Mid-MO

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I'll definately get some mothballs. I'm keeping the boat in the garage but I don't cover it. Can I just put them in the rod lockers and storage bins - will that work?

I built my house about a year and a half ago (in a subdivision but the last lot on the street, right next to undeveloped pasture). I keep my boat in the garage. Haven't had a huge mouse problem until this spring. Over the winter, I had one get in the boat after a trip and chew on a crankbait and a little cork and a reel handle. Killed it. Had another get in and chew some flurocarbon line all to pieces. Killed it. This past week had one get in and do some serious damage to a new Falcon Rod and and a little to some other rods. Think I killed it too (always leave traps baited in the garage and basement). They always chew on the stuff that has caught fish most recently. Thought at first they were coming in when the OH door was opened. Found later where they had chewed threw the weatherstripping and door trim. Fixed that. Don't know how the last one got in. I've killed 7 I think so far this spring. Put several traps in the garage and rod locker (never caught one it there). Long story short, I need to fix the Falcon rod. Luckily it just chewed the cork on the foregrip in front of the reel. Figured I could take it off, order a new piece from Falcon, split it in two, and epoxy it back in place. Anyone got any suggestions on the Falcon rod, how to fix the minor damage to the St. Croix or Quantum rods, or how to solve the mouse in the boat problem (I'm going to have to get a cat I guess)? Thanks!

Here are the details. I've tried Seagur, P-Line, Bass Pro,& Trilene 100% flurocarbon - thought about trying Viscious. I had kind of settled on Bass Pro's version (figure if it is good enough for KVD, then it ought to be for me). I use line conditioner on it before every trip. Never had a big problem with breaking off hooksets until the last few trips. Also broke a few lures off casting (heavier baits like Pointers and big spinnerbaits) earlier this spring - but that was on 10 # line which was smaller than I usually use. I'm fishing Lake of the Ozarks and dragging a shakey football head through rocks (1/4 and 3/8 ounce heads with brush hogs and space monkeys). Getting a bunch of keeper bites - but I've also broke 4 off on hooksets in two trips. I've never really crawled anything along the bottom like I'm doing with these (more of a hop) so I know part of it is my line is getting nicked. I've started to check and retie a lot more often. Still broke a couple off. I wasn't sure if the knot was the problem or not. I'm using a cinch knot and wetting the line before pulling tight. Started doubling the line through the eye and still broke one off. I've looked at my line but I'm not sure if it is breaking at the knot or up the line, sometimes it has the curl on the end others not. I'm using a new Falcon Cara rod so I doubt it is the guides but I need to check. A couple of my friends still use mono for everything and won't even consider flurocarbon (and they are much better fisherman than I am). I finally have just decided to use it on one rod and see if I like it or not. Just want something abrasion resistant and without much stretch (and hopefully a lot less memory than flurocarbon as a bonus). I've used Yo-zuri Hybrid before but only in smaller sizes. Thanks

I have been using flurocarbon on about every reel I have had for the past 3 years. Haven't used mono in a long time but I'm ready to try some again. I've broke enough fish off on the hookset recently to make me want to try something else. I love flurocarbons low stretch and abrasion resistance. What mono line comes the closest in those two areas?

Thanks.

I've started fishing a bigger soft plastic bait (brush hogs, sweet beavers, space monkey) on a shakey head (1/4 to 3/8 ounce). I've used Luck e strike, Bass Pro, Strike King (football), and Spot Removers. I had some problems with some of the smaller heads in getting the hook to pull through. I lost several fish at the boat where the hook hadn't even come through the plastic. Haven't really messed around with these too much yet but I'm wanting to buy some more and looking for some good advice. I've got some questions? 1. How do you prefer to attach the head of the plastic to the jig? With a screw lock, run the hook through the plastic (like Strike King's Tour Grade shakey head), or with a ringed barb (Like the Buckeye Spot Remover)? 2. Has anyone found that one way in particular helps the hook come through easier? 3. Is there a head out there with a bigger bend in the hook - which would allow the plastic a little more room to move? 4. Any specific brand of jig head that would work for bigger plastics like these? Thanks!

I've got a tournament out of Shawnee Bend this weekend. All of this rain and possibly snow and cold weather should change things - just not sure if it will be for the better or worse. I fished in the mid lake last week and the Pointer produced the only keeper out of 6 fish. Water was anywhere from 48 to 54 and stained.

Anybody use this stuff? I've tried P-line, Seaguar and XPS. I've kind of settled on XPS. Vicious is a bit cheaper and supposed to have less memory. I'm wanting to try some but thought I'd look for some opinions first.

