Sunday, January 8, 2012
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Lake of the Ozarks - 3/26/2010
We started in 6-Mile Cove fishing the main point and hump. The water temp was 40 with a slight SE wind. We fished from the west side casting into the wind to drag our baits back at us. Fan casted all around the "hump" on this point and found no bites. With this being our first stop we decided the water was too cold for them to be up this far and headed to our next spot.
Our next stop was in Indian Creek, way up on right hand side fishing chunk rock in 20' of water pounding the shoreline with stick baits & lipless. We caught 0 fish.
Pulled back to a pocket short of the point and fished from there towards the point. This was smaller chunk rock (fist sized). We were in 12' of water casting parallel to the shoreline with a lipless letting it sink and pulling it across the bottom. We caught 1 largemouth 3.5# in 12' of water. We think this fish was roaming the area and not a pattern fish.
The overall weather was sunny skies with a slight wind. Air temp was in the 50s and water temp was in the low 40s.
After this we moved back to the very end of the Gravois Arm. VERY shallow water. The lake is down about 6' so when we powered down off the big motor we were in 1.5' of water. we worked the docks with jigs back to some deeper water. We finally found 3.5' of water and ran into 2 guys catching them on stick baits around docks. Jason had one fish to the boat that got off. It may have been a short but was caught under the corner of the dock. I just don't think they had moved up that far.
Water temp in this area was in the upper 40s and topped out at 48.5.
Ran back down the Gravois Arm to a couple of main points. Water temp dropped back down to the low 40s. We fan casted lipless cranks setting the boat in 20' of water and casting up to the shallows. We would let the bait sink and pull it from the shallows to the deeper water hoping some fish might be staging out close to deep water but found no fish.
Moved back up into another cove and fished some big docks at a marina. Switched to a jig and fished the large chunk rock along the shoreline. Water temps had moved back into the low to mid 40s. We didn't fish here long and decided to run to the dam.
Fished the north side of the dam from where the dam meets the shoreline west. We were throwing stick baits, lipless cranks and jigs. We actually threw quite a bit more than that, but those were our main choices. We fished west along the bluff into the first cove. The cove has quite a few transition banks so we kept working these areas. On the north side (back) of this cove we hooked up with a short on a stick bait. It was up on the shoreline right at a transition pocket. As we came around the secondary point, we started paralleling the shoreline with a lipless. In 8' of water with water temps in the low to mid 40s we hooked up another largemouth, but didn't land it. It was right at the 15" mark, or so it seemed. We finished working the cove and called it a day. We got off the water around 7:30.
Our next stop was in Indian Creek, way up on right hand side fishing chunk rock in 20' of water pounding the shoreline with stick baits & lipless. We caught 0 fish.
Pulled back to a pocket short of the point and fished from there towards the point. This was smaller chunk rock (fist sized). We were in 12' of water casting parallel to the shoreline with a lipless letting it sink and pulling it across the bottom. We caught 1 largemouth 3.5# in 12' of water. We think this fish was roaming the area and not a pattern fish.
The overall weather was sunny skies with a slight wind. Air temp was in the 50s and water temp was in the low 40s.
After this we moved back to the very end of the Gravois Arm. VERY shallow water. The lake is down about 6' so when we powered down off the big motor we were in 1.5' of water. we worked the docks with jigs back to some deeper water. We finally found 3.5' of water and ran into 2 guys catching them on stick baits around docks. Jason had one fish to the boat that got off. It may have been a short but was caught under the corner of the dock. I just don't think they had moved up that far.
Water temp in this area was in the upper 40s and topped out at 48.5.
Ran back down the Gravois Arm to a couple of main points. Water temp dropped back down to the low 40s. We fan casted lipless cranks setting the boat in 20' of water and casting up to the shallows. We would let the bait sink and pull it from the shallows to the deeper water hoping some fish might be staging out close to deep water but found no fish.
