senile1

This is a great excuse for getting skunked. The darn critters were asleep.

The answer is abolutely, yes. I've fished for a long time but no one person can know everything about every technique, every lure, every piece of equipment, every thing about boats, etc. The repository of knowledge is greatly increased when you have access to approximately 6000 other minds. I can't believe how much I have learned from this site. I don't think we can ever thank Glenn enough for what he has provided here.

I'm not even close to 100 percent but I do love to reminisce about the good old days of baseball. I'm amazed that you remember the 4 twenty game winners for Baltimore. I only remember Gibson's stats because I've been a Cardinal fan since I finished eating baby food.

Muddy, I think Gibson had a 1.12 ERA if I'm not mistaken. Regarding the 20 game winners for Baltimore I could only remember two of them so I googled it and cheated. I won't spill the beans here. I had forgotten that Baltimore had four 20 gamers. Go to this link and check out their salaries: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1971&t=BAL I know its supply and demand but it still makes me a bit sick these days.

Yeah, McClain and Lolich for the Tigers. Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Nelson Briles for the Cards. There were some good pitchers in that series.

Well, we swept the Cubs after getting our tails handed to us by them all season. Hopefully, the Cards pitching will rise to the occasion. It hasn't so far. MuddyMan, your Mets swept the Cards rather handily. They look like the team to beat in the National League.

A number of factors play into when the bass start to move into a fall pattern. For instance I've seen the high temperatures stay in the mid to high 90s up until late September in the Kansas City area. When it is like this and we have no cool rains, a number of bass will remain on a summer pattern or at least they won't fully move up into the coves. I find most bass in the pre-spawn areas when temps are like this. But if we have some cool night rains, even if the temps reach the 90s during the day alot more bass will move up into the coves where the cool water is flowing in. I can't say I see alot of bass move up when the water temperature drops from 86 to 84 or 83. It seems to take more than that in the lakes I fish. This summer it has been extremely hot with no rain, but just this weekend we finally received a cool downpour of 5 - 8 inches of rain depending on the location. Temps this week will only be low 80s during the day. While the lakes may be muddy for a few days, this should cool the water significantly. I expect to see a fall pattern emerge.

Only reservoirs that have been created by placing a dam over a stream, river, creek, etc. will have channel banks. Some ponds are created this way and some aren't. The easiest way to find creek channels is to first, buy a good topographic map of the lake if one is available, and then use your sonar to pinpoint where these banks are. You aren't just looking for the banks. You're looking for the intersection of the creek bank with something else that bass love: sharp channel bends with stumps or vegetation, channel bank with a long point reaching out to it, etc. If you don't have sonar, at least get a map and try using your carolina rig to find a channel bank. Find a small area that should have a creek running through it and sweep the area with your carolina rig. You should be able to feel it. (This is a slow process.) I'd buy a fish finder myself.

Shallow to medium crankbaits with some topwater poppers and walk the dog lures. in early fall. As temperatures cool I'll switch to jigs on channel banks and on the rocks and riprap which will hold heat.

I think I would probably keep a state record or the world record. As Matt Fly mentioned earlier, this would probably be a bass that is near the end of its life anyway, plus you have confirmation of your record.

The lake that I fished when growing up has coontail all over it. We always fished johnson silver minnows and caught lots of bass, too. I also used rapala floaters over the top and rapala countdowns in the gaps. I fished this lake again with my Dad this spring and we caught quite a few healthy bass using rapalas and super flukes. This lake has never failed to produce. It is so thick with coontail that many people avoid it. Don't avoid coontail. It's a bass haven.

Russ, I have never used a drift anchor. I might have to check into that. Although some of these lakes would fill it up with matted grass if I had a drift sock hanging off my boat Keithscatch, I had the same problem and the same solution. I fished worms too fast until I forced myself to stay in one location. And, Russ, you took the thought out of my head. I need to get a drift anchor.

My Dad and an uncle introduced me to fishing. My Dad introduced me to bass fishing.

I consider 8 - 10 foot deep cranking, though not close to the deepest cranking I do. The Rapala you have is probably a DT, or a shad rap. Some shad raps go to around 11 feet. If you're fishing from the shore I doubt that you will be able to cast to the 30 foot water. You will want to cast to water that is slightly shallower than your Rapala so it will dig into the bottom and create a ruckus. I generally like to use a very erratic retrieve with twitches, pulls and jerks, but sometimes a steady retrieve is best. If the bottom is covered in vegetation you will be unable to let the lure dig into the bottom. You will want it to glide just over the vegetation, sometimes ripping it through the top of it. C-rigging a crank is an option. Thirty pound braid is equal to 8 lb test mono in diameter, I think, so this won't ruin the action of your lure, but you will need to be careful when you get a strike because you don't want to rip the hooks out of the fishes mouth and you can do this with a stiff rod and braid. Your rod needs to be medium action and the fish should hook himself on the crank. When you feel the fish nothing more than a quick snap of the rod should be needed. With a 5 foot rod you won't be moving as much line when you set the hook so this may help you if you're going to crank with braid. I would recommend a longer (6 - 6 1/2 ft) rod, myself, but sometimes you have to use what you've got.

Don't give them any ideas. I have to agree. I need to go to the BassResource.com store and show where my loyalties lie.

I'll let all of you debate this, but, just to add a little fuel to the fire, a brain is not needed for fight or flight response. Evidence shows that epithelial, endothelial, and many other cells in the body respond to a variety of attacks in a reasonably standardized fashion, which allows them to combat the offending stimulus or escape it. Some of our own cells use cell motility to escape danger. Most choose the fight response (i.e. production of natural antiobiotics, production of antioxidant enzymes, the recruitment of leukocytes to destroy invaders, etc.).

40 mph . . . . . . 1987 15' 6" Starcraft magnum 150, Johnson 70 horse with 3 blade SS prop with me and all my equipment.

Welcome, Joe. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I think water quality is regionally defined. Three feet of visibility is considered fairly clear on the lakes I fish. I've seen Truman lake so muddy on the Grand river arm, that you couldn't see a lure beyond 4 inches. Two feet of visibility to me is stained, but not muddy. One foot is heavily stained or mildly muddy, take your pick.

6.9 lb largemouth This will change soon or my name isn't Bob. Ed

Round Tuit Joe. Come on, Joe. Join the forum. I need all the help I can get.

The answer would depend on the day, but a 15 lb'er would be a record in Missouri so I'd definitely want that one. Six 7 lb'ers or two 10 lb'ers would be a wild day too.

WishIcouldFish, I sent you a PM about Muir woods.

I've read about some of the good bass fishing in oxbows in Arkansas, but the oxbows that I am familiar with in Missouri contain only catfish. There's three near the Missouri river where I live and none contain bass. I grew up in southeast Missouri and the few I was aware of, had poor bass fishing as well. If anybody knows of some good bass fishing oxbows in Missouri, let me know.

WishICouldFish, I see you quoted John Muir in your personal text. Have you visited Muir Woods north of San Francisco? Sorry, I won't hijack the thread. I fish lakes in Northwest and Central Missouri.