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Marty asked what I wanted to do for my birthday. Told him I wanted to go back to Spring River white bass fishing. It was slower than last week but still good. Very windy. The ride back to the launch just about jarred our teeth!!!! Caught on pink/white clouser...Marty used chartreuse/orange and gray/yellow/white. Had one big crappie and some white bass , VID_20250317_141206.mp4 We gave our fish away to some bank fishermen that weren't doing very well. Then Marty took me to the casino for lunch....had a great burger and fries! Day two (Tuesday) we went to Roaring River and met a friend. Caught some trout. Fun time....good visit. Very windy 😞. Left and went to Monett...had Brahm's Cappuccino chocolate chunk ice cream. Good couple of days....just what I wanted!!! 😄

Paul Crews and I put in at Twin Bridges yesterday about 9:30 am and headed up Spring River. Water temp 46 most places. Water was stained - good color. Some wind later in the day but moderate. We started close to the old bridge piers and looked for crappie on trees. Didn't make any difference where - mid river, sides. They were everywhere. Slight current. 17-20 foot of water. We (Paul) picked up 7-8 keepers before moving on up to look for whites. Headed up to the docks and started above them. Whites everywhere! Every cast for a while. They were liking white... small rubber baits. 14 foot of water. Lots of 2+ pound fish, up to 2 3/4 pounds. One hybrid about 3 and this one at 8.15 pounds. We headed down looking for crappie again but couldn't keep the whites off the hook. Finally went back down where we started and added more keeper crappie to the limit. We ended up with 20 crappie and kept a few whites for the grill back at Paul's house. It was amazing to see all the whites on the live scope. We did go as far up as the highway 10 bridge and they were up there too.

Got on the water around 10. WT 55. Slightly muddy to murky. Bummer. Ran about 6 miles and fished back to the ramp. Clouds, wind driven riffles and recent high water made it tough to see where to go since the river changes. I dinged around a bit heading up. Jig and crank did the damage. Couldn’t fish anything else with the wind. And I mean WIND!!!!! I left at 2 and had a really good day. A bunch up to 15”, couple 16’s and 17’s and an 18”. Lost a really big one because I didn’t get off spot lock. By the time I realized how big it was it was too late. 🤷‍♂️. The first heavy black line is 15” second one is 20”. Pics for @Johnsfolly😁

Like @basska it was time to hit the local favorite pond. Last Monday secured permission for another year on a pond. Windy and some stain in the water from the last run off. Fly rods in hand we started walking the bank. Pat scored first with a two pound thirteen ounce bass. VID_20250310_114602867.mp4 Then a couple little ones more for her. I caught a couple smaller ones myself. I went a little farther to a wind blown bank. Tough punching a fly into the wind with a 6 wt. Casts didn't go far but the bass were right next to the bank in the crashing waves. My Big fish for that trip was a three pound fifteen ounce fatty. Some nice bluegill too for both of us. What was next? Fried fish of course. Nothing wrong with bass out of cold waters.