Moved back up into another cove and fished some big docks at a marina. Switched to a jig and fished the large chunk rock along the shoreline. Water temps had moved back into the low to mid 40s. We didn't fish here long and decided to run to the dam.
Fished the north side of the dam from where the dam meets the shoreline west. We were throwing stick baits, lipless cranks and jigs. We actually threw quite a bit more than that, but those were our main choices. We fished west along the bluff into the first cove. The cove has quite a few transition banks so we kept working these areas. On the north side (back) of this cove we hooked up with a short on a stick bait. It was up on the shoreline right at a transition pocket. As we came around the secondary point, we started paralleling the shoreline with a lipless. In 8' of water with water temps in the low to mid 40s we hooked up another largemouth, but didn't land it. It was right at the 15" mark, or so it seemed. We finished working the cove and called it a day. We got off the water around 7:30.
Labels:
Cameron,
Fishing,
Lake of the Ozarks,
Pre spawn,
Spring
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Keep Your Hands, Toes and Everything Else WARM
As the snows start to melt and the sun starts peaking it's head out we all start to go a little stir crazy. Yet, there are still many days where those temps dip down near or below that freezing mark. Well, be prepared for those days. I have found a great little web site that wholesales HotHands 2, HotHands Bigger & (my personal favorite) Toasti Toes! The website is HandWarmers.net and they will take care of you. They sell in bulk and have great pricing (The Toasti Toes are less than $1.00 a piece!)
So go check them out. They are straight forward people that sell a great product at a great price and will get it to you fast! http://handwarmers.net
So go check them out. They are straight forward people that sell a great product at a great price and will get it to you fast! http://handwarmers.net
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Mississippi River Walleyes - 2/28/2010
Matthew and I headed out on the Mississippi River (Pool 26) this morning to try our hand at catching some walleye. We decided to put in up around Winfield to avoid the frigid ride from Riverside up to the dam. The ramp was not very friendly to boaters, but it did the trick. We put in on the slough next to the dam. The water was about a foot or so deep, but the bottom was just river mud so it we were able to just slide across (through) the mud to deeper water. We drifted along both shorelines using the down imaging and side imaging in an attempt to locate fish. We were able to locate some fish, but with the current, we couldn't sit in one place to fish for those fish specifically. We made several passes over the same area and never even got a nibble. There were 2 other boats in the area, but they too were not getting bit. We couldn't stay out all that long and called it quits around 1:00. Although we didn't catch any fish, it was nice to get the boat out. We also learned a little from watching the other boats. They would run up near the dam (nearly center of the river) and drift down, then repeat in a slightly different line. I'll make mention here that the water temp was 30.5 deg F, with small chuncks of ice floating around in the water. Oh, well, this is why they call it "fishing". We'll try it again soon.
Labels:
Cameron,
Fishing,
Matt,
Mississippi River,
Walleye
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Rabbit Hunting - 1/17/2010
James and I went up to White Memorial Conservation Area on Sunday morning. We pulled up to the CA around 7:15. Temperature was right at freezing and there was a lot of fog in the area. Beautiful day for hunting. As we started the day the dog was really anxious and was barking on just about any rabbit trail, new or old.
It took some time to get our first rabbit up. Chip (the dog) was working in a thicket on the edge of the woods while James and I were walking the outer edge. Chip had pushed a rabbit out of the thicket, and was on it's trail. However, he ran the rabbit down through the woods then just stopped and came back up towards us. I have no idea what happened with that rabbit.
Because of the way Chip was barking on every scent, we didn't pay much attention to him as we crossed over a grass field. He took off away from us baying and going crazy. As we listened to him, we realized he was circling and decided he was actually on a rabbit. We staged ourselves on either side of a brush pile where we thought the rabbit came from. As Chip approached we never did see the rabbit and had to move on.
