zipstick

Highway 10 runs right through St. Cloud Minnesota. Check it out!

Sam Welch as I recall caught a great number of his fish on the old jig and eel. He kept records of his catches as well, and he did lots of his fishing in the 50's and 60's. Can you imagine the numbers of large bass swimming the lake back then? Some of the older folks tell of having a cove to oneself any Saturday, renting a Rapala for $10 - $20 a day, and even floating the James before the lake was built.

You just never know where you might turn up an interesting find....This is my strangest most mysterious big bass story I've come across. About 7 years ago I was in Minnesota to fish the Mississippi for fiesty smallies. On a cool damp day, my buddy and I went into a small restaurant on I-10 to get a cup of coffee. Inside I quickly noticed a truly remarkable display of freshwaster fish mounts above the salad bar. One particularly huge largemouth was in this mix, and from afar, I figured the brute was caught in Cali or Florida. Much to my amazement the paper tag read "Table Rock Lake Arkansas" 14 lb. 2 oz. After my friend snapped a picture of it, I got the manager's story on this mounted giant bass. ....Seems that the original owner of this restaurant near St. Cloud, MN was quite the angler. He traveled all across North America and caught some really nice trophy fish. This man, Bob Waseka, had since passed away, but left the fish mounts in the restaurant. If the info on the tag is true, this largemouth would surpass any caught in Table Rock or in the entire state of Missouri. It would not, however, surpass the Arkansas record. The manager figured that this bass was caught in the late '70's or early '80's. From the looks of the mount, it really does look to weigh all of 14 pounds. I did not get a girth or length measurement at the time. I did get my friend who had a better camera to snap this picture for me which I retook digitally. Fast forward to 2010. Three weeks ago I again traveled north to battle more smallmouth, so I took my tape measure to this restaurant to measure the huge mounted bass. Unfortunately, nearly all the mounted trophies were gone! A new manager said that the upkeep on these fish was getting expensive so he took them down. Furthermore, he said he didn't know what became of the bass in question. What a letdown!!!... In conclusion, I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this Table Rock record bass, but there's no way to prove that this fish actually came from Table Rock Lake, or for that matter that it really weighed more than 14 pounds. I must say, though, that I believe what I saw is true. I know many have stories of giant Table Rock Bass and other giants that were caught or that still may lurk in private ponds across the state. How about some other big bass stories or even legends to pass the time.

Good stuff, Bruce. Sounded like a great board meeting for the big smallies. Twice in 25 years I've seen big schools of strem bass in MO, and both times I was only able to catch one as the rest of the school scattered during the initial fight. I have been doing pretty well fishing this summer, but the topwater (walking lure bite) has been slow. My torn up A is still the king of my topwater box. Temps came down to 77 yesterday, but the smallies need fattening up. I think lots of legal bass hit the skillet this year, as I'm not catching near the 13-15 inchers of last summer. Still a good number of 18-20 inchers going. Been averaging 2 or 3 per day mainly on the A and on the Superfluke. Water seems to have a gray cast to it, and that's got me a bit concerned, as does the seeming lack of baitfish in the shoals. What bait I'm seeing is pretty little as well. This could explain the poor condition of the bass, but I expect to see skinny ones in late summer often with the increased matabolism of the fish. Mitch is perfecting a really good small jig, and yesterday the results were encouraging so I'm already getting fired up about the cold weather bite. Just returned from Minnesota. Great angling in places on the Mississippi R., but some of the stretches are so weed choked that the jets can't run a lick. We were forced to throw flukes in areas because of the amount of weeds drifting in the current. Those smallies up there are definitely on steroids both in fight and in girth. Saw the two biigest of my life, and they are still swimming. Hope you enjoyed the stretch of cooler weather we brought back! Keep in touch.

Tom, The winter time bite for smallies is quite good if done correctly. The maribou jig and tube can be good while most anglers probably favor a hair jig in the 1/16-1/8 oz. when the water temps dip into the lower 40's. I noticed that you live in the St. Louis area as I do, and I have probably done more smallie winter fishing and catching than most sane folks can inagine. Bait selection is very important for winter time success, but it is just one piece of the puzzle. Water clarity, depth, structure and temperatures all play a prominent role in locating and catching big smallies. I've taught quite a few guys how catch them all through the year, but winter time is my favorite time to be out in our streams. Shoot me a private message if you are interested in fishing with me. Thanks.

That's our version of "passing the hat."

You ought to come to some of my smallie parties.

You sure these weren't spawning? That full moon late in June....blah, blah...