Watching the river gauges for height and cfs plus a report from @curtisce and his dog Foster from yesterday it was time to head to Oklahoma for a try. Launching was a breeze we were on the water heading upstream. From the current water flow and maybe Grand lake maybe a tad high the lower shoal was deeper than normal. Up a bit further found some flow but with the water being still on the cool side it was shallow, too shallow for right now. Backed down a bit from there and tried. A boat of three had a spot and caught several spin fishing with white twister tails. I strung up the long rod and tied on a pink over white Clouser. Worked that long mud and log cut bank without a bite. Sink tip line I was really feeling the gravel bottom. Pulled the trolling motor up and moved down around a curve to work slower water below a long steep bluff bank that goes from 0 to 8 foot depth fairly quick. I finally picked up a white at about 4 foot. This fired up Pat and she built her rod. I tossed her a reel with a sink tip and she tossed it back at me, I'm going to throw my floating line my Clouser will go deep enough then she tied on a chartreuse over white. Pat proceeds to catch a couple nice shows back to back. I cut my pink over white Clouser off and put on a chartreuse over white and never looked back but I changed to a not so heavy sink tip. We then worked that bank keeping 16 fish. Pat's biggest was over two pounds mine two on the nose. Lots of nice ones. Had to weed through many smaller ones during the trip. PB and J sammiches and sunshine nourishing our bodies it felt good. About one ish took fish out of the live well put on a stringer and cut to bleed them and into the ice filled cooler for the trip home. Back at the ramp I dropped Pat off to back in the trailer. I waited and waited for her to back down the ramp. Nothing so I beached the boat and walked up to her blocked in by three trucks and trailers with previous loaded boats. Her with the truck running with lights on. I asked the guys to move up or back a bit, why they asked? I said you see that lady in that truck with the lights on? She needs out to back down the ramp to pick me up. Oh we didn't see her. I said I can see her and hear that truck. We will move and they did. We loaded and got out of the way to batten things down for the ride home. Pat said watch your steps huh? Look here. Something you hate to see at a boat ramp at least it was capped, Back home the fish were filleted, VID_20250313_160520983.mp4 For those that don't like white bass for heavens sake trim off every bit of red. Fish fry tomorrow 😁.

Fished this morning and found fish shallow (8-12ft) and deep (25-50ft). The shallow fish where around spawning banks and the deep fish were in 25-50ft around trees in spawning areas. Shad can be seen anywhere in the water column and I mainly focus on bait hanging around 1-15ft below the surface regardless of overall depth. I fished 3 locations and would start my search out deep then move shallow. I did not catch a Kentucky up shallow but did catch LM and SM in the 8-12ft range. Had 12 keepers and 8 where LM. Used a 2.8 Keitech on 5/16 and 3/8oz heads. When deep fish are high in the water they seem skittish when the boat gets within 60ft. So the heavy jig heads allow for long cast even in windy conditions. WT 48-49

Spring is springing on the way home today I saw some Forsythia blooming and a few daffodils popping up. Some of the hayfields are getting green. Looks like tomorrow the wind will beat everything back into submission. The ol' March rollercoaster. The fish were a little more alive today, I caught 17 bass with 4 being keepers. The early bite was good, but once the sun got up I had to really work for them. The long rock runout held some in the 10-14 foot range early. And got a few more around cove mouths and steep banks as the day went on. Caught my first five on a little 2.5 inch tube on a 1/4 oz jighead. After I broke that off on a snag, I went back to the old reliable Ned. WT ranged from 51 to 54.

We haven’t had a good old fashioned landowner-conflict-that-was-unnecessarily-escalated-and-bragged-about post in a long time!!

Shortly after ice-out and right before the WIND became an everyday thing I went out to see if I could locate some shallow Crappie on the fly. In case you don't already know this......the first fish to move shallow are always the bigger ones. Only caught 8, but every bite was a nice slab. Tonight was the night to fry those buggers up. Yum ! I wanna get out and catch another mess or two, but this ridiculous wind needs to ease up ! Flyfishing out of a boat IN HEAVY WIND is not my idea of a good time.

Got the boat out for the first time since early December. Mostly just wanted to make sure everything worked okay. went out of Lost bridge North, 9:30 to 1:00. They weren't jumping in the boat for sure, got five total - 4 SM and 1 spot. All on ned . I was mostly fishing secondary points and most came from about 15 ft deep. Water temp 46

