msamatt

All this recent talk about the Ned Rig made me think, not for the first time, about the cyclical nature of fishing lures as isn't the Ned rig just a variation on Charlie Brewer's Slider fishing approach? I completely understand the desire to find and really master an approach which best suits how you enjoy fishing. That's what its all about. I use a mixed bag of old and new baits but I really love throwing some "old time" lures because they work really well. I, for example, love throwing a black jitterbug at night. I can chuck that bait pretty far out there and it's easy to listen to that blup blup blup sound as you retrieve it while you hope for a fish to knock the snot out of it! I get goosebumps thinking about it!. Tiny torpedo anyone? They still work pretty darn good at times. What "oldie but goodies" are still in your arsenal?

LRF, I still remember my earliest fishing trips with my dad (our first hunting trips too) They were part of a great childhood and in spite of straying a bit from the flock while I was a typical chuckleheaded teenager I never really lost what I learned out there when I was a boy. I sincerely hope the two of you enjoy a lifetime together on the water, I know that he's going to cherish those memories and I hope they help form that bedrock of values and experiences which will sustain him during the hard times we all face Thanks for doing you part to keep the circle unbroken.

Wrench: Life is gross. Rivers are chock full of live and dead carcasses at any given moments. If you want to ponder gross (or wonderful) consider the fact that there is no new water on this planet. All of our water has been filtered through imaginable organism since we first developed an atmosphere.

Ness, my thoughts invariably turn to fishing. Does that creek hold any fish? How can I get down there? Once I get there how do I get back up, etc? I love to both wade and float and my float trips usually involve a fair amount of wading and swimming (I mean actually swimming not the consequence of being a crummy paddler) I feel most fully alive and engaged with the world when I'm out on (and in) the water. I think the abiding fascination with and love for fishing moving water certainly unites all river and stream anglers. Are we ever sated? I hope not. A couple years ago my buddy Dan and I were fishing a stretch of the Big Piney when we both witnessed someone tossing what looked like a bunch of dirt off the top of a tall bluff on river right. My initial reaction what WTF!! but as more people moved into view and they too tossed the "dirt" off the bluff I realized that we were witnessing someone's remains being redistributed and I was deeply moved (I'm still moved as I recollect that moment). That person could clearly never get enough of the Big Piney and wanted his or her ashes mingled with the rocks and waters. So, gentlemen, here's to all you who share my passion. Let's all do our part to make sure future generations can do the same.

Dan Kreher from the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance will be there.

Great post Greasy. Love the mini weber and the asparagus and twice baked taters on the grill. No reason to suffer when gravel bar camping!!

Chief: The conservation action email went out on January 19th. I just logged into constant contact and resent it to you. I'm not sure why it didn't get through the first time but that's the web for you. The CFM just sent out an alert about HB 955 BTW. I can't make it to Jeff City but I sincerely hope others do and ask Representative Ross to clarify. IMHO the language of HB 955 is a great example of how legislators can use legalese to confuse and confound ordinary citizens. The state aim of HB 955 is the repeal of section 644.026 of the RSMo and to replace it with new section of the RSMo which would, if I understand it correctly, pertain to County Surveyors and Land Surveys and Torts and actions for damages. I don't know that complicated even begins to cover this. What's Representative Ross attempting to do? Is there a water quality problem he wants to fix? How will these proposed changes serve his consituents? I don't know. To the best of my knowledge Elder v. Delcour established that the public right to navigation extends to recreational boating in Missouri. All persons have a right to navigate any river or stream that has a sufficient flow to float a recreational boat like a canoe. I can honestly say that I personally and the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance (and most of our anglers are predominantly paddle or foot powered anglers so this is close to our heart) as an organization is 100% opposed to any proposed laws or regulation changes which would in any way change this basic right and I hope that all like-minded people will publicly and repeatedly tell that to all those who would act to diminish or eliminate this right. Thanks, Matt

Hey Chief, Send me a pm with your current email. We've sent out emails regarding all of the previous legislation and I'm drafting something about HB 955. So, if you're not getting our emails I can easily fix that. On a related note, I'd encourage people to take a look at Harry Styron's blog as he does a great job of summarizing MO water laws. http://styronblog.com/law/harry-styrons-missouri-stream-law/ Thanks, Matt

