Sore Thumbs

My friend and I braved the conditions and fished the tournament out of Campbell's point today. 
We had a limit by 8:45 and caught about in total about 20 keepers. Tons of 15 inch Kentuckys!!   It was one of the best consistent fishing I have had on the Rock!
We finished 4th out of 18 with 14.6lbs.
Winning bag had 16.1 lbs. 
Found them on Keitech's and Jerk Bait! THE ROGUE STILL WORKS! 
 
In other news my dad Fished an Oilmen's tournament on Toledo Bend today and caught 19.6 lbs finished 10th out of 400. I have some learning to do. 
 
Thank you to all reporters! Sure helps a guy coming all the way from Carthage MO.

White River Outfitters Guide Service Eagle Rock Report

 
Had to go home so I could catch a fish.  Launched at Eagle Rock at 6:45 this morning and was not the first rig at the ramp.  Surface temp at 47.8 water color was James River green with about 4' visibility, some folks would say just perfect and it was pretty perfect for me.  Air temp was 22 degree when I started and both the reel and rod kept freezing for the first couple of hours.  Didn't seem to matter as the LM were up just where should be.

Bluffends, points in front of big spawning pockets and timbered transitions leading in to those pockets.  Kind of like Dockit the other day, had a nice limit by 8:30 and these fish kept biting.  Had one bluffend point that I caught 11 with 10 keepers off of.  Most all fish with the exception of two keeps that were caught on a Pig Sticker with a Chompers twin tail were caught on the A-rig.  2.8 Keitech in Pro blue Red.

Water was really slick and I tried the floater but no success.  Also tried a jerker when it started to ripple a bit but nothing except A-rig fish.
Bite started funny, as they would push it and it would also go slack.  I was having a hard time until they started eating it.  One of my shorts came as a double and while I tried to get that picture they both came off.  Wanted to take it in the water but good luck with that.  On one of the catches I had either 3 or 4 followers swimming below the caught fish, so for a change I was around them.

Pretty sure they were all Bucks, just full of shad coming out both ends.  Best one today was 3.60.
Fished within 1/2 mile either side of the 86 bridge, and left them biting at 12:00 noon.  
Lots of boats and fishermen out, but nothing like the Dam/Kimberling area.  I just don't think those fish were nearly as beat up as they are on this end.   Every fish I caught was a LM and I had about 20 total.

Surface temp at the ramp at noon was pushing 49 degree.
Good Luck

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Those are some nice fish!  Gives me inspiration to get back out there again, but it is going to have to warm up a bit.  

Something like this. 

Lowrance for 2d
Humminbird for down and side
Garmin for Live

That would be a fun set up..... Better have deep pockets though.

Also heard there were a couple of trips out of Big Cedar yesterday and they just hammered them in the deep creek channels from Indian Point to Long Creek.  There was also a RK Crawler bite in the muddy water in long creek even on flat water that lasted most of the day.
I just turned the wrong way and could not get if figured out, it was all on me.  That's the beauty of the Rock, they  are always biting somewhere.
Good Luck

I still need to send bait to someone. If you could let me know who again I would appreciate it. Thank you 

You'll need to go back to the old 2019 thread to find who to send to. I believe I posted a list there.

Ladies and Gents,
It's that time of year again for the kick off of the BASS Fantasy Fishing season. This year we are going to mix it up. In years past we have just gone on the honor system of sending one bait at the end of the season as your "league entry fee". While it was fun, there were too many participants that did not end up sending baits.
So instead this year we are just going to do a $10 up front entry fee. Roughly the cost of any worthwhile bait these days. PayPal would be preferable as that is the easiest method for most, including me. I can also do Venmo as an option. If you don't have either of those payment systems then I can accept cash through the mail if you are willing to take on that risk of mailing cash (I am not dealing with checks).  I would take no liability in money lost in the mail.  League entry fee is due by the start of the Bass Master Classic (Friday, March 6th). If you have not paid by that time then you will not be eligible to win prizes in the league even if you continue to participate in filling out rosters every event. Once I get an idea of how many entries we have I will have you all PM me here with payment info on how to get the $10 fee to me.
The prizes will be in the form of Tackle Warehouse gift cards at various values. The value of those gift cards will be determined on interest and amount of people that join the league. The payout will scale accordingly from 1st prize to an agreed upon (by the league majority) last winning place.
Example: 25 entries x $10 = $250 in pot TW Gift Cards
1st - $100  2nd - $75  3rd - $50 4th - $25 - Something along these lines.
 
To sign up go here: http://bassmasterfantasy.com/
For those of you new to fantasy fishing its very simple and requires very little effort or skill. The only thing you need to do is FILL OUT A TEAM EVERY WEEK there is an event. You miss one tournament event then it is hard to compete for prizes as it is hard to make up those lost points. See above link for more info.
Please register your name as the same name you have here on Ozark Anglers as it's easier for everyone to identify each other.
To join the league find the OZARK ANGLERS group I've created after you've registered an account. It is marked as private as to not let a bunch of people into the league.
 
Group name: OZARK ANGLERS
Password: smallmouth
 
 
Please respond here on this thread for those that plan to participate so I can get an idea of how many will be joining.
BASS will have some familiar faces back (Palaniuk, Swindle have left MLF) as well as some of the bigger sticks from FLW. Should be better fields than last year.
Thanks and good luck this year!
 
 

I have a deposit with final sale due on 5NOV....

