I've got a 7lb brown trout on the wall that came out of the Meramec River many years ago. MODoC quit stocking browns in there after a couple big floods wiped out all of the rootwads and graveled in several of the best holes. They still stock rainbows and there are a lot of them 16"+ in there. 4lb SMB are not uncommon, and there are several 5lb+ smallies caught in the Mac every year.
The upper part of the Current River is loaded with trout. Several miles of it are managed as a trophy section. That stretch is loaded with 18"+ rainbows and browns. No soft plastics allowed on that section, but the section below holds a lot of big fish too. Further downstream it transitions into smallmouth water.
Same deal on the Niangua, except there's no trophy section, so no restriction on soft plastics. Several miles of really good trout water, then many more miles of really good smallie water.
Missouri is great place to live for people who like to fish. We have a lot of variety here.
I've never caught a BG that was big enough to inhale a 5" Senko. I got into some RES at a conservation area lake a couple weeks ago that could have done it. The biggest one was 12.5". He's in my pond now, along with a few of his buddies. ;-)