Folks, Many of us live fish and hunt in River Hills Traveler country and I was shocked when I read this story (which I'm sure Emery will forgive me for copying and pasting) Please keep Jo and her husband in your prayers and send them a card if you can. Thanks Matt Traveler assistant editor, husband injured in auto accident River Hills Traveler assistant editor Jo Schaper and her husband, Eugene Vale, were seriously injured in an auto accident Monday and are hospitalized at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis County. Jo Schaper and Eugene Vale Jo has a fractured vertebrae in her neck, and fractures in her left arm and knee. Eugene received a fracture to the socket of his left eye. Both underwent surgery Tuesday and are recovering in the intensive care unit at the hospital. The accident occurred on Route NN, between Pacific and Cedar Hill. According to Jo, she topped a hill in her car and met a Ford pickup on the wrong side of the road. A passenger in Jo’s car escaped with minor injuries. Jo has been employed by Traveler for seven years. Eugene works for the Division of State Parks. They make their home in Pacific. Cards can be sent care of St. Anthony’s Medical Center, 10010 Kennerly Rd, St. Louis, MO 63128. Both are in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. Jo is in room 2726 and Eugene is in room 2722.

Corey: That's a great observation abou the extra nitrogen and water weeds. Dan mentioned that there were beds of smaller lilly pads in the Courtois that the fish were using as cover. He'd run his baby 1 minus right along the front edge of those beds and they would zap out and whack it.

Mitch, I also like the larger baits but when I was on the Huzzah the water was just so darn clear. I'll never throw one of my saltwater spooks which I'll use in Canda in July, but I'll routinely throw a super spook jr. here in the summer. As much as I enjoy throwing a walk-the-dog type bait I also like the slow and easy approach with a popper. It's fun watching everyting from little green sunfish tap at that feathered treble to having a pig just roll on it. I' m like a little kid laughing and giggling when I'm watching a fish just smack the snot out of one of my topwater baits. It's definitely my favorite type of lure to throw.

Andy, thanks for the compliment. Saturday was good but Sunday was great. I felt completely satisfied and rejuvenated by the end of the day. Al, I guess I have the Wilderness on my mind since I'm trying to figure out how to justify spending $1300 on a new canoe, which I covet more than need, to my wife. My Vagabond still fits the bill just fine but I've rubbed all the way through the green royalex outer coating in back and its time to install some rub strips. I made a classic pennywise yet pound foolish decision when I bought it and didn't spend the extra $75 or whatever small amount it cost to have them installed at the factory. My Vagabond is old enough that it doesn't have that newer seat hanger which almost nobody seems to like. The fish on the Huzzah just weren't connecting with the ZipnZiggy for me on Saturday. They would rise and wack at it but then shy away (I think they might have been seeing me in the crystal clear water (or I would get excited and mess up my candence when I would see the fishing swimming out after the bait. I guess that's the fishing equivalent of buck fever). To be honest, I love to catch fish as much as the next guy but I'm just as thrilled when a fish just knocks the snot out of a topwater and sends it flying. That said, on Saturday I got aggravated after a bit and switched to the popper on which I caught fish the rest of the day. On Sunday, they were whacking the ZipnZiggy pretty well but the water in the Meramec had much more color than the Huzzah. You could see 6-8 feet down in the Huzaah no problem.

MItch and Daryk: Thanks for the compliments, I'm glad you enjoyed reading my scratchings. Al: Sounds like you had a great weekend as well. I didn't catch the numbers of bass you did (no suprise there) but was really pleased to catch all of my fish after lunch on Saturday on Topwater. Started out with the Zip N Ziggy but that was a bit too fast moving for them so I switched to a skitter pop and that was the ticket from about 1 until 6 pm! I didn't fish Friday at all but Dan put in on the Courtois at Blunts on Friday morning (I had to work) and I picked him up at Scotia about 7 pm. He said the water was up a bit and it was cold in the morning but the fish were more active in the afternoon. How do you like the new Wilderness?

