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Mid December White River fishing report Had just a super morning out of Eagle Rock. Fished up to the Arkansas line and then back down stream to the mouth of Rock Creek. 27 bass, all LM and almost all on A-rig. They are not that deep up there, most all are under 23’. They are on the roll offs right where the flats dump into the channel. If there is structure that’s a positive. At times you will be in the middle of the lake, but only in 15’ to 25’ of water. Surface temp 48/49 degrees and just flat out very, very few shad. Fished a spot I really like in a creek, and caught 5 nice crappie in about 30 minutes. There were schools of them suspended in 12’ to 15’ of water. Could have caught a limit but I don’t freeze fish. 5 for Becky and I are really to many as she has a one skillet rule. Beautiful 65 degree December day with no wind.

Beautiful day on the lake. WT 51-53. WC about 3ft. Had 12 black bass -3 keepers (mix of spotted bass and large mouth). Two on Jerkbait from brush pile in 20 fow. The rest came on a Damiki rig following bait with fish around using FFS. Bait was mostly in 40 fow on long flats. I don't post much because I'm usually humbled when I go to the lake, but I finally caught a few today using the tips I get from this forum. I greatly appreciate you all sharing your knowledge! I also caught a very well fed white bass - 3.7 lbs. Pretty sure it was a white and not a hybrid. let me know what you think. Tight lines!

We just had to get out in this wonderful weather yesterday. We had two goals for the day. Get Pat a rock bass and for me to get something on the vintage Fenwick fly rod. I had some Intel on the rock bass from @Ham. We more than met our goals with a bonus. Hit the Rock bass first. Caught between a dozen and 15. Fun little fish. We both used Grinch bugs in Olive,rust and black. We were just stripping back from downstream of the hole back to us to catch. Trout got in the way and we had to catch them out as we went. We snagged some and lost a couple bugs. I finally suggested to use an indicator to drift back and keep it off the bottom. This worked and I was the one who got the bonus. How fun on the vintage gear. Measure net showed 16 inches. It doesn't look like it but it was measured. You decide. It took a black Grinch bug. We left that fun and worked upstream. Both stripping Grinch bugs or so I thought. Pat was down from me just pulling them in. I asked what color are you using? Black okay so was I but not catching like her. We worked farther upstream catching. Fish were all color combinations. Fish would hit on the quick strip. The ones along the bank you had to mess with those for a reaction. Slower and a lot of jigging action is what they wanted. We ended up below the dam. Pat caught quickly and then they slowed down. Hatches were going on then. A small black caddis and some of those hard to see cream color flying critters. There were so many trout just under the surface some with fins out sipping and hitting the flys. I put on a smaller buzzball. I would drift it across the fish. Some were so picky they would follow it to only refuse but others would nail it without question. Crazy some were deeper fish coming straight up to take it. Fun. Pat finally got below me to just net the fish. We finally gave it up and left fish biting at 2:15. Back at the truck getting out of waders as usual I with the stiff back was having trouble getting waders off. Pat stepped up and about pulled me off the picnic table. Laughing while doing it. Putting up the gear I look on the tailgate and saw a black Simi seal leach. Hey when did you start using this? As soon as we left the rock bass hole. I asked what you were saying them on. No you asked what color 😄. She did out strip my for sure. About the vintage rod. Dang it works great. Standard over head casting. Using double taper 409 fly line that is rated like lines of past for glass rods. Really throws even the Grinch bug with a 4mm heavy tungsten bead. On roll casting that same fly there was some trouble getting lift on the pickup for the roll. Wind made that worse. With lighter fly I could roll and shoot it way out. This is going to be a terrific fun trout, panfish and light bass rods. I may get it out today and see if I can get some pond fish in this unseasonably warm weather.

Another spring-like day on Table Rock. Flat calm early, fish are close to the banks, good day for throwing the ned rig. Last weather report I saw, they are talking 70's next week.

Late start today, started about 10 AM and fished until 4 PM. Fished the banks, caught 20 bass, mostly spots, on the ned rig. Fish were in 5 - 20 FOW. Around wood and rocks. This is the time of year the fat spots are biting, one of my favorite times to get them. No one on the water today, I saw 2 other boats. I can't remember the last time I was on this lake and only saw 2 boats. WT 54

SWPA has been running water in the mornings this week, so I made a trip to Three Chutes this afternoon after the water went down. Fishing was good with lots of rainbows, 2 browns and 1 cuttie. Best flies were a size 14 scud and a size 16 egg pattern under an indicator. Here is the best one today on the scud.