Not much further across the same grass field Chip was in front of me working a thicket and I watched him get a rabbit up and start the chase. He ran the rabbit in a huge circle for about 15 minutes. We setup on either side of a small depression that lead from the woods back to where Chip jumped the rabbit. Unfortuneately, James saw the rabbit on another deppression that was just out of shooting range. Chip stayed on him, but we never saw this rabbit either. (there is a video of this chase. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSpC9pCuqC8)
As we were making our way back to the truck Chip jumped another rabbit in a brush pile and was right on him. However, this one crossed the road outside of the CA and we called the dog off. I'm not losing my dog over a stupid rabbit.
It was a great trip and I am really impressed with how well Chip worked. It usally takes him about 4 or 5 outings to start turning the rabbit, but he proved me wrong this trip.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Rabbit Hunting - 12/20/09 - Whiteside
Our first rabbit hunt of the season, and really of the last two years. We didn't get out last season at all, so my beagle, Chip, was a little rough for wear. There were 4 of us that went, and it was the first hunt ever for James. We had to be back in St. Charles by 11:30 so we left the house at 6:00. By 7:00 we were at Whiteside putting on our insulated bibs and extra layers of fleece... it was cold (24 F). It didn't take long and we had our first jump of the day. I got him up in a small field and got the dog on him within a minute or so. Chip lost the rabbit aobout 150 yards out. There were a lot of BIG piles of fallen timber that I think they were holding up in. We continued and had another field jumper. This one came out of a creek and crossed a large field. James could have gotten a shot off, but with a new gun, didn't get the safety off in time to shoot. Again we got the dog on it and again Chip lost the rabbit. I don't recall the third rabbit... but the forth one Jeff kicked up and the shit was so thick I had problems seeing my feet. Needless to say, Jeff didn't know where the rabbit went so we couldn't get the dog on the scent and we pushed on. The last one came up between us (all 4 of us) and the dog got right on it. 50 yards away was another one of these HUGE timber piles. Yeah... Chip could have lost him, but I'm pretty sure that rabbit ran in the pile. All in all, it was a good day. Weather was good, snow on the ground and we had 5 rabbit up on public ground with one dog.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Lewis Boats Fall Bass Tournament - 10/24/2009
Matt & I fished our first tournament on Saturday. We prefished on Friday and did pretty good. Our plan was to hit all of our spots to see what produced. We figure we had 4 keepers in the boat, and could have had more, but lost a couple because I&...#039;m stupid. The problem came with the High front that moved in over night. Fishing conditions changed dramatically. We had a lot ov 14 inch fish Saturday afternoon and one that was 1/16" shy of making the cut. Luckily we didn't quit fishing and with about 8 minutes to spare, Matt put one keeper in the boat. The big bass was 6+ pounds and first place was 16.5 pounds. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to the guys at Lewis that put it on and to Derek for all the help!
Labels:
Bass,
Cameron,
Fishing,
Lake of the Ozarks,
Matt
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Mississippi River - 9/27/09
Mark and I hit the river about 7:30 this morning. It was a beautiful morning. Crisp air, fog rolling off the river and a smooth ride to our first spot. We were targeting white bass again. We were fishing a dike break between two islands and the water really flows through there. We got nothing on our first spot so we decided to move. This time we headed out to the main river. We fished a U shaped dike on the outside, main cannel side. We caught 2 at this location. Then we moved over to the ouside, bank side of the dike. Again, we caugh two and I had one on, run straight at me and then under the boat. I had my drag too tight and as he went under the boat he came off the hook. He had that pole doubled over. I know it was a good fish. The key to this spot was we were sitting in about 2 feet of water on the inside current break and fishing out in the current where it dropped to about 8 feet. I think they were sitting on that ridge. Anyway, we worked our way down river fishing the same spot on 2 other dikes, but they produced nothing. Then we fished the backside of a partially submerged dike and caught 2 more. This spot has a LOT of potential. The back side of the dike has some sand on it and the water rolls over the rocks and creates a lot of turbulance. Then it drops to about 10 feet. We went back to our first spot and fished the opposite side which only produced a drum (on a spinner bait at that). It was a good day and we pulled out at Noon. A big thank you to Mark for going along. We've been trying to do this for quite a while. Now to get Matt Douglas out on the water with me!
