Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

.....in Missouri.

I had the pleasure of fishing with Hair Jig Guru Phil Shafer on Stockton lake this past Wed. I'll start by telling you guys that I would have been content just hanging out in Phils garage talking and checking out his collection of nostalgic tackle. I don't know too many guys with the experience or collection that Phil has amassed. Phil as a person, is very down to Earth and he is a funny guy. As a bonus, he took me out on the Lake for a couple of hours in his new Lund rig....even let me control the trolling motor. Stockton is by no means the largest Missouri water but it is huge by my standards. Places like Bull shoals, Table Rock, Pomme de Terre, and Lake of the Ozarks are intimidating places, especially in bad weather. The weather was about as bad as it gets with air temps in the high 30's/low 40's. The water temps were falling and 54 was a common temp. This wouldn't have been all that bad if not for a ten degree air temp. drop over night. I caught two largemouths on my homemade tubes and my partner got one on a crankbait. We were only out for about 2hrs. Phil captivated us with some good conversation. What a great guy. When we got back to his house, he let me into the coveted jig making lab where I got to see some of his creations. I walked out with 14 or 15 new hair jigs. For you guys who have never seen these jigs, you missed out on something amazing. The detail and quality is unsurpassed, best I've ever seen. If I can figure out how to put a photo up, I'll paste one of his eye candy creations.

I hit Bass Pro 3 times. It was a very big place. I was more interested in the catalog outlet store next to it where I spent most of my time checking out discount items. The highlight of my trip to BPS was the tank where they had about 8 lmb's over 11lbs and one over 17lbs.

Pomme de Terre- A very large lake/river that is quite deep, I was sounding 60 to 80 feet very close to some of the shorelines. I fished this gem with my pal and despite its vastness, we faired ok with several decent largemouths and my first spot on drop shot rigs with a special handpoured bait from Tom Kail of Northern Handpoured. We did it with a small outboard so I didn't get to see the whole lake but I know it is big.

The saving grace of the trip ....fishing wise was the 5 acre farm pond that was stocked with bass, crappie, 20lb flatheads and brim. I used a hand dipped, homemade watermelon/red 4" tube the first day to take 21 bass in 1.5hrs of fishing despite the pond having ice on it in some spots. It was cold and rainy for almost a week straight. I managed good numbers of bass each morning on tubes and hair jigs. My largest of the trip was a 3.5lber. I had done better than I expected. I really wanted to fish the smallmouth creeks but the rain had muddied them up so much, I figured that this combined with the colder water, would have really made for a tough bite.
In all a great trip considering the time of year and weather conditions.

mmt, Nice post, Was that 21 bass in 1.5 hours? that would be 21 Bass in 90 minutes or a Bass every 257 seconds (90 minutes x 60 seconds divided by 21 = 257.14 seconds) a Bass every 4.28 minutes. How fast can a person cast and retreve (with zero problems) 40' cast and retreve with jig+ 60 seconds, land average bass 35 seconds= 95 seconds, unhook average Bass 20 seconds 115 seconds per bass or two minutes. If the math does not fail us Statistically speaking we would catch a bass every Fourth cast in a perfect world. Every Cast and retrieve is 60 seconds x 3 = 180 seconds + catching and releasing 115 seconds = a Bass every 4 casts and 295 seconds or every 4.9 minutes. Based on my past expierence as an Industrial Engineer and performance analyst (ps trust me on the times I spent alot of time during my formative Jimmy Huston years becoming very careful about time managment and wasted movement). Now to get more serious MMt has what I call the same strang affliction that strikes all men who would rather fish than do any thing else, he belives in himself and has only happy positve memories of the thing he loves to do most CATCH BASS ANY WHERE AND AT ANY TIME. I have seen guys start fishing and stop fishing People like MMt and others live to fish and it is the most important thing in their life. I know many who suffer from this , Tim Joe, Brendan..... the list could go on forever. we would only have a pool so we can test crank baits and maybe someday stock it with Bass. Good Bassin Dan Bass

The bass were right on that morning, 21 in 90 minutes!!!-LOL

MMT & DanBass- As I am preparing to shut down my computer before leaving for Ft. Myers for the Winter (Retirees like me are a pain in the bass!), I suddenly came upon Craig's post of 05 November. I was flabbergasted and dumbfounded that I hadn't seen it.

Craig, you were definitely in the Zone of Zones at that 5 acre pond. What a place to test new lures! How's your arms? Sore?

DanBass, isn't it difficult to describe bass fishing using industrial engineering terms?
For example, I'd love to see an IE analysis of how You and Tim defied all odds one week ago today while the rest of the field sucked wind.

As you know, I spent a lot of years working with IE's. Some of them were fishermen. I got along well with them. The others? Let's just say we worked alongside each other.

To you both, thanks for these excellent posts. Bassin'USA continues to excel because of contributions like yours. Much obliged. Joe

PS- I should be back on line before the end of the month. Unlike last season, I will honor my commitment to keep working the site
- in moderation.

Dan, I need to get you out on my own little lake X. A numbers pond where a pair of guys can get a bonafide 250 to 300 fish in about 5hrs time. My pal and I were there once this season and had 100 bass on topwater in ther first hour. Fast and furious fishing. No lunkers but fun little schoolies.

MMt, we have to get together, I like fishing with good people who enjoy fishing and being outdoors as much as you do. I still owe you two mudbugs and a trip to a place of your choice. I like the skirts and the weed jig is awesome. Good Bassin Dan Bass

Anytime you are available, I'd love for you to show me the ropes at HH.