Grandson turns 16 this week. Already bought him his Lifetime Conservation Partnership and have him on his way to fly fishing and fly tying. His skills took off this fall and winter tying, so I gave him a good dose of materials and feathers. Dad and I usually did woodworking projects during the winter months on the farm. So, I decided to make a tying table for Grandson this month. It started with cedar harvested on the farm and air dried for several years in a shed. A chainsaw trip this weekend around the place for some unique pieces of wood with the Grandson. And a few stories and some woodworking with him in my new shop that I have created the last few years on the farm since Dad left. Before I took over, it was woodworking in a Grain Silo with finish saws and tools and wood heat. Table saws, planer, and a radial arm saw in the old hog farrowing house converted to tool shed and the wood storage. And mechanical tools in the old chicken house converted to garage for drill press and misc tools. We had plenty of exercise running back and forth to complete a project. Tools were scattered all over. New shop in basement has newer tools, all in one place, and looks out over all of the old stuff. Cedar boards harvested from the farm went into this. Thread spool holder is a cutting off the Sasafras tree that blew down in June and quite aromatic. Stills smells fragrant of Sasafras. A few other parts and pieces, some sanding and Polyurethane and its a done deal. Tool holders, drying rack, magnetic and foam hook holders, bead and hook tray nicely laid out for fly production.

Fished with my son Sam on Friday and Saturday, launched at Spring Creek and went both up the lake and down the lake. Water is generally clear, with a slight stain the further up the north fork arm you go. Water temps from 47 to 55. Caught some keeper largemouth on wiggle warts and swimbaits, had a few more follows on the swimbait and lost a couple I had hooked up on the wart due to completely forgetting how to fish in the past year lol- the green bass were towards the fronts of creeks and pockets, on chunk rock. Caught some smallmouth in the 12” to 14” range on the Ned on flat gravel in the backs of spawning pockets in the Oakland area, but no keepers. I’m guessing they are the first wave of bucks moving up to spawn. We had a good couple of days knocking off the cobwebs, and Sam is getting pretty solid with a baitcaster. The bite was a little slower than I’d hoped, and it took me a little longer to dial in on them than I’d have liked, but my general impression is that the lake is REAL close to getting really good. tight lines all-

I fished from 7 AM until 4 PM today and I had to work for my fish, caught 20 bass, 5 were keepers. All spots and a few smallmouth. Ned rig was best bait with a couple of 2.8 swimbait fish thrown in. Some of the fish were really shallow. Most were in 10 FOW with a few out at 20. Fish were scattered, did not find any schools. One of those days where I moved around a lot, fished a lot of places. No largemouth, should be catching a few, but not. WT 52 to start, 55 when I left.

Well it was another day of me being the net boy for Dutch's fish. He caught a 3.25 smallie and a 22" walleye. I got to net them. The bite was decent today compared to what it has been for us this year. We caught 31 bass and the lone walleye. We had 5 keeper bass with the smallmouth being the biggest. Ned rigs were our best bait, with a couple on a 2.8 swimbait and a couple on a 2.5" tube. For whatever reason most of our fish came from rocky or gravel banks. We could not get any around trees. We caught them in 10-20 FOW for the most part. Early in the AM we found a bunch of bass on a 30 foot deep flat. They just would not bite for us - we caught a half dozen of them, lost a few more. Really light biters, we threw everything at them with the Ned working best, but it was frustrating being over quite a few fish and not being able to figure them out. Quite a few loons around. We came across a half-eaten gizzard shad floating on top and once we got about 50 yards away from it, an eagle swooped in and got it. Always a neat sight to see. If you like redbuds, they are blooming now. WT 52 Here's the fish I netted:

Played around with new camera on a trip a couple weeks ago.

Mine was somewhere in the 30's can't remember for sure. But they were drafting down into the low 200's that year. If you got drafted you went to basic, Fort Hood and then Saigon for assignment to the field with a bunch of pukes who did not want to be there with a bunch of lousy officers. So, not wanting to do that or flee to Canada, I enlisted in USMC for the shortest enlistment possible. Two years. It was horrid as first but by the end of my time there I was having a lot of fun. Do not regret it at all. My time in Viet Nam was on deck of USS Mobile or USS Denver. Never got SVN mud on my boots.👍

My buddy and I hit out around 10 and quit at 2. WT had dropped to 50 from 55 on Wednesday. And the fish didn’t like it. I caught 4 any buddy caught 2. Biggest was a 17.5”er. River dropped significantly too. Made running even more sketchy. I think the fish are still in winter mode.