Hey y’all. Been a while sense I’ve posted. I’ve been fishing just haven’t had time to post with kids growing Up and demanding more time of me.   Anyways striper have been bitting really good the last few weeks.  Fishing has been good all over from PC to pt 12. Striper have been moving around so make sure your fuel is topped off before heading out and looking for them. On day they be in coose the next day in Edens bluff so u gotta be ready to jump around.  Once found I’ve been doing good on shad but better on brooders.  Spoons will produce as well as umbrellas. (Pics are from a few days ago).  Water temp today was 46. As always good luck and stay safe

Where: Breadsley Branch
When: 7:30 - 1:00, Thursday Jan. 2
WT 48-49
Cloudy, light wind SW
7 boated all keepers
       4 - Ice jig
       2 - Swimbait
       1 - A rig
Questions?
 

I started catching the fish in 60 FOW and as I moved to 40-50ft the fish were stacked. About 9am when the sun was bright I looked even shallower and found them on the bottom. I had a jig tied on but did not throw it. The graph shows them on the bottom.

That is a Monster screen full of targets. Congrats sounds like a fantastic morning to say the least.
I fished yesterday morning at the dam.  Started at 7:15 and there were already boats in the branch where I have been catching the deep fish.
 It was crowded to the point of 6 boats working the same fish.  I caught two in there and went else where for a little privacy   Started dragging a jig and caught a big K.  Continued out the ridge and caught 2 more, all 3 coming in a 100 yrd. stretch.  Kept going back and forth till about 10 am and it didn't stop, just kept on keeping on.  I left the biting.  Think I might have had 14 pounds with the biggest at 3.20.  I thought it was a LM  as it felt so heavy and I just could not get it turned.  


.
All Kentucky's and I did not or could not see them most of the time, really hugging the bottom and not raising up when one of their buddy's was caught.

Probably ended up with 15 or 16 all keeps off that ridge dragging the jig.  30 to 40 ft.  Caught them all on a Pig Sticker 5/8th. or a 3/4 in GPO with a 4" Yamamoto trailer, also GP


Surface temps in the dam area at 50 to 51 and up Long Creek at 48 to 50

I fished this morning and the deep bite can be good if you find both shad and active fish. I routinely find lots of shad, but not able to see any active fish. The shad and fish movement appears to be non-stop so you have to spend lots of time searching for the right scenario. The fish are feeding throughout the entire water column so both vertical and horizontal presentations will work (3" SB and ice jig). Once you find them they are very scattered and it is tough to find a wolf pack. Once the morning bite is over (9am or 10am) the fish just disappear. I have found fish this week on the main lake, coves, and in the creeks. One day I spent 3hrs searching and never found anything worth stopping for.
This morning I caught 12 to 15 keepers ( all three species ) with lots of smallmouth in the mix. WT 49.

Snagged, we also picked the Table Rock area as our retirement destination. Our kids and most of our grandkids are in STL so the short drive for visits is an added bonus. We began our search about 4 years before retirement and now have been here daily for 3 years. One of our best decisions. You won’t regret it. And meeting the people on the forum has been an extra pleasure. 
 
Mike

Couldn't be more right, bo. The guy in this pic let us get right up under him so close that I took this pic with my phone. He also had a buddy that was a little bit shy and flew about 100 yards away. 

Donna and I fished Sunday from Campbell Point down to Baxter. Brutally tough for us shallow-water types --- four fish in five hours. Three on a jerk bait and one on that dadgum fish-killing varmint, aka Ned. 😂

Being retired I can spend my fishing time doing goofy stuff.  Today I told myself that I would take pics of the first 10 bass I caught with the Ned rig, focusing on where they were hooked.
Today was a day of dinks, caught over 20 of them, but only one keeper.  Keepers just vanished today for reasons unknown to me.
Not one bass 'gut hooked'.
If you don't like seeing pics of dinks with Ned rigs stuck in them, now is the time to exit.
BTW, I took 11 pics, lost track.  Senior moment.











 

New product at Tackle Warehouse (I kid you not).  Would make a great gag gift for a fishing buddy that does not like Ned rigging.

He pulled a stunt a few years back in BASS where he spent his practice time going around yanking fish off beds from fellow competitors' fishing areas. Was lucky he didn't get his butt royally kicked for that.
That said, the guy can fish. He's proved it on numerous occasions. But dang if I'd consider him an expert on the Ned rig or that it kills bunches of bass. Donna and I neither one have ever mortally injured a bass with a Ned rig. 

Looks like a race track out in front of the Lodge.  Started about 7:30 got quiet for a spell and now they are running all over Long Creek and Clevenger.
34 degree and windy you got to be somewhat mad at them.

M&M had done the research and has determined that Saturday, March 21, is the best date for our annual tournament.  Putting this out as an early alert.  
Haven't gotten the permits yet, anticipating that we will, but once Mike gets the permits we'll make it official.
Come on down!

 

 

Guy's we have just fished that thing for hours upon hours and like Bo said, it is about 95% in the upper lip even for novice anglers.  The following are baits I consider to be the least harmful when "My clients fish them"
Swim Bait Mostly 99% safe.
Float-N-Fly same
Drop Shot  Maybe 98%
Buzz Bait
Spinner bait excluding trailer hook 
Vertical jig
Ned
Ice Jig
Flutter Spoon  Even if your not in contact  Just to big to get deep for the most part
Jig that is NOT A EWG
EWG Jig
Jigging Spoon
C-rig
Tube
Those are kind of how I rank the baits I use as far a mortality from safest  to the most dangerous for the fish in the hands of my clients.
 Next set of baits. 
Cosmetic damage to the fish: Eye damage, mouth and lip damage, scale damage, not life threatening for the most part
Starting with the worst.  Most of these are multiple triple hooked lures
Suspending jerk bait
Top Water 
Crank baits
A-rig
I probably forgot some but that is pretty close