senile1

Good stuff, guys! Thanks for all the info. Paul, I was thinking about bringing a tent as you suggested. The Gasconade is larger than most of our streams, twisting and turning almost 300 miles before it dumps into the Missouri. The area I'll be fishing is managed for smallmouth and, as you stated, most of the fish will be in the 12 - 15 inch range, but there are fish over 18 inches in this stretch of the river and I've seen pictures of some smallies caught there that were in the 4 - 5 lb range. (I would be so stoked if I could nail one of these!) You make a really good point about the length of the float and I've been looking into that. I've floated rivers before while in college but I wasn't fishing. What length of float should I be looking at while fishing? Upriver88, I floated the Current in the early 80s but I wasn't fishing. It was gorgeous scenery. Thanks for the info about the trolling motor. Again, thanks everyone.

LOL!! Actually, Sam, I never introduced myself when I started.

It takes practice in the beginning but it is worth it for the added flexibility. You may think you have it down quickly practicing in your backyard, but then when you get on the water you'll have to deal with trees, brush, and other obstacles and it becomes a whole new ballgame. Keep some spinning rods setup to switch to if you backlash badly to save fishing time. I wouldn't give up on it though. Eventually it will be second nature to you. I think if you do a search on this site you will come up with quite a bit of information to help you learn how to use these reels.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Rather than ruin an attractive woman's fishing spot, maybe some binoculars would be a suitable alternative. I don't have any pet peaves that shouldn't be. All of mine are legitimate and justifiable.

Nice looking bass, Paul. I'm amazed at your water temperatures there. My main lake is still in the 30s.

I would learn to use both. I am more accurate with a baitcaster. There are some inhuman characters out there who have learned to be just as accurate with a spinning reel but for most of us, you can't beat feathering the spool to make the lure land in just the perfect spot. That's not to say spinning equipment is inaccurate for casting. I just can't approach the accuracy I have with a baitcaster. I agree with the comments above that spinning equipment is best for lighter lures and finesse tactics. So I use both.

Don't limit yourself to just using the Rapala Floater as a topwater jerkbait. I've caught a ton of fish with them by letting them sit for about 30 seconds, then doing a couple of twitches with 5 - 10 second pauses between them, and then fishing them like a shallow crankbait the rest of the way back to the boat interspersing jerks every few cranks of the reel. Many of those fish bit during the crankbait portion of the retrieve. A lot of times you get their attention with the jerks to start the retrieve near cover, and then when you start the crankbait portion of the retrieve it appears that the forage is trying to escape. The lure will go down about 6 - 8 inches on this type of retrieve.

It sounds like you've caught the fever bad!! Welcome.

Wallypop Family wipes. I clicked the links and read the whole thing. There's even a how-to with instructions for using them. What a great idea! : Surely someone can come up with a green idea for toilet wipes that is flushable.

Welcome to the community!

It sounds like your lake is going through a drought. I honestly don't have a solution other than avoiding the situation when you are aware of it.

I thought there were too many also until I checked it. The last two weeks I've been checking them every day and we have only been averaging maybe four or five a day. I just chose to start welcoming the current ones. I wasn't about to go back and respond to all of the old ones.

Rick Clunn keeps it simple doesn't he?

;D Good one, frogtog.

Thanks, Kent. I was hoping I would hear from you as I know you are on the river all the time. Thanks for the confirmation on the baits too! I was planning on taking my tubes and my X-raps. I have some Mister Twister Grubs. Do you believe the GYCBs are better, and if so, why?

I noticed that Glenn was making a response to all of the new introductions this morning which is a good thing for this forum. I have been very guilty of letting these slide many times in the past but recently I have developed a different outlook on intros. I have come to realize that I receive a lot of benefit from being a member of this forum and the least I can do is welcome new members who can become valuable contributors to this site that we all love. I guess I see it as a responsibility now, whereas before I cynically ignored them. (One of my detrimental character traits.) I know it is sometimes difficult to know what to say, but just a simple "welcome" is sufficient to let someone know you are glad they joined. I hope others feel the same way. Let's give everyone a big welcome to the site!

Welcome to the community!

Welcome, rattletrapper!

Oh yeah. You will. There are a few Cali guys on here who catch behemoths on a regular basis that you can utilize as resources. Welcome to the community!

Welcome to the community, SC Fisherman!

Thanks for the response, Dan. I thought I would get more responses but maybe I didn't provide enough info. :-/ I'm not sure. I feel fairly confident in my choices but since I haven't floated a river for fish before I was hoping a few people with experience could fill me in on how they approach this. Tight Lines.

The water is stained to highly stained. My personal favorite under these conditions is black/blue but anything dark with a good sized trailer should do. I would also consider using jigs with rattles if it is highly stained.

Welcome to BR and welcome back to bass fishing!

I buy Cabelas cheap 1/32, 1/16, and 1/8 oz ball head jigs for crappie fishing and I use them with Southern Pro Triple Tip grubs. My two favorite colors are white body /chartreuse tail and black body/chartreuse tail for clear to stained and muddy water respectively. I've been using these for a few years now and they are the most consistent crappie bait I've ever used.

BassLaw13 is right about the snags. Some of the lakes have quite a bit of brush in the first 50 feet or so from the bank. If you don't go weedless you may lose a lure now and then.