arsenal1477

Man, this is great news. Finally.

Everything 96 Champ said is spot on. As for a time you want to head out, I know some guys that get on the water at 11pm and fish till 3am. Personally, I hit the water an hour or so before sundown and fish through 1a-2a, but that is what works for me this time of the year. You will need to experiment and let the fish tell you what time you need to be out there.

What would you say that big girl weighed in at? 1.5#-2#? She had hips to her.

My goodness! Any idea on what the larger crappie weighed in at? Beautiful.

Thank you sirs, I’ll be sure to reach out to them. I’ve dreamt about fishing that pond for some time now so hopefully they can put me on some. I’ll be sure to mention you fellas. Thanks again.

Sounds good fellas. Yeah, I’m leaning toward a guide one of the days on Fork and then walking the banks of Grapevine. There are a ton of lakes in the area that look solid also. If I catch anything worth mentioning I’ll be sure to get them on here. Thanks for the advice.

Hey all, I realize this is a non-Table Rock Topic, but I am heading down to Dallas for work Apr 29-May24. Seeing as I’m driving I’ll be bringing some fishing gear. I’ll be about 3 miles SE of Lake Grapevine and 65 miles due west of Lake Fork. With as much as we are all on water I was not sure if any of you have experience down there, but pointers/tips on where to fish that are somewhat close would be greatly appreciated. Hope you are all well after the storms this weekend.

Thank you. He is my best friend and a great guy.

I have a few St. Croix Prem and love them. However, I have 3 Browning Medallians I picked up 10 years ago at $40 per that are my go to. Probably not the most sensitive rods, but great back bone with a soft tip that I have caught countless good fish on. I have a 7’ H, 6’6” MH and 6’6” MF. I primarily use them for finesse and small soft baits though: grubs, ned, shaky, Keitechs, salt craws, etc. and never more than 8lb line. Heck, I throw 4lb Berk Fluro on the 7’ for my Ned, can toss it a mile and have caught numerous 5lb fish. My dad bought one of the newer versions of the rod and I must say that it’s not the same so beware. 90% of the fish I caught during my trip last week were on the Brownings and I think primarily because I’m just use to the feel of them. To most guys they might feel like a branch in their hands. 😀

Edyer- You didn’t by chance stay at Oak Hill did you? The guys next to us had their brand new $3k Minn Kota go out on them first trip out on Fri. I believe they are from Michigan. Incredible fisherman and I believe all of them limited out each round. Fun tournament with a bunch of great guys. Last May the fishing was almost as good and I thought I would never see anything like that again...then this trip happened. Every single fish caught was thick and healthy as can be. To all of the guys that are lucky enough to fish lake on the regular, thank you. These fish are that healthy because of how you protect this amazing fishery and because of that provided us with one hell of a trip. Thanks for the comments and I hope it continues to get better.

My father and I had our annual trip and all I could say...and can say is WOW. The fishing right now is incredible. Although the “Easter Squall” occurred and it was quite cold a majority of the week the fishing was on fire. Three of the days I was able to lock down double limits with all fish coming on Keitechs, Ned’s, Rockcrawlers and grubs. Fished the Aunts Creek Tourney Sat-Sun with pre-fish on Fri. During pre-fish I found a 20 yrd stretch of bank in muddy water that gave me 8 keepers in 8 casts with the final 3 being over 5lbs. I didn’t mean to over fish it, but it was an experience out of this world. Managed 10 more keepers from that same stretch over the weekend. At launch on Sat it was 22 degrees we had half an inch of snow in our boat...the lake looked like Christmas. Had our limit within an hour and culled through the mid day weigh in. We were 3rd going into the final and I believe finished 5th out of 70 boats. Sun was a bit more difficult, but my dad was able to lock in a beautiful 5.15lb female just bursting at the seems. Most were caught in 5’-15’, but I think what hurt us Sun is that some are truly trying to move up and we’re were fishing a bit deeper still. By the looks of how full of eggs some of them are below, you can see why. Over the week I would say I had just north of 50 keepers with 4 over 5lbs and 20 between 3-4lbs. My best 6 all week would have gone 28lbs-30lbs. 33 years fishing this lake and I have never seen it like this. Absolutely beautiful. All victims released unharmed. This post has been promoted to an article

Those are some healthy looking fish. Nicely done.

