St Louis

[Needemp]

So who's all fishing this year from Stl? When is your first trip out and where will ya go? Any goals for the year?

[cart7t]

Weather permitting, I'm hitting a new lake for me next weekend.  It's down in the bootheel area with big bass potential.  Washington County tournaments on March the 15th and the 29th.  KY lake for the BassResource.com get together.  I really like my odds on a new PB this year.  The lake I'm going to has the potential for a 10lb fish.  

[srv1990]

Once the weather gets better - and the kids soccer and basketball comes to an end - I'll start hitting some ponds near Nashville, IL on property my brother in law owns. My one big trip is to Table Rock the 2nd week of May. Would love to hit other good bass lakes that are close to St. Louis (that is, less than an hour from the city) simply because my time available to fish is so limited... but don't know of many. But I'm all "ears"...

[cart7t]

Once the weather gets better - and the kids soccer and basketball comes to an end - I'll start hitting some ponds near Nashville, IL on property my brother in law owns. My one big trip is to Table Rock the 2nd week of May. Would love to hit other good bass lakes that are close to St. Louis (that is, less than an hour from the city) simply because my time available to fish is so limited... but don't know of many. But I'm all "ears"...

Give Washington county a try.  Just about 2-3 miles south of Nashville.  Around 300 acre lake, 10hp motor limit.  It's a lake that is normally has some sort of power bait bite going on it as the lake has a bunch of cover in it just under the surface along the banks.  Good fish up to 8lbs in the lake.  

[Fishing Doug]

I actually had my first trip out on Wednesday. I fished a pond on our family farm in Mid-MO. There was still snow on the ground and a bit of ice on the upper end of the pond but we had to try it out anyway. We were out for crappie but we ended up catching more bass (on crappie jigs) than crappie with the biggest going 3lbs even. I will take that for the first week of March!

We get the boat out of storage tomorrow and are planning on the first trip out with the boat next Saturday-schedules and weather permitting. Plan on heading to Coffeen.

Two things we are going to focus on this year:

1. We are going to limit ourselves to 2-3 lakes in order to learn the lakes better. We jumped around so much last year that we didn't really get feel for each lake.

2. Personally, I am going to limit myself to 5-6 techniques this year. In 2007, I was that guy that would throw the same bait all day long. In 2008, I went the opposite direction and wouldn't give a bait much of a chance. I think this will make me a better fisherman.

[Fishing Doug]

Once the weather gets better - and the kids soccer and basketball comes to an end - I'll start hitting some ponds near Nashville, IL on property my brother in law owns. My one big trip is to Table Rock the 2nd week of May. Would love to hit other good bass lakes that are close to St. Louis (that is, less than an hour from the city) simply because my time available to fish is so limited... but don't know of many. But I'm all "ears"...

Give Washington county a try. Just about 2-3 miles south of Nashville. Around 300 acre lake, 10hp motor limit. It's a lake that is normally has some sort of power bait bite going on it as the lake has a bunch of cover in it just under the surface along the banks. Good fish up to 8lbs in the lake.

Agreed on Washington County.

Coffeen and Baldwin are bit further than an hour, but not by much. Might give those a try.  Coffeen gets a ton of pressure from tourney's, but we have had some great fishing days out there.

[Valascus]

I'll be finally hitting the water sometime this weekend. Probably just start out slow at the public pond in the area to knock the rust off, then scoot off to some nice farmponds I found in Jonesburg with some 7 lbs+ feesh.  

[cart7t]

Hey stranger!  

Did you ever get that boat?

Dink has been trying to call you.  There are a couple Washco tourneys this month.  15th and 29th.

8-)

[Needemp]

Two things we are going to focus on this year:

1. We are going to limit ourselves to 2-3 lakes in order to learn the lakes better. We jumped around so much last year that we didn't really get feel for each lake.

2. Personally, I am going to limit myself to 5-6 techniques this year. In 2007, I was that guy that would throw the same bait all day long. In 2008, I went the opposite direction and wouldn't give a bait much of a chance. I think this will make me a better fisherman.

