LittlePineyAngler

never done much fishing outside of missouri. recently went to oklahoma for christmas and talked my girlfriend into letting me go out and try to catch some crappie. My grandpa used to live in topeka kansas where he had a bait shop for awhile. Told me stories about fishing "strip pits"? Not entirely sure what they are but he said the fishing in kansas was great! sounds like an awesome day of fishing. too bad it was before your camera carrying days!

I definitely know where you are coming from. Of course you can never have enough gear but the other day i went through everything and was really shocked at my collection. Theres no telling how much money i've spent already. But when it comes to getting out to fish its extremely hard to pack light. Just when you think you have everything you need once youre on the water you wish you had something else!

wow what a day of fishing. sounds like a dream! lol Just this year is the first time i've used jigs. What would be your advice to a beginning jig fisherman?

He's right lol at least you didn't get skunked. Me and my girlfriend have made a couple trips in the last couple weeks and had no luck at all. Tried using jigs and suspending jerk baits on the river. Looks like a good day to me!

agreed. We are blessed just to get out and fish anytime. Those peaceful days are nice. I wish i could get those days in the summer lol i cant handle the cold so much. Nice fish!

Looks like a blast. Do you record with a go pro?

As i sit her in my 8 hour class i get bored pretty easy. I'd love to be entertained by some of your fishing stories. Your biggest catch? best day of fishing? worst day of fishing? crazy things thats happened?

Personally i don't pay any attention to the moon phases. Especially this time of year when you're a fool not to get a line in the water when you get some nice weather. I'm so busy that anytime i can get out is a good day. Im no pro by any means, but sticking to what i know and being patient is what i do most of the time when approaching a day of fishing. I refer to my grandpa a lot in these threads but thats where most of my knowledge comes from. lol As he would always tell me when in doubt "Keep it simple stupid"

I agree with you Scott F. something i never thought about when i first got a boat. Running up from gasconade into the mouth of big piney river it is much more shallow river. Sometimes the only options are running right along the bank. Some may say these boats cant do it but ive taken my boat through places not much wider than my boat. on the smaller rivers of course. Prop or jet. IF you are running a boat where these fish spawn it could a problem for these fish. Not saying jet boats or props are the only cause. But could be one of the many problems.

We call them goggle eye. Missouri Conservation call them Rock bass. I may be mistaken but thats what i seen on their site. But yes i would definitely agree they are a ton of fun to catch. I too consider them a game fish. Making them illegal to keep during the spawning would help out in my opinion.

Should goggle eye be considered a game fish? I personally think this is an extremely fun fish to catch and darn good eating too. In my area they say there are not as many as there used to be. You have a daily limit of 15 goggle eye (ROCK BASS). The season runs all year long. Just like largemouth bass has a season after the spawn. Should these fish?

where im from i would say that 9 out of 10 boats on the river is a jet. and usually the prop boats you see are the 12ft jons with little 5hp props. I cant say that i have ever seen a prop motor much bigger than that on the river where im from. and to add to my last comment it could be very different in other places. I've grew up on one river so its hard to say what others are like. I do wish that i got to experience the river the way my grandpa has explained it be back in the day.

A question I personally do not have the answer to, but I want to share a theory that my grandpa truly believes. My grandpa has told me several of his old fishing stories. In most of those stories he tells me how they could easily catch 20-30 goggle eye in a day. Making countless trips myself I found that grandpa may have just been telling me a tale, or just lack of fishing ability on my part. Discussing this with him one day he tells me that he believe that "back in the day" when everyone had a prop motor on the river they generally ran the middle of the river. He explained that he believes now that Jet motors are the new thing boats are able to run closer to the bank in more shallow water. Where in the spring those areas are where these fish are on there beds. When the jet travels too closely to these beds it could cause the eggs to be blown or scattered, and maybe causing less fish being able to be born. I Would really like some other input on this theory, Is it even possible? Could it really effect the fish beds?

Thanks for all the tips "Scaleface". I may be directly asking tips in the future lol. Also will give you a little feedback on how your tips worked for me. thanks again

Something I have always enjoyed in the early summers are hitting the smaller rivers with one of my buddies in the kayaks. Packing a small amount of gear which usually includes some turkey sandwiches, a few beers, a pill bottle full of beetle spins, and an open faced reel. These trips is more of what I would call a stress free day of fishing. Though most days of fishing I would consider stress free, something about packing light and enjoying the weather and being on the water creates a very relaxing day. Going forward my girlfriend has shown a great deal of interest in this style of fishing. We are interested in possibly traveling to do this same style of fishing. If anyone does anything similar or has some places in Missouri that we could do this, I'd love to hear how you fish on those "stress free" days. Share your location as well!!! Thanks

Any type of structure i should focus on in the river setting? Brush piles? Rocks?

who makes the Rat-L trap??

I would say I mostly fish ponds. Recently I've tried spending more time on the river. The gasconade river is where i tried using the jigs and suspending jerk baits.

Definitely never considered a spinner bait just because i figured i would be fishing it too fast. But i will try it next time im out. Thanks man!!!

My name is Alan Yelton. I live in central Missouri, close to the Gasconade river. I'm 19 years young and definitely consider myself an amateur bass fisherman. Growing up fishing with my grandpa I feel that i have learned a lot of the basics. I've recently reached out to sites like bassmaster.com and random fishing articles on the web to critique my skills. This is my first time being apart of a forum that i can actually ask questions and hopefully get some answers. The first thing i can hopefully get some advice with is Feb. bass fishing. I've fished a few days in January and had little to no luck. Talking with a few of the old timers in my town i was told to use jigs and fish them slow, along with suspending jerk baits. I also have read online, and everything points and being patient and SLOW SLOW SLOW! I've tried these things and have went several full days of fishing with not even a bite. If anyone has any other tricks or advice i am very open to try anything. I dont want to let the cold weather win! Thanks in advance. -LittlePineyAngler