Easy there...crappie need safe spaces also

What a beaut. Congrats on your PB!

While it increases your odds of catching fish, I would not say that fishing the A-Rig makes an angler instantaneously successful or gives them a shortcut to it. Good example: look at the tournaments where the primary medium of catching is the rig. Only one angler/team finishes 1st, the rest are in last. So, unless you are an angler who wins 100% of the tournaments you are in with it, I am not sure I can correlate. Understand though, I am not one to throw it personally. My elbows simply will not allow it. However, I'm not going trash it because anglers are successful using it. If that were the case then we might as well get rid of the Ned Rig. I mean, its dragged(could be dragged using a trolling motor), makes anglers successful on the rock when maybe they weren't before and it catches too many darn fish. Heck, let's get rid of trailer hooks on spinner baits, too. I mean, it modifies the bait by adding an extra hook to increase your hook up ratios if they are biting short. Maybe we should also get rid of depth finders too, especially the ones that cost $5k because you can see exactly where the bass are at. I mean, if I can't afford that then why should someone else be able to have that advantage over me? Why not just get rid of finders all together. Talk about leveling the field. The point is, it's just another tool and one that has probably been around far longer than we realize. If someone wants to splash the cash on them then so be it. Me, personally, I am just fine with the little turd(but I am also not a tournament fisherman). Just my 2 cents.

My goodness that's a large bass. Wow. Yeah, I've been hooked for a few years now due to Dave and it's a fun way to fish. Plus, you have to love the durability of the little guy.

It most definitely was one I will never forget. Honestly, it was almost a religious experience. Thank the lord my buddy was there to kind of corral her into the shallows because once she got into about 6inches of water and had leverage on me it was just a matter of time before she broke me off. I was using 4lb Berkeley 100% Fluoro after all. The way it all set up was just about as perfect as it could have been. Picture the aquarium at bass pro, surrounded by trees with a little brook running into it and the patterns of golden sunlight coming down on that bass when she came out of the tree to hit. It was just a sight to behold. Those are the ones you thank for a good fight and wish them the best. Incredible experience.

In prepping for a trip down to the rock in September, I've been messing around in some creeks recently and wouldn't you know, the big ladies love the rig. Found a sweet little hole, maybe 60foot by 30 foot and not more than 6-8foot deep. Gin clear water, golden hour sun shooting through the trees and as I pitched the rig up under a tree she darted out like she hadn't eaten in weeks. The sight of her was amazing and she fought with every ounce she could. Beautiful scenery, gorgeous weather and perhaps the biggest bass of my life. She was around 21 ounces and right at 6lbs. Released to fight another day. This post has been promoted to an article

Don't be surprised to see a Striper or two also. Saw a guy catch one out of Wolfpen 2 weeks ago that was probably 28"-30" long.

Was out there all last week and when I left on Sunday it was maybe 6" to 1'. Best clarity/fishing I saw/had was around the Wolf Pen area.

Praying for you all. My father and I are heading down on Saturday for the week for our 35th annual trip and while I am excited to get down there it is a bit subdued at the thought of what you all are going through. Sure, we have some roads closed up here in St. Louis, but you guys just keep taking a beating. We should have a nice break in weather for a few days starting Friday so I hope you guys can get out for a bit to try and enjoy it. The lake level is going nowhere for a while and bass should be moving towards the new bank if they haven't already. With the warm up coming it should prove interesting. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Keeping you all down there in my thoughts. Batten down the hatches and stay safe.

The FG is a very strong knot. I can't say that I have ever had any issues with it going through the guides. You will break off at the hook/lure before breaking off at the knot.