That sounds like a good plan. What 5 or 6 techniques are you going to limit yourself with?

[Fishing Doug]

Two things we are going to focus on this year:

1. We are going to limit ourselves to 2-3 lakes in order to learn the lakes better. We jumped around so much last year that we didn't really get feel for each lake.

2. Personally, I am going to limit myself to 5-6 techniques this year. In 2007, I was that guy that would throw the same bait all day long. In 2008, I went the opposite direction and wouldn't give a bait much of a chance. I think this will make me a better fisherman.

That sounds like a good plan. What 5 or 6 techniques are you going to limit yourself with?

This list may change, but it is looking like this:

Cranks:lipless and lipped

Jerkbaits:hard and soft

shakey head: worm and specifically Powerbait Power Hawg

T-rig: curly tail worm

jig

split shot:specifically w/Trick Worm

I know that is a fairly 'plain vanilla' list, but, these are the techniques that I have the most confidence in and are my favorite to throw.

FD

[Valascus]

Hey stranger!

Did you ever get that boat?

Dink has been trying to call you. There are a couple Washco tourneys this month. 15th and 29th.

8-)

I did get the boat. It needs a bit of work, but nothing too serious. New decking and carpet, maybe some paint and other minor cosmetic things. All things boat have been put on hold until things at work settle down. Company I work for got bought out and we are in the midst of a massive computer and operations conversion. No one is really sure how any of this affexts us yet, so gotta be careful with the money.

I probably won't be able to fish either tourney. Work has me tied up for the weekend of the 15th and my daughters birthday is the 29th.

Next time I see ya, I'll have to show you the picture of the 6lbs 1 oz. fish I caught out of the "smaller fish" farm pond.

[cart7t]

It's about time you broke that 5lb mark.   8-)

[Needemp]

This list may change, but it is looking like this:

Cranks:lipless and lipped

Jerkbaits:hard and soft

shakey head: worm and specifically Powerbait Power Hawg

T-rig: curly tail worm

jig

split shot:specifically w/Trick Worm

I know that is a fairly 'plain vanilla' list, but, these are the techniques that I have the most confidence in and are my favorite to throw.

FD

Doesn't sound too plain vanilla to me. In fact seems like it might be overwhelming. Here is what I learned from Mike Iaconelli three years ago and hopefully this will help. I limited myself to learning one lure per year. I started with the jig and fished it about 90% of the time in 2007. I got real comfortable and familiar with it. I now have my selection down to a few colors and I am familiar with when to use what head and which trailer to use. I had a lot of success with the jig and I now have a ton of confidence in it. I caught my 8.3#er with a jig and won several tournament with it.

In '08 I wanted to get familiar with crankbaits so I used them most of the time. Since I limited myself to CB's, I now know which CBs deflect off of wood best, off of the bottom the best, and which ones go through rip-rap the best. I also know how deep they usually run on various line diameters. I also know the wiggles and wobbles of them as well. I have about 3 or 4 brands I use and 3 or 4 colors I use. I  again had a lot of success with them and I have confidence in them.

This year I am going to learn swimbaits. I have big plastic Castaics, Sebiles, hollow bellies, Mattlures Bluegill, Storms and some others. They range in size from 3" to 8". I am also going to learn finesse tactics and I am going to learn how to catch the suspended bass as well. I figure there will be times when the swimbait will work, finesse will work and there will be times where I will have to go after the suspenders.

Following Ikes plan has really helped me. I had never really had success with the jig until 07. I never had any confidence with CBs till last year. And I don't have a lot of confidence that I will be successful with swimbaits, finesse or catching suspenders. But since I forced myself to fish jigs and CBs, I learned how to have success with them. In 07 when I determined that a jig was non-effective, I switched to something else. The same last year with the CB. There were times last year where I tried to force a CB bite, but couldn't do it. So i went to the jig and caught fish. Hope this gives you some ideas.