Hey everyone, coming to stay at Lilley's this weekend, wondering how the lake has been fishing? I'll have opportunity to fish off the docks all weekend, any suggestions welcome....ill be trying to put my 8 and 6 year old on some fish as well. Pictures of my fishin buddies

It was great meeting all the guys at Taneyfest last month with my cousin Ryan (aka Milo). Had a fun time fishing and catching a 24-inch brown and of course partaking in all the good food. Plan on making it next year and hopefully I can talk my wife into making her Texas cowboy beans that Ryan craves.

So, here's a bit of back story. I've been a long time fan of Ruger rifles. I bought this M77 RL new in .270 Win in 1985. It's taken too many deer to count, and a couple of elk. It's always been a good accurate rifle and it's light enough to carry all day. It's got a Bushnell Elite 3200 3x9 scope on it. Good scope too, holds zero perfectly, it's bright, has their rainguard coating that helps keep the lenses clear even in bad weather - and the crosshairs glow for about 15 minutes after shining a light in the lens. Very nice early and late. This rifle is an old and dependable friend. It is in exceptionally good condition, nice slick bore and the stock (cut checkering, not stamped) is not marked up at all. No rust anywhere. But it's time for me to let it go. Since I hurt my shoulder in a fall on the ice several years ago (complete rotator cuff separation and 90% on bicep) it just seems to be slowly getting worse. To the point the recoil from .270 in a light rifle was affecting my accuracy and enjoyment of the rifle. Thus, this post. The rifle is for sale. They bring $1200 +/- on Gun Broker with no scope. I'll sell this one for $1000. Still have about a box and a half of 130 grain Winchester Supreme that the rifle seems to like and the deer don't. So they go too. Here's the rifle: I'm basically in Ozark and will travel a reasonable distance - say 100 miles - to meet if needed. Face to face deal, I'm not messing around with an FFL to ship. Let me know if there's interest. I'm not giving up centerfire rifles altogether. I've got another Ruger incoming, a .223 Gen II American Ranch Rifle. Just ordered a Leupold 2x7 to put on it, rings and some ammunition. The .223 will do anything I need to do now and with almost insignificant recoil. So looking forward to having it. I've already sold my 1942 Husqvarna M38 Swedish Mauser and gave my .30-06 Remington Pump to a grandson. I now only have Ruger rifles. A 77/22 in .22LR with a 4x Nikon scope and a 77/22 All Weather (boat paddle stock/stainless rifle) in .22 Magnum with Leupold Compact 2x7 on it. So I'm down to one manufacturer with three rifles all in .22 caliber. It's good to be me.

I don't believe that I ever went to the opener for any of the trout parks. I did trout fish here in Maryland on the 1st in a small pond that is stocked two times in the spring (Feb and Apr) and again in Oct. By mid April it will be too thick with vegetation to fish it effectively. I fished a bigger lake further south of this one and then hit it on my way home. Fished it like I would with the urban trout lakes in MO with Gulp eggs suspended about 12 to 14 inches above a large split shot. No finesse but catches fish. I caught five in about an hour (which most of the time was spent retying after breaking off due to bad casts in the overhanging branches).

I fished this morning in post frontal conditions and the swimbait bite was pretty good until 9AM. There was basically no wind so that allowed for moving around checking multiple locations. The large winter time groups of fish have thinned out and you have to cover a lot of water with the trolling motor. I was mainly looking for a scenario of 2-3 fish swimming together high in the water column. There are also a lot of singles roaming around and they are tougher to catch. Most of the fish were steadily moving around trees and there were also some holding in the tree tops. Kept the boat in 30-50 FOW with plenty of trees and the shad were very limited. I used a 2.8 Keitech on four different jig heads from 1/4 to 1/2oz. If a fish is 20-40ft down, I use the 1/2oz head to get the bait down quickly to fish that are constantly moving. Had about 10 keepers.....mainly LM. WT 45 to 46

