Fishing Report I Think?

[Wayne SW/MO]

It seems to me this feeling of not sharing trip reports falls into the category of one of the unwritten rules of fishing.

Not the trip report, the GPS pinpoint at a time when the fish are vulnerable.

[SpoonDog]

Well you obviously don't crappie fish or fish the White bass run.

The original post that started this had 674 views, know any of them? Smallieb also doesn't post many locations in his backyard but doesn't mind doing It somewhere else. If he's not worried about his immediate area, then why not give locations, and leave posts up?

Those fish are very vulnerable and the season is open on them, not that it generally matters. I'm not opposed to giving out information, just advertising it with minute details.

I'll always answer a PM.

Exactly. I'm not worried about photos or trip report. I'm worried about over-exploitation of stream smallmouth- and if what I've written wasn't clear about that, I'm sorry.

The fact is many smallmouth stack up in a few areas during winter. The fact is smallmouth are cold-blooded, and their metabolism is dictated by stream temperature- a fish in 58 degree spring water is going to eat more than a fish in 34 degree river water. The fact is smallmouth- especially big ones- aren't particularly social critters, and when you crowd 'em all together in a small space it can lead to stress. Because they're all in one place, because they're in warmer water, because they're aggressive- they're vulnerable. And because the season is still open, higher chances of being caught mean higher chances of being kept. I'm happy to deal with the facts.

I'm sure the majority of folks on this site do care- I'm not worried about them, and I'm happy to offer information through private message. As much as I'd like to believe the 60 guests browsing the forum right now feel the same way- I don't know that. I don't know how many folks troll this site for info, but I'm not going to pretend it doesn't happen. If you disagree, by all means- throw up your username and password, home address and security alarm passcode, your SSN, your credit card information, mother's maiden name etc. If you think that's a bad idea- is it because you're paranoid, or because you want to protect the things you value?

I'm not trying to propose unwritten fishing rules- I'm using math. Subtracting quality fish from a population is a terrible way of adding quality fish to a population- and while it's easy to scapegoat MDC, they're not ones providing explicit instructions on where and how to target wintering smallmouth. I don't see how the information reduces winter harvest and I don't see how it benefits smallmouth populations- but maybe I'm missing something.

I'd be happy to work with MSA and other folks to shorten the harvest season on smallmouth- but that could take years, and cost millions of lives. In the meanwhile I'll be careful about who I share information with- and I'd suggest others who want to see better fishing in Missouri think about what information they make public. If that makes me a jerk, I'm fine with it.

[Flysmallie]

Give up Spoon and Wayne, they are obviously too ignorant to get it.

I remember SB whining like a little girl when this happened in one of his spots.

Obviously these guys are not what you would consider conservationists. And if all this bullshit about just trying to help the good folks here at OAF were true the same report wouldn't be on a hunting forum.

Whatever, I don't care, just a bunch of mouthy punks on the internet that I don't care to be around anyways.

[Phil Lilley]

FYI -

January 17 - 2031 unique visitors on this site. 16,723 page views. Average 15 minutes on site.

That's the slowest day this past week.

If you guys want to make this a better fishing forum, when you give your general report, explain how you're catching fish like you're teaching someone who don't know how to fish. Who cares where you're fishing exactly. What people are wanting to learn is HOW TO FISH.

[Hog Wally]

Everybody promise not to eat everything they catch first

[Hog Wally]

Okay I will start first. I promise that unless I am starving, I won't eat a smallmouth. They suck anyway

[Al Agnew]

FYI -

January 17 - 2031 unique visitors on this site. 16,723 page views. Average 15 minutes on site.

That's the slowest day this past week.

If you guys want to make this a better fishing forum, when you give your general report, explain how you're catching fish like you're teaching someone who don't know how to fish. Who cares where you're fishing exactly. What people are wanting to learn is HOW TO FISH.

Thanks, Phil. We like to think we're this close-knit little group of like-minded anglers, but there are a lot of people who visit this site.

Think about this, guys...even if only ONE good meat fisherman that's so inclined to keep every legal fish they catch and cull for the bigger ones comes on here and learns of a spot he hadn't thought about fishing before, he's going to make a dent in the population of big fish in that spot. The good meat fishermen I know tend to find a good spot and keep going to it and keeping fish out of it until it isn't so good anymore, and then they go somewhere else and repeat. If only ONE real poacher finds a good spot because of reading about it here, he's going to probably make MORE of a dent.

As everybody who is on here a lot knows, I post plenty of fishing reports, and like Phil says, I tell how I caught fish, I tell the water and weather conditions. That way the report might be of value to you in YOUR water. I don't post a report on every trip. If it's a mediocre trip with average weather and water conditions and not much of interest happens, posting it won't really help anybody much (not to mention, it won't be as interesting to read). I post reports when something happens, either good or bad, that I find especially interesting or informative.

[Seth]

Okay I will start first. I promise that unless I am starving, I won't eat a smallmouth. They suck anyway

I know a lot of meat fishermen and I can't think of any that target smallmouth bass for the fryer. They all go for catfish, whites, hybrids, panfish or gig suckers.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Okay I will start first. I promise that unless I am starving, I won't eat a smallmouth. They suck anyway

Have you ever eaten one?

[Flysmallie]

I know a lot of meat fishermen and I can't think of any that target smallmouth bass for the fryer. They all go for catfish, whites, hybrids, panfish or gig suckers.

See that's the problem, you don't know everything. I see a lot of meat fisherman on the James. They take everything they catch, smallmouth included. Short or out of season they do not care. I've seen two written tickets and they just shrug it off. I've seen a guy take a big smallie from the Finley. It was out of season. He tried to give it to me. When I explained that it wasn't legal to keep it and since he didn't want it he should just release it. No way, that was the biggest fish he had ever caught and he wasn't letting it go. Makes no sense right?

It's not the people you know Seth. I have friends that are meat hunters too. But I'm not worried about them, I'm worried about the people I don't know. The guys floating around with stringers of 10 inch smallmouth. Saw it last summer on the Big Piney. But they weren't doing any harm if you asked them. Just enough for dinner.