exiledguide

JD last yearI talked to the guy at AGF involved in the stocking of Tilapia in eastern Arkansas and was told that they had stopped stocking them as the cost was too much. I agree with catching and tasty, as a side story when they were early in the stocking program it seemed like different members of the same family every couple of weeks were breaking the state record. Unfortunatly they had to be restocked every year but they would grow to unbelivable size in one growing season and right now that is the fish on our dinner plates when I choose not to kill the fish I catch. My bride gets a parmesan encrusted Tilapia that bakes up real crisp in the oven. Opps didn"t mean to hijack the thread

If they could be grown and survive this far south Northern Pike would be my choice they don't grow as big as Muskie but they do get big and are maybe the dumbest fish I have ever fished for. Think about it people up north have been catching these fish forever on a red and white or yellow five of diamonds Daredevil Soon or a Suick jerkbait or a big Mepps spinner and right after ice out you can sight fish in shallow water and have a chance of catching a 20#+ fish.

I never cared much for salt water fishing but I really liked Jose and Flips shows. RIP Jose, I hope those big ones are rising wherever you are.

Yes they do but I used them first fishing for Walleye on the Saline River in central Arkansas using live baitand they allowed me to release all the Bass I caught without any of hooked any where but the lip area however when I tried to to use them Smallmouth fishing with soft plastics I got snagged in tree branches so much I was spending more time retying than I was fishing. If someone would make a weedless circle hook I'd try to fish with them all the time.

I've been catching Smallmouth for a long time fishing 4" to 6" texas rigged worms with a EWG worm hook sized for the worm and anywhere from 1/32 to 1/8 oz worm slip sinker with 6lb to 8lb hi vis Trilene XL on a 5'9" Falcon light action spinning rod with a Spirex 2000 spinning reel. The only place I've fished the last few years is the James and the worm has caught me a lot of fish but I have to say from the fall of 2010 through last year the Gulp Alive 3" chartruse minnow has caught me a lot of fish and most of the bigger fish and I fish it with a 1/32 oz jig on a #1 hook a guy in Florida makes for me the light jig head lets me fish it as a jerk bait, swim bait or a grub and lets me bounce it along the bottom with out getting hung up.I don"t know if the bait is that good or if I'm the only guy using it on the river. After seing what Ron has been doing on the Black I'm going to try fishing this with a Road Runner head.

dick muskie bait on E Bay sells hand made casting and trolling baits that he makes in Ohio they sell from $10 to $14 dollars each and are as good as any I've seen. He sells shallow and deep diving jointed and solid in 3 different sizes. Phone # 614 792 2335.

I agree when the Rapala Shad Rap came out the black over silver caught me a lot of smallmouth for a couple of years up in NW Ontario but then it just became another lure that could catch smallmouth and the rattle crankbaits did a much better job ( deep Little N crawfish pattern) caught most of my fish and then in the late 90s Minnow baits like the Long A fished as a topwater and Power grubs seemed to do a better job along with a 4 to 6" worm.

Feathers you haven't lived until you find yourself surrounded, on a Norwegian cruise ship, surrounded by fat germans of both sexes wearing string bikinis in Cozumel harbor. Started liking Alaskan cruises a lot more than before.......................... Who won the Iditarod Race?

What a great fish now you can go back and get its big sister.

It's amazing that any fish were ever caught before Flourocarbon or Baraided lines were available.....I guess advertising works.

Thanks F&F Thats the the type of info I was looking for. I'd like to hear from others. Also I was talking to Mike Webb a couple of weeks ago and he told me that he thinks this will be a good rig to use in drop shotting.

Stripers Drew, Stripers

Not having a PHD In economics maybe you could explain all the economic benefits again. If I understand it, people who wouldnot be fishing are now fishing because of this rig. You talk about people paying ramp fees, buying meals, gasoline ,etc. I believe they already are doing that. Other than the sales of the rig and the bait components I don't see a lot of economic increases at the Lakes. I might be wrong so if you have a dollar figure for the increase say for Table Rock Lake I'd be interested to hear it. I don't have an opinion about the pros and cons of the A Rig only question the economic claims.