Forgot to mention Higginsville city lake and Blind Pony. I fished Higginsville twice and didn't catch much either time. Has three arms I think and is pretty good size. A few submerged trees, a dock, and some rip rap on the dam were the obvious structure. I think there is a pretty good topo map on it though. Blind Pony was supposedly great fishing in the mid 90's. I went there a couple of times - bigger lake with lots of timber. They drained it a few years back and redid it. I caught the tail end of someone talking about it on local radio a few weeks ago and I think they've reopened it or are about too. It is just NE of Sweet Springs off of I-70.

I live about 5 miles from Hazel Hill - hardly ever fish it. It doesn't have many coves or points - but lots of standing timber. It gets a lot of bank fisherman but I when I've been out there hardly ever see a bass boat fishing for bass. Used to fish Maple Leaf alot. There were some pretty good fish in there a few years ago. They had a big fish kill but the last time I talked to the conservation agent (last spring) they hadn't had the chance to shock it and see what the damage was. Lots of grass, standing timber, two arms running into the main lake. They also built some structure around the dam I think. Another lake close is Edwin Pape Lake just outside of Concordia. I know there were 9 pound fish in there and supposedly ones over 10. It was pretty good 10 years ago but the word got out and it got hit pretty hard. One of the clubs out of KC even started having tournaments on it. Mud bottom, no grass anywhere, never very clear. Lots of laydowns though. Conservation put some brush piles in about 15 years ago but I don't know that much of them are left. It is the city water supply and you have to buy permits. I think it is about 250 acres - so pretty good size compared to the other two. I've drove out to Montrose once. Never fished there though. Used to hear a lot about it but not so much anymore. I think it is a no wake lake too (as the three above all are). I live in Warrensburg and can get to Truman (mid lake area) in about an hour. Gravois Mills on LOZ is about an hour and a half - just a little over 70 miles - which isn't a bad drive.

Jigs in the water: My version of the War Eagle type skirt tie is on the left. All the strands have floated forward off the hook. The War Eagle jig on the right doesn't do it as bad.

Regular tied skirt - strands on both sides of collar.

I've been making my own jigs a few at a time for the past couple of years or so. Nothing fancy - one color powder paint, rubber banded skirts. I've also been buying a lot of different jigs and trying to take what I like best from each. One of those things is the copper hand tied skirt (like War Eagle and Jewel use on some of their skirts). What I really like about the War Eagle jig is how they attach the skirt (black and blue jig in picture). It is similar to a Terminator Spinnerbait Skirt in that all the strands are actually tied on the head side of the jig - there aren't any strands on the hookside (until you pull it through the water and the strands fold back over the hook). Been messing with trying to tie a skirt like that. It isn't very easy to do with the weedguard in place. Without a weedguard it is much easier to tie. It is a little clumsy trying to wrap the non cut section of the skirt end around the collar (especially when using multiple skirt strands) but it can be done. Just curious if anyone else ties like this and if there are any hints for doing so? I'm not entirely sure that I like it like this in the water (haven't made up my mind yet). If a jig tied in this manner lays still in the water the skirt tends to float away from the hook - leaving the hook pretty much naked. But tying it in this manner makes the skirt really flare and is also much fuller than when it is tied normally (with strands on each side of the collar). Any thoughts?

Not much too add from what's already been said. I did read today that Ameren plans on dropping the lake to 653 (normal pool is 660). They've dropped it 18" already in February. The North Shore/Gravois area is pretty clear right now I've been told. You can see 6-7' into the water. Last year there wasn't hardly a clean spot on the lake all spring (and really most of the year). As you start getting back up above the Glaize Arm into the 30MM and above the water will start to dirty up. Crankbaits on the dark chunk rock are always popular, jerkbaits on points and around brush, small finesse jigs - those are the dominant lures this time of year. Everyone throws them. A lot of people fish with 8-10# line this time of year.

I fished it in late June when the water was about 10' high. Fished aroudn the dam and caught a lot of small fish and about 5 keepers (though nothing very big). Water was pretty clear. Everything came out of flooded bushes on soft plastics. Lake has dropped back down to normal since then. A few tournament results have all said to fish main lake points.

I'm still trying to decide what rod I want (I've got a list of about 30 possibilities). I'm wanting something with a soft tip that allows me to pitch pretty easily yet still has some backbone. The majority of time I'm going to be using this around docks. I know rod action & power are different for every company but what would be recomended? 1. Heavy power / Moderate Action 2. MH / Extra Fast 3. MH / Fast

I'm looking at getting a new Flippin Stick. I want a 7' MH with a soft tip that allows me to pitch/flip easier/better. I've got some St. Croix rods that I use for spinnerbaits and crankbaits that I really like. I messed with the 7 MH/Fast today at BPS and am not sure if the tip is soft enough. I also looked at the KVD Quantums, an All-Star, a BPS Pro Qualifier, a Falcon, Team Daiwa-S, Team Daiwas Light & Tough, and a Shimano. I really wanted to look at a Quantum Energy PT but never found one. I'd like to stay around $100. Any suggestions?