We are having lots of minimum flow water that makes for some great wading opportunities. I went to the Narrows this morning and had a good trip. Lots of rainbows and 1 brown. Best fly today was a size 14 slush egg. While walking up the bank I spooked a nice fish and made a mental note of where it was holding. About an hour later on my way back to the truck I fished that area and got lucky and hooked what turned out to be this nice male rainbow.

Been playing with some of these. The one day that I have used them on the river they produced fish better than other things I tried. These are all size 14.

Gotta love the minimum flows for some great wading opportunities. Went back to Rim Shoals this morning and hiked down the trail to try some different water. The fishing was good with some nice rainbows and a few browns. Best flies this morning was a tandem soft hackle setup swung across stream and stripped back. Only saw one other fisherman and one guide boat. As I have said before, the average size of the fish seems to be better and they appear to be eating well. Here's some pics...

Well I got home today. I cut my trip short as I just was not having the success I expected to have. MS has not stocked. My first stop was Sipsey Fork, Alabama. I had no idea what to expect did very little research other than its a year round stocked trout fishery. It was raining off/on through Mississippi/Alabama but then it stopped. I am sure there is better access but the only one I found was about a 20 foot drop from the top of the walk way down to the water right below the power house. Unexpected....I'd have to pull them quite a ways on light line but I could see fish. Started with a jig. Bunch of short strikes, I could tell they were small....probably too small to get the jig good so switched to a smaller trout magnet. Hard to cast with all the fencing and light gear, mostly vertical jigging. My first fish came unhooked half way up. Off I go east. I had prepared to car camp at one of the streamside campgrounds along the Tellico River east of Tellico Plains. My plan was to stick to this area for day 2. I just happened to check the radar and saw a pretty good line of storms headed my way in the next 3-4 hours before I bailed off into zero service. Decided to a hotel was a better idea for the night. Glad I did. The wind was bad, tornado warnings just to the south and lost power through the night. Next morning driving into fish and there was a bunch of freshly cleared trees that had fallen in the wind and lots of limbs and litter in the road. The Tellico was a little dingy but I was going higher up into a feeder stream so didn't expect any issues. I did have 2 options to get to my point: Option 1 was a rough forest service road coming in from the top side. About a 2 mile hike. The other was coming up from the bottom, about a 4 mile hike in but paved access. Due to all the trees down and limbs I chose to hike up vs. try the more remote forest service road. Sycamore creek is a fairly well known spot for Brook trout but you have to get to the upper section. The lower couple miles are mostly rainbows but there is a fish block just before it dumps into the Tellico so I presume these rainbows are wild. A very defined trail and moderate climb. No big deal. Once I got to where I wanted I dropped down to the creek. Here I had my first run in with what I think is Rhododendrons. These bushes are thick and their big leaves catch everything. Net, lines, fly rods, backpack straps, you name it they grab it. The leaves are also heavy compared to say our brush locally or out west. It cause problems at every stream I would fish from here on. You can see how thick it is here along just above the stream. In spots it makes bank hoping impossible and right up the stream is the only option. Fighting through it completely blows any ability to be stealthy. Just tough. However every little pool here had multiple hungry fish. Just dipping. This was the biggest and prettiest. I caught a half dozen, hooked and lost or missed another dozen then headed back. Right before getting back to my car I decided to check out the lower river for some rainbows. From here I expected to go another 4-6 miles up the road and cross into North Carolina and fish the upper Tellico for a North Carolina trout. From here on, things went haywire. Access in most of these spots are real bushwhacks. The rhododendrons really choke down on the smaller streams making them impossible to fish and almost every stream required you to go down steep access of 20-30 feet to get down to the creek and then through the brush. I fished another 3 or 4 spots on the upper Tellico and never saw a fish. I assume I either spooked them fighting getting down there or they just simply were not there. I moved on and used the night time to drive to Moccasin Creek State Park in Georgia.