[Fishing Doug]

This list may change, but it is looking like this:

Cranks:lipless and lipped

Jerkbaits:hard and soft

shakey head: worm and specifically Powerbait Power Hawg

T-rig: curly tail worm

jig

split shot:specifically w/Trick Worm

I know that is a fairly 'plain vanilla' list, but, these are the techniques that I have the most confidence in and are my favorite to throw.

FD

Doesn't sound too plain vanilla to me. In fact seems like it might be overwhelming. Here is what I learned from Mike Iaconelli three years ago and hopefully this will help. I limited myself to learning one lure per year. I started with the jig and fished it about 90% of the time in 2007. I got real comfortable and familiar with it. I now have my selection down to a few colors and I am familiar with when to use what head and which trailer to use. I had a lot of success with the jig and I now have a ton of confidence in it. I caught my 8.3#er with a jig and won several tournament with it.

In '08 I wanted to get familiar with crankbaits so I used them most of the time. Since I limited myself to CB's, I now know which CBs deflect off of wood best, off of the bottom the best, and which ones go through rip-rap the best. I also know how deep they usually run on various line diameters. I also know the wiggles and wobbles of them as well. I have about 3 or 4 brands I use and 3 or 4 colors I use. I again had a lot of success with them and I have confidence in them.

This year I am going to learn swimbaits. I have big plastic Castaics, Sebiles, hollow bellies, Mattlures Bluegill, Storms and some others. They range in size from 3" to 8". I am also going to learn finesse tactics and I am going to learn how to catch the suspended bass as well. I figure there will be times when the swimbait will work, finesse will work and there will be times where I will have to go after the suspenders.

Following Ikes plan has really helped me. I had never really had success with the jig until 07. I never had any confidence with CBs till last year. And I don't have a lot of confidence that I will be successful with swimbaits, finesse or catching suspenders. But since I forced myself to fish jigs and CBs, I learned how to have success with them. In 07 when I determined that a jig was non-effective, I switched to something else. The same last year with the CB. There were times last year where I tried to force a CB bite, but couldn't do it. So i went to the jig and caught fish. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Needemp,

I like your plan and I actually do something similar. My first post only described my fishing I do from St. Louis and on the boat(I should have clarified that). We have a family farm in Mid MO with a few ponds/lakes. When I fish these (head back to the farm about once a month) I focus on one technique. Last year I fished the trick worm on a split shot rig. Now, I have a ton of confidence in that rig. Haven't decided what my 'technique to master' will be this year. So, on the boat, I am limiting myself to 5-6, from the bank, 1 technique. Yeah, I know, sounds a bit crazy but that makes it the most fun for me and that is my main concern when fishing.  

I am curious to hear how you do with the swimbaits. What finesse techniques are you going to focus on?

FD

[dink]

Hey stangers.  Yeah, I'm having a couple tournies out at WashCo this year.  As far as goals, don't fall out of the boat, always unhook charger BEFORE leaving house, and go potty before tournament starts.

Seriously, I'm focusing on the elusive double digit sow this year.  Thus locations and techiques shall be be quite varied this year, with quite a bit of "blind" fishing offshore.  Something to try fro a while.

I don't want to rain on anyone's "Coffeen parade", but that lake has been alot tougher this year.  13 lbs. got you a check if not a win most of the winter.  Something happened out there because there is a slot limit going into effect April 1.  Each person allowed to keep one over 15" and two between 12" and 15".  The state doesn't just do something like that for kicks.  I imagine recent creel surveys enlightened  the DNR to population changes for a number of species.

[Needemp]

I don't want to rain on anyone's "Coffeen parade", but that lake has been alot tougher this year. 13 lbs. got you a check if not a win most of the winter. Something happened out there because there is a slot limit going into effect April 1. Each person allowed to keep one over 15" and two between 12" and 15". The state doesn't just do something like that for kicks. I imagine recent creel surveys enlightened the DNR to population changes for a number of species.

Hey Dink, What will that do for tournaments next year? Has there been any discussion about that?

[Fishing Doug]

Hey stangers. Yeah, I'm having a couple tournies out at WashCo this year. As far as goals, don't fall out of the boat, always unhook charger BEFORE leaving house, and go potty before tournament starts.

