Leaderboard

Caught 3 stripers on a Surge Shad slowly rolled on top. They were in the area and feeding. Pretty easy to spot them when the water is calm and they are blowing up. Kept them today and they are now filleted and in the fridge/freezer. I think I'll have fish tacos tomorrow. Caught a few smallmouth on jigs before I left about 0830. I'm whipped, time for a nap.

SWPA has been holding back the water in the lake and that means some good wading opportunities. No telling how long the low water will last as the lake is currently 20 feet into flood pool. Fishing has been good at the Dam and Cotter this week. Cracklebacks have worked well early mornings and then sowbugs later in the morning. Even caught a few on elk hair caddis dries, although very few caddis showing. I did see a few sulphurs this morning, so hopefully that hatch will get started soon. Here is a fat male rainbow on a cracklback this morning.

We can’t all be trout fisherman

The 7-day map shows we're in the center of the target - 5-8 inches of rain. Beaver is full. Taney is high. BS is 20 feet high with 20 feet of room. They'll go from 15,000 to 20,000 cfs if TR goes over 920 which I'm sure it will. Water temp is 66 at the cable on the spill side, not too bad. Lots of warm water fish up there swimming around. I caught 5 species last evening - largemouth, crappie, walleye, gar and a rainbow. I worked to get the trout...

Good for you Les! I am glad someone got this deal. I actually thought that some of the micro fishers would jump on this deal. They could use it for a live well to keep them fresh until they got home to clean their catch. 😁

@Quillback Nice Stripers! sounds like a great time and decent meal!

If the gravel bar has vehicle access or a boat ramp chances are you will have company. And possibly not good company. I use or go by a lot of public ramps when river fishing and even during the week there is somebody there. Many times I’ve left without putting my boat in and leaving my vehicle unattended. The past weekend it happened. When the area is occupied and their beer cans are scattered everywhere at 5:30 am and they are still partying. I’m out!!!!

What brand of beer did you catch it on?

Mr. Jackson ….it is me again…. If you can hang on to it until I manage to get my truck up there for a warranty repair I would like to have it. Will pm when I get to a real computer. Thanks les

For those who enjoy fish pictures as much as I do. Getting a late start on this, but.... Nothing from January. February: Koi Goldfish:

@Ham and @FishnDave, Road trip for team OAF multi species flyfishers? All Fins In - Central PA Fly Fishing Grand Prix 2025 — TCO Fly Shop

To start the garage and basement cleaning project, I would like to sell a Frabill Magnum Bait Station. This is the smallest they make, 13 quarts. It's unused and in new condition. You can check the factory specs on it: https://www.frabill.com/products/magnum-bait-station?variant=41905372496081 I got this with the idea that I'd use it as a cooler and for its original use as a bait tank, but then I started kayak fishing, and its size wouldn't work. It is complete and has the aerator, inside net and wiring. It's listed at $140; I'd like to get half that, but... because of its size, shipping would be expensive. Pick it up in Clinton, Warsaw, Lincoln, maybe Sedalia or possibly somewhere in the KC area if we're headed that way.

I've lost my confidence in their ability to run a multispecies tournament. It probably sounded good on paper. They need @Johnsfolly on staff for fish ID purposes.

Sweet! Is OAF gonna sponsor the team's entry fee and traveling expenses? I noticed they have a category for "sunfish".... and another category for "other sunfish". 🙄

Good to hear, I'll be there in the morning! and then say "should have been here yesterday" story of my life.

We were going to come down today but put it off till Monday. Batten down the hatches. 😆

You couldn't paint a more perfect circle around us.

Marty you know that we microfishermen only advocate the catch and cleaning of micros for streamside sushi😉😂!

I'm in search of a gravel bar next week where I can camp out of my vehicle (Sr with a bad back) with some wadeable small mouth/pan fish water . Not asking for your honey hole. Just somewhere me and a buddy can pitch a tent and hang out a couple days sitting on a riverbank and occasionally get a line wet, and not get hassled. I haven't been on many Ozark rivers and willing to check out some place new. Appreciate any guidance

One of the surprises of moving to a rural area is the lack of bugs. We had an awful Asian beetle infestation this year but very few June bugs and very little of anything else. A couple of decades ago I would visit a sister who use to live near where I now live. Insects would pile up in drifts on her window sills. I can hang out in my garage at night and only see a couple of moths. Go figure?