Hey y’all been a bit since I’ve posted, for me my fishing season is in full swing being slowed down here at the farm. After harvest got on some spotted bass on lower black river, the fishing was fantastic for several weeks throwing a spinnerbait. With deer season in full swing at that time had the river to myself usually. Got to meet up with Ham one day and we spanked them all day on a variety of baits. It’s always good to catch up with Ham we always have the best time and usually the fish cooperate to. As my daughter says I’ve created a monster in my son in law, he’s seen here in the video netting some bass from the Norfork winter series tournament we have fished twice this year. Spinnerbait was once again the ticket this weekend. Last month it was topwater! Been nice being able to fish without having to scope so much! My son is pretty busy these days and for those who have followed him and watched him grow up on this forum he is now 17. That’s hard to believe, he’s busy these days and doesn’t fish as much with me as he did but we still get together when we can. He is still also fishing high school tournaments with his best bud, I still enjoy being the boat captain, we have made some fun memories. Next up gonna start chasing a few walleye on the lower current and black rivers. I’m still filming for my own project now called Casting Forward Outdoors it airs here locally and I put them on YouTube It’s basically a local fishing program with a devotional type segment in every show. I felt led to do that a few years ago. Anyhow gonna post more on here when I can, life just gets busy. Have enjoyed this forum for years and am looking forward to jigfest! Bret Project 12-07_Full HD 1080p.mp4 Project 11-19_Full HD 1080p.mp4 Project 11-30_Full HD 1080p.mp4 247E2C3E-C25A-4DFE-9E3D-A4D083C446D6.mp4

Guess there were three OAF members at Bennett yesterday. The BilletHeads and @Skeeter ZX190 . Wish we would of run into you man. We fished the upper zone 3 and got into more Rock Bass and trout throwing black Simi seal leeches. Got out fill of that and proceeded to work up to the bridge in zone 2. We literally hammered the trout. Pat mainly stayed with the leach while I tried different things. I used an egg deep under the indicator. Then did some buzzball dries. Below the bridge in the fast water we both high sticking Pat with a Y2K and I with a chenille orange worm. Great day and we almost fished six hours. This was the biggest rainbow. 15 inch.

Took advantage of the super nice weather and gave Bennett a try. Lots of people had the same idea. Fished from 10:00 am until 2:30 pm and caught just north of 40. My most productive fly was a size 20 Eagan's Thread Frenchie with a 2.4 mm tungsten bead fished under a foam caddis. All but about 5 came on the nymph. I finished the day at the end of the park close to the old wooden bridge. There was a young man just downstream of me and I could tell he was struggling. He hadn't caught anything so I gave him a few of my thread frenchies and told him how to fish it. He didn't have an indicator so I went to my truck and got him one of mine. In a matter of about 30 minutes he had caught 5. I was pleased, and I think he was too.

Fenwick FF805. Pristine condition. Never had a reel on it until yesterday. In rod sock and tube. 45 bucks. @tjm from what I can tell mid 70s to mid 80s? What do you think? I like it!

Hit the water at first light, lake was flat calm until 1130 or so. I like that flat calm for fishing a ned rig this time of year. Caught some bass, mostly spots, on steep banks with trees. Had a little over 20 with a half-dozen keeper sized. All on the ned except 2 caught on a 1/16 oz marabou jig. When I had loaded the boat, I threw the jig out behind it hoping to catch a bluegill or two to keep for cut bait for a future catfish trip. The jig got whacked by a close to two lb. LM. Heck of a fight on that buggy whip I use for those light jigs. It was fun, I'll have to throw those jigs a little more often. WT 51

