Oldplug

I was out a.couple of hours ago. Got nervous about some dark cloud and got off the water. We have been under tornado watch all day. I have been there and done that on this lake and get myself off now real early. I can tell you many areas on the lake are getting a lot of color into them. The temperature in the Gravois is about 55 degrees at the surface. I have no idea what's being caught in the way of bass. There are very few people fishing.

I am one of those old ugly stik guys. I have owned them since the first year they were made. I do not need a highly sensitive rod to feel. I can feel very well though my stiks. That is something else that is only learned through experience. I just feel a lot of his high priced stuff is being pushed on people. I want to relate something funny happened to me concerning ugly stiks. The first year they were made they gave you a baseball cap with ugly stik rods printed on it. Well we were in a restaurant and with my manners being what they are I left my hat on. I noticed some people at another table giving me dirty looks. Next thing I know the manager of the restaurant shows up and tells me there was no sexual references allowed in the restaurant. I told him that it was a fishing rod and he was skeptical and ask me totally it off. I did only because my wife did not want me to challenge it .

Exerience vs equipment. Well experience is what it is really all about. I used to fish with a guy that grew up with a fishing rod in his hands. He used to walk down on the dock and look at the water and the weather and he would say " they don't like that" meaning the conditions and he was very rarely wrong. He could feel and sense the fish because he was in tune with the nature side of it. You can talk all you want,but unless you can feel the environment your fishing in the mot expensive tackle in the world won't help you. That is experience. When some guy wins one of these big tournaments it is almost certain he is reading the conditions that give him the feel of the fish.

I cleaned fish from the Crappiethon national tournament here last Saturday. They brought in between 4-500 crappie. Took 6 or7 of us over 2 hrs to clean them. Nearly every single competitor in the tournament fished above the 40 mile marker. That is where they should have been and anyone wanting to really catch crappie would be well advised to fish that end of the lake. It has always been that way. In this tournament a awful lot of the fish they brought in were 1lb or better. They were so awful thick. These fish were donate to the Elks lodge and will be used to raise money for local children's needs. The moss has started to abate some. I would be out this evening except it to windy and I have to go pick up some stuff for my hosta plants.

A Carolina rig is like a y other system to me. It has it time and places. It also has many variations and you need to spend a lot of time trying them out. I am currently fishing a fishing a 6 inch worm about a foot in back of a 1/8 oz split shot. In a finesse way. I fish it on channel banks. It is very effective this time if the year. To be honest though in the past few years I have been fishing the Carolina less and less I have found that I can get better results casting a drop shot and retrieving it. I really believe it is more versatile.

I wonder how large your boat is and where you are going to fish in tournaments. Lake like where I live here on LOZ and grand lake are really no place for a very small low freeboard boat.

Well the lake has rose a good bit today and the moss is less if a problem. Tomorrow is Crappiethon. I have to be up in Laurie at 4:30 to help clean fish for a fish fry. They done this last year and the Elks lodge cleans and helps with the fish after the weigh in. Judging from what going on around here in my area there is going to be a awful lot if crappie coming in along with some big ones. It is real cold and windy right now and I just went down to check on the covers on my Hosta plants( we have a small collection of about100 of them that is another one if my passions ) and caught 2 about 11 inches. I bet next week the bass are going to be terrific. I have seen giant schools if shad coming by the dock in preparation to spawn. No wonder you caught bass on that shad. Around here the shad are about 3-4 inches long. Wait till the blue been munching on all those shad awhile. That is going to help the catfish fishing. I think thing will really be popping next week. Have to leave Thursday morning for Ohio and won't get back till Saturday sometime. Then I will have the grandkids until about Wednesday. But until it starts I am going to be out there daily as much as I can.

I lost the post. I am not a big fan of this IPad. Yes I did a bit of fishing with the jerk type baits. The present problem is the moss is floating, suspending and on the bottom and everything else. In the Gravois were I fish most of the problems seems to be worse. I am basically a worm and jig person anyway. They are so versatile. At my age and after over 60 yrs of fishing I tend to just want to go out and fish. I do not go down as far as the 13 mile marker much anymore. I tend to stick around the Gravois and the area were it junctions with the Osage. A lot of guys do not like the Gravois and that is understandable. It can be a beast to fish at times because if the topography of the bottom. It is hard to figure out. I have not been out hardly at all until the past few days. I am 74 and have blood circulation problems that make my hand useless very fast in temperatures under 45 degrees. The crappie showed up in good numbers around my dock yesterday. They got very shallow. I think they were just in for the day and the warm surface temperatures I caught some but only kept 3 for my wife and I for supper this evening. I seen some really large females in that group. I imagine the females will all go back to the deeper water in a day or so until the spawn. Might be a good bet if nothing else if they hold for a few days. You mentioned blue catfish. I dearly love fishing for them with spoons. There are times when the White Bass are in the jumps that big blues will fll to a spoon real easy. Because the whites slash and kill about twice what they eat the other injured and dying shade fall to the bottom. You can see the catfish a lot if the time down there scooping up those shad on your depth finder. I have caught many in the 15 to 20 lb range doing that. Try it sometime. On 10 lb test and a light rod it is a poor hill billies salt water fishing.

