Smithvillesteve

Farmed my yard backing into the garage as well. 2 weeks ago. Thought ground was frozen but it wasnt on top!! One OA guy cant prefish. darn the luck!!! Need about 20 more OA guys to get stuck!!!!

I read on my BassBlaster that Tenn is trying to pass a bill that outlaws all tournament fishing in the months of June, July and August. Claimed that as much as 80% of the fish caught in these tournaments dont survive. Kumar, and i like him, claimed that was nonsense and that Tenn should put its attention to Asian carp. They are causing more damage than any tournaments. I dont fish tournaments so i dont have any skin in the game. However, I do appreciate the immediate catch and release of fish that the MLF has employed. We have to do better and thats a start!

No neds allowed in the OA tournament is the word on the street!!!

I read where most, if not all, pro fishermen prefer to run their trolling motors on a low speed and keep it on continuously. Versus a stop and run it on a higer speed to move. They believe the continuous noise at a lower volume is better than the on/off again noise of a higher volume. Just saying.

Once again thanks for the valuable information here. I did read here awhile back, i bassblaster i believe, where Mike McClelland likes to use mono to throw jerkbailts. I think i will give that a shot next time and check on the difference. Sounds like Buster is the man down there!! Love that info Bill. My problem is i am all thumbs when it comes to changing out o rings! A sincere thanks to all you guys willing to share your information. Champ is so right: this is such a valuable resource!!!

Getting some cabin fever up here boys! And looking at the long range forecast for TR it still doesnt look too good. Question on the jerkbait: I notice when i pause my jerkbait it sits in the water nose down. About a 45 degree angle. It also floats up very very slowly. Is this what i want? I throw mine on 12 lb Seaguar InVisX flurocarbon line. I never had any confidence throwing a jerkbait but finally started catching a few the last couple of years. Now i love it in this cold water. Thanks boys!!

Thanks Phil for the detailed report. My buddies and I are starting to get cabin fever and the only open water around is down by you guys or a power plant over in Kansas. Thinking about coming down soon. Hope to see at the OA bass tournament in March.

I cant say it any better than you just did Mr Babler! I have become a much better bass fisherman since i joined OA and started checking out the forum page every morning. I sincerely appreciate the info you guys are willing to share. One common theme from you boys was the early bite. Especially this time of the year. And especially up the White where i am fishing. I am going to have to get some discipline and go to bed a little earlier and get out there early. I had never fished a "highland reservoir" before so this is a new experience for me. 2 things that really hurt me: 1) I am not very good at deep fishing. I will throw a jig and a ned sometimes in 30 fow and thats about it. I dont have very good electronics. I want to upgrade. Sometimes you boys down there talk about finding fish suspended in 50 fow in 80 fow. Thats tough for me. 2) A lot of you boys talk about finding the baitfish. Sometimes Bo talks about not fishing for an hour or so until he finds the baitfish. Being a visitor to the lake i dont have the time to do that and once again my electronics hurts me there. Thanks for your input boys. I look forward to seeing you at the OA tournament. P.S. Dan: I can only throw that A Rig for so long. Wears my old fanny out! I did catch my first A Rig fish on this last trip so i did gain some confidence in it.

Got down to beautiful Table Rock Lake late friday night and fished sat, sun and mon. Gorgeous 3 day weekend! Air temps in the 60's. Cloud cover sat and sunday with light winds. Sunny and low 70's mon. 2 days, 1 day, and day of a new moon! Water temps in mid 40's and did find 50 degrees monday. I"m thinking its on!! Started sat throwing a jerkbait and my partner, who shall remain unnamed, and i caught 4 bass in the first 1hr and a half with a nice 17.5 inch LM in there! The jerkbait bite is on!! Uhhhhhh not so fast. We caught only 1 more fish the rest of the day. Sunday we caught 2 bass. I got shutout!! Nada!! El Skunko!! Embarrassed to write this!! Monday more of the same. We caught 4 bass, no keepers. I threw my jerkbait. Jig. Crankbait. Underspin. Spoon. Ned. and even tossed an A Rig around a little bit. Hard for me to thow that thing very long. I'm 66 years old. Tried various depths. Shallow out to 30 ft. Tried bluff ends, points, dropoffs. ledges. Then i get home and read where Quillback catches 30 bass with 5 keepers! Dock in it killed em! Somebody posted it took 22 lbs to win the Cape Tournament! Talk about a punch to the gut!! Came home with my tail between my legs. A humbling experience. What am i doing wrong boys? I realize the local boys have an advantage down there but come on!! The local boys win all the tournaments up here at Smithville most of the time. Any advice from you boys? Yes, it was still a great trip with a good friend. Beautiful weather. Nobody got hurt!! But my feelings are hurt!!

I've had to strip down and swim after mine 3 times!!!!

Dan you and RPS are very knowledgeable about these walleyes. There's a guy up at Stockton, goes by Lmtout, that knows quite a bit too. One of these days i would like to fish with you RPS down at TR for these walleyes. Pick your brain. I agree that the water at Cherry Creek had a lot more color to it than TR or Stockton! I've been told one oz bottom bouncer for every 10 ft of water?? My problem is i only have a 12 volt trolling motor so i have to use the gas motor when dragging those bottom bouncers around. I hate that!! Also my depth sounder does NOT have a mph on it so i am always just guessing!! But i have caught a few!! I really prefer using the wind as my power! Drift some points and flats. Nice and quiet!! Dan: I havent tried vertically jigging a Binks spoon but i notice you have success!! Anyway, I know this is mostly a bass forum but i love talking eyes with you boys.

Yea, i didnt think it was too bad. He was using that slow death rig hook on basically a carolina rig. He wasnt too high on the 1 oz 2 oz bottom bouncers we use. Too much for them to see he claims. But he was also fishing in 5 ft of water!! I found it entertaining and knowledgeable.

Thanks Quillback for sharing this info. Give this old retired guy something to watch up here in Smithville where it is a balmy -4 degrees!!

A bunch of married, old, cabin fever guys met last weekend down at Taney for our 41st annual tournament. Thanks to the folks at Trout Hollow for putting up with us for 4 days. We struggled catching fish for the most part. They were running water pretty hard the entire time. We would catch 8-12 fish but some of them were in the 14 inch range which made it fun. There were 33 guys in the tournament. Sunday a good buddy of mine boated an 8 lb 6 oz brown trout to win the tournament. A beautiful fish!! We enjoy our trip down there every year.

I am in Quill. Thanks to you and Mike for doing the work.