MOFishwater

Seems folks either love him or hate him (I hated him for a long time but he's grown on me a lot, although he's def fallen out of the spotlight as of late). Mike "Ike" Iaconelli has a new tv show supposedly starting tomorrow night on VS network (for you direcTV folks, that's channel 603 which I'm sure you already know). I'm looking forward to it, the other fishing shows are starting to get a little stale in my opinion. Here's the lowdown:

D'oh:( I think I'll be out of town that weekend unfortunately. SOunds like a cool event, I'll def plan on trying to attend if my plans fall thru. Thanks for the heads up! I'd love to get ahold of some of your spinnerbaits you've told me about before:)

Al, if you have another talk planned, please post the info. I didnt see your message until after the fact but I would have def attended had I known about it. I sat at home watching fishing instead!

Just called the stocking #, apparently yesterday was a stocking day and the FINAL stocking off all lakes for the year. Get on it if'n you're going, they wont last long.

Monday Channel 2 news was at Jefferson Lake talking to some trout fisherman during the nice weather. They were yanking em out. Mind you its now bait season, don't leave home without your can o' corn;) Probably wont be anyone there now since its actually ok to use bait. Its no fun when its legal. Where's the thrill in that?

i dispatched a problematic squirrel (well, one of them) in my yard yesterday when I got home. He was sitting on my "squirrel proof bird feeder" (yeah right) and there was a pile of bird seed below him that poured out of the hole he was working on as I spotted him. Grabbed the trusty Daisy w/ the scope that hasnt been dusted off in 10 yrs and gave him a taste of BB. It sucessfully stopped him with one shot, still got it I guess. I then learned a valuable lesson about Instant Karma. As I bent over to put him in a plastic bag to toss in the dumpster I was hit squarely on the left shoulder by a starling's poop! I looked up in the tree, it looked down at me and most likely laughed, then it just flew away smugly. Another life lesson to put in the memory bank;)

This may be a rhetorical question, but what exactly is cottonseed cake? My dad has mentioned it when talking about running trot lines as a youngster on the Cuivre. Cheers.

what is a "shadow bass"?

Here's the model I have, picked it up at Bass Pro (they are cheaper elsewhere, FYI, just do a google search, but I already had one from Bass Pro to return, so I didnt care about the extra $10). http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...t=SearchResults They have fancier models with tide flow,temperature etc. More info than I care to have access to actually. I just always speculate about the feeding cycles when me and the wife are driving and now I'll have access to them. Some people put a lot of faith into them, so I thought it would be nice to try and see if I feel the same way. I tried out the hunting one for a few days but wasnt entirely impressed with the thermometer feature, and it was kind of complicated and not as user friendly as the fishing one. So far its been pretty acurate on the sunrise/sunset data, but I think I need to dial it in a bit more, I think my latitude/longitude is a tad off. Seems to differ by about 5mins, which isnt too bad I guess.

the hunting one had a thermometer, there's also one w/ a compass and altimiter. Its a start I guess:)

enjoyed the review, still hoping for my first carp on the fly this upcoming fishing season. too darn cold for me right now and been hunting a lot. Now that the hunting is finished I'm anxious for some fishing. Keep the reports/pics coming.

Just curious if anyone else has one of these watches? My wife gave me the hunting one for Xmas and I just exchanged it for the fishing version (basically the same thing, different look). Basically, you can enter your longitude/latitude and it will give you the "best" fishing times for that day (or any day you want to check in the future), it shows the moon phase, essentially the "Solunar Tables" info that you find in all of the hunting and fishing magazines. Also lists sunrise and sunset ti me for your specific coordinates. Seems like a pretty cool device, it will alert you when the peak times have arrived. I have always been interested in that info when I'm on the water, never seem to check that out before I go out and it makes me curious when I see deer moving or the fish seem to start biting.... I was just hoping to double check some things with someone who's got one and has it set up correctly. I think I'm good to go but never hurts to check:)

I'll definitely look into some other books he wrote, good to know they are as enjoyable. Cheers.

Well, its worth a shot. They are obviously understaffed, but I sat and watched these guys for a while on Monday, they were catching so many fish so fast I seriously doubt they were going anywhere. The more we bring attention to it, the more they may swing by the problem areas. I know they fwd my email to 4 other MDC folks as well as the manager of the Forest Park fisheries.