I think it would do everyone to listen to RM. The man has a wealth of knowledge on this subject I am sure. RM I have been fishing for over 60 yrs. I have done my share of rod and reel repair. Also made a few rods from scratch. I really like what you said at the bottom of your post. I was trying to make a point that the cost of a reel did not make the fishermen. in the prior post. I do have 3 reels that cost over 100. But they were given to me by a very good fishing buddy who was dying with cancer and wanted me have them. All I can tell you about them is they are gold colored Calcutta 's. I know they are very expensive. He bought all three together (pocket change for him ) several years ago. The reason was he never could cast well. But he never got any better with them either. His problem was he could never get the reel adjusted right and he had the worst feathering thumb I ever seen. I have used them several times, but frankly I see no need for anything like that myself. What I have works fine. They are setting a drawer where they will probably be when I am gone also.

What area are you going to fish. It ranges from mid 50s to upper 40s. That does not mean thy are getting ready to spawn. That is the surface temperature. There is a awful lot of moss in many parts of the lake. Making it hard to fish the channel banks. Bass fishing has been generally very slow. The upper lake might be best bet. Be real careful out there thy are talking about big storms tonight and tomorrow. It is not a good place to be in a tornado. I been there and done that. Because of the moss I have been fishing a small 3/16 oz jig with a 5in Bass Pro shakes worm for a trailer. It comes through the moss better but you have to fish it ultra slow,and wind can defeat your efforts. I tried a 1/4 oz it it sinks sinks in the moss and turns into a stinking glob . Have only been out in spurts. Only one keeper . In 3 tries.

I never said I never had used reels over $100 in value. II said I never paid that much for one. I am saying is it really worth it to pay that much for a reel. ???? Can you really gain anything from it as far as actual fishing. Do you think because your using a expensive reel it is going to give you a better chance at catching a bass than me are anyone else. I do not think so. That is my point. So that is all I have to say on it.

I use mono. The cheap Pro Bass brand at that. I fish almost everyday 9 months a year. It is about as good as anything else. Only difference is I like 8 lb fire line on my light crappie rod. But it s not my favorite by any means. Mono shows you signs if wear. I have a habit of running my fingers down my line frequently feeling for the tell tale nic etc. With fire line and braid you cannot feel wear most of the time. In over 60 years I cannot say for certain I have ever had a instance of mono line failure due to the lines material construction. I have had large fish like catfish chew up a line and get off. But they can chew up any line. I have caught 48 lb blue Catfish on 10lb test mono. I am not a regular catfish fisherman but there are certain situations that larger catfish fall sucker to a spoon and I do dearly love to try and catch them on light light tackle at those times. Most line breakage is from wear and knot failure. All the rest of this stuff about line I think is mostly malarkey. I have only been on this forum a short time but I cannot believe all the money being spent on alleged superior tackle.

I have never paid $100 for any freshwater reel. I have some that are 15 yrs old and still get plenty of use. To me a reel holds line that I cast and retrieve. All the rest of the stuff like dual anti backlash, a whole bunch of ball bearings and everything else they claim make them better means nothing. You cannot tell the quality of the materials. Most if that stuff looks nice,sounds nice a sells even better. It does not mean your going to cast better or the reel will last longer. They are far to complicated with to many parts. My old Garcia reels cast fast long and retrieve smoothly. The spools are adjusted to the point where there is a tiny slight wobble. I also keep them oiled with light oil like 3 in 1. I think today stuff is way over rated and defiantly over priced.

I never seen it before but nothing surprises me. In the days before depth finders we would often look for hidden crappie beds by putting a weight on a line and attaching a leader about 2 ft long made out of 6 lb test line with a single hook on the end. We would cast this around until we snagged a hidden brush pile and just break it off. I have caught bass on the bare hook on a few occasions doing that. My dad used to say a good fisherman can catch fish on his false teeth if he wants to. That's so true. It's not the lure its your concentration, confidence and experience with the lure that does it.

I have only fished fla freshwater 1tine. You got so many things to take into consideration like, grass ,reeds trees, lilly pads and suns heat. But I would go to the darker bank in the morning. I would be looking for shaded water anytime of the day.