Moccasin Creek State Park is bordered on one side by a hatchery. Search "Trout and Moccasin Creek State Park" and you get tons of hits. The section along the park is reserved for kids and handicap and it gets all the fan fair; stocked heavy with all 3 species. There is mention of trout farther up and brookies above the falls. A place where one could conceivable get a Georgia Slam. As I paid for my camping, I asked the park attendant how far up I need to go. He said its steep and dangerous and he would be surprised if I could get above the second falls. He also said fishing is slow right now. I was the only person there. Plan was to hike to Hemlock falls and fish the big pool below the falls. I did and never had a bite, never saw a fish either. Then I packed up and followed a faint trail around and over. There is another set of falls about 1 more mile in. I assume past that is Brookie heaven. At this point, I will never know. The trail disappears after about 100 yards, down trees all over, wet trails, steep inclines, lots of leaves on the ground making things slick. I bailed. It wasn't worth getting hurt. A slip would have likely had me going down 30-60 feet. Not worth a major injury. Most of the trail before Hemlock falls is 30 feet above the river. I hopped around a bit but never saw a fish and never re-strung my rod. I was deflated. When I left, I stopped back by the ranger and asked about an adjacent road that may access the headwaters. It has been closed and FS doesn't have plans to open it. The only real options were 6 miles coming in from the AT....not worth it so I bailed and headed to my backups for Georgia. Warwoman WMA has multiple creeks said to have all 3 species in it. Generally decent road system to get you close to fishable spots. I saw 1 fish and caught that 1 fish. Again a still from the video of the kind of stuff I was trying to get through. My assumption is that much of this debris is leftover from Helene. Or maybe its just always like this? This is the last of the fish pictures....if that's what your here for you can skip the rest. I also managed to break my fly line here. Frustration with being tangled in everything on a line that was probably 8 years old and not been taken care of. I drove a lot of miles through forest service roads and stopped at 4-5 creeks. Bushwacked down.....looked around hit 2 or 4 holes and then head back to the car. I bailed from here and headed to Walhalla SC. I found the cheapest motel in town, I was sore and wet, mentally beat. Next morning I headed to the Chattooga Fly shop. Interesting place. I highly recommend. I reloaded and headed to the upper Chattooga looking for anything. The section between Burrells Ford and Ellicot Rock has a decent trail, at least up until it crosses the East Fork of the Chattooga. Then it gets smaller but not terrible and started to get higher above the river. I hiked beyond Ellicot Rock up into NC. Generally the stream is more open down by the river with more room to cast and far less bush wacking. However my fortunes did not change. On about the 5th or 6th run I fished, on my first cast I had a fish come up and slam my pink indicator. I did everything but bust out a seine to catch that fish but never saw it again. That would be the only fish I saw this day. Frustrated and with the weather looking good at home, I packed it in and drove home.

I got away for my annual winter trip over to the big pond. It takes me all day for this trip as I have to leave by 3:30 to get over for the early bite and I almost missed it this time. Unloaded at old 86 about 6:30ish and had visions of big bass eating the ice jig and they did not disappoint me. Had a great day with a solid limit early and 15.50 for my best 5 at the end of the day, I was happy with that for me🤣. The deep fish seemed to bite in windows throughout the day, but for sure early was the best bite for the bigger fish. I had a 5.10 largemouth and a 3.09 smallmouth before I ever saw another boat. Best baits were Ice Jig, damiki, and a small paddle tail with a 3/8 oz slow rolled though the roaming spotted bass packs and the were out today. I tired the A-rig, spoon, jerkbait to no avail, they would react to my offerings, but not bite. Surface water temp was 52.5 when I started and 53.2 when I loaded up to head home. I tired around 9 different locations between the dam and the 86 bridge and caught fish on about every one. One spot middle of the day I lost 3 that I never got to see that I guess were biting short and not getting a good hook. The water was a different color between the dam to the bridge and I had to adjust at several of the locations from different color baits to tweaking the graph. Deep fish were anywhere from 30-70 and like normal a single was hard to get to commit to the bite, they would follow and act interested, but if you could get 2-10 in a group you could make that work. The big 5.10 largemouth had 2 others with him about the same size and they zoned in fast and if you could have got another bait down you could have had a double because they was ready. I never caught a fish that was high up in the water say 5-10 feet deep, they would streak the bait and hit it but it is almost like those fish where hitting the bait with their mouth closed, maybe slapping at it because even with a jerkbait I did not get a hook up. Just a good day on the big pond. Lots of boat trailers were at ever ramp I passed and most boats where out between 9-2pm looked like. Good fishing and enjoy the fishing deep or shallow. Only thing I did not try was a shallow crankbait on the rocks maybe next time? If believe the ramp talkers, I did talk with a couple different guys loading up after me and one had a good day shallow on a crankbait and one only had a few small fish for his efforts dang fishermen never can believe what they say

