Travis Swift

That's why I wondered if you had a different take on it. Really interesting, could be bait, presentation where they were presented who knows. I had a 22 inch bow my last trout trip down and absolutely murdered my jerkbait and it was a tank of a fish. Interesting observations both ways no doubt.

I'm thinking your right DJ on the 100 fish days. Any of you "regulars" that have fished taney the last couple decades realize that 50 to 100 fish days were the norm for the most part but those days appear to be over. I'm sure there will still be some magical days but it's not going to be the norm anymore by any means. I'll take size over qty any day though.

And the crazy thing is Milo, like it's not even the length but the freaking girth and thickness of these fish is insane. I caught not only some of the longest rainbows I've ever caught last year but the sheer size structure of how they are built is like a totally different fish then what we had in there even 5 or 6 years ago. To that point, I started throwing jerkbaits there back in about 1989 or so before jerkbaits were the "cool" thing to do. From say 1989 to up to about 5 years ago I would say I caught about 95% browns when throwing them, you almost never caught a rainbow on them and when you did it was a dink. Now in the last 3 or so years it seems I'm down to about 60% browns and 40% bows on the jerkbait (not dragging but actually working a jerkbait). To me that is a testament of the size structure of these bow's in the lake now, they are big enough they are going for much bigger baits. I know you fish jerkbaits as much as I do and maybe your observation is different then mine but that's my observation the last 3 or so years.

I personally don't mind catching less because the size has gone WAY up which is exciting but I do agree with Seth. For instance one of our trips down is always the week of Thanksgiving, 5 years ago it was pretty easy to catch 100 fish a day that week if you knew what you were doing at all fishing jigs and trout magnets etc. The last two Thanksgivings the fishing for trout was tough enough I spent all my time chasing other species which was fine with me. However I have some friends that have come down two years in a row that are pretty decent experienced taney trout fisherman that vow to never come back that week ever again. There were several boat loads of anglers staying at the resort we were at during Thanksgiving that said their entire boat load was only catching 1 to 3 fish a day and that was fishing high percentage places like Roark, The Fish House, the Bridges and Monkey Island. I always strike up conversations on the dock with folks to be friendly and I've heard more "I've been coming here for the last 30 years and have never seen it this tough" comments in the last year or two than I ever have. Many dock anglers that used to catch their limit are struggling to catch 10 fish in a weeks time it seems. I know they did a survey etc. Like I said it's no complaint on my end as I'm dumbfounded and thrilled with the size of fish I'm catching but the families that come down and fish with powerbait, spoons, worms etc each year off the dock or boat rentals are really seeing a hit now it seems. I'm not sure what the right answer is.

In the world we live in right now I would go see your family, especially if it's been that long. Life is to short, you can always go to your cabin and fish anytime but I would go see them while you have the chance.

Nice fish Pete, congrats buddy!

2 units is by far my favorite Jerkbait water. My ideal is they had the gates open for a week and then close them and crank it back to 2 units. So the fish are used to seeing shad but the water is much more manageable to fish and they are on the prowl more for a jerkbait. I caught 22 browns in one day a few years back on this exact scenario. For throwing jigs either straight or with a jig and float I like 1 unit going and a light misty rain with a slight chop and all you other turkeys at home under a warm blanket

Congrats Phil. That's a tank! Man this lake is in good shape these days! Nice to see you smile to

Sold them all. Sorry.

Lot #1 is a mix of Lucky craft, Strike king, Norman, spro and 6th sense. A couple are used, most are new and in good shape. $40 tyd Lot #2 is Rapalas. Couple thrown, several new. $30 tyd

$35 for the misc lot

thank you for asking. Depending on which ones the lot as a whole should cover 7 to 16 feet is the advertised depths. Course alot of that depends on line diameter, casting length etc but that is the advertised range of the lot.

$40 for the misc lot.

Megabass are sold. Misc lot still available.

$95 shipped for the megabass lot and $45 shipped for the other lot

Lot #1 is Megabass Plus 2's. All new except 2 of the MB Gizzards have been used a bit but work perfect. I did add dots to the MB gizzards to give them a trout look. That can probably be removed if you wish but they look pretty good as is. $105 TYD for all 6 Lot #2 are Knockoffs, several are custom painted. Never been thrown $50 TYD for all 9

Good luck man, I just got down here for the week myself but I'm down lake chasing a different colored fish this week 😁

I throw a megabass vision 110+1 pretty much exclusively and I throw them on 7 foot falcon cara 4 power rods with Tatula TWS SV reels. I used to use Pline CXX in 8 pound but I've gone to 7 pound Daiwa Samauri Fluro and it's just an absolute incredible line and this set up will throw this bait a mile. Very happy with this for bass and brown trout both.

my hooks showed up and checks in the mail today. thanks for being awesome to deal with and trustworthy! love me some Ozark anglers. good folk here!

Had a friend catch an absolutely beautiful hook jaw 24 inch brown out of Bull Shoals last week. It was fat and healthy I think he said it weighed over 7 pounds.

maybe both, might be a bunch in Bull Shoals now to?......it's been a warmer start to fall than usual to so perhaps that has something to do with it maybe?

message sent about the bottom okuma. I love your sales, keep them coming

Thanks, it was a day or two I won't soon forget.

Thank you sir. It's so hard to leave this place every darn time

I had just left you and was in the narrows when Phil came thru. He asked if I had any Browns today, I told him not yet. Literally 3 mins after that I had a 10+ pound brown on my jerkbait and thru it mid air. We saw that brown you saw today yesterday, he was laying in a tree right there on that flat, I think he's 15+