exiledguide

Got to Shelvin Rock about 10.00 AM went down downstream below swimming hole to the long hole. Started fishing about 10:30 fished there until I:00 caught about 20 smallmouth largest was only 13" but a lot of fun. Used a 3" BPS Stick O on a 1/0 BPS wide gap worm hook with a 1/32 oz worm sinker,a Tiney N crank bait ,a Chartruse Shad 3" Gulp alive minnow and a Zoom watermelon red flake worm texas rigged with 1/32 oz worm weight. The river gauge at Boaz was about 2.5' so I was able to able to wade easily and the river had a good current. I couldn,t catch the size smallmouth I expect from that stretch of the river but it was an enjoyable morning on the river. There were more canoes, kayaks air matresses and inertubes than I have ever seen on that part of the river so I figured I was lucky to catch what I did. I also would like to compliment everyone I saw on the river because I didn't hear any profanity and most of the people ask if it was O K to float on by me.

I want to thank you guys again,sorry for the delay, Stillwaters was first class, my bride caught fish had a great time. Thanks again for the tip.

Flytyer57, stop beating around the bush, tell us what you really mean.

Thats the place that started me wearing felt soled wading boots after I slipped and fractured my finger on the granite slab just below the bridge about 30 years ago. Iguess I fished Marble creek close to 20 years beautifull place I guess the smell of the pine trees was what I remember most. I may add that too my list.

We went out this afternoon and a fellow getting of the lake told me he had worn out slot fish throwing a meat head in the back of coves in real shallow water next to or behind downed timber in coves faceing north. Of course when I got in the coves, Fellows turned into the North Atlantic with the wind coming out of the north. I spent most of the day on the north side until the wind died down around 7 pm went back to north facing coves and got a few bites and caught a 13 and 14 inch largmouth on a watermellon red flake salty sinker riged through the end with a weedless hook. I won"t be on the lake tommorow so the weather will probably nice but i'm going thursday so Fellows will probably turn into the North Atlantic again.

That's pretty much the recipe I've got used it once fish tasted really good. I think the most important thing you can do is keep the fish cool until you kill it. The Fin Inn in Grafton ,IL used to have folks lined up around the parking lot to eat carp and buffalo when I lived in St Louis, of course that was a while back.

We were over on Fellows Lake this evening no Cicadas very few fish. In 98 I fished Lake Sherwood during the cicada invasion, maybe the best fishing I've ever had. Anywhere trees were hanging over water fish went nuts we threw crappie jigs and caught bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish whenever the bugs fell in the water. I was undergoing chemothearapy that year and the cicada invasion sure made a rough time a lot easier.

My brother and I fished there early March 2009 cold windy wet weather if I remember correctly, super clean heated fishing dock and we fished while watching the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. Didn't catch a lot of big fish but we constantly caught crappie while we were there most of them were just under legal size. Best bait was a 1/32 or 1/16 oz jig with a with a Berkley Gulp Alive Chartruse Fish Fry. If I go back to LOZ next spring we will go back to Knotty Pine. That whole area is lined with docks so I think you should have plenty good fishing spots up there but I have never fished there in May I'm sure someone who fishes there a lot can tell youmore about that time of year. Good luck.

Never make fun of the guy with the gun. Congratulations Mr FishinCricket sir. I guess you will no longer be distracted by ring tones when you are trout fishing.....

I know, Churchill. Still learning to spell.

Twain never said that and Chyrchill, if he said it at all, was a member off the liberal party after the age of 30 for a while. I'll give you a tip the politician who said that was French and ,I believe, died in the 19th century. Twain's actual quote from the book "Wit and Wisecracks" was "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

Glad I read this, I had forgotten to put the feeders up. Thank you for the reminder!

Hey Mitch f what was it Mark Twain said, something about remaining silent and letting everyone assume you are "whatever" that opening your mouth and confirming that assumption?

Shame on you.

I think Women in Waders photos would improve the front page.