Labels:
Cameron,
Cranks,
Dikes,
Fishing,
Hybrid Striped Bass,
Mark,
Mississippi River,
Spinners,
White Bass
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Driveway Fishing...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Mississippi River - 9/20/2009
My brother-in-law, Dave, and I hit the river around 7:00 this morning. There was a slight drizzle coming down, with temps in the 60's (both ambient & water). We were going to target whites and wipers. We headed to the first dike I wanted to try and started casting into the current break. Both using crank baits, after a few casts & about 15 minutes, I wanted to tie on a different crank. As I'm re-tying, I was trying to explain to Dave how the stripes fight and how much fun they are, and BLAMO, Dave says, oh, here's one. After the first one we caugh a couple more and the rain started coming down. We also caught 2 drum on crank baits. As the fish quit biting, and the rain started to realy dump on us, we decided to call it quits. We were home by 9:00.
Of course it stopped raining by 10:30, but we were already done for the day. We'll try to get out again real soon.
Of course it stopped raining by 10:30, but we were already done for the day. We'll try to get out again real soon.
Labels:
Cameron,
Cranks,
Dave,
Dikes,
Fishing,
Hybrid Striped Bass,
Mississippi River
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Mississippi River - 9/6/2009
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Labels:
Adam,
Bass,
Cameron,
Hybrid Striped Bass,
Mississippi River
Dove Season - Opening Day 2009
Dove season opened this past Tuesday, and as we usually do, Les and I took the day off to go throw lead and see if we could knock a few down. Gary met us at Greg & Cindy's before sun-up and we took our places. We had standing corn on one side and soybeans on another with a telephone line at the split. This typically produces birds for us. However, on this cool opening day, there were just not many birds flying. I ended up getting 5 but lost one in the soybeans. Les and Gary each got one, and around 11:00 we gave up. We hadn't seen a bird in over an hour and just got discouraged. Come to find out Brad went down that evening and nearly limited out. I heard other stories that as the day went on, the birds started coming in.
We went down again on Saturday morning. Got there before sun-up again, but sat in the barn for a couple of hours as the rain just kept coming down. Finally around 9:00 or so the rain lightened up enough that a few birds were moving around. We shot at a couple that were probably too far to shoot, but when you've been sitting for so long, you'll shoot at anything. Then we walked across the field (the corn was now cut) towards a small patch of tree. One bird flew in and any of us could have shot it, but I pulled my trigger first and that was our only bird of the day.
Saturday night I cooked all the birds for some friends and they were really good. I filet them off the breast bone then put a piece of pepper jack cheese and a jalapeno slice between the two halves. Wrap the whole thing with half a slice of bacon and put a toothpick through it to hold it all together. Once on the grill, we dab them in barbecue sauce just before we pull them off the grill. They are delicious! - cld
We went down again on Saturday morning. Got there before sun-up again, but sat in the barn for a couple of hours as the rain just kept coming down. Finally around 9:00 or so the rain lightened up enough that a few birds were moving around. We shot at a couple that were probably too far to shoot, but when you've been sitting for so long, you'll shoot at anything. Then we walked across the field (the corn was now cut) towards a small patch of tree. One bird flew in and any of us could have shot it, but I pulled my trigger first and that was our only bird of the day.