Seriously, I'm focusing on the elusive double digit sow this year. Thus locations and techiques shall be be quite varied this year, with quite a bit of "blind" fishing offshore. Something to try fro a while.

I don't want to rain on anyone's "Coffeen parade", but that lake has been alot tougher this year. 13 lbs. got you a check if not a win most of the winter. Something happened out there because there is a slot limit going into effect April 1. Each person allowed to keep one over 15" and two between 12" and 15". The state doesn't just do something like that for kicks. I imagine recent creel surveys enlightened the DNR to population changes for a number of species.

Dink,

Really?! You disappear and then come back and tell me that my favorite lake is a lot tougher?? That is just mean!

Have you been out to Baldwin recently or know anyone who has? Just wondering how it is fishing...

FD

[Needemp]

I like your plan and I actually do something similar. My first post only described my fishing I do from St. Louis and on the boat(I should have clarified that). We have a family farm in Mid MO with a few ponds/lakes. When I fish these (head back to the farm about once a month) I focus on one technique. Last year I fished the trick worm on a split shot rig. Now, I have a ton of confidence in that rig. Haven't decided what my 'technique to master' will be this year. So, on the boat, I am limiting myself to 5-6, from the bank, 1 technique. Yeah, I know, sounds a bit crazy but that makes it the most fun for me and that is my main concern when fishing.

I am curious to hear how you do with the swimbaits. What finesse techniques are you going to focus on?

FD

The finessing I plan on doing is drop-shotting and doodling. For the most part it will be with my depth-finder. In tough conditions or on deeper structure I am going to use the bait fish, find the bass on my graph and then go vertical for them. I have done a little of this, but I didn't fully understand how to read my electronics. But at the end of last year, things really began to click. I will use this technique for suspended bass as well. I also might trying other finesse tactics, but not sure yet. I like to keep it simple. I also incorporate the Senko's at times and have done fairly well with them.

[Valascus]

It's about time you broke that 5lb mark. 8-)

Now I gotta try to break 7.  

[cart7t]

...

Seriously, I'm focusing on the elusive double digit sow this year. Thus locations and techiques shall be be quite varied this year, with quite a bit of "blind" fishing offshore. Something to try fro a while.

.

I've got a lake.  Double digit possibility.  We'll talk at the tournament Sunday.  

[Goggle Eyes]

You guys have any favorite holes you feel like letting another local guy in on?

[cart7t]

You guys have any favorite holes you feel like letting another local guy in on?

St Louis is not particularly blessed with many decent lakes within 100 miles of the city.

In missouri

Perry county lake, just off 55 in Perryville.

Simpson lake just east of Valley Park.  Not sure how the bass fishing has been since last years March floods.  The boat ramp sucks.

Illinois

Washington County

[Goggle Eyes]

We have access to a couple of farm ponds, two are about an acre and one is two acres. These are very nice, not really farm ponds but they tend to get monotanuse after awhile.

We hit Kincaid and Goosecreek pretty frequently but I havent done very well at either. I will have to check out Perryville.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I plan on fishing a few new places around this year.  Goal is still 8+ mark.

[srv1990]

Once the weather gets better - and the kids soccer and basketball comes to an end - I'll start hitting some ponds near Nashville, IL on property my brother in law owns. My one big trip is to Table Rock the 2nd week of May. Would love to hit other good bass lakes that are close to St. Louis (that is, less than an hour from the city) simply because my time available to fish is so limited... but don't know of many. But I'm all "ears"...

Give Washington county a try. Just about 2-3 miles south of Nashville. Around 300 acre lake, 10hp motor limit. It's a lake that is normally has some sort of power bait bite going on it as the lake has a bunch of cover in it just under the surface along the banks. Good fish up to 8lbs in the lake.

Thanks cart, appreciate the input. Every time we go to the ponds in Nashville we pass the entrance to WA county lake. One of us usually says something like: "We gotta fish that lake sometime." : Also, I work in Tree Court Industrial, off Marshall Road, which is a stones throw from Simpson. I should give that a try, too!