I know this has probably been discussed a million times, but I just dove into this book Monday night and absolutely love it. I bought it for my dad last Xmas and noticed it on the bookshelf over the holidays this past Xmas and started flipping thru the foreward. Tucked it into my wife's purse before we left and started reading it the other night. I have to cut myself off so I can get some sleep, I just cant seem to put it down, its like I'm reading a book I wrote myself sometimes (although I'm not nearly as eloquent). If you havent had a chance to read this classic, I highly recommend it. I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to it.

Went back to Jefferson on Monday to enjoy the absolutely ridiculous weather that afternoon and to try my luck w/ the stockers in the wind. Apparently I wasnt the only person with that idea. However, I was pretty much the lone soul, aside from one other fly fisherman, who was not using bait. I found this amusing as there are bright yellow signs posted ALL over with the regulations. I sat and watched the guy next to me using worms ,"tightlining" on the southern side of the lake near the concrete abutment. On the east side of the lake, 2 fellas were pulling fish out every minute or so, then they'd dig into whatever bait it was they were using and rebait their hooks. Then I noticed that the guy sitting down was keeping a fish every now and then and dropping it into a cooler. Not only is it not live bait time, its catch and release only currently. I was about to go inquire if they were literate, they were sitting next to one of the yellow signs with the regulations, but thought better of it and just decided to go on my way. I emailed the Fisheries wing of the MDC and was given the usual Operation Game Thief phone number, which I had in my cellphone at the time but didnt know if it was the right # to call. Yesterday I got another email from a Conservation Agent: "Thanks for you help. The best and quickest way to have an agent respond to violations is to call Powder Valley Nature Center at (314) 301-1500 and inform them that you need an agent to respond to an ongoing violation. We have made several arrest for these violation so far this year and since we are spread very thin with man power any help we can get from the public is appreciated. Thank you!" Anyways, I'm sick of seeing nothing but violations and poaching every time I hit the local park. I suggest that anyone else who enjoys the winter trout fishing around here put the number in your phone as well. I'll be gleefully reporting all bait fisherman/poachers for the rest of the month. Consider it fair warning:)

working for me, but has an odd message in the corner:

Tried out Jefferson yesterday after work and didnt get to spend too much time as I was freezing and had to run and get the bambino from daycare. Was there long enough to watch one guy pull 5 or 6 out, worked my way over and inquired what his secret lure was: "Chartruese Power Bait maggots" Couple that w/ my 1/2hr of fishing on Sunday where I watched a guy pull about 10 out, walked over and he was using night crawlers....I could be incorrect, but the paper I printed out from the MDC says only artificial lures and flies are allowed during this time period. I'm not one to get into anyone's business, but it sure is annoying watching folks break the rules. Probably would have cared more if they were not releasing them, at least they were following the rule on that one. I got one hit on a san juan worm yesterday and missed it of course, still batting .000 on the winter trout, pretty sad. I did notice quite a few fish rising during the short while I was there. Any idea what they could be hitting on? I would love to use dry flies but I have very little knowledge of A- flies B- trout fishing in general (I'm more of a bass/popper fly fisherman) I had the s.j. worm about 4 ft. below an indicator. I have no idea how deep the water is where I was fishing. Would a bhpt nymph be something worthwhile to try? I don't know what excells in non moving water like these small lakes and ponds. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wish I had a box full of food pellet imitations, I bet they'd slurp those up like crazy on the surface

Hey guys~ for the record, I didn't catch that monster. In fact, I've been skunked the past 2 years I've tried the city lakes (I'm blushing for even admitting that, pretty sad I cant land a stocker trout). I found that on another local fishing site. Definitely motivation to make a few more casts in the freezing cold when you know that caliber of fish is possibly out there. Here's the info from that lucky fisherman: Troutgod, just pulling your chain about the phobia of coming into the annals of the 2nd most dangerous city in the USA to catch some trout. I know where you are coming from...my mom thinks I'm going to die any day because I live east of Kingshighway, she grew up in Richmond Heights. Going on my 5th year of living here and my 7th year of working here across from the lake and have had zero issues (knock on wood). Cheers

As someone who lives in nearby S. City and works across the street from Jefferson Lake, always cracks me up to see comments from folks who apparently don't get out of the county much. Just to pique your interest/curiosity, next time you feel a tug on your line, dont be surprised if your leader snaps or your rod gets yanked out of your hand. When they say they are stocking a few lunkers, they are NOT lying to you. I guess I better log off, someone's probably breaking into my car or my house!