I Fished Dale Hollow twice. I agree with Ron. If you fish Smallmouth you need to fish Dale Hollow If you don't you are cheating yourself. Along with NW Ontario the restrictive limits have improved the average size of smallmouth. But I believe Table Rock just might be about to become one of the top smallmouth lakes. The drawback of fishing Table Rock is too many boats and thats the draw of Ontario a lot less boats and cleaner water.

Danger, Warning, Beware! My bride and I will be fishing Indian Creek May 14 to May 18 that means just like last year, you can expect storms and major flooding high winds etc and maybe I day of great fishing. It happens every time she picks when we go on a fishing trip.........

When I was young almost every one of us fathers had either shotguns for hunting or WW11 souvenier weapons and anytime we went to someones house with no adult around (not very many in those days) we would get the guns out point them at each other and pull the trigger it was fun because those guns couln't possibly be loaded. You guessed it one day I wasn't there because I had been grounded for doing something stupid so I didn't die and I didn't pull the trigger but I never saw two of my friends again. We didn't have grief consulers back then so I got over it. I can't imagine the two sets of parents feelings they all moved out of nieghborhood and nobody ever talked about and I never asked my parents. So do your kids a favor lockthose weapons.

The reason I ask was I know that fish of the same length in lakes in NW Ontario weighed more than fish from Missouri streams. I've caught Smallmouth 22" in the Ouachita River in Arkansas and 20" in the Upper Big Piney I just assumed they didn't weigh anywhere near 5lbs. I might have to rethink carrying a camera. As for as that being the average in Ontario that sounds like a Molson tale. Take off hoser, eh! In all my trips up there an 18' smallmouth was big news. I was fortunate to stumble along with my wife on a reef loaded with quality smallmouth which when I saw them on one of them new fangled graphs (this was June 1992) I told my bride we were going to catch some big walleye so we droppe 1/16 oz smoke pepper twister grubs tipped with a piece of nightcrawler and in 3 hours we wore out smallmouth catching and releasing 24 over 15'' with a best 12 weighing probably over 3lbs each and of course she caught the largest.

My retired librarian bride said to call your library and the reference librarian should be able to find what you want and if your local library can't help call St. Louis city or county library. That was her job for a number of years she actualy helped high school kids get financial aid or scholarships for college when the school conselers weren't able to.

I was wondering if Missouri had a classification for stream smallmouth in the stae big fish records?

Ness you got it right. I'm always amazed that I can catch fish wading a river with a spinning outfit that cost less than $200. 6 lb trileneXL with a handfull of plastic worms, grubs and minnows. Just think what I could do if I knew what I was doing and bought that $500. rod and reel and a box full of Sammys and braided line and flourocarbon..........

I only wade anymore and I only fish a few spots nowadays. I never did really like to float and fish. Usally floated to get between productive holes. My fishing pal Art Ritis limits the amount of water I can cover anymore but if I fish the James and only catch 20 fish in a four hour wade on the James I would consider it a poor day of fishing and if I only caught one fish even if it was 20" I would consider it dumb luck. I have never caught a Smallmouth in a stream over 15' on any thing bigger than a 6" plastic worm or lizard. Wading all the time I very seldom use hard baits. One advantage I have is being retired I can fish whenever I want so I seldom see many people fishing or floating so there is not much fishing pressure. I agree with Al The more numbers you catch on a stream the better the chance of catching a large one. A number of times when you catch a good size Smallmouth bigger fish will follow it in and if you are fishing with someone they can toss a jig or worm and one of those other fish will grab it. I believe that by wade fishing it's a lot easier to catch smallmouth.

Hey, it's Arkansas, what did you expect.

You guys should stop calling Liberturdians names.

Yea, wobble head has become a generic name for a number of lures. I buy wobble head jigs from a guy near Dale Hollow that work well on Gulp Minnows. I also have the biffle type wobble heads but I haven't used them very much.

I understand your problem but first i would have the doctor check that the knot is only related to holding the rod and real. That could be arthritis or some kind of a growth. My problem is pain in my right thumb when I try to cast modern baitcasters with a thumbar. I wish I would have a long time ago forced myself to cast lefthanded. Spining creates no pain at all so I fish most of the time with spinning but to throw a crankbait or spinnerbait I need baitcasting then the day is always problemetical, some days the medicine works pretty good but there is no way I can fish a baitcaster all day