About to Break Loose. 3-11-19

Bill were you using the long rod?

That looks and sounds like a float n fly, old Willy trick 

I fished Kim City area this morning and had 5 keepers on the underspin with 3" swimbait. Tried 5 locations and the 5th location was a channel swing with the right mix of trees and bait and there were just a few dying shad at this location. Watch for any surface activity and take advantage real quick. The surface activity is short lived. The lake is busy.

It's getting to night time temps staying above 50, has always been a good time for me.

Awesome Bill.....thanks for the report. Hope to get down there soon.

Those are some great fish!  All the shad must be down lake, I hardly see any up the White.

Yep, it was an 11 footer. I fished it 10' deep and was just not getting bit, so I extended the leader to 15' and it worked.  Dock can help me on this but it seems most of the fish are in that 18' to 30' range either suspended or on the shore.    Dock figured out KC I had to get away form the dying shad and birds.  From White's Branch to Big Cow you can scoop the dead shad in a net.  As soon as you get away you get bit.  Dock might have been upstream from the bridge I didn't go that far, so I don't know how many dead shad are up that way.  It's funny as soon as you pass Spring Branch no more dying shad.

Ramps at Indian Pt., Moonshine, State Park Cow Creek and Schooner were all busy.  Bfl usually brings in the 200 boat range plus the non-boaters are bring their's for a week of practice.  Then, this time of the year Anglers will Probably have close to 100 and of course that is a buddy so that usually adds  another 50 or so.  Bfl is out of State Park and Anglers out of Kimberling.

Weather is going to be wicked so that will hold the practice  down some.  I'm losing a trip this morning.  I had Wed. Thurs. Friday booked.  Hope I at least get Friday.

Good Luck

12 hours ago, dblades said:

It's getting to night time temps staying above 50, has always been a good time for me.

From the looks of the extended forecast with the rain and wind and the next 10 day temperatures this water will blow thru the 50's really quick and it will be just all over us.

For Blue Eye, Table Rock Lake I'm showing mid to upper 60's and mid to upper 70's with high 40 and low 50 degree nites, in the 2 week extended.

I was upstream from the Kim City bridge. I kept my boat in 30' and fan cast over trees in 15' to 30'. Some of the fish I caught had live shad in their mouth. Before the last extreme cold spell I caught a swimbait limit one day where they all came less than 12'. The shad are located for a potential great pre-spawn bite. There is so much bait that it might impact how fast the bass migrate to their desired pre-spawn location.

Dick Collier and Bob Tindle both showed me a spot near Kennel Branch that has deep trees in it.  These are places that hold staging fish and they will rise in the water column as the water warms and patrol the tree tops.  Most all is pole timber.  Most are in the up to 70'  to 80' depth range that come up to within 10'  of the surface.  They are not in the channel, but on the edge, kind of on the down slope to the deepest part of the channel.  The channel breaks and behind the trees it flattens out to the 20 to 30 foot range.  It was a place that both Bob and Dick, along with Beck would throw a jerkbait in the spring and a flutter spoon and a top water in the Summer.  Just about a full rifle shot off the bank.

This is a place that Collier who was leading a BASS event here got beat out of the back of his boat by a Co-angler throwing a jerkbait.  Dick was also throwing one but the bites came in the back of the boat.  I think the Co. had over 20 pounds.  Beck also got toasted out of the back of the boat herein a big event with his Co. catching 20 lbs. also on a jerkbait.. 

That was back in the day of the Rogue and the Redfin so it was a while back.   It is one of those locations that if you have 3 guys in the boat the middle guy may catch them all or you might go there 15 times and never get a bite.   You just never know as it is open water and you are fan casting.  

Beck also had a little girl catch a 10.1 pounder here on a float n fly, not that long ago.

Bill and I have taken a group of dentist for years before  he died.  About 18 yrs. ago on a very hot early late April day. with the calmest slickest high sun you have ever seen, his group of 2 dentist caught 28 pounds best 5 on Redfins off that location.  I thought it was just to nasty and the water was cold, low 60's.  This was the first hot, warm day and they just toasted them.  Mary was waiting at the check-in. with a camera so I kind of knew something was up.  In those days we just had bag phones .  It is a derby with the dentist usually about a dozen to 15 boat teems.  We had 15lbs. of smallmouth on a split shot and I though I was going to win the day.  

To this day, that is the most beautiful set of 5 LM I have ever seen green/turquoise backs with vibrant black stripe and snow white football bellies.  Everyone of them looked brand new, liked they were all born yesterday as 5 pounders. 

They weighed in a 7 pound and change for big bass and 4 more at 5lbs. or an once  or two more each.   Really Bill just did not get excited about fish, but he was beaming from ear to ear.  Most always no matter how big or nice his were, he always said he liked yours better.

Give me a minute here.  No words can describe how much I miss my friend.

I went in there yesterday and followed it back and there was a line of shad  at least a 1/2 mile long that completely blacked me out from 15' to 60' solid.  I really don't know if I have ever seen this big of a school, must have been millions, and millions of 3.5 inch shad in it.   At times you could see them flashing and a few would come to the surface.  There were also plenty floating dead, and lots of gulls working there.

This location does not work 365, it may only work a dozen times a year, usually now till spawn and then at times early morning on top water.  I just don't know and really I have gotten burned so many times  that I don't fish it much.  I'll check it from time to time but there are times it will win any tournament that has ever been had on this lake.  The 5 plus years that Bill and I fished tournaments together, I don't think we ever fished it, but perhaps we should have.

Good Luck