30 Bridge

[Smalliebigs]

So me and smallie bigs hit the river today. Despite a 1 1/2 foot rise a little debri and a drop in water temp from the obvious snow melt we did catch some smallies. Keepers but nothing to write home about They were stuffed like peppers. Guess they fed up yesterday with the rise. Nonetheless fun to fish with a new friend and see some new stuff.

I must say it was truly a pleasure to meet Hog Wally. He is an absolute encyclopdeia of info about the Meramec.....bursting with powerful info. I really enjoyed fishing with him as he is just a really cool dude and we both have daughters and think the same way, he is also a very good businessman which I totally respect about him....very commited!!!

He knows the Meramec like nobody else I have ever met as he grew up on the river and is just sooo full of info about that watershed....it's very impressive..... I could fish with people like him all the time......very cool dude!!!!

The other thing I learned today is my choice in jet boat was wrong......I need a RiverPro.....Hog Wally's rig is something that performs like nothing I could have ever imagined. It feels so safe when running the river you really forget your in a boat. I will not be getting a Blzaer with a 60/40 Etech.....I will be selling my SearArk and saving a little more cash for sales tax on my future purchase from Riverpro. I just can't put into words how nice and stable and shallow running at low speeds his boat is. I just kept saying over and over how I was amazed at how much lift his hull has....I'm sure he was getting sick of it

here are a few clips of his rig running the river http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFZzJEgaUE&list=UURlxUeWESMSQDhP1-NtEy7Q&feature=share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUSyNC5NG4k&list=UURlxUeWESMSQDhP1-NtEy7Q&feature=share&index=1

sorry i think youtube is still editing these clips....give it a few minutes.

[Al Agnew]

Fishing was pretty tough on Big River today, too. Went out in the jetboat on the lower middle river with Mary, fished five miles of river and caught four bass, nothing big. Water temp was 46-49 degrees, and it was up a bit, close to what should be normal for this time of year, and murky. What was the water temp on the Meramec?

[Seth]

So me and smallie bigs hit the river today. Despite a 1 1/2 foot rise a little debri and a drop in water temp from the obvious snow melt we did catch some smallies. Keepers but nothing to write home about They were stuffed like peppers. Guess they fed up yesterday with the rise. Nonetheless fun to fish with a new friend and see some new stuff.

I was envying you guys knowing you were out there fishing while I was at work. Other than the wind, today was absolutely gorgeous! My buddy and I are hitting the. osage in the am. Hopefully I will have something decent to report for you Hog Wally.

[Smalliebigs]

Fishing was pretty tough on Big River today, too. Went out in the jetboat on the lower middle river with Mary, fished five miles of river and caught four bass, nothing big. Water temp was 46-49 degrees, and it was up a bit, close to what should be normal for this time of year, and murky. What was the water temp on the Meramec?

hahahaha....virtually the same conditions Al. the Meramec was up almost two feet and the water clarity was what I consider perfect.....just a tad off but still nice and green but, not gin clear like it has been. The water temps were anywhere from 47 to 52, in very few spots we saw 52......we also had to get off the river a little early as Aaron has a very busy and lucrative business. I'm sure we would have seen some temps in the 53 to 54 ramge by late aftrenoon??? It seemed like an ice and snow melt rise to me??? When I saw the water clarity I was very excited at first but, the fish seemed to have been feeding quite heavily prior to us getting out.....every Smallies looked to be stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. The fishing wasn't that great but, being out with Hog Wally was very much fun and I had a great time....he is the REAL deal and look forward to going out with him again.

[Hog Wally]

I'm ready already. I am still thinking about your tackle! You and Mitch have taken smallmouth fishing to the next level no doubt. I know that no boat compares to a river pro. It leaves hardly a wake. I showed that it can stop on a dime Take off and completely turn around in less than a foot of water. It's a river fishermans dream boat. If I was rich and didn't care about tearing boat up I would change a few creeks to navigable by boat status. Yeah it's really that and a whole lot more. Kevin Turner told me 3 inch of water before I bought one. I have ran across less than that every time out on water. Safest most efficient, definitely the most Eco friendly SB you know I'm pure redneck but thanks for the compliments. I was surprised you didn't mention the local crappie guy complaining about giggers sticking the slob crappie he'd been catching

[Old plug]

I have nothing against a center console. If I ever do buy another boat it will be a 14 or 16 ft Boston Whaler. But I would not be running it standing up in the river. I wonder about what happens if you do hit a shoal.