Saturday night I cooked all the birds for some friends and they were really good. I filet them off the breast bone then put a piece of pepper jack cheese and a jalapeno slice between the two halves. Wrap the whole thing with half a slice of bacon and put a toothpick through it to hold it all together. Once on the grill, we dab them in barbecue sauce just before we pull them off the grill. They are delicious! - cld
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Lake Carlyle - 8/23/2009
Just got back from across the border. Made my way to Illinois this morning to meet up with my buddy Jay to do a little fishing. Carlyle is about 15 minutes from his house so that was today's destination. It's a shallow lake. We were fishing in 3' - 5' of water out in the middel of the lake. There are deeper spots, but we were after white bass. We started on a large flat near the center of the lake and caught one or two. I was using a crank bait or a rattle trap. Jay was using crappie jig looped about 18" above a weighted spoon. This was the "local" favorite, as told to him by the bait shop. We fished a few more spots and had about 4 landed total. Watched one guy using the same rig Jay was using, but with a crank on the end of it pull one after another in. We couldn't get it to work. On our last area, there were boats nearly running over one another, everyone using the same setup. I finally tied the rig on with a crank bait 18" below the jig. And wouldn't you know, I had about a 15" white in the boat. It flopped out before I could pick it up or measure it. that was the last fish caught and we headed for the house.
Labels:
Cameron,
Fishing,
Jay,
Lake Carlyle,
White Bass
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Mississippi River - 8/2/2009
Matthew and I headed out on Sunday morning about 7:30. It was a beautiful morning. Crisp air and so much fog coming off the water that you could only see about 50 yards or so. The plan was to fish a few new spots Matt picked out by looking at Google Earth. With all the fog and limited visibility we decided to try the back side of a dike that he had marked. It was close to home so we wouldn't have to fight the fog too long. We came up on ths spot and it looked great. Some nice slow backwater and a great current break around the tip of the dike. We started at the current break throwing spinners, but nothing. So we worked the dike slowly back to the shorline and then down the shorline around some laydowns. We pulled one short off the dike and nothing off the laydowns. We fished the area for a little over an
hour and around 9:00 decided to run North up towards Winfield. As the dam was coming into view and we were nearing our second fishing spot something was happening with the motor. As I slowed down it started violently vibrating. We killed the engine and raised the motor to have a look. Matt says "Well that's the problem. You're missing the tip of a blade on the prop. How in the hell does this happen. We were running along, 20+ feet of water, no 'thump' no 'shutter' nothing. Just a little vibration, and then a lot of vibration. So we decided we could take our time and limp home on the trolling motor, and fish at the same time. As we are making our way out of the
main channel to the Missouri shorline, the trolling motor decided to stop working. Yeah, we are now having one of those days that happens to every boat owner, it's just a matter of time. We ended up tying up to a dock in Winfield and called Bryan to up and pick one of us up. He took me back to Riverside to put the Wellcraft in and go get the fishing boat. Of course I didn't have the key for the hitch so we had to run back to my house to get the key to unlock the Skeeter trailer so we could
hook up the Wellcraft and put it in. We finally did and 2 hours later we had both boats back on the trailer and were headed to the house. We were home by 2:30. Wow, what a day. Now the question is, how much will be under warranty. I'm hoping they realize there was something wrong with the prop for this to happen.
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Sunday, July 26, 2009
Illinois & Mississippi River
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Made a run by myself today. It was a beautiful morning. Put in around 7:30 AM and ran up the Illinois. WOT all the way up to Hardin will burn 1/4 tank of fuel. On the way back I fished every lake inlet, creek, creavis that entered the river. That produced 2 fish, both shorts. I threw white spinnerbaits, plastic craws and crank baits. Then I came back and fished Pole Star and the rock between Pole Star and Duck Club. Ran into a couple buddies at Duck Club. They were having the same luck I was having. Oh well. More boat ride today than fishing. Ended up burning up 18 gallons of fuel (1/2 tank). Maybe we'll do better next week.