The thought just entered my mind you were not using one of those ZMAN things were you. There was a discussion on here about those things and I got to thinking that plastic might be the same as what is used in the ZERO series of wacky worms. sure enough in tiny letters on the package was a ZMAN logo. I have a few of them and can tell you if that plastic wads up around the hook you are almost certain not to get a hook set.

HAVA----the new things seem to be hard to keep up with is all. I am not a bit sure but I do believe the length of day has a lot of effect on fish behavior. The few I caught lately even off the dock act and look very stressed. I just wonder if the temperature f the water being in the 40s when their time clock tells them it should be in the 50s is causing this. I did find fish in places I find them this time of year but they are certainly not active. You know this past 2 yrs has been some of the best bass fishing on LOZ in a long time. There will be ups and downs but the past 2 yrs have been some of the best for me. Especially the number if fish 17 to 19 inches long. I do not rate my fish by weight. Here n LOZ fish tend to be thinner. A 18 inch bass in the spring will not go 4 lbs but it will in June. I do not think I have ever caught as many bass between 17-19 inches for the time spent fishing as I have in the past two years. I wish it could last forever but I know there will be a down turn in the cycle as there has always been.

Before I leave here I am Kerry for some if the typing etc. this IPad is one awful headache. If your not watching carefully it will put words in before you can type them it seems to have a mind of its own. I am a untrained Tyler to begin with and must look at the board plus I am slow. You can be half way through a word spelling something and it will put in another word because your a bit to slow for it. Where it is a word right wrong are even immaterial does not matter.

What I meant was water temperature. That has been a problem. We are not having enought of the days warmer temperatures. We have just been having a few hours of anything above the 50s then a fast drop in the low 40s. I just was out about a hour ago looking for a warm spot. I found one on a flat shelf bank near a channel. First cast I caught a small bass. I could feel the lure hitting shad and could see a lot of them on the finder. Spent about 10 minutes there and and the wind changed at right away the temperature went down to 48. I then went back in cedar creek to see what it was like back there because it is protected. Father up I went the colder it got.when I turned around at the last cove the temperature was 44.8 The best temperature I had in the short time I was out was on that flat and it was 49.8. Yeah Conor I seen that warming trend I sure hope so but it takes awhile for the lake to warm at the spawning depth. I do not fish much this time of year. I have blood circulation problems and my hands cannot take it under 45 degrees. MISSOURI BASS'N --20 lb stringers are not so uncommon in the winter. The thing is knowing what ledges there on at 25 ft or better. I know the tournament your referring to someone was telling me about it. That guy that won I was told was burning a awful lot of gas. He must have been making long runs. I used to do that( I do not do tournaments but have friends who do) myself. We called it the milk run. That and fishing 25ft is tradition down here in the winter. I have younger friends ( and I never say use there name ) here that are very successful full time professionals. I wish you luck but your barking up a real hard tree to make your fortune being a pro. My friend are not wealthy by any means.

I am 74 yrs old I been fishing this lake for over 60 yrs. I do not have any problem catching them. I see you live in the Sullivan area I used to guide the Meramec from Birds nest to Onandaga about 45 yrs ago.

You might be up and around sooner than you think. I have had 5 major surgeries two that were life threatening. . You can sometimes make your body heal faster by pushing your exercises a bit. I think your going to be in a cast or awhile.

Sounds exactly like a gar.

Well say what you want about Dance. But he is still a nice fella. When you See any of these guys out there catching big bass on one of the big reservoirs or lakes do not be to sure of what your seeing. About 15 yrs ago when he was the rage Rolland Martin filmed a show on Truman Reservoir here in Missouri. He had a boat that had some really big bass in a large live well. Out of camera range of course. Mr slick would cast his lure to that boat and someone in there was hooking on a bass for him to reel in. There was a big thing in the locale papers at that time about it. Two people still fishing watched him for several minutes before they were discovered. Roland Martin turns my stomach about every other word is some sales pressure about one thing or another. I would not believe a word he says nor would I buy anything he is trying to push. What he done is far worse than fishing in a private pond. as far as I am concerned it was plain fraud.

LOZ is not heating up in the lower end. It is still in the 40s the Gravois was 47-48 degrees yesterday. The problem is that there are only a few hours a day that get into the lower 50s. Then drops quickly. Best fishing is currently around the 50mm and above. It might change fast but there will be no spawning in 2 weeks anywhere on this lake. There is also a lot of problems right now with moss in a parts of the lake. Anything and everything git loaded with slop.

Little kid? Do not underestimate the ability of a little kid we have some around here do very well for themselves and have not reached junior HS yet.