Table Rock Lake, Stone County, MO July 6th 2011: Very, Very light bite on Table Rock

Table Rock still is a little high, but it is much closer to normal pool than when I had kayaked it 4 weeks ago.  This weekend (the 4th) the boat traffic was incredible.  I am thinking it was good for the local economy, at least I am hoping it was.

I was using Zoom Pumpkin trick worms on a texas rig when I caught the bass in the video above.  I was getting a lot of taps, but it seemed eveytime I pulled back to set the hook....nothing.  I had debated going to a small set up on the spinning rod (maybe a small spinner) but decided to keep with what I had.  I also was throwing a Chomper Hula Grub on a stand up jig.  This time of the year, the smallmouths really seem to be prevalent when it gets warm, so I figured that would be a good strategy...not this time.

They are really deep so I was fishing 14' of the shore and points....sometimes it is just hard to figure them out.

Fish ON!

MLT

Robertsville SP, Meremac River, Franklin County, MO Aug 29th: Small amount of action, but no smallies!

Launched from the state park boat launch around 11:00 or so....water was at normal level. Got about 1/2 mile upstream when I came upon a bend/riffle that was all current. The kayak I have is great on most things, but really bad on anything past class I. Paddled it and thought I was going to win it, but looked to the side and realized I was going back wards...good opportunity to hit downed tree, tip kayak, and trap gear and myself undewater, so after two attempts, turned it around and drifted back. Had plenty of shore upstream from the launch to fish, plus the water downstream from the put in was fairly calm (no riffles) so we went ahead and fished it that way.

Caught a small Largemouth on a Chomper hula grub and stand up jig in structure. Got some other bites as well on Gulp Alive! watermelon worms w/ texas rig. Bites were smaller in the day...should have gone with smaller baits probably.

Lots of boaters...I was suprised. Also, I do not quite get the thrill of taking a 95-150 HP boat and running up and down the river at full throttle....just do not get it.

Fish ON!

MLT

Bass fishing good today! Lake 33, Busch Wildlife CA

Bass fishing good today at Busch Wildlife CA. Water temp about 83 degrees, overcast skies that switched to sunny. Fished from about 8:00 to 11:30 on a boat. Went to drain some of the water out of the boat, and observed (4) of the biggest crawdads I have ever seen at Busch. So guess what I decided to throw? (can you say "match the hatch?")

Caught (3) bass this morning. The first was a 16" largemouth on a Jig (no skirt) and pumpkin Chomper Hula Grub. I was using one of my favorite rods for a Jig, my 6" rod with 14# Stren. Pulled back and the line started to move the other way (kind of like when you are cranking a crankbait that is out of tune), so I reeled back and really set the hook. That got the "fight on". Very nice bass, could have very easily missed the set.

Caught another smaller one (12") in the same area. They shut off for a while, so I took the boat down the levy a little. No action after throwing worms, senkos, chompers, and zipper worms, so I went back to the original spot (it was almost time to leave anyway).

Caught another good one on a Gene Larew black/gold claw Salt Craw. Nice fish (it is the one that you can see the red chair in the background). Used a 7' light/medium action rod with 12# Shakespeare Cajun Line. Measured out about 14".

Great morning of fishing. What a great lake for largemouths.

Fish On!

MLT

Best of 2006: Fishing for Largemouths at Lost Valley Lake Resort, Franklin County, Missouri

This was a fall fishing trip that was a lot of fun. My brother-in-law, Rob (he is the guy standing in the photo), has a membership to this private resort. There are (2) lakes in the resort. We decided that we would fish the new lake (it has been around approx less that 6 years). What is great about this lake is that is has limited fishing pressure.
Rob has a small boat with a couple of trolling motors (we used both when we wanted to move "fast"). It was just big enough for the both of us and all of our gear.

We decided that we would get out early that morning- it was cool to cold, but not bad for a fall morning. The morning started out slow, but we started to get hits about an hour into it. Rob and I had tried many things, but the one thing we had a lot of success with was the Chomper Hula Grub on a stand-up Jig. I was using a bait cast rod with 12" test and Rob had a similar set up.
Here is what is cool about this rig and what makes it my "go-to" bait for largemouths (and smallmouths, by the way).
The way to fish this bait is to hit the shoreline, bring it in maybe 3-4 feet and then stop. Slowly move your rod tip up and down. When you get a hit, you will feel a "tap, tap, tap". That is when it is time to pull back with all you got and set the hook. The set is real important, because we were using a stand-up jig, and it has a brush weed guard right above the hook tip. If you do not have a strong set, you will lose the fish (I discovered that early on using these jigs)
Rob and I both had a real good day. If I can recall, both of us caught around 5-10 fish each (higher if you count the "misses").
I cannot say enough about Chompers Hula-grubs and stand-up jigs. I fished Lake of the Ozarks earlier in the year and caught (2) 5# bass using this same set up. I have found this is a great way to approach bass in Spring and fall. I have also had an incredible amount of good fortune using this set up fishing for smallies in small rivers.
Spring is just around the corner!

Good Fishing! MLT