I'd also like to know definitively what these carp eat. The mouth on a bighead carp is scary large. Doesn't look like the mouth of an algae eater to me! I did have one slam a jig last year on the Meramec near the Big River. Weighed in excess of 15 pounds, and I hear they can reach 50 or more. The explosion in the Osage really concerns me especially since the MDC seems to have very little data for which they can assess gamefish pops. both before and after carp infestations. I've been sent some electroshocking surveys taken by the MDC along the Meramec and it was very sketchy and limited, IMO. Al, we need to get you appointed to the MDC.

I have been fishing in the creeks that border the MO River in St. Charles county this spring. I have seen thousands of mostly silver and some bighead carp. They cruise pretty shallow so they are easy to spot. Are other anglers seeing this many carp across the state? I fear for the health of all rivers that enter into the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Let's hear about the numbers of these fish you are seeing around the area. I personally don't think the MDC is doing enough about this problem, and I have contacted them. No data was forwarded to me yet from them. nor was any plan of action.

In the heat of summer these high, muddy conditions on streams really take the starch out of good fishing usually. Today was no exception as the bass were just tough to catch. The river both rose several inches and fell even more over the last 24 hours after another hard rain while the visibility diminished to about 8 inches. We should have traveled farther upstream perhaps. Anyway, we spinnerbaited and jigged and wormed, and began to realize that the orange bellied crankbait, particularly the Wiggle Wart proved to be the best for us to catch a few biters. Most bass were hooked outside the mouth, and we struggled to put together a decent pattern, but Mitch did get a bragging sized walleye on the Wart around noon on a rocky bank with current nearby. In spite of the tough conditions, we managed to make a day of it. With this heat, I'm counting down the days to Brr suit weather!

That smallie was just a fraction over 20 in. I caught 6 bass in a row on a bank that day at 10:30. Three of them were over 17 inches. That one was the largest, a mean spinnerbait fish. Never saw smallies go crazy for 45 minutes like they did a couple of weeks ago. I'm thinking a pulse of higher water came down the river that morning. Baifish were exploding around weedbeds like I haven't seen in many years. They were really chasing bait hard. By noon everyone was fully fed and lounging sleepily for the remainder of the day. Go figure. Mitch, I have never weighed a live brown river fish, safe to say it was over 2 pounds.

To go along with Mitch's and some others measurements of smallies. Let's see how accurate you can guess this smallie's length.

keep the same cadence, always use a feather on the back of a bait unless it absolutely kills the action. During the spawn, this thing happens more because when you leave a bass' territory, it often loses interest in fending off predator. If it's a feeding type situation, I find more of these follows occur when the sun is up a little and the water is usually slick. The better the look a bass gets at your lure, the more often they bird dog it. Change to a subtler color with less noise. If a waking redfin is too noisy and big, then go down to an old Rapala or Rogue type topwater. They will wake also, and are much subtler. Last, the follow up baits are good suggestions. Be very quick with it!

definitely

I hate to clarify, but just to set history straight....I refer to these as "bedroom communities" because these fish are territorial in nature. They don't want to leave this location which is similar to, or just like a spawning bed situation. They may be spawning in these places, but the water is too deep to see any beds there. That's why I didn't call them spawning sites...not absolutely sure, but I these fish are territorial and stay in these places for days. It's legal, fun, and doesn't hurt the bass or the future bass population. I woudn't fish these places daily obviously as I pretty much know what's there. I like to let a stretch rest for at least a week if possible. I certainly hope that all the guys who want me to stop spring fishing for smallies will use your energy and same passion to stop illegal gigging and also make catch and release mandatory on large stretches of all our streams. Then we would see an improvement in numbers and size of smallmouth.

With the Pomme river running pretty clear, I don't think that end of the lake will muddy. I fished the upper end of Truman there Wedsesday with lots of niticeable current, and the water had about 15 inches of vis., so it's not muddy. Crappie are still spawning there, a few bass were shallow in the grassy banks, and I caught a good hybrid on a channel swing. Only fished till noon when the rains started. Too bad no smnall shad present to help me direct my efforts! I do think once the shad fry get big enough, it will draw good largies to the grass flats like usual and the bite will get better. Looks like I'll need to buy a new umbrella this year.

I gave Pomme a pretty good thrashing on Tuesday, the only sunny day for about two weeks. Years ago I lived in Hermo, so I try to get back once in a great while to fish. Like Trav, I fished near the dam. Thewater had at least 5 feet vis. I took my river jet boat to be able to maueuver around and through shoreline cover to take a looksee at what was up shallow. Found just one big male on his nest and it was really locked on. It had attracted (and was courting) a five pound female that was waiting for the right time to lay her eggs. Several miles of looking and spotted just that one spawner. The active quality bass that I contacted were the papa bass guarding fry. Only spotted about 5 balls of fresh hatched fry (after checking about 10 coves/pockets) and everyone of them had a good sized papa prtecting them. These bass should be left alone, but often times one casts and catches one before the fry are seen. One such 3 pound bass had at least three previous fresh hook holes in its mouth testifying to the fishing pressure this little lake receives. Like Trav, with no shad spawn seen, most of the large bass have not come into the shallows to feed. In a few weeks with continued high water, the bite could get much better if most of the food moves in. If I had to catch a big bass on Pomme, I would head for the murkier waters and flip and pitch into the grassy areas around the banks that I could access up either arm of the lake. Incidentally, I did fish 15-20 feet deep off points with a t- rigged lizard and caught numerous 8-12 inch dinks off of three such points. I did not fish really early or really late, when some of the larger bass could have moved in shallow to feed in these relatively clear waters.