I fished this morning and landed on a good group of fish that lasted all morning. I could see fish somewhere around the boat all morning. There was shad in the area but not a ton. Also lots of trees, but the fish do not hug the trees during the first couple of hours because they are constantly moving. When 9am rolls around they start hanging around the trees. The last time out I used a 7/8 spoon and 5/8 jig head with a jerk minnow bait, so I started with those baits and quickly realized they were not working. I ended up using 3 different jig sizes (1/4, 3/8 & 1/2 oz) with each having a 2.8 Keitech. My favorite was the 1/2 oz and it was very productive because of its efficient drop speed in deepwater. I kept the boat in 40-50 FOW and would pitch the 1/2 oz SB to groups of fish that were postured near the bottom, then just reel the SB straight up thru the fish and they liked the bait moving upwards. Sometimes they would react better if I speeded up my retrieve. I did not catch many deep fish using a horizontal retrieve. There was also some surface fish chasing small pods of shad and I was able to catch a few with the 1/4oz SB. Caught plenty of fish and most were K's with a few LM & SM in the mix. I alternated between 2D & FFS and each technology works great for deep winter fish that are grouped up. I attached a 2D picture and I could have taken dozens of 2D pictures showing groups of fish under the trolling motor. WT 52.5 - 53

Ray and Rick, Ray is catching a decent rainbow.i just cant get away fromthe pretty tiny fish. The BilletHeads deeply concentrating on presentation of their flies. Bret and Michael The Billetheads having a conversation with Rick and Ray.the famous wok.Cody made Lo Mein for dinner Saturday.

Had a great time as usual. Special group of people! Fished with Ham Friday afternoon and Saturday. We got a late start yesterday because someone went to the wrong access - Wildcat instead of White Hole. I hate when that happens - but when you don't google and go on your memory that's what happens I fished pretty much the same thing both days - 1/16th or 1/25th oz sculpin or a black/sculpin jig with 2 pound line. Ham said we caught over 100 each day. He has the clicker so I'll go with his numbers. I had 4 cutts and 2 smallies, rest rainbows. Fished Rim Friday, White Friday first half and Buffalo the last few hours of Saturday. Buffalo was the best - best bite and bigger fish. I had one brown at Buffalo and the 2 smallies. There's plenty of fish in the river, that's for sure. We fished anywhere where there was current - faster the better. Head of shoals, in the shoals, tail out, behind any rocks and wood - there was a fish or two. I just wonder how this situation is going to help the fishery - I think it will grow bigger fish. Less fish, more food. Ark needs to figure out how to help those trout not get caught and let them grow. They need a better food base and protection from the meat eaters. And like Ham said, protection from the chummers-bait/catch-and-release guides. This will, though, hurt businesses on the river. I talked to Miles and he said they took a hit, and he's worried about 2026.

We got the chance to get out of town, so we bolted to Oklahoma. I fished yesterday evening and this morning, and caught 15 or so with black and olive buggers. Caught a couple of really nice ones today and had an encounter with a friendly river otter at daybreak. He torpedoed right up to where i was standing and startled the crap out of me. Lol. It was big and I had no idea what he was at first. I jumped and almost slipped on the rocks. 😅 He was about 5 feet from me and stuck his head and whiskers out the water. He stared me in the eyes for about 5 seconds as if to say, “You alright man?” Lol.. then he dipped his head back under and swam off. Guess he just wanted to check me out. Pretty cool seeing one up close like that.

All we have used so far.

Been restoring dad’s childhood Willy’s jeep today was a big step in the right direction! Dad rode my mom in this jeep when she was 10. She’s now 72. Dad said first thing he’s gonna do is take her for a spin again when it’s done. Started a year ago with a bare frame. Making some progress IMG_1883.mov

I met up with Cody @gotmuddy and his sister to fish the Narrows. Google maps lied to me telling me originally the trip would be 2.5 hours, when I left at 5:30 it showed over 3. Luckily the Captain was forgiving of my tardiness. It started off very cold, but the sun came out and the temps rose. Fishing started slower than expected but the bluebird skies were as far as you could see. I started tonget a little hungry and offered some fruit to my mates, including my breakfast banana. OPE!! Well I got skunked, Cody and his sister Ella each caught 1 smallie. Still a great time together be hanging out with friends.

It's the weekend of January 30-31 50% off all rooms, stalls and boats for those participating. When calling for reservations, just say you're attending Taneyfest.

