Catching Spring Time River Goggle Eyes !

With all this talk about Spring Bass fishing , I almost forgot about Spring river fishing on the "Big Piney" river. Man I am telling you now if you haven't been fishing on the "Piney" in the spring , you just haven't been fishing! Plain and simple, About from the middle of March thru May the fishing on the "Big Piney" is super AWESOME!

The rock bass or goggle eyes as the locals call them are just tearing up anything you throw. Now this fish is not real big but if you lighten up on the tackle, say an ultra light, then you will find that goggle eyes will give you many hours of excitement as they are prespawn and hungry.

Now the "Big Piney" is real clear,spring fed, fairly fast moving and can be a challenge navigating your canoe or jon boat down through the shoals and dodging trees that have washed in during high water during early spring and late fall rainy seasons. You can catch these little buggers on a spinner , fairly small crank baits , minnows, you name it!

In the past several years the conservation of Missouri have put a creel on the goggle eyes. You can keep 15 a day , and they have to be 9 inches long, this has really helped the river recover from over fishing pressure in the past years. Now you will catch several bigger goggle eyes than in years past. I remember when you could fish all day , catch 50 or 60 and maybe keep 5 or 6 that were 9 inches or better. Now its doing a lot better. They also have implemented small mouth trophy areas on the "Piney" and you can keep 1 a day 18 inches long minimum. You wouldn't believe what has happened to the "Big Piney".

I really believe that fishermen and the conservation can work hand in hand to better the fishing conditions on any body of water as long as the public honors these implementations of conservation.
Established creels and limits are noteworthy toward the reestablishment of fish in depleted waterways.

The goggle eye are biting anything you throw. The wildlife you see is abundant and it all makes for a wonderful day on the River! The sites and sounds are abundant, maybe a nice fire on a gravel bar to boot. I always loved the smell of a campfire in the "Great Outdoors"

Goggle eyes are not big, but they sure give you a good fight on an ultra lite and they sure are good eating too! So if you haven't been goggle eye fishing on the" Big Piney" river then get out there this spring and let er rip , so to speak. Have a blast! Keep only what you can eat and release the rest. I have spent 45 years plus fishing on the "Big Piney" river and I have caught a semi truck or two , loaded with goggle eye and bass. There is just something about river fishing that won't let you go, and I am glad.

So until next time, catch some of them Spring time "goggle eyes" for me. See ya out there, and boat safely!