Shameless plug...I guide for Trout on Taneycomo out of Lilley's Landing, I'm fly only, but if you give them a call they can find someone for conventional gear/Tablerock if required. David Pitt kcflatsco.com

Well - a bit of a disastrous day. That's ok though! It was my fault becoming too stupid and ambitious... Started off driving to Caplinger - got there around 10, probably fished a little over an hour. Started off using a 1/8 oz rooster tail. Caught one below average Crappie and couldn't find anything else. Switched to a Red Eye Shad and still nothing. It looked a little low, I fished below the dam and explored a little further downstream. Decided I should keep moving and exploring. Made it to Taylor Bridge around noon. It looked low, and I met a couple other people fishing who said no one was having any luck yet. Was told there were reports of action up at Orleans Bridge. The water was clear and beautiful and it really stimulated the bug for Ozark Bass fishing. I fished a Flicker Shad, Roadrunner with a nightcrawler, Rooster Tail again, and Fluke on a jig. Nothing and zero fish spotted. Explored downstream some with a Rebel Wee Craw - nothing. At this point I hit a crossroads in my adventure. Do I start heading home and hit some obscure spots on the way back? Or do I commit to a true Ozark journey? I was thinking of going down to Springfield, looking around Turnback, Finley and the James. I also thought about booking it down to SW MO. Fishing the Elk river basin for the first time... I drove out of Aldrich and at a crossroads I decided stupidly to switch objectives - I was going to catch some March Neosho Bass! I fished the Indian Creek in Anderson with a Nikko Hellgrammite and caught fish... the problem here was that they were suckers - or some sort of fish in that family. I couldn't believe it - cast after cast. Where are the Smallmouth?!?! Moved down to Lanagan City Park. Too low. I get down to Mt. Shira access, and by this point it is at least 4. I give myself one hour to fish around the deep pools with current. Absolutely nothing. So I leave, a little dejected, but still happy I explored all of this land in SW MO. I saw a lot of beautiful country in the Elk River Hills and the Stockton Lake plains. I think to myself, at least I'm coming with some new knowledge and appreciation for these waters. Well, half way back on 71 hwy, my jalopy 2004 Camry stops accelerating... Oh, no. Engine is shot, unidentified coolant leak killed it. My phone has just died. This is a nightmare scenario! Thankfully, some local mechanic off the next exit had a tow truck, and offered to tow me home for 200 bucks. I agreed. Looks like I gotta focus on my money going to a car rather than fishing gear for a little while.... I guess this is an example of being young and dumb and in love with exploration... stupidly in love with fishing. I knew that car was in rough shape - I did it anyway. I knew the streams were a little low - I did it anyway. For a Crappie and a pile of Sucker-like fish, probably not worth it, but hey, that's learning.

The White was mean to me yesterday so I continued my walleye quest on the Kings. Dumped the tub in at the SK bridge at 7:30 to a surface temp of 42 degree. Blasted up the river and checked every bend and runout flat, NADA. Surface temps remained in the low to mid 40’s range till I got to Hickory Hollow. Saw very few boats till I got there. Then from HH up to the 86 bridge there was quite a bit of participation. Dozen to 15 boats. I think I visited with all of them. Two guys were trolling, both said that they had 10 small male whites. One guy said when I said small I meant small, about 1/2 pound each. Also spoke to 2 dudes in a jet. They said they had gone up to just below the Romp Hole. and had not seen any walleye. Said some of the deeper locations were not clear enough to see the bottom but last year at this time they were hammering them and you could see them. Surface temps at H. Hollow was 50 degree and at the 86 bridge 52 degree. Crazy cause it had a skim of ice on it last week. Most everyone I spoke with couldn’t believe it. but everyone’s electronic were saying 50 plus No one had a walleye but there were a couple of guys throwing A-rigs and said the bass were eating it really good. Nothing big but lots of bites. With my failed walleye experiment over I picked up the jerker and caught 11 bass. I had 12 yesterday with 2 squeaker keeps. Today I had 5 keeps Just broke out the new Spro’s deep diver McStick. 1/2 the price of a megabass and I really like it. Bass seamed to also. Good Luck.

its a very nice building - perfect for meetings

USMC does emphasize close order drill. I can still call cadence in my mind. You guys gave me goosebumps with the memories of those days.