Thanks for the effort, but $10 is a bit much.

Better be careful with that spinnerbait! I've caught some real good ones doing that in spring from "bedroom areas." And for those who are still gnashing their teeth about sight fishing these bass. Repeating, I don't see these fish before casting to them. It's not like a typical lake situation where that is a common thing (and legal) with no closed season in MO. The fact is tht I've caught spring bass (probably spawning) from some of the same areas for several years, and the population of smallies remains strong there through the following summer. It's the late fall which can greatly raise the mortality rate of many big Ozark bass. Gigging. I'm not giving up on this thread, just getting tired of it. By the way, the large majority of big smallies that I catch come between Thanksgiving and March, not spring. I often fish 2-3 times a week in winter which is big fish time.

Ollie, Catching smallies in Northern lakes during the spawn is quite easy if that's your reference. Catching big smallies in Ozark Streams really isn't easy for most folks regardless of the season. It takes lots of work to become familiar with thw stretches that hold these fish. Our streams are often changing depths and colors caused by spring rains, and this makes catching them pretty challenging as well. With messed up conditions, some years we have no decent spring fishing at all, nor do we have a decent smallie spawn. I'm no youngster either, and your comparison of catching this spring bass to that of a canned hunt is laughable. I want to go with you on a river trip and just sit back and watch you catch as many as you can. If you're that good, I could learn a lot. Carry on! I enjoy catching bass any time of the year, and again I repeat that never have I seen any sunfish around these smallies that I have caught in spring. These fish are often grouped up and somewhere in the spawning process. I'm not throwing around fry, and I don't target the smaller fish bedding alone in backwaters. If I can see 13 inch fish, what's the point of catching it? I'm not getting a thrill doing that. Every day I fish I learn more and more about smallie habits and how to cdatch them. I am intrigued by their spring habits and their decision selecting the areas that they choose to spawn. THese fish aren't harmed one iota. I know in retrospect how damaging the illegal gigging was this past fall and winter to one of my select areas. I'm totally convinced by the lack of big fish there this spring that 60-70% of the trophies were removed illegally in about one week's time last year when the water finally cleared up enough to gig. My evidence of trophy dead fish seen on the bottom and 7 other 13-18 inch smallies that survived their gig attack that I personally caught caught with gig marks from that same stretch points out the real villains in our streams who stuck and killed as many as two dozen 16-20 inch smallies illegally, and probably many more smaller ones.

I would like 4 or 5 if the color is decent. I do want the older style, and blue sliver is a good color for me. How much?

You are just way off base. I've never seen a brim anywhere near these bass in their communities in spring. Now, those bass protecting young might be taken legally by anglers during the early part of the open season though. I know that many years some spawning is going on in late May if the river has been high and chilly. In no way do I harm the future population of smallies in our streams. The telling factors for the success or failure of the spawn would be great fluctuations of water level and water temps IMO. Of couse we have to have a population of breeding bass which we do as I have a pretty good notion about as I fish through the winter. I released over 60 relatively big smallies over 17 in. this winter which I could have kept. Now keeping those would have would damaged the breeding stock. I'm really on your side preserving the big smallies, but I just don't agree with your original premise.

Andy, I don't think you have both oars in the water. Getting a little to PETA for me. One can catch bedding bass in a smallie stream by fishing likely looking spots without actually see the fish bedding. I usually don't know if they are bedding until they smack a lure. When I catch several from a very small area, I think they are in their "bedroom." I may have to work several miles of water to find such a place. When I do it's very rewarding to catch these big bass. I release them right away as the law requires, and this does not harm the fishery in the least. Ain't no bram gonna get anywhere near these mean bass. If I put you in my boat and I happened on an old log jam and caught two lunkers 20 in. smallies off it, I bet you'd cast in there too bedding or not. (Not that intend on inviting you)

Never kept a river smallie in twenty five years or more. I can catch the same bass twice in 30 minutes at times that may be bedding (one rarely sees a bed) so I know I haven't hurt them one iota. Please patrol the river next week and lecture all those guys killing limits of bass when it's legal too. The reason there's good smallie pops in streams now is primarily due to guys like me who put them back all year round. Get off your high horse.