[Smalliebigs]

I'm ready already. I am still thinking about your tackle! You and Mitch have taken smallmouth fishing to the next level no doubt. I know that no boat compares to a river pro. It leaves hardly a wake. I showed that it can stop on a dime Take off and completely turn around in less than a foot of water. It's a river fishermans dream boat. If I was rich and didn't care about tearing boat up I would change a few creeks to navigable by boat status. Yeah it's really that and a whole lot more. Kevin Turner told me 3 inch of water before I bought one. I have ran across less than that every time out on water. Safest most efficient, definitely the most Eco friendly SB you know I'm pure redneck but thanks for the compliments. I was surprised you didn't mention the local crappie guy complaining about giggers sticking the slob crappie he'd been catching

Hahahaha.....dudes like Mitch and Nick Hamra, Al Agnew and Corey Cotrell have taken river smallie fishing to new levels....I'm just friends with them. I still have a lot learning to do and try to every time I go out. Mitch has a ton of fishing skill combined with some high tech skill in regards to cad modeling and lazer scanning and well, he's a genius....IMO. I have a great deal of respect for him in both regards and he's a very cool dude to boot.

You are right though, the friends of yours that had crappie being gigged is a joke!!! Mitch caught some 12 inch Spotted bass that were gigged last week.....it all sucks and is indicative of this time of year ......you will catch some of the survivors of the illegal gigging destruction....it's just life on the river until something is done......it's obvious the illegal giggers are never going to grow morals overnite and the ethical giggers are not going to be able to influence the illegals.....so round and round we go.

The worst thing I ever heard about illegal gigging was from Nick Hamra, who has a deffinite pulse on the Meramec. He told me once, that from year to year the populations of big smallies where he fishes are good or bad based on the water levels and clarity of the water during the winter......that shook me to my core and has had me in a rage ever since. sorry I'm done with my soap box.....Hog Wally let's fish soon brother

[Al Agnew]

Nick, my winter fishing guru, probably has spent more time fishing the Meramec during the winter than just about anyone, and I value his observations and opinions on the gigging issue more than anyone else, myself included. You could almost say that Nick (Zipstick on the rare occasions he's on here) is one of the pioneers of winter fishing for smallmouth on Ozark streams. According to him, this has been one of the worst years in a long time for losing a lot of big fish to the illegal giggers. Pools that are consistent wintering pools for him (and which he has shown Mitch and me) have seemed almost devoid of fish after November this year. The water conditions October through December were just too perfect for gigging between Onondaga and the mouth of the Bourbeuse. And it's not a new thing...I was noticing it way back in the 1980s when I only fished the Meramec in warmer weather...after years with good gigging conditions, a significant percentage of the bigger bass I caught in the summer had healed gig scars.

As for the River Pro, it's a terrific boat, and well worth the money. The speed and size seems a little like overkill to me, and I'll always cringe when I hear people say, as Hog Wally said, that they want to redefine the definition of runnable creeks, because I do NOT want to see the jet boat type technology invading the streams I retreat to in the summer because they are too low and too small for the motorheads who just want to go fast. But there's no doubt that Kevin Turner has designed and built one of the very best jetboats in existence.

[Mitch f]

Nick, my winter fishing guru, probably has spent more time fishing the Meramec during the winter than just about anyone, and I value his observations and opinions on the gigging issue more than anyone else, myself included. You could almost say that Nick (Zipstick on the rare occasions he's on here) is one of the pioneers of winter fishing for smallmouth on Ozark streams. According to him, this has been one of the worst years in a long time for losing a lot of big fish to the illegal giggers. Pools that are consistent wintering pools for him (and which he has shown Mitch and me) have seemed almost devoid of fish after November this year. The water conditions October through December were just too perfect for gigging between Onondaga and the mouth of the Bourbeuse. And it's not a new thing...I was noticing it way back in the 1980s when I only fished the Meramec in warmer weather...after years with good gigging conditions, a significant percentage of the bigger bass I caught in the summer had healed gig scars.

X2 with this, I've learned virtually everything about winter fishing from Nick. He is as good as it gets. In reference to the gigging issue, what's most frustrating and sad to me is the fact that unless you have the ability to bend the right ear, nothing gets done. I know Nick and Dan Kreher (Thank you) made a little headway last year by alerting a few key people in the MDC, but it seems nothing was ever followed up on by the MDC. It was admitted by the MDC halfway thru the season by one of Nick's contacts that illegal gigging was a low priority. Combine this with the fact that it's virtually impossible to catch one of these morons unless they make a rookie mistake, and you have a recipe for disaster. All it takes is some guy getting caught and has his vehicle and boat confiscated, and it would send ripples thru the gigging community.

[Hog Wally]

I was totally kidding about running creeks although I do have a childlike mentality when it comes to creeks. I like to look hard at them and wonder how far I could go before tearing everything up. I'm sure SB picked up on the fact that even though we ran 15 miles of river and passed up a lot of sweet spots I only stopped in wintering holes where there was either undercut bluffs where fish could hide or places where I know there is no private ramps My favorite holes were mostly shallowed in from last years floods and easily gigged out. Stinks but we have been lucky for several years. I'm sure that's why the fishing has been really good.