I don't post very often but I recently enjoyed a great day on the upper Meramec (pretty sure I saw Al Agnew pulling into a gas station in Steeleville as I was headed out of town) and though I would share a report. Sunday May 18th: While the thermometer in my truck registered 36 degrees on Saturday morning, today was much warmer. I was able to walk around in just my hoodie. I drank two cups of coffee and ate a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and leftover brats before I helped do the dishes and break camp. Last night we sat around the campfire and decided that, since we’d already fished the Courtois and the Huzzah, we would fish the upper Meramec so Dan took the lead and our three truck caravan pulled out of Huzzah Valley and head towards this morning’s first stop: Klein Ford. Even though Chuck Tryon wrote “…there’s all kinds of parking…” (p. 144) back in 2000, I recalled seeing purple painted boulders blocking the gravel bar there when I last floated from Wesco to Cedar Ford. Fortunately, some things change for the better and we found enough space for at least two trucks: one off road on the upstream side and at least one on the gravel bar. We then took the Klein cutoff and made it to Cedar Ford, which is about 2.2 river miles downstream of Klein Ford, in about 15 minutes. We left Brad’s truck parked on the gravel bar on the North side of the low water bridge at Cedar Ford and then returned to Klein where we unloaded Brad’s gear, shifted my gear to Dan’s truck, parked my truck, and wished Brad farewell. Dan and I then drove upstream to Delcour (Delcour as in the landmark legal case Elder v. Delcour. For more info about that you should read Harry Styron’s great blog for a great primer on water laws http://styronblog.com/law/missouri-water-law-primer-streams/). On the way we stopped to look at the access in Wesco (room for at least two trucks on the West side of the bridge) and then continued driving to Delcour via Cook Station. The water at Delcour looked great and had great flow (a welcome change from the very skinny and clear water at Seller’s Bridge on the upper Huzzah with which Dan had to contend when he fished from Seller’s down to the John Coleman low water bridge on Saturday) but there wasn’t any room for parking. We quickly unloaded Dan’s Coosa and his gear. We shook hands and I was quickly driving back downstream to my put-in at Wesco with the radio off and my windows down. It was sunny and warm enough at Wesco to warrant changing into some swimming trunks. After hauling my canoe and gear down the rough concrete overflow on the downstream side of the low water bridge I moved Dan’s truck a little farther of the road. The sun felt great on my arms and legs and I just let it soak in as I laid out everything in my canoe as I like it. I snugged my boat up against some rocks and then took a few minutes to fish upstream. There’s only 3 river miles between Wesco and Klein Ford and I wasn’t in any hurry to reach Klein Ford. I wasn’t wearing a watch but I guess it was about 10 a.m. when I finally started to slowly float downstream. Unless we enjoy an unusually wet Summer I don’t think there’s enough water in this stretch to float it without constant dragging if you fish it anytime past May. Today the river was full enough today to enable me to keep my Wenonah Vagabond floating most of the time today. Even though this float isn’t very long there is plenty of good cover, with the usual mix of holes, riffles and runs and anyone interested in taking their time (and you should really take your time) could spend the better part of a day thoroughly fishing it. I caught fish throughout the water column on soft plastics (a green pumpkin yum dinger on an 1/8 oz. wacky jig caught numerous goggle eyes and smallies) and hard baits (my standard brown Mann’s Baby 1 minus and a ghost colored Yo-Zuri Zippin’ Ziggy were the two baits on my baitcasters all day). While the water on this stretch of the Meramec had much more color than the Huzzah it was still a sunny day and the fish were holding fairly tight to cover and in the shade. So, I enjoyed slowly working my way downstream and catching fish. As I slowly paddled up to the gravel bar just upstream of the low water bridge at Klein Ford I watched two older ladies who were sitting at easels and intently painting the scene in front of them. While Klein Ford isn’t the most scenic spot in the area, they were enjoying some absolutely beautiful light that afternoon. As I unloaded my canoe and made several trips back and forth to the truck I thought about writing this post. I wanted you to see the swift, dark shadow of the 15.5” smallie that flew up from beneath a log jam and hammered my Baby 1 minus about two seconds after it hit the water just inches away from the bank. I wanted you to hear the Hawks cry and the Redwinged blackbirds call. I wanted you to feel the short shock of the cool water, see its murky greenness, and enjoy the thrill of the current as it pulled you downstream when you were taking a swim. Do you ever feel as refreshed as when you take a swim and then dry out on a hot gravel bar? After a long, shitty winter Summer is almost here. Get out there and enjoy some river magic.

I don't have anything against anyone who wants to follow our game laws but I can't stand a poacher. My dad and some of my cousins took me to Busch Wildlife for my first dove hunt 32 years ago and I still clearly remember some idiots down the row from us shooting at a couple of ducks as they flew over. Luckily they shot even worse than they saw or thought and the ducks flew on unscathed. Now maybe they just failed to correctly identify their game before pulling the trigger or maybe they thought they could get away with it. This was 1982 and nobody had any cell phones back then but I'm sure that we, and all of the hunters on either side of us who I clearly heard say "What the F..." when those idiots shot, would have turned them in. When I look at that 20" smallie Corie is holding in the picture I infer intent to poach, not failure to identify. I could tell the difference between a dove and duck when I was 12 and I bet you I try to keep an open mind about most things and realize that life is full of rich ethical and moral complexities. When it comes to poaching,however, I take a slightly different tack. I'm a hard working citizen who tries to do what I can to improve or at least conserve things when and how I can. Poachers just suck down my oxygen and steal from everyone. The guy that is trying to poach that smallmouth is going to spotlight deer, hunt out of season, and most likely engage in all sorts of other illegal activities. Poachers just like to break the law and law enforcement should, in turn, pursue, capture, and prosecute them to the greatest extent possible. All ethical anglers and hunters should scorn and shun them.

