fun and enjoyment out of something you enjoy as a hobby and passtime. WHen it becomes a job, its a whole new ballgame. Kind of like being a fishing guide.

THese folks may be willing to help out with the shuttling, although it is a bit "early" for the floating season. Good folks regardless, give em a holler! Luke www.bearcatgetaway.com/

LOL. Actually, my coworkers are curious what happened to the clicky pens;)

what a bummer! Me and my dad are supposed to be chest deep fishing @ Montauk right now but alas, here I sit at work instead. Could be much worse I guess, luckily we're basically on "The Hill" in S. City STL. Thoughts and prayers to those in the quagmire. Hope the water receeds ASAP.

I've been bit by the swimbait bug and fish them a LOT now and have tried a number of different hooks to try and keep these expensive hunks of plastic on the hook and swimming correctly. I really like the EWG hooks with the spiral "baitkeeper" for screwing into the nose of the bait, helps it stay on the hook and is a lot less invasive/damaging to the nose of the bait. I saw a tip in either Bassmaster or NAFC or something and gave it a try and it works great, so I thought I'd pass it along to anyone who may be interested. Here's the type of hook: You can turn an ordinary EWG hook into the same thing very quickly and easily by using a good ol' ballpoint pen (the clicky kind). Just open it up, take the spring out. You can snip it in half w/ pliers and hook it onto the eye of your EWG and make 2 baitkeepers that work just as well in the limited time I've given it a try. I've snatched up all of the springs in the house and have a nice stash rigged up for the upcoming fishing trips using my surplus EWG hooks, these are great for swimbaits, frogs, flukes, etc. Just a tip if you're looking to save some pennies here and there, so far I've found them to work just as well as the store bought ones.

State Police: Section of Interstate-44 Closed Created: 3/19/2008 6:10:19 PM Last updated: 3/19/2008 6:11:00 PM (KSDK) -- Interstate 44 is closed in both directions from mile marker 141 to 145, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol. That section of interstate is located in Laclede County. The Highway Patrol said they may have to close more of the interstate as the night goes on.

I just heard on the radio on my way to work to plan on using an alternate route if you travel 44> 1-41 as it appears it will most likely be under water by evening commute! that should work out well its still open currently, but you may want to pay close attention if that's your travel corridor.

No problem, I was not interested in working anyhow, glad to help:)

there is a link on the bottom of this page to contact them about permits: http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/permits/perm_actions.html Also a lot of info on here regarding fee's including a phone #: http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/st/RecFeeProgram.cfm

Have you had a chance to fish the new X-rap "Sub Walk" yet? I watched a video of it the other day, looks like it could be nasty, would love to add one to the tackle box...yet another $10 lure! Is it just me or are the lure prices getting out of hand? I remember thinking $5 was too much I've got a few pricey swimbaits and I'm afraid to even use them most of the time because I dont want to loose one! Anyhoo, here's a vid of the new lure in action, could be dynamite on the muskies. www.youtube.com/watch?v=owSLjrsOn1w

That's an amazing fish! I sent this to a friend and was ribbed because its apparently gone around the email world with a lot of incorrect info on location, etc. Here's a link my friend sent me: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/giant-sturgeon.html I cant imagine fighting something that size, what an awesome fish

This one?

Isn't the King Shad $30? Not entirely reasonable if you ask me:) What's the action like on those things? I guess when if it's durable it'll pay for itself after a number of fish. I've actually taken a liking to the Bass Pro shop brand swimbait. Just over $4, they are just as good looking as the pricey ones but they arent too long lasting. Last one I got had the tail bit off on the first cast (but I was also fishing a lake w/ pike and muskies, so who knows what hit it). For some reason they stopped making the BIG one, when I first found them they were making a 6 or 7 incher, I still have one but I only break it out when we're in monster muskie country in Wisconsin, i dont wanna lose it or waste it on a mediocre fish. I bought 6 boxes of the Basstrix Paddle tail tubes a while back from CA. They are decent looking but also quite flimsy. I lost more than a few just casting them where they'd fly off the hook, it would tear out and it would be long gone 1/2 across the lake. I started super-gluing the hook to the nose of the bait after rigging it up which seems to help a bit. I'm definitely a firm believer in the swimbait now though, while you may not get as many strikes, the ones you do get are amazing. GImme some lowdown on the king shad if you dont mind. Did you get the smaller size or the larger one? How far does it dive? I prefer running mine like a "wake bait", I love the topwater strikes on the swimbaits. Nothing cooler than seeing that bulge slowly coming up from behind and nailing it! I caught my first muskie last summer on a Friday using one of the BPS swimbaits, this after fishing the same lake for 3 years w/out a bite and ended up catching 3 more the next day, 4 in one weekend. Pretty neat.