eric1978

I hope no one was hurt, but it does make me smile when I hear about things like this happening to stupid rich people. Maybe he should take his insurance pay-off and buy himself a huge chunk of land with a huge private lake so he can crash his new huge stupid boat into his own stupid property. I walked around on one of those 52 foot Sea Rays at the boat show a couple years ago, and they wanted 1.3 million for it. While it was pretty awesome, it's really just a status symbol. I think Mommy and Daddy probably paid him no attention but left him a boatload of money (corny pun intended). Now he wants to prove how cool he is. Guess he showed us.

CW, If you're looking for some good flukes, try going to catchemlures.com They're the only flukes I use. (They call them shinny shads). They come in 4" and 5", have great action, and they sell them in 50 packs for only $12.99. They also make them in some GREAT colors for our Ozark streams. By the way, I don't have any affiliation with Catchem Lures or anything, I just think they make good flukes. So this isn't like an ad, just an endorsement.

The speed of retrieve will vary somewhat depending on the size of the lure. In my experience, you'll work little dogs a little faster, and giant dogs a little slower. A common speed for average sized dogs, such as the Sammy you were using in your pictures, is about 1 twitch per second. That seems about right to produce the best action. You never want the dog to stop, but if you twitch too quickly, the action won't have that nice wide zig-zag. That doesn't mean that sometimes a faster or slower retrieve won't be better. Experiment with the lure and you'll find your own rhythm. Keep your rod tip pointing down toward the water. Don't set the hook until you feel the fish or see he has it. They'll very often come back a second time if they miss. In my opinion, the faster the better as long as you are producing the correct action. A dog is a reaction bait, so there's really no reason to fish it slowly. Because of the nature of its back and forth action, it stays in the strike zone longer than certain other topwaters. There is something about that erratic action that looks like a fleeing or injured baitfish that a bass simply cannot resist. It's been my absolute favorite topwater in the last few years, especially in slower current and less wind. In faster current or windy conditions, I'll usually switch to a buzzbait. I hardly ever throw poppers anymore, I think the fish have too much time to get a look at them. However, they can still catch lots of fish used in the right situation. My favorite WTD lure is the Sammy, with the Megabass Dog-X a close second, but they are quite expensive. I find some decent deals on eBay sometimes. Spooks are fine, too, but their hot dog shape produces a little less action. Don't really care for the baby or giant sizes. Anything around four inches does the trick.

If they send him to prison, you won't see a dime until he's out unless he tries to pay you before sentencing to butter up the judge. Chances are the guy doesn't have any money anyway. But they won't let him off probation/parole until the restitution is paid.

Well I got a new reel in the mail yesterday and wanted to try it out. Haven't fished in more than two weeks because I've been so busy with work, had a couple hours off this morning. Nice and cloudy with a few sprinkles, so I drove to Busch (ten minutes), tied on a spinnerbait and walked around a few of the smaller and less popular multi-species lakes. Bite was pretty good before 10 AM, caught about 15 green slimies, including two around 3 pounds. Bite pretty much stopped after 11 AM. All fish in less than two feet of water, no real relation to structure, just kind of roaming the shallows. Saw a good 5-6 pounder dead on the shore with his guts eaten out. Must have been gut-hooked by some idiot live bait fisherman. Can't imagine he'd just die, he looked pretty fat and healthy (aside from being dead). Busch wildlife bores me. I'm jonesin' for a stream and a smallie or two.

I guess I'm spoiled. I have a pickup and a big ol' trailer so it's never a problem. I guess I can see how an inflatable would be convenient, I'd just hate blowing it up and deflating it all the time.

CW, As much floating you seem to do, if I were you I'd just bite the bullet and buy some cheap or used solo canoe. It's just gonna be better, easier and more fun to use on smaller waters like you often float. Go back and read Agnew's posts on solo canoes...you'll have one a week later and you'll be really happy you do! Old Town Guide 119 is $400 brand new at Dick's right now. It's the same as the Pack except it's 10 pounds heavier. There's nothing wrong with an inf. yak, or a regular yak, or a toon, or a jon boat or a jet boat or whatever...a solo canoe is just the best and most versatile vessel for small or medium sized streams for day trips or extended trips. Cheers!

In this context, I consider "wild" to to be the same as "indigenous," so the answer would be never. If they are there as a result of human influence, either directly (stocking) or indirectly (messing with waterways, i.e. dams, canals, etc.) they are not, nor will they ever be wild. Neither will their offspring, if they ever reproduce, although they will display more natural behavior than their farm-raised parents. This doesn't mean they necessarily hurt things and they are certainly still fun to catch.