I caught my annual Table Rock trout today. Seems I average about one a year while bass fishing. There is a story to it. I fished for trout and salmon a lot when I lived in the Pacific Northwest. Trolled for them quite a bit in the lakes and in Puget Sound. Very common to troll for those species using what are called flashers or dodgers which are flat pieces of metal, that usually have some sort of bend or curve in them, coming though the water they will wobble and turn side to side. You tied a leader to the flasher or dodger, then on the other end of the leader you can tie something like a spoon or fly. The dodger/flasher imparts a herky-jerky motion to the lure and trout and salmon will hit the lure. The flasher or dodger also sends out a mettalic flash that looks like a fish feeding. It is thought the flasher/dodger attracts fish thinking there's some feeding going on and then they see the lure and bite it. Anyway I mention this because today I was fishing a Carolina rig and I snagged a what looked to be a flattened beer can or soda can on the sliding sinker. I'm bringing it in, the can is sort of wobbling through the water, reflecting the sun, and I get it about 15 feet from the boat and a trout grabs the craw I was using on the C-rig. Nice trout around 15 inches. Can't believe how flukey it was to get a trout in Table Rock with a beer-can flasher. You spend enough time fishing and flukey stuff happens. The bass fishing was a little slow for this time of year. I caught a little over 20, with 2 keepers. I caught some on the edge of the bushes with a 3/8 oz jig. A few on gravel with the c-rigged craw. 10 or so out deep, over 40-50 FOW on a 3.3 Keitech. Did not see much top water activity in spite of shad being up top. Water is brownish with 2 feet or so of viz. WT 71,

The Theo Von ones are hilarious

This may get deleted by @Quillbackor @Terrierman for being political but I think this is hilarious and well done parody.

I'll see if see has any photos.

So I use mainly a 50 plus 2 method. Put a no. 7 flicker shad on. Let out 50 ft of line then put a 2 0z trolling weight on, then how much ever line my precision trolling app. says. To get me to desired depth. Usually I use the 50 plus 2 method for my outside rods and the 25 plus 2 for my inside shorter rods that go strait out the back of the boat. Right now I am using the bass pro depthmaster and the bass pro prodigy trolling rods. The depth master rods are cheap so if I break one I dont feel to bad about it. But I haven't broke one in 3 years of using them. Hope this helps. Everything else I do bottom bouncing, jig rap, jig crawler/minnow, or jig plastic. I use the lmtout-fitters rods. Lol

Launched about 0545 and fished until 1030. Real busy at the launch early, stripers are in the area and folks are showing up to chase them. Had a good early topwater bite, caught some smallmouth and a small striper. Missed a couple of big striper blowups, I forgot to remind myself to not set the hook until you feel them grab it. I pulled it away from a couple of them. Top water bite ended soon, the shad were up early, and the bass were chasing them, but about an hour of daylight put the shad down and away went the top water bite. There was a bright full moon and that may have had something to do with it. Broke out the little jig and picked up some smallmouth here and there until about 9 AM and then they just shut down, Only caught one between 0900 and 1030 and decided it was time to hit the road. WT 68

Black Crappie 32" Grass Carp Common Carp Eyetail Bowfin Grass Carp

Eyetail Bowfin Green Sunfish Shortnose Gar Warmouth White Bass

Common Carp 24.5" Eyetail Bowfin Shortnose Gar Freshwater Drum Grass Carp Common Carp Bowfin 26" Shortnose Gar Common Carp

Striped Shiner Bleeding Shiner Longear Sunfish Creek Chub

April: Koi Redear Sunfish Bleeding Shiner Creek Chub Blackspotted Topminnow

Eyetail Bowfin Freshwater Drum Channel Catfish

March: Spotted Gar Common Carp Shortnose Gar Largemouth Bass Common Carp Green Sunfish Grass Carp