farmpond1

Wolly buggers, Clouser Minnows, trout streamers, Marabou jigs, Hellgramite imitations. Try different colors. It's not just what you use but how you use it. (or at least that's what I'm told ;D) It's still fairly early in Missouri so you may need to slow down your presentation. Where are you fishing it? Pools? Seams? near rocks? Is the water clear? Stained? Are you fishing upstream or downstream. So many variables, so little information.

Amen brother.

"Humane fish dispatch"....Isn't that a newspaper?

Just more places to go. It could be worse but if we're dreaming, might as well dream big.

I'm sorry to hear about your back trouble. There isn't anything worse than back pain. In addition to live bait, you might try trolling. That in-and-of itself can be refined into a fine art.

Forgetting the drain plug and the sunscreen. And using colorful metaphors when the wind is blowing me around a lake.

A) It's good you noticed the "pizzer" wasn't working. That small observation probably saved you a major repair. It was nice of the gentleman to help you out as he did. I can't say enough good about that!

Cheers right back at you!

The University of Illinois is a giant organ grinder and I'm one of its monkeys.

I was starting to think, "You've gotta be kiddin' me!" when I suddenly remembered the time I went wading after a grasshopper pattern fly snagged on a lilly pad. Unfortunately, my cell phone was in my back pocket. So I guess I lost about 140.00 on that trip. All for a $2.50 fly!

Ditto. Is this a rhetorical question? Yes, dagnabit! Get out there and go fishing!

The 1/8 and 1/4 oz size: http://www.panthermartin.com/lures/Spinners/Regular.aspx For some reason the black with chartreuse spots, gold blade, works best for me. 8-) You can go "cheap" with Rooster Tails but Panther Martins are sturdier and spin better/more reliably. Personally, I like the Panther Martins which are dressed (have squirrel hair on the treble hook). I like the gold blades the best but the water/fish will determine that. Tout (stocked or otherwise) will not propagate unless the conditions are suitable (which is one reason why many ponds are on a put and take out basis). Is this lake clean and deep enough to sustain cold temperatures in the summer time? Around here, some of the leftover trout become musky meals before summer rolls around.

If you are serious about brim (or "bluegill" as we yanks call them) fishing, you need try flyrodding for them. It's a riot. A casting bubble a few feet up from the popper or bug will work too-just not as fun. Crickets are probably the best live bait around but garden worms (not nightcrawlers) work great too. And wax worms. I've never tried catalpa worms but they seem like they might be difficult to come by. Don't know about that.

Do you have trouble tuning them?

I like fishing lipless baits in flats and where the bottom is weedy/grassy. That way I can keep the bait just above the crud and still in the zone. Of course, shallow cranks will work there too so there is some cross-over. I like diving cranks when heavy bottom vegitation isn't an issue or where you want the bait to dig in the bottom like a crawfish, etc.

It can be very frustrating when someone totally ignores you like that. He sounds like the "older brother" or "only child" type. Of course there's no absolute guarantee they would've bit anyway, but regardless, I think he should've shared some decision making with you-particulary if/when they aren't biting his way. You might mention it to him before you go out again. It sounds like something's eventually gotta give.

Isn't there any way to track these knuckleheads (cleaned up for family viewing) down? > I'm all for funding an international hit squad (as in the movie "Munich") to track them down and play the xylophone on their rib cages.

Well, with the time change, potentially I could sneak out to a few ponds after work for an hour or so. But as the temperature is expected to drop back down into the 30's by tomorrow, that'll have to wait a few more days.

For a moment there I thought this question was directed at me. But no, I haven't been fishing.

that most of the good fishing stories are coming from the Southern states? Is it my imagination or is there a conspiracy brewing?

The only thing worse than getting skunked is when you see that others are catching. So at least that wasn't the case. Misery loves company. Well, everyone has one of those days now and again. It just wets your appetite for the next outing! Good luck and keep pressing forward.

Amen brother! The only good hacker is one that hacks into hacker's programs and wreaks havoc on them. Give 'em a taste of their own medicine. >

It's always a good thing to break that long winter stalemate. Way to go!

Rll, Not all channelized ditches are born alike. It partly depends on what they feed into. But they are certainly worth a look see. There is one channel near a buddies house that offers a nice run of white bass every year and it holds some decent little smallies too. But other ditches are mostly carp and sucker havens. It just depends. Good luck.

Btech: I am trying to understand how rates are decided so please don't take what I'm saying as anything but curiousity. I'm not trying to be a smart a$$. How does one decide how much to charge for something that isn't clearly fixed. I mean, doesn't a mechanic know when something is "out of whack" and if/when it's been resolved. Or when it isn't clearly resolved, does a mechanic charge simply for the time spent looking and then say, "I investigated and found nothing but it works now. " Or do you, for example, change a few potentially leaky vacuum lines, hope that does the trick, and then charge for that? I realize mechanics and shop owners should not simply have to "eat it" in terms of time and effort spent when they find nothing clearly wrong but do they take "failure to clearly fix" into account when they do their billing? (I'm talking about honest and reputable shops, of course). Sincerely, Farmpond1