I remember those days. Lived in El Cajon at that time. Not too far from San Diego. The "Box Canyon" is what that means. The Santa Ana winds and the fires on the hillsides. Leaves of ash from those burning hillsides would rain down where we lived in the Box Canyon. Moved to Missouri the winter of 1975. So, I was there when you were there @Terrierman. Small world. As a matter of a fact my parents had an embroidery shop. They were commissioned to make Pennants (flags) you probably marched under. I went with Dad many times to the base to deliver them to the base. In the early seventies that was a big deal for me. I was still in Jr. High. Who knows you might have seen some kid gawking at you and your fellow soldiers marching around. All I could see was a bunch of Gomer Pyles. 😁

I chase them every year in March. Rumors of fish being caught here and there. It's early... and going early usually gets you no where. Tempted to go this evening to Swan Creek - heard crappie and whites are staging outside the mouth in the main lake. Some whites at the Pothole. It's early...

Yep, Did reel recovery for the men there, also Reeling and healing for the women. Plus a few years for the women casting for recovery. All of those participants men and women caught some nice fish. There is a catch and release area they fished. It was my pleasure to take some of these men and women fishing.

Not really, I bought this rig and drove it 600 miles home. I'm not selling the truck but if someone needs some help with something that you think this could do let me know. It has a 42 ft reach, max lift capacity of 29k#, 18" auger, 20k# wench on the front and 4x4. If I advertise as a "crane" things get super expensive so I can't do that. I hope you are getting my drift. I am also looking for a man basket and mounting hardware, which will add to it's usefulness. If I run it bouncing of the governor springs it gets about 7 mpg. It lives in Carthage Mo. so keep that in mind.

If you are on a stream and a landowner confronts you, and tells you to leave, your best move is to be as friendly as you can and just LEAVE. You can call the sheriff or MDC and report it when you get back to your truck if you want, and let THEM sort it out, but streamside arguments are NEVER going to benefit you or your family..... regardless of what firearm you're packing.

I didn't want tobbemreak my 46 year streak of not going to an opener, so i stayed home.

Seasonal affective disorder. We’ve been through a crappy winter, on top of the normal short days. I went into a funk a couple weeks ago but have rallied back by staying busy. Sposta get snow tonight. Yippee!

Can always be worse.... “Being 70 is the worst!” The 70 year old exclaims. “Every morning at 7, I wake up to pee, but nothing comes out!” “Oh, that’s nothing!” The 80 year old says. “Each morning at 8, I wake up to poop, and I sit on the toilet for what seems like hours, but nothing comes out!” “Oh, that’s nothing” The 90 year old says. “I have it the worst!” “Can you pee?” The first man asks. “Certainly! Every morning at 7, I pee like a champion.” “Can you poop?” The second man asks. “Yes I can! Each morning at 8, I have a regular bowel movement.” “Then I don’t understand what the problem is!” The first man says. “Well, I don’t wake up until 9!”

Tried Stockton today. First time in a LONG time. Put in at Orleans Trail and fished from there to State Park. Water temps were 44 to 51. 51 way back in the big coves. Main lake was in the 44 to 47 range. Water is very clear. Probably 8' to 10' visability. Not much wind so that might have made it tougher. Ended up catching 15, but only 2 keepers. Half came on a ned in green pumpkin, and the other half came on a Megabass 110 jerkbait. Tried a rock crawler but the rock snot is pretty bad. The weather was simply beautiful.