I have to agree with Champ, I lived in central Arkansas for 8 years and they were pretty much a neglected resource for the reasons stated by Champ, only one person I knew had a striper boat and had any luck fishing for them. I might be wrong but there wasn't that much demand for striper guides on Lake Ouchita.

I don't know the answer but it seems Muskie in Fellows Lake haven't harmed the rest of the fish in the lake it's one of the best Bass and Bluegill lakes. Up north every place I've fished from Iowa to Ear Falls, Ontario has Northern Pike that seem to coexist with the other species. Pelican Lake in Orr,MN, which I as yet have not fished, has Northern along with good sized Walleye, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Crappie and Big Bluegill. Obviously the've failed in stocking attempts in Missouri. Sometimes it can also be too expensive.

Joe, I can only answer the survey with what I have observed over the last 40 years of smallmouth fishing and only on streams that I fished. They were the St Francis, Castor, Marble Creek, Meramac, Huzzah, Cortois and mainly the upper Big Piney from Simmons Ford down to Mineral Springs. Every year on the upper Big Piney smallmouth fishing had got better until the Otters were put in. I can only go by my experience, if you look at MDC website you willsee they finaly have admited that things didn't work out as planned. They will never admit they were wrong. Of course human beings are a big threat thats why we have laws and regulations to prevent and punish willful misdeeds. A river otter has to eat and there diet consist of crawfish and fish. Well I figure I'd get beat up about this, so whats new? Oh by the way, Riparian clearing, gravel mining etc. comes under the heading of pollution.

Google them, Glen Lau is still producing movies and videos and Homer Circle still writes a column for Bassmaster. They both are living in the Ocala Florida area.

1 river otters 2 pollution 3 lack of access

Deep fried filets with the red meat removed. Hush puppies,fried potatoes, cole slaw, bens,pickled tomatoes long necks.......I use hush puppy mix for breading and add a secret ingredient.

They only break your line about 87 percent off the time unlessless you are on a fantastic smallmouth/walleye bite with your one remaining Shad Rap and you are in NW Ontario 35 miles from the closest tackle shop and the biggest Northern you have ever seen swallows your lure then they break you off 100 percent off the time.

Works for me. Even better, Texas rigged finnese worms with with a 1/32 to 1/8oz worm sinker depending on depth and current flow. A 3 or 4 inch twister style grub has produced a lot of fish for me over the last 30+ years. I do carry Tiny N cranks with me and use them a bit. My secret weapon last year was a 3 inch Gulp Alive chartruse shad minnow fished on a 1/16oz jig but I fished it like a jerk bait and the bite would come when I stopped the retrieve and let it fall. It produced a lot of Smallmouth for me last summer and fall during the low water period on the James. It will be interest to see if it works this summer.

I've been told that the MDC found that they not only will not reproduce but wouldn't survive in MO lake waters. I wish they we could have them here a lot of fun to catch and one of the best tasting fish ,I think, we every fried up also are supposed to be good baked or smoked. They are a little difficult to filet, one extra cut to remove the y bones. The only Northern I ever saw caught in MO was on the Mississippi at Portage Des Sioux caught by my neighbor fishing for crappie in the slew behind the shrine. That was about 40 years ago. The last I heard no fishing was allowed there any more.

Thanks for the review. Leonard Hall was one of the writers that made the outdoors so enjoyable. I had forgotten about how much I enjoyed his column about Possum Trot Farm in the Globe Democrat. I just managed to buy an autograph copy From an E Bay seller should get it next week . If you want to read a great book, The Flying Fisherman by R.V. "Gadabout" Gaddis The first fishing show on TV. He was born in 1896 learned to fly a plane in the army during World War 1 turned down a tryout with the Cardinals because fishing was too good that week. Two of his fathers friends were Buffalo Bill Cody and Charles Russell. For a kid in St Louis in 1950 his show on tv was about as good as TV could get. Read it if you can.