A Nice Smally Was Weighed At Yesterdays Tourney On The Gasconade

[Seth]

If you just like to catch fish, a week or two after a tournament a guy can catch some really nice fish at those release sites. The worst part about it is the live bait fishermen probably catch several of them as well and they most likely get cleaned.

[Mitch f]

I've fished in only one river tourney on the Meramec with cwc87. I have mixed feelings about fishing river tourneys, but it wouldn't stop me from fishing another one. I guess if I thought it was a huge problem I would not do it anymore.

[Seth]

I just started fishing the one club last year. It's a lot of fun and my river bass skills have improved quite a bit by competing, listening, and talking to the other anglers I'm fishing against. Most of the time there is only 10-15 boats and everybody spreads out over a pretty big area so the fish don't get pounded nearly as bad as you would think for one area. Pointers Creek on down doesn't get hit hard at all even with the few tournies that are held out of that access. The Bell Chutes and Jerome stretches get hit the hardest in my opinion but they are also my favorite stretches to fish even with the extra pressure.

My biggest problem now is that I am turning in to more of a smallmouth fishermen and the largemouths are usually what wins. Those smallmouth are so much fun and are the main reason I enjoy bass fishing the Gasconade. Everybody gets lucky though as the one tourney I won this year was thanks to hitting a spot where we caught a few smallies the weekend before and I lucked in to a 4.59 largemouth so you just never know!