Phil, thanks for taking the time to arrange all of the seminars you're hosting this winter. I know that Dan and I enjoyed Al's presentation and I'm sure that anyone who was paying attention left with some great food for thought. Al and Mary, thanks for taking the time to drive all the way down to Springfield and I'm glad that you made it back home safe and sound. Dan and I enjoyed nice weather all day Saturday. It was about 55 degrees in Houston at 3pm but the temps dropped into the 30's by the time we hit Rolla.

Smalliebigs: I caught that fish on the last day of a three day trip and it really capped off the whole trip. That was a beautiful fish I caught in about 2 feet of water. There were some huge smallies hiding out in some large, shallow weedbeds on river left that afternoon. I lost an even bigger fish in about a foot of water. The water was so shallow in the open pocked of water I was fishing that I could see the fish' dorsal fin protruding from the water as it shout out from under a mat of muck to hit the buzzbait! It broke me off while I was trying to haul it out of heavy weeds and rock. That experience really drove home what I already knew about not overlooking any possible cover. I'm just really comfortable fishing with the single blade on my lap. I can use it with one hand to make small corrections while I'm fishing. There's no doubt that the kayak paddle helps you move around more quickly but it feels so unwieldy when its on my lap while I'm fishing. I found that both my canoe and kayak paddle attached quite securely and nicely to the side of the coosa. You should give it a try. The one feature of the coosa which I would warn prospective buyers about is the height of the hatch cover on the front hatch. I upgraded from a single cab to double cab truck last year and was still using just two racks to haul around boats. The coosa is just long enough and that hatch is tall enough to rub right against the roof of the cab. So you either have to put a towel under that sucker or buy another set of racks. I got another set of rack for a good price (Thanks Dan!) so I don't have that problem anymore. But I do have a nice rub mark on top of the cab thanks to that Coosa. Oh well, you have to break in the truck sometime or other.

Dan and I are planning on being there. Winter storm Titan isn't supposed to hit until Sunday.

I have a couple of buddies who each own a Coosa and I've paddled and fished from one on the Menominee in Wisconsin two summers ago and it was a great fishing platform. I really don't like fishing with a kayak paddle on my legs but the Coosa (and other sot kayaks) often have paddle keeper bungie deals on the side of the hull and I was able to attach the kayak paddle to that and just use my normal canoe paddle while fishing and then used the kayak paddle to move back upriver, etc. There's also ample room under the seat for tackle boxes, etc. Here's a pic of a nice chunky Menominee smallie in that Coosa. That fish hit a footloose about 3 feet from my rod tip.

Unless you're a diehard state government afficianado you're probably going to discover, as you track the progress of these two joint resolutions, some terms which do not make much sense to the layman. SJR42, for example, is on the Senate Informal Calendar for Senate Bills for Perfection. Show of hands, who knows what that means? I didn't but fond the information I found here very helpful: http://www.senate.mo.gov/bill-law.htm

So, my buddies Dan, Steve, and Brad went fishing yesterday. Steve caught the 18" bronze beauty in the picture below. . You'll notice there is no sign of any aquatic vegetation in this pic . Dan and I will be down in Springfield this Friday evening for Al Agnew's seminar. Come on out and meet us if you can. Enjoy, Matt

My buddy Greg Tolcou caught this chunky smallie this past Saturday. You can tell what he caught it with, I'll leave it up to him to tell you where he caught it. Nice fish Greg!!

For all of you stuck at work (like me) or just stuck at home due to the inclement weather. My buddy Steve Harrison caught this 19" beauty on a hair jig this afternoon. I'll leave it up to him to tell you where.

Phil, thanks for taking the time to organize these great events. I know how much work it takes and you've assembled a great set of seminars. I'll see you on February 28th. Thanks, Matt

Thanks for helping keep us informed Chief. This isn't the first time Senator Munzlinger has introduced this type of legislation. Thanks, Matt