We're gonna go way higher, probably from Mill Rock to Wenkel to avoid most the people. If it's way too low we'll head farther down. We don't mind dragging a bit as long as it's a trade-off to being alone. I'll let you know how it was when we get back. I'm so desperate to catch fish right now I might even go to Busch tomorrow to catch some slimy green ones if it's cloudy like it's supposed to be. Haven't been fishing in a couple weeks. Blah!

Did you make it down to the Bourbeuse this weekend OTF? We're heading down on Saturday, just wondering how the water was?

Good stuff. I really like the topo. MDC also has a program that you can use with GE which shows you MDC accesses and conservation areas.

I know what you mean. That trout thread you started got a little nasty, but it seems to me that was really just one person pushing back hard against a few people that simply didn't agree. Some people have trouble keeping things civil, and when I see that, I just back off and it goes away. I try not to talk about controversial stuff on forums like this, but sometimes people just WANT to argue. Geez, this forum is about fishing...if we can't get along here, we're in trouble on this planet. So about those spotted bass...

C'mon man, that's not necessary. Some people just like to be oppositional. I would just avoid the more confrontational topics, and if one seems to start getting a little hairy, just stop posting on it. Things kind of fizzle out naturally if they're left alone, and most people really don't want to cause real trouble, they're just either stubborn, or bored and argumentative. Don't take your dolly and go home...stick around

On a lathe, huh? Hmmm... I suppose you've messed around with different wood species? Have you tried denser exotic woods like teak or ebony? It seems like they would respond better to the WTD action...the heavier wood would probably offer a smoother and longer "glide per twitch," and a better "roll" than lighter woods. Also seems like they would be easier to balance because they are closer to neutral buoyancy. I was thinking about doing some surgery on an old scratched up Sammy with a drill and some solder, but the lathe version sounds like a lot more fun.

Al, I'm sure you've covered this before, but can you explain why MDC chose to implement the SMA on only 15 miles of the Meramec, when there is well over 100 miles of river that would potentially benefit? And why did they choose that stretch? You would think they would try a section that is somewhat farther downstream. Nice fish. Looks like a great day on the river. I'm sure it was better than my day of working. Your Sinking Swinger looks like a baby Spook. Is that right? Is there a reason you chose a Spook over a Sammy? You don't have to say if it's supposed to be a secret weapon...just curious. Edit...on closer inspection I suppose maybe that is a Sammy. Still curious...

I know Cloudveil makes ski-wear and other outdoor outerwear, and it is quality stuff. Never seen their waders.

You would think that since they're using federal tax dollars to pay for the demolition and removal, the least they could do is create a public access and parking lot.

Old Town Guide 119...$400 at Dick's brand new...10 pounds heavier than Pack, otherwise very similar.

I have a pair of Orvis wading boots that have lasted me years and had a pair of waders that I liked a lot until I traded up for Simms. I think their wading accessories are pretty good, but I don't buy much else from them. It's definitely higher quality than Cabela's or LL Bean. I have a ton of Patagonia stuff for backpacking...they make very high quality clothing and gear.

I've had a lot of Orvis stuff over the years and have yet to have an unresolvable problem with either the equipment or the customer service. No company is going to be perfect all the time. I guess you were just unlucky enough to be one of the dissatisfied customers. Just because they "sucked" for you doesn't mean they "suck" in general.

If you can't run up from an access farther downstream, then the jetboat probably doesn't belong up there. Sounds like a good time to break out the canoe, take a deep breath, and enjoy some peace and quiet on a nice little stream.

Apologies. I reread your post and you're right, I did misunderstand what you were saying. I get that you were making an analogy that the spots are to smallmouth as eminant domain is to helpless landowner. I should slow down before I jump to conclusions. I do stick to the last part of my post however, that removing an invasive species is not wrong, but a correction of human error. And again, it's not eradication of a species, it's just removal of that species from where the earth did not intend it to be. I have no inclination to remove spotted bass from its native habitat.

Orvis also make quality waders and boots.

Exactly what government involvement are you against? I suppose you would prefer if the government would bow out of conservation issues altogether and just let "natural evolution" take over. Let's start with removing creel laws. Now you can catch, keep and gig any size, any species of fish at any time of year. You can kiss your gamefish goodbye, especially in the streams. You and I and most of us on this forum might be C & R only or mostly, but the local hillbillies would have the populations decimated in no time. But I guess that would be natural, since we humans are the "stronger species." Total eradication of a species that is non-native and is invasive and harmful to the native population, a species that was introduced via human action, is NOT wrong. It's actually a correction. We're not talking about extinction, just localized removal.