Mitch f

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No Worries from me! Sometimes we get in a bad mood during the week and have typed responses to posts with not so good results

Always a good idea, that's kind of what I had in mind for this summer's OAF Float and Boat. Even though we didn't catch many fish, We sure had a great time meeting one another. Cricket and Gavin provided some great guitar playing at the campfire.

Born in '61 and have been fishing since I was 4 or so. My brother and I are only 17 months apart so everything regarding fishing my dad bought us in pairs. We had matching Plano tackle boxes with Purple Creme plastic worms that welded themselves to the tackle box. The only lure my dad ever fished was a black and gold floating rapala. One of my fondest childhood memories was my father catching an 8 lb bass in a muddy farm pond on that lure. I thought he was 10 feet tall from that moment on. I just celebrated his 90th birthday last weekend with my family. Watching him hold my 2 year old daughter with a smile on his face last weekend is my newest great memory.

I thought I needed to drop acid to understand those lyrics. I've really never bothered to figure out the meaning of that song, I thought it was about sex only. I'm starting to feel so mediocre. But coming from an artist, I understand the reason you were touched by that song.

Rivers are low and clear near St Louis with water temp the same as yours. All this combined with gigging equals dinks. We need a cold rain to turn them on again.

Topwater baits work well, Buzzbaits, jitterbugs. Be sure to wear ear plugs at night so you don't set the hook prematurely on the blow up. Big Black spinnerbaits with colorado thumper blades also work well. In general, use bigger baits and work the baits slower than normal.

I actually caught one on a crankbait 10 years ago on the Gasconade near Jerome, it was about 18" long. I still dont know if it went for the crankbait or I snagged it.

Nice fish, looks like a cottonmouth on your blog

@Al, with the low level of these rivers right now, going off the deep end would probably be a good thing actually the picture of the smaller one didn't capture the color very well. The first reaction when you saw those smaller hybrids was WOW, look at this bronze colored spot! @smalliebigs-Im ready in about a week!

Fished there the other day and found a bunch of hybrid smallie/spot mixes. About 50% of the "smallies" I caught were hybrids. I'm slowly getting the point about the spots. Still love to catch big spots but they are few and far between. 2 years ago I caught an 18" hybrid (2nd Pic) in the exact same access. Now the area is just full of these little 10" fish(first pic). The smaller one was probably 50% smallie/spot. The bigger one was more smallie. I think I've posted the pic of the bigger one before, sorry to repeat. This stretch probably marks one of the lowest points that I will ever fish the Meramec. ps. dont make fun of the fishing shoes

I used to buy G Loomis rods, I would buy the middle of the road one, which I think was the IMX, I wouldn't spend the money for the GLX. I now buy rods that on sale at Bass Pro or Cabelas. I sometimes buy St. Croix or G Loomis but only if they are on sale. It seems that carbon graphite technology has improved to the point where greater competition has forced the price down. So I think the rods around the $100-$150 are as good as the ones we paid $300 for 10 years ago. I think a guy would be much better off to cheap out on a rod than a reel. I would buy a $200 reel much faster than I would buy a $200 rod, as a matter of fact, I rarely pay more than $99 for a rod anymore. The one exception is my G Loomis crankbait rod that is the finest rod I've ever owned.

It's all a matter of just doing the math, a 20 degree cone will only give you a 10 ft spot at 30 feet deep.

Keep posting Ed, I enjoy any post about fishing. After all, it is an Ozark Anglers forum about people who live in the Ozarks and fish, not necessarily people fishing IN the Ozarks

Got some good responses, keep em coming

That's a hog!

The owners of Westover Farms would like to add some dedicated outdoorsmen to their email list to offer specials and keep everyone up to date with the new improvements that are being implemented. If you are interested in being on the email list please send me a personal message and you will be added to the list. This is no hard sell type of email list.

Man, you need to take me out and catch some of those hybrids!! They will stretch your line!

I think the lack of depth would hinder you for a river boat. Unless you're fishing really deep rivers, the cone angle would only show a spot size of much less than 10 ft in dia. You can "trick" the sensor by adjusting the angle slightly forward to project a elliptical shape which can increase your spot size but cut down on the resolution and depth reading ability. I have a portable I tried to take on the river with very limited success.

:goodjob:

That is an awesome fish! Can't imagine fighting that thing for 28 hours though.

I used to field trial labs, the electric collar in the hands of a professional is the best training tool going but I would not use it until you have been to school yourself. The precision of field trials requires the collar; but don't rule it out for hunting dogs either.

My thoughts exactly

Good Luck down there and enjoy yourself! Safety first

http://video.fishingclub.com/video/The-Largest-Walleye-Ever-Caught#c=NPPBQB1DXDY2583F&t 16 LBS and 20" girth