I made the long drive down to the Arkansas River today. Still hoping to add a species and trying to catch a few fish. I didn’t push to get there early. It’s been a late afternoon bite this Fall. I don’t have a lot of experience down there, but this year has been different from the other years that I have fished there. I feel like I am learning the area and how to fish it, but my success is down. I am a blame myself first guy, but I think it is just the way it is. I wanted to catch at least 10 fish and get this year into the Top 5 as far as numbers of fish caught. I started with the TFO Bug Launcher. I got some Bluegill, RedEar, and Longear Sunfish. After I got my 10 fish, I tried for Stripers. They said Nah. a Skipjack ate the fly I was using for Stripers. I switched to spinning after a while. I caught some tiny Yellow Bass. I caught Spotted Bass and Largemouth Bass as well. The bite picked up late. I was catching fish pretty quickly and was trying to maximize my numbers as dark came on.Unfortunately, I lost my multiple jig rig to a fish and I didn’t want to stop to re-rig. So, I picked up the fly rod again and caught more Skipjack and a really nice White Bass that fought more like a Wiper. I did get a couple of would be keeper crappie late and a Fun Sized Striper. I stayed as late as I could and then had to load up in the dark. I would have sworn there was a street light at the ramp. then the long drive home up Hwy 7, but at least I could listen to the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Carolina Hurricanes on XM. that’s gonna be my last trip of the year. I will try to go on 1/1/26.

I was dumbstruck when I heard the news. I still don’t really know how to process it really. It just doesn’t make any sense. I hate it and I don’t understand how this happened. he had a lot of friend a and I wish he would have opened up to someone and ask for help. IF you’re not ok and are hurting, Please reach out to others and ask for help. Everyone needs help and friendship. It’s ok to ask for help when you need it.

Guys this has really hit me hard the past couple days! Apparently, I was probably the last person he ever fished with and shared a boat with. We talked about a lot of things last Saturday from life to family to jobs, etc.. We had the best time that day, and he showed no signs of any issues from our conversations. My friends, if your ever going through something and need to talk to someone, if you can’t find that person, I’m sure there’s some on this forum that would be glad to talk to you and feel free to call or message me anytime, I will talk and pray with you if needed. I’ve known Micheal I guess since jig fest number two and he has shared my boat several times and it was always a great experience. We really hit it off this particular trip he even checked on me to see if I made it home safely when I left early that Saturday evening. Rest in peace, my friend your family is in my thoughts and prayers. Bret IMG_1873.mov

Up spending time with my FIL, and have a friend with a place on Wallenpaupack he bought primarily for ice fishing. Had the chance to join him for a few hours today. This was my first time fishing on ice, and prior to today, I could really not see the attraction. As with any fishing, it was hot and cold - we couldn’t buy a bite on the tip-ups(baited with trapped creek chubs and one 11” fallfish)…but I was able to jig up a handful of nice perch and a surprise nice brown(Yes, I was scoping-and I’m not sorry…lol). I get it now, and look forward to the next opportunity! …

I fished this morning and the deep bite was really strong. The 1st location(creek) had lots of fish and I had it to myself for about an hour. Then an extremely good guide (Eric Olliverson) pulled up and I let him know he was welcomed to fish anywhere around me. His consistency on the winter bite is just amazing with clients that have different skills each day. My 2nd location (creek) included several loons and was loaded with fish. The action was non-stop....I left them biting. The best bait was a 1/2oz tungsten queen tackle jig head with a 2.8 Keitech. The ice jig worked as well. All the fish were suspended deep and I encountered numerous large schools. I would throw the 1/2 oz Keitech to large groups (10-15) that were normally 40-50 ft from the boat and suspended down around 40-50 ft. The overall deep was in the 60-80 ft range. The suspended fish wanted the Keitech moving upwards at a 45 degree retrieve. I tried to catch fish postured below pods of surface shad but they would follow and not commit. WT 52-53

I have also spent quality time with Michael. He has been to the house. Fished many hours in Oklahoma chasing white bass, Hybrid and some great crappie. Met his daughter on the river that is getting married this summer. Michael you will be missed and there will be places that we have fished together. Special spots we shared. You will be in my thoughts now and then buddy.

Caught some too. Been itching to go lately but haven't had a calm, free, and reasonably warm day until now, although it was a little breezier than I prefer. Very few boats out, now is the time to go. Water temps were 45 or so. Real clear, and higher than I'd expect for this time of year. Crappie were where you'd typically find them, deep main lake structure, mouths of coves. Good size too, no short fish. Some whites mixed in with them, also good sized, I threw several of those back. I used #3 jigging raps and jigs today, nothing else. I also caught this literal spotted bass, never seen one like it. Probably between 3 and 4lbs.