always hope to get lucky enough to catch a sight of one of these crazy things someday. They are kind of freaky sized sometimes!

back when I lived in GA i used to fish an old farmpond behind our subdivision. I had a shiny new Zara Spook I bought w/ some lawnmowing funds and used to catch some real hogs with it on my killer Zebco Rhino 33 One day I'm walking it back in and have a monster erupt on the spook. I fought as hard as my rod would let me and the fish just buried itself and got hungup on something, probably an old tree on the bottom. I sat there for an eternity trying to pull and work this fish out and finally my line snapped, I was heartbroken. I was just sitting there gathering my thoughts and tying on a slug-go, the only other lure I'd brought since I could put it in my pocket and not hook myself, it was a long walk to the house and I had to travel light (also needed to be able to make a hasty retreat if the old farmer caught sight of me fishing in his lake, I was 12 or so and didnt feel the need to obey fences for some catch & release fishing). While I'm tying on this other lure, 1/2way across the lake I see this giant bass come flying up and jump out of the water, shaking its head- out comes my zara spook and there it floats in the middle of the lake! I immediately ran around the lake and got as close as I could and made cast after cast until I somehow snagged one of the trebles with my slug-go and got it back Flash forward a little bit, I'm camping with some school buddies at a friend's grandma's house on Lake Altoona. Whipping the same zara spook down the bank and snag it in a tree. Cant retrieve it since its hanging out over the water, had to break it off, I'm crushed again. Few weeks later my dad takes me out in our old basstracker one night after he got off work, he decides to try a new area of the lake we'd never seen...as we're idling around the corner I think "That bridge looks familiar!?" I realized we are pulling into the cove my friend's granny lives in. I tell my dad "head over to that dock!" Lo and behold my beloved spook is still wrapped around the same limb, dad manages to stand on the seat and pull it off the limb, saves the day once again Still got that beauty in my tackle box, put some new trebles on it but I just never bring myself to tie it on, been unused for a good 15 years or so now, figure i'll save it for my son to have someday (who arrives Aug 27th!). Always use a new zara spook instead, just gotta keep it in the tackle box for memories. Nothing like a "magical" lure...Great thread! Obviously got me reminiscing, sorry for the longwinded post.

Dont waste your time. I finally gave up and quit growing tomotoes, just not worth the effort, they'll foil any attempts to deter them. Worst part I found was that they'd wait until JUST before I decided to try and pick em, they have a 6th sense of when to attack the tomatoes:) Just wish they'd have eaten the whole thing instead of just tossing em on the ground after sampling them and ruining them. Living near a big park makes it impossible to have any type of garden, trapping or shooting was futile, every one I deleted would be replaced almost immediately. Just my experience though...

Zach~ We caught those pike in N. Wisconsin, Hayward to be specific. We fished Lost Land Lake and Teal Lake (they connect via a small channel). Its in the Chequemegon (sp?) National Forest, not really that far from Lake Superior. I know at least one lake at Busch Wildlife Area has stocked musky, and there are a few of the "bigger" lakes in MO that have them, I wanna say Pomme de Terre, but I could be wrong. Not sure about pike though. They had some of those sticker rulers in the boats at our lodge that listed some facts about the fish, how long it takes each species to reach a specific length. It was kind of amazing, they do grow quite slow up north. Makes you appreciate the decent fish even more.

ended up leaving the fly rod in the truck all weekend, too windy for my mediocre skills. We caught a ton of pike, landed a 3lb smallie (nothing to write home about, but so far my biggest). Only known musky to hit was fielded by my sis-in-law, a completely green fisherman, on a zebco rhino of all things Hit a small bronze silver minnow, she had it on for a good 4-5 mins just playing it. Finally got it to raise near the boat (we were viewing from about 20 ft away in another boat) and it made a huge jump. Father-in-law nets the SOB and lifts- SNAP- net breaks>fish falls out>Line snaps like a firecracker The ultimate "one that got away". best part is that the other person in the boat was filming the whole thing, so I'll be sure to try and put it online ASAP if I can get a copy. Probably a good 20lb fish, biggest musky I've ever seen. Quite a memorable event! What a shame, would have hated to get shown up by the greenhorn;) LOL.