Labels:
Bass,
Cameron,
Cranks,
Harbors,
Illinois River,
Mississippi River,
Plastics,
Pole Star,
Spinners
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Slow Night
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Mississippi River - Pool 26
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Sunday, July 5, 2009
Mississippi River - Pool 26 (Polestar)
Got out for a couple hours this morning. It was cool and a bit windy. Water was muddy, but not up too high. Went back into Polestar to try my luck. Started with a jig and didn't get anything. Worked the dock down the east side and all the pilings in the back. Switched to a craw to work the rocks and got one 12" fish out of a little hole where I had gotten bitten on before. I guess that's better than I usually do. Continued to work the craw around the rock and flipped it around the docks. Nothing more was hitting. Hopefully I'll get out again on Tuesday and then this weekend the family and I will be down at Table Rock. Going to try my luck at some Kentucky bass and smallmouth.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Mississippi River - Pool 26 (Winfield Slough)
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Labels:
Cameron,
Fishing,
Mississippi River,
Pole Star,
Winfield Slough
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Mississippi River - Pool 26 (Dardene Creek & Pole Star
The discussion of tonight's fishing trip started early in the day. We had to watch the radar close as there were some pretty severe storms headed towards St. Louis. At 5:00 we decided the worse portion of the storms would be south of us so we were going to try to get our fishing trip in. It was raining when we got to the harbor, but isn't that why we spend all that money on good rain gear? We put the Skeeter in at Riverside and decided to just start working the shorline right there and work our way up into Dardene Creek. There was a lot of good rip-rap to work, but spinner baits produced no bites. There were a lot of bait fish jumping, but no bass. So we decided to make a run to one of my favorite harbors, Pole Star. By now the rain had quit and the water was just glass. A 65 MPH run down to Pole Star took very little time and we were fishing again. We have heard rumors that crappie can be caught around the docks here so the plan was to work the rip-rap for bass and then as we had to move around the docks, get the crappie rigs out and work the docks, the work
the rip-rap for bass again. We worked our way in, throwing spinners off the front and the back of the boat. Up on the shoreline and out just a bit. Then we setup the 10' crappie rods with jigs and Power Baits. Worked these around the edges of the dock. As we came around the backside of the first dock I got a hit. I was a bit excited, I thought I had an awesome crappie on. Instead, I had to play out a nice 15", 1lb 8oz bass. This is on a 10' crappie pole with a itty-bitty crappie real and 4lb line. It really wasn't that bad, but it was a nice fish. We contiuned with our plan, alternating between the two poles as we made our way to the back of Pole Star. Right at the sunset I was working a plastic bait up on the shore in this little hole and my line moved from one side of the boat to the other. I reeled down and felt tention so I
set the hook. Pulled it out of it's mouth. Quick fix the hook and I threw it back up in there. Nothing. Again back up in there, apologizing to Matt for holding this spot, nothing. Once again, up in the same spot, working very slow. Tap, Tap, Tap... I hold on. The bait starts to move again, I reel down, feel tention on the line and set the hook. Bait comes out of the water, no fish. At this point it's getting dark. I threw in there 3 more times and didn't get another hit. Matt and I decided to call it a day and run for the house. What started as a wet nasty evening turned into a great night on the river. Got a busy weekend coming up so it'll probably be next Tuesday before we get out on the Skeeter again. - cld
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Labels:
Bass,
Cameron,
Crappie,
Dardene Creek,
Matt,
Mississippi River,
Pole Star
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Mississippi River - Alton Pool (Hideaway & Pole Star)
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Monday, June 1, 2009
NICE FISH!
Adam and I did some fishing Saturday morning. We tried out cart first. The normal minnows were not producing much a couple of catfish and a cart ba
ss.
We decided to try our luck up at New Town. The fish in new town were loving the minnows we caught a bunch of bass and a few nice catfish. I caught a nice one on a swim bait also.
This is the one I caught on the swim bait. The other photos are all minnows.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Mark Twain Lake (modified)
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
Mississippi River - Pool 26 (Harbors)
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Oh, forgot the conditions. It was overcast skies with a rising barometer. The water and air were both around 65° with the river on the rise.
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