LarrySTL

I am way out of my league here commenting behind Champ and Bill, but I've gotten lots of solid info on this board, so FWIW here's my small contribution. Try Champ's places/pattern first, the steeper main lake type stuff, but if that doesn't work well and if its one of those unusual midwinter days where the air temp seems far warmer than the calendar and the water temp would suggest, at the end of one of those steeper banks, or the first point where the main channel swings in after being way offshore for a long distance) there may be a large, gently-sloped pea gravel spawning looking main lake point with wind on it. Find a channel drop that comes toward that point, and throw the stickbait with a very slow retrieve between the channel swing and the shoreline. An example of the type of point I mean ( which I am giving because it at least used to be a community hole, and because I have never thrown a stick on it) would be the flat side of the upstream point of the mouth of Aunts Creek.

Speaking of slick rocks, I went to Silver Mines once a couple years ago, summertime, relatively low water, and just about killed myself on the slick rocks. What footwear are folks wearing in places like that ? I dont mean what brand, but are you doing felt or what ? I have tried regular soled waders, tennies, sandals, and it all seems to result in spectacular falls. Same result in places like that big bedrock-ish bottom at that gravel operation a bit above Leadwood on the Big River.

Incredible fish !

I've never heard anything about this but you could do it by taking one rod filled with the line you normally use, and put a weight on it. 1/4 1/2, whatever. Go find a swimming pool or any known depth of water lets say eight feet. Back off to the length of a normal cast, cast the weight in ( no lure, just the weight) and count down the seconds from the splash til it hits the bottom. Convert that to feet per second ( 8 ft deep, 10 secs to hit bottom = 8/10 of a foot per second) Now go to your pond, with the exact same outfit, and make a similar cast. If its 15 secs to hit bottom, its sinking at the same rate as in the pool so its 15 sec/10 secs = 50 % deeper than the pool was. So 8 ft x 50 % = 4 feet deeper than the pool = 12 feet total depth. Theres probably a far simpler way, but this should work.

Wowww..... nice fish Scott !!!

Thank you Mitch, you just saved me a pile of money, because if Joan Baez was dead, I was going to feel compelled to grab a last minute flight to Oregon in the morning and see her play tomorrow night. I've never seen a dead singer perform before.... well....maybe Keith Richards.

Crazy maybe, ugly for sure !

If the weightless or lightly weighted plastics don't solve this and if the frog still just draws misses, the first thing I would try is slowing the frog wayyyy down slow. Get it on top of a pad and just make the whole works jiggle a little, etc. If that still doesn't do it, I'd go to the opposite extreme and get almost right on top of the pad edge and flip. You can often get away with at least 3/8 to 1/2 oz weight in 18" or more of water, and if I was still having trouble getting a bait through the pads, I would keep increasing the weight til either I was getting fish or I was flipping 1 oz or 1 & 1/2 oz weights. Braid either way, 50 lb or more, no leader just tie to the lure.

Or join Missouri Smallmouth Alliance for $ 20 and, if they still have them and I think they do, get a free copy of that 200 SM Adventures guide which is indeed great. StL County Library has it too, but there is generally a waiting list for it.

And we are going to "be proactive" and "get out in front of it" and "take our game up a notch" and "skill set" "what you bring to the table" "take it to the next level" etc. My own little theory is that the more somebody talks like that, the bigger idiot they are and the less they could lead a buzzard to roadkill. The MBAs I know actually dont talk like that, so I wonder where folks learn it.

If they are as good as the samples MItch had at MSA quite a few months ago, those are the best I have ever seen. Until we get to the head of the line for those, I bumped into these at Wally World a couple weeks ago, made by Arkie, "Salty BS soft craw jr". Very salty, pretty soft, cheap. They are a touch less than 3 " long. The ruler is metal and reflecting terribly and I am too poor a photographer to compensate, but the paper clip is 1 & 3/16 "

Yeah, he was holding it out to the camera quite a bit in some shots, but even adjusting for that, it was one huge SM.

Wow... peeing is bad ? umm......so if I am all fulla caffeine and 120 miles from home. Hmmmm...... While you were all debating who to kill and how, on my way home from Jeff City on Thursday I stopped, fully armed with my pocketknife, at a small river I hadnt ever fished. Now that clue will limit some of you to about 25 rivers and will restrict Gavin and Smalliebigs to about 10 or 15 possible rivers....anyhow... I digress. I parked, I got out, I walked over between the passenger side of the car and the bushes, and I peed in the bushes, but nobody shot me. I walked down to the river and tied on a Dolphin (no matter how much I hate to admit it) and caught a giant huge 12 " SM on my second cast. I walked/waded about a half mile upstream, saw no floaters, no locals with guns, nobody no how. However, I then had to pee some more, so, being in the river and being in swim trunks that were already wet.....I did. I resisted the temptation to poke around with a itty bitty piece of Zworm, and I threw the dolphin, my beloved 1/4 oz spook, and a 1/2 oz spook. Fished about 90 minutes and got back to the car as it was starting to get dark. Score 2 so-what size SM on the Dolphin....Scott the next TW order is gonna be your fault.....2 midgit SM on the 1/4 oz spook...one sunfish with lots of orange and blue coloring but noticably smaller than the 1/2 oz spook on the 1/2 oz spook. Back at the car as it was getting dark, and as I was getting the big clunky boots off, a local drove by, stopped, asked if I had car trouble. I said "nope..I was fishing..but thanks". He said "OK, just checking" and drove off without trying to kill me. Bout halfway home, at a gas station on the interstate, I peed once more and then bought and ate a Snickers bar. You may now, if you wish, resume the previous hostilities.

Ditto, plenty of stupid to go around on this one, or plenty of drunk, or both.

Do not rule out ( yes I read "clear water") the old Black Shore Minnow color. Weird but true, when its on, it can be impressive.

I bet Bankrate.com would have interest rates posted for boat loans. As somebody already said, credit unions are often among the best rates. As with cars, rates for used boats will be higher than for new boats, sometimes far higher if the boat is more than a few years old. Obviously all the usual stuff about credit history matters too.

Incredible pictures, thank you !

That is a GREAT point !!

I owned half of an inexpensive starter level bass boat once. I would not recommend it, and I would run like hell from owning one fourth of one.

I've been through Winfield, Clarksville, Keokuk, and Burlington at different times in a bass boat, sometimes with just a few bass boats in the lock, and a couple of times at the front of the lock watching one of those big barges creep toward you and hearing those huge ropes vibrate and creak.

Ouch http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/1991-illinois-invitational/results/0/

D or A, but I could be ok with any of them

Also, at least in the 1990s there were ( very dependent on water level, current, etc) a lot of good largemouth and a surprizing number of 3 lb smallmouth in Clarksville pool both up and downstream from Louisiana MO

That was fascinating. Thank you !

I am trying to figure out a) why that guy did that and why he filmed it ( had to be to win a really large bet) and c) why I watched it. Looked like a whole lotta not-fun to me. X 3 on paying the fee.