Info on Thomas Hill?

[snagged in outlet 3]

Hey guys.

I'm trying to get away to Thomas Hill this week for the first time. Any help would be apprecated. I was hoping Bill could give me a run down like he did for Sooner Lake in a previous post.

I'm looking at the weather and Thursday looks good with rain moving in. Any thoughts about which day this week would be better?

I am going on a scouting mission without the boat and wanted to fish the warmwater discharge canal. I'm bringing my 9 weight and also conventional tackle so any info would be great. Thanks in advance.

SIO3

[Bill B.]

I heard last week that the plant has been shut down for repairs. Don't know when it will fire back up, but that has pretty much killed the hot-water fishing, I think.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Thanks Bill.

I called and you are are correct, shut down. Do you know of any other places I might try relatively close to St. Lou?

SIO3

[Bill Butts]

SIO3,

The status of Thomas Hill was news to me, too.

Unfortunate, I was planning to go up when it got cold for an extended time. Disappointing to many to have fished it for years, too.

It would seem logical to keep tabs on when they fire it back up. I would think the fishing would be awesome.

Since you're in the St. Louis area, I would highly suggest you check out some of the Striper/Hybrid fisheries that are available in warmwater discharges at some of the lakes in Illinois. Here is a good link to IL Game and Fish magazine and it has an article specifically about Winter Striper Hotspots (third article down the page)......

http://www.illinoisgameandfish.com/fishing...ybrids-fishing/

I know a few guys that fish Baldwin and catch some Hybrids, though is more quantity of smaller fish than large fish. Still, fun for winter fishing.

Please let us know if you check it out.

Hope this is helpful.

Bill

[Bill B.]

I agree with Bill Butts. TH is the only hot-water discharge on the Missouri side that's reasonably close to St. Louis. There's another power plant lake at Montrose, but that's 15 miles west of the west end of Truman Lake--a long drive for you. Besides, Montrose is not the lake it used to be. I fished there last week for bass, and we caught only a couple of small channel cats and flatheads. Water temp was 54 degrees in the canal. It was opening day, and the place was practically deserted.

Once upon a time, Montrose was a terrific crappie lake, and winter was a great time to catch them. But I haven't caught a crappie at the Montrose discharge in at least 12 years.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Thanks Butts.

I saw that article when I was googling everything I could about hybrids in my area. T.Hill was just so close I really wanted to check that out. I'm on the far west side of St. Lou so just to get into IL is 30 minutes.

I'm going to try and keep tabs on T.Hill because I think you're right it should be awesome when they fire back up. Let me know if you here anything on it. Maybe we could meet up there sometime?

I might get over to one of the IL lakes soon since I have to go over to the eastside for work and I'll sneak away and check one out. I'll report what happens.

SIO3

[Bill Butts]

SIO3~

Thanks for your follow-up.

I will try to contact someone at Associated Electric Co-op and find out the expected downtime for the power plant. They own and operate the Thomas Hill facility and their corporate offices are about a mile from my house here in Springfield.

Meeting up at Thomas Hill to do battle with some Hybrids would be fun, I'll look forward to it.

BTW, we drive 2.5 to 4 hours into AR and OK for good Hybrid and Striper fishing, so don't let the drive time be a discouraging factor. I agree, however, that you always want to know about what is closer to your own backyard.

Keep in touch.

Bill

[snagged in outlet 3]

Bill.

I was just looking for the closest available for short trips. I have a little crawdad boat that would get us around the discharge canal if need be.

I've heard rumors that hybrids can be caught around the dam on the Mississippi near Alton. I told you I'm on mission this year. I had caught stripers in the ocean before but when I caught that first hybrid this past year in IL I was hooked.

Seems there is plenty of opportunity in IL within 3 hours of me so I'll be all over that this spring. I'll probably concentrate on tailwaters since it puts them in a confined area. This section of the forum came along at the right time for my new quarry.

I'll report what I find.

SIO3.

[Bill Butts]

SIO3~

Interesting you mentioned "you are on mission this year".

I can relate to that over that past several years.

However, about this time last year I told my fishing buddy of 36 years that I was considering selling all my light trout rods to force myself to focus totally on temperate basses for a few years.

Well, I did sell my set of 3, 4 and 5 wt. Sage trout rods, and the reels and spools......but got a little concerned about not having a trout rod for my closest waters just in case I needed them so I bought a Winston 4 wt.

The only way to really force yourself/myself to make Temperate Basses a full-blown priority and learn as much about them and how to find and catch them is to block every other specie out and focus on them.

You will probably agree that it is very different and far more challenging to learn and understand these species.

I share all the above with you to make the point that it IS possible to concentrate on these fish all year. And, though it is frequently frustrating, the rewards are very sweet and fulfilling.

During the winter months, the fisheries with power plant warmwater discharges present great opportunities for cold weather anglers.

The Spring of course is known as the Prime Time for all these species because they venture up into tributaries for their reproductive efforts (most stripers and hybrids of course don't spawn, though some do in some rivers). Depending on the region, this can begin as early as late February and last in some areas until late May.

Summer and Fall present constant opportunities in lakes to seek these fish on windy points and flats, and of course potentially anywhere busting baitfish on the surface usually early or late.

Additionally, there are some rivers (usually tailwaters) that hold resident fish yearound, usually dependent upon water flow. Examples of this are the Osage River in MO and the AR River in OK and AR.

One of my personal motivations for participating in Forums like this is to encourage others to experience and understand these great fish, and that they can be located and caught all year.

We can talk more specifically about yearound opportunities within driving distance for you, later.

Bill

[Thom]

Balwin and Coffeen are good hot water discharge lakes. Cofeen has a 25 HP limit. Balwin good for whites and other bass species. Cofeen also good for bass as well as crappie.

I fished both lots when I lived in Highland and Collinsville before I moved to MO.