I have a question for you bass guys caught this about 3 weeks ago on Stockton it measured 19 1/2 inches. Not positive what flavor it is. I guessed it as a mean mouth.?

Thx!! I swear you could throw a bobber in the water without a line on it and I’ll stare at it all day😆🤷‍♂️

I wound up serving six years in the 700th Support Battalion of the Oklahoma National Guard. The last three years I served as "Radar" for the colonel commanding the battalion. I was the only one who knew how to do emergency leaves, accident reports, and AWOL's paperwork. A month before I was due to be free, they came to me and offered to make me a JAG captain. I politely said no. Tomorrow morning I will have breakfast with another Fort Lost in the Woods alumni. I will talk with him about this thread.

I miss Wayne. Good Dude. Rest Easy Buddy.

Back to working extra for a minute...I had dinner with one of the old timers last week. One of the things we discussed was working Saturdays. It's always nice to work without the interruptions -- you get a lot done, and there was a chance at some fun too! What was great was when you pulled into the parking lot and the other guy was the only one already there. You always parked where your car couldn't be seen from the windows. Only one other person in the building meant there was a real chance at scaring the @#$% out of the other. But if you got there first, your head was on a swivel You never took the elevator -- that made noise -- you took the back stairwell. Then it was just a matter of how far you could go with it. Best one ever: He hid in a closet and waited for me to go down the hall to go to the loo. He jumped out with a broom and screamed, and I about had a heart attack This is the kind of work ethic that’s missing with today’s kids!

I had a very successful morning. I sold things at very friendly prices. I met sone new people which was very nice. I reduced my clutter and hopefully those items are going to people who get some enjoyment out of them, and I will be able to put some money in the bank.

I fished it Thursday from Lucy Smith Hollow to the confluence with the White. Visibility was 1-1.5' with greenish color. There was some wood debris including some logs so you had to be careful. Water temps 53.5 to 56.2. I scratched out 6 shorts on a Ned. It was really tough but then I suck at fishing this lake. I enjoy it and love the lake, but it regularly humbles me. 😀

I’m Looking forward to it I’ve heard rumor of an Alabama/Georgia/Florida trip in the near future also. I’m anxious to see how that plays out.

My 40 year job anniversary was last Friday. As one of my colleagues said, “He lasted!” 🤪 I really hope you whipper-snappers find something you like to do at a company you can grow with that meets your financial needs. I think hard work, an eagerness to learn and a dose of loyalty will serve you well in the long run. And if start time is 8, try getting there at 7:30. And add ½ hour on the back end too. Working, of course. stay off your #%^* phones!

Nothing of size, but less than an hour and a half of daylight left. Casting on an ultra light rod and reel from Lilley's Landing, with a jig from @JUNGLE JIM 1. I was lucky enough (and very grateful) to receive a good amount of jigs to tie myself.

Look up River Access Coalition (RAC) Finley River. They have already fought and won a case where landowners shut down a access to the Finely River. I don't have the totals but I think they spent quite a bit of money on that and continue to fight appeals to the decision. They are also workimg on other projects now like the new River Gravel mining project on the Finley River.

Was looking forward to Friday 3/7 for at least a month with a vacation day blocked off on the calendar. But the wind…meh. Decided to hold off till afternoon hoping the wind would back off a little. I launch at eagle rock and usually fish from there up to the James. Ended up going all the way to the James trying to catch some relief from the wind. Lots of dying 2” shad everywhere so as much as I wanted to throw damiki style I couldn’t manage it in the wind. Surprisingly caught 7 on a rock crawler in 10-14 ft on a small flat. 3 keepers were 2 spots and a LM. WT late in the day got up to 51.4 there. Maybe spring is finally almost here.

There were 4 of us fished out of Lilly's Landing. We worked the lake from Fall Creek to Monkey Island. Most fish picked up on Gulp eggs, in white, pink, orange and lime green. Fishing was slow for us and better catching with generation at 100 MWatt. Accommodations were very nice.