Didn't really know how to describe it but I was talking about the "legs" towards the nose of the bait. The thin, round, "U" shape attached to the main body - not the end of the bait where the twin tails are. Berkley's have three single legs on each side. They are both very similar on the end (twin tail) Hope that all made sense.

Regardless of which type of plastic (hog, worm, etc) - which seems to hold up better, Zoom or Berkley? Berkley's plastics also have a much stronger scent where as Zoom's main appeal is salt. Anybody think either makes a huge difference?

I've been fishing both the Berkley Power Hawg and the Zoom Brush Hog. Zoom definately has the better color selection but I've always like Berkley's scents. I haven't decided which tears up easier yet. I do like Berkley's unattached legs better than Zooms which is attached on both ends. The Berkley's pinchers (I guess is what you call them) also seem to flare a bit more than Zoom's. I ran out of green pumpkin Hawgs last weekend. The only thing I had similar (in movement, size, and color) were the Gambler Loco Lizards in green pumpkin. I had four fish pick that up and spit it out before I could get a good hookset. I'm guessing they didn't like the scent. All of that just has me looking for opinions - specifically on the difference in scent between the Zoom and Berkley versions.

I've got a tournament on Truman this coming Saturday. Putting in at Osage Bluff Marina. Never fished that part of the lake (and really don't fish Truman very often anywhere). I'm assuming it will be rocky and cleaner water than most of the lake? With the full moon coming, the fish should be getting very close to going on the beds in a big wave (assuming the weather cooperates for once). Any pointers, help to be offered? Thanks

Fished the North Shore and Gravois again yesterday. Not much had changed from Tuesday. Water temps and colors were pretty much the same. Caught 11 (lost two more) but just two were keepers. 4 of them measured between 14" and 14 1/2" - biggest went just under 3#. Found them in the same spots - shallow - with the same lure - spinnerbait. Tried to fish a little deeper some and ran my spinnerbait around a bunch of docks. The only fish I could find where shallow. Still haven't caught a female. I know they have to be back in a little deeper water but had a hard time making myself fish deeper. I threw a jig in some deeper water and a carolina rig a little. Was planning to fish deeper later in the afternoon but got chased off the lake by lightning.

Fished the Gravois Arm today. Water temps were in the low 60's, it was cloudy most of the day and rained some. Water was close to 2' visibility in the middle of the arm - best I've seen all spring. Caught 13 bass and lost 2 others (plus several that would pick up a jig). All but 1 of them were males I think. Most of them were very shallow - some in a foot of water or less. Never caught anything bigger than 3 lbs - almost all of them were between 14-18 inches. Caught most of them at least 1/2 way back on shallow banks but caught the bigger fish on the points. Most of them were caught on spinnerbaits but also caught one on a jig, a sammy, and a shallow running crank. Saw a couple of fish on the bed but never saw or caught any bigger females. Fished a jig and spinnerbait right behind the docks (in 5-7' of water) but only had one bite and I missed in on a jig. Tried a deeper running crank adn a carolina rig briefly but gave up (was getting a lot of moss).

Hawghead - which part of the lake were you fishing - just curious? Thanks.

Just got home from a weekend trip. Fished the middle Osage (46-52 MM) and struggled - ad did the other guys I talked to. Fished about 10 or 11 hours total for the weekend. Caught 9 fish total (also lost one)- the biggest went 14". Did manage two keeper spotted bass though. I couldn't find any keeper size largemouth. The water was over full pool (though it dropped some from Friday night to Saturday). Water was muddy - 2" visiblity and mainly in the mid to high 50's. I found some low 60's in the backs of coves late Saturday afternoon. I started off on a secondary point and worked all the way down the docks to the back of a cove (Friday night). Saturday morning went to another secondary point and worked all the way to the back. Went out after lunch and tried the same thing. After dinner I went back out and hit a big flat just off of the channel. Finished in the rain this morning back in a cove. All of the reports (and fish I've caught this year) have said the fish were shallow. I've caught most of my fish on wiggle warts and the reports are all saying spinnerbaits (in the backs of creeks). That is what I started with. Working behind docks, around seawalls, ramps, and walkways. Flipping a jig, throwing spinnerbaits and a shallow running crank. Ended up moving back out in front of docks and throwing a deeper diving crank. All of the fish caught came in the back of half of the coves in shallow water on flat banks. Caught 2 on a spinnerbait and the rest of a shallow running, wide wobbling crankbait. I'm not sure where the bigger fish were - the places I caught the shorts were a long way from any substantial breakline (or deeper water) I could find.