I could for sure. But the problem is I only catch trout over 3-lbs. That’s where the problems would start. It’s a real curse. In all seriousness, just going to wait until mid-February after Taneyfest and CFM events. Be ready for walleye time!

Alligator Snapping Turtles in the Ozarks Retrieving fish sampling nets can sometimes feel like Christmas morning, as you are never quite sure what will be waiting for you inside. During October crappie sampling on Norfork Lake, two Alligator Snapping Turtles greeted us when we retrieved our nets. While rare, this isn't the first time we have caught this species on Norfork Lake and Bull Shoals Lake. These opportunistic feeders squeeze their way into the nets searching for an easy meal of fish. Alligator Snapping Turtles have three distinct rows of ridges running along the length of their shell and usually inhabit deep water. Alligator Snapping Turtles are the only reptiles with a predatory lure in their mouth; they lie motionless on the bottom with their mouths open, twitching a worm-like appendage on their tongue to trick investigating fish into becoming dinner. Please remember that Alligator Snapping Turtles are native to Arkansas and pose no threat to fish populations or humans. In 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed labeling them as a threatened species, and AGFC Code 34.09 makes it unlawful to kill, take, or possess them without written authorization. We successfully released both turtles back into the lake and encourage anglers on Bull Shoals and Norfork to admire these ancient creatures from a distance. Retrieving an Alligator Snapping Turtle from a crappie net on Norfork Lake. Alligator Snapping Turtle showing off its worm-like tongue lure.

This year was just like all the others, great. Thursday afternoon ray and I fished Buffalo city for a couple hours, but the water was high and dirty, only caught one fish. We ate some amazing lasagna ray brought down along with tons of snacks and finger foods Friday ray and I launched at rim shoals and went down to CC, which is a little unnerving at minimum flow. Fishing was pretty steady, nothing over 14" and we caught around 40 fish. Friday night we had amazing sauce picant made by @BilletHead and all kinds of finger foods. Saturday was cooler and more damp. @BigHandsRob, Lucas, and I launched at Buffalo city and went down to the confluence and fished that bank. Lucas started with back to back catches, then I caught 8 or so until poor Rob got on the board😅. Again nothing big, and also no browns. After fishing cooled off we went below the island to come up the back side. Minimum flow makes runs challenging, and on the back side of the island we got a little skinny and tagged a few rocks, but didn't get stopped. We went up and caught a few fish then went inside to thaw out and ate some awesome pizza from Nima's. When we got back we realized that there was a small hole in the boat, but we were able to keep fishing. Up at the bottom of Buffalo shoals rob redeemed himself and caught back to back to back fish. I made chicken lo mein and we watched some movies. I for sure had an excellent time and already reserved the cabin for next year

Weather was pretty mild......other than this morning....brrrrrr 15 degrees!! Had a great time hanging out with a great bunch of guys!!! And good food!!! We didn't catch a huge amount of fish but did alright with the flyrods. Again has a great time!!!! AND a very nice T shirt!!

No fish pics from me. I fished one day in Brett's boat, we probably caught 50-60 trout on jigs, no big ones but a couple nice 14-16 inch fish. A lot of scrawny rainbows, they need to get those fish on a nutrition program. Here's DC III and the boat and motor both of which he has rebuilt himself. He's put together a nice ride. DC, if you want I'd be happy to email the pic to you. I did not take this pic, but me and Brett fishing with a neat sunbeam on us.

To heck with those trout, I just caught a crappie.😂

Waded at the walk-in access this morning and had a good trip. Best flies today were ruby midges, soft hackles and a few on eggs. It seems to me that the average size of the rainbows has increased since the closure. Ended the morning with lots of rainbows and a couple browns. Nothing huge, but lots of fat 14-15" rainbows. Here are a few of the better ones.

SWPA was predicting minimum flow today but bumped the flow up to a little less than 1 unit. That level still provides plenty of wading opportunities. I went to the Cotter access and had a good morning. Very few people out and only 1 trailer in the parking lot. Ended the morning with lots of rainbows and a couple medium size browns. Best fly today was a size 12 olive/brown woolly bugger. Here is the best rainbow of the morning...

1) 4000 fish on hook and line 2) 20 Snakehead 3) a missouri Snakehead 4) 25 Bowfin 5) 30 inch bowfin on fly 6) 100 species on fly 7) get Lifetime on fly to 200 species (I am at 163 now) I plan on fishing 1/1//2026 so Let’s Go!

Havent been to this part of the lake in years so I thought we would give it a try. Caught a nice limit of Crappie, most were right around 12". Never lost sight of the launch ramp. Fish were on deep bluffs in the trees. Caught them from 20-40 feet deep all on jigs. Water temp was 52. Definitely a scope deal when they are that deep. About half I never even felt bite I would reel in and they were just on

The wife said out the house today so I said ok😉. Not enough time for a Table Rock day so I hit Norfork 7-11, but I unloaded early. Put in at Cranfield Ramp for the first time in a long time and they have added on the parking. A huge new lot up the hill by the play ground. Had a small limit by 9 and fished about 6 different spots found them on my 3rd stop. Biggest of the day was a 3.95 largemouth had 8 keepers for the day. Also had around 4-5 shorts and 2 big white bass. Water clarity was good and shad was suspended about 25 feet. Best baits was Ice Jig, A-rig and jerk bait Norfork is a different lake than Table Rock, but still a fun day. After 9am boats and people were out in force from fishing boats to the run-abouts. People defiantly are liking the hot December weather. So I got loaded up about 11 and headed home with my fishing fix for this day. Water temp was 49-49.5 most places and fish were in the shad around 20-30'. But like my last trip to Table Rock I can't get those fish to commit to my offering. If I can get a few fish together they will bite. There is a ton of bluegill in the lake as they are roaming in the 10-25' range around any brush or tree. These are not near as big as those Bluegill on Table Rock but they are everywhere. Crappie are still eluding my offerings as I can not get them on them at either lake. Merry Christmas to my OA fishing freaks enjoy family and lets go fishing.

I am still coming to terms with this news as well. When you hear people say "they never acted like anything was wrong" you always think...surely there was some sign right??? But no, at jigfest he seemed super happy, and was excited for taneyfest. He mentioned a bunch of times how he was bringing his wife and how he wanted everyone to meet her.

Neighbor and I got out yesterday afternoon at SK. second creek we went in Eric Olliverson had a 3 party trip. I yelled over at him and he waves me in saying there is a school of big LM in a dock size area his clients are fishing. Friggin does not hesitate to invite us in. Best fish this one a shade under 5 lbs. Fat as a pig. I asked about 5 other locations and he said he had been in all 5 today. Guy is just a total HAMMER. We ended up with about 20 in 3 different locations. They were deep for us 60 plus feet. Surface temp at SK 54/55 degree, late in the day. Caught everything on an Armor Shad 1/2 oz. Tungsten ball head.

When my phone rang with the unfathomable news of Michaels passing, like many of you I was numbed with the tremendous sense of loss. We had been getting him prepped for his Amateur Radio license over the past month he had plans for travel out West. I wished I had seen or was able to be a life vest for him but with great saddness I was not. Mike you were a great friend, and a great fisherman and a brother. Ill miss our time together. Ill see you again some day, and in the time between, I will celebrate our friendship and the time I was blessed to share my boat, my porch and the river but most of all to have called you my friend. Our friend Michael. Be at Peace Brother.

I am so.aorry to hear this news. He and Rick were the first OAF folks that I've fished with at my first Jigfest. We had a great time. Michael and fished together a few more times at other events. He and I would talk about my favorite Asian market that I suggested he go to when he was in Columbia. That was the same market I would pick up the oyster mushrooms that we would fry for a few Jigfest meals. My wife remembers when I was fortunate enough to bring home one of Michael's smoked cheddar blocks. I will have to post a photo or two. You will be missed my friend😒.

We had a great time at Jigfest. Hang Loose my friend.

Wanted to repost this link so it's easy to find. https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E358532&id=120&fbclid=IwY2xjawOEh8VleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFiallVU1Z0VWpYTU5keXBpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHlnXpQKa16bhXwfb26nkBJ71o7vGN6SXwMlIzodkf4pYhNAOKRRSW2cLCCsg_aem_wRl3-ZpU2T9RjS43ycUeKA