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On Sunday I had a marathon creek fishing day, starting before 6 am and ending after 8 pm, and the fish were chomping. I've heard that on the Susquehanna the fishing is best after rain when the water is rising, and maybe that's the case here, too. According to a nearby river gauge the water level peaked around 3 am and then started dropping, and the water at the creek was up and had a slight stain. Over the course of the morning and afternoon I caught a number of 17 - 19.5 inch fish on a fluke and a WTD bait, making it a great day, but the best was yet to come. It was a little after 6 pm towards the upper end of the smallmouth habitat on the creek. I had made a cast into the lower end of a long pool when I saw a big wake behind my fluke. It followed for several seconds before it hit, and then a drawn out battle ensued. When the fish jumped I saw that it was big, but I didn’t realize just how big. Maybe I should have guessed, because she just wouldn't come in. I’d gain some line, and then she’d make a 10 - 15 foot run. There was a small tree in the water towards the far bank, and she very nearly got into it a few times. I had to really strain the line to keep her out. This was the first time while fighting a smallmouth that I felt that 8 lb. test wasn’t quite enough. I would have felt a lot better with 10 or 12 lb., as she definitely had the upper hand for most of the fight. Obviously I lost all sense of time while fighting the fish, but I’d guess it took me about two minutes to get her to the bank, and then I saw what a tank she was. I knew immediately that she was pushing 20 inches if not over 20. And her depth was so much more impressive than any of the 19 inch fish I’ve caught. I had the thought that she was in a different category of fish, that she might as well have been a different species. Holding her up for pictures, I was confident she weighed at least four lb.s, although I’ll never know for sure. While keeping her in the water I carefully measured her several times and she was a little over 20 inches. I've caught the same fish twice several times on this creek. When released she swam off strongly, so hopefully I'll have another run in with her in the near future. What a thrill.

I took my condo neighbor up the dam this afternoon to do some fishing and catch some of the Blue Angels fly overs. He had never been to the dam, he mostly fishes the Landing area. We each caught several rainbows and I caught a 15” brown. Right before the Angels started I caught this brown. I chased it around with the trolling motor and he netted it. He couldn’t believe how big it was. When I first saw it come to the surface I immediately thought 10 pounds. Nope. 9.76 pounds. Picture was at 3:28 pm and the Air Show started at 3:30. We hung around for the fly overs and left.

Just wanted to touch base with the forum today. Can’t tell you how much I miss and respect you all. Fished the upper White River with a technique that a few buddies told me they have success on in Wisky, Michigan and Minnesota. I will however add a caveat, every fish I caught was on LiveScope. I had 47 bass and 7 walleye. On a jig and minnow bouncing it slowly. 22’ to 30’ was the number. Kept one walleye all were keepers. Basically no traffic in Missouri, but above Beavertown in Ark. wall to wall boats. Went within site of the bridge. Saw a guy catch 3 small male whites. Visited a bit and he said the walleye are just getting there. I caught mine further downstream on 3 different humps. Have heard zero on the Kings it was frozen at the 86 bridge last week. Surface temp at the Eagle Rock ramp this am was 43 at 6:30. Pulled out at 4pm same location 49 degree. Those Eye’s are going to move FAST. Good Luck.

Well, I told ya’ll. Becky and I launched at Eagle Rock at 9:30 this morning after breakfast at the Depot Diner. They were right where I left them last week. Becky loves BG filets so I told her she had to come catch her own. She did and then some. I’ve been around the block more than once and I have never and I mean never seen BG like this. BIG-GIANTS I baited the hook and extracted the prizes and she hauled them in. We decided to keep 12 but ended up with 15. Could have just kept 4 as they were that big. There are 100’s there. 25’ right on the channel edge. We just drop shot 1/3 crawler. Amazing. I’ll never forget this day with my lovely wife. She just had a ball. They filleted like crappie and I never messed up one fillet. How often does that happen with BG.

We bought our neighbor - Ozark Trout Resort. 12 units and a dock. A slanted swimming pool :). We're reminded of our first days at Rosadaro Resort in May, 1983. Rooms aren't too bad, just needs a lot of updating,,, and cleaning! I'm headed out to weed eat right now. The biggest need for us is parking... we pick up quite a bit of that. Plus it's going to be easiest building the new shop too. Hopefully we'll start on it this fall.

So, I quit a little early or at least a little earlier than I thought I would, but it was time. I saw where a pro athlete said that if you were thinking about retiring, it was time to retire. I always hated missing great fishing conditions when I had to work, but I did not mind going to work. Well, work got more and more demanding and complicated and I would guess me getting older made it a little harder to adapt to the constant changing work landscape. There was no single event that had me thinking about leaving, but an almost daily dose of unpleasantness made me longing to get OUT. So, I looked at everything and decided I could quit. I quit. I’m done. Mostly. I might work a couple days a month for gas money. here’s an official notice to fishing buddies that my schedule is a lot more open these days. Keep in mind that I am retired, but not divorced. I don’t want to become divorced either so I can’t just do everything I want any time I want. Just saying. it’s only been a little while, but Man, this feels Great. I freaking love this. I will miss my work friends. I will not see them very often and that will gradually erode those relationships. I’ll drown that sorrow by strengthening relationships with fishing friends.

Well, I just got back from an amazing trip. Truly. It was a blast and one I will never forget. Almost everything went just about as good as it could've. Thursday morning, I woke up at 7 and gathered 3 good buddies. We loaded the vehicle and were on the highway out of KC around 9. We hit Springfield, enjoyed the Buc-ees experience, and then divulged in our route. We were in no rush to our 4 o'clock check-in in Lakeview, and I wanted to explore some Ozark country I hadn't seen before. I received zero objections. So, we hopped on 14 East through Ava all the way to Vera Cruz Access on Bryant Creek. It was cloudy and it may have rained a drop or two on us, but otherwise, I thought the conditions were perfect. We decided we (mainly I) would wade around the access for an hour and see if we couldn't catch any fish. First off, this was a beautiful little access, and the country around Ava was stunning. Everybody in my group (4 20 years olds) was absolutely giddy with excitement and just happy to be out in the country. The water was clear, the trees were green, and the bluffs were high - this is truly what we had been waiting for. On this river I threw a ned rig and an underspin. Wading in some shallow water, I was able to pull out an 8 incher on the underspin. It was small, but man I was happy. First Ozark Smallmouth of 2025! After a little longer, we decided to pack it up. We drove the scenic route through Gainesville all the way to Lakeview, where we found ourselves amazed by our AirBNB, a nice little unit with direct river access. We were not far from Gaston's. We set up shop and began grilling some Brats. In the meantime, I set up in the backyard with the goal of catching some trout off the bank. The river was definitely high and tough to fish, but I was able to find some slack water off the bank. I threw my bait to where that slack water met the current, and let it settle. I fished a simple rig with some corn as bait. Don't crucify me for the bait fishing. I was just trying to have a little fun from the backyard. Well, about 5 minutes in, I saw my line run and set my hook on.... a Brook Trout! Wow! Casted out to the same place and over the next hour was left with a total of 4 Brookies and 2 Rainbows. Needless to say, I was surprised about catching the little Brookies. I knew they were in the river, but I had thought they were few and far between. They seemed to be in bunches. At dark, I went up, enjoyed a few beverages, and got to sleep for an early trip in the morning... Woke up at 6 and had a buddy drop me and my friend who enjoys fishing off at Cranor's. We set up with our guide and got out there. He brought us way upriver, closer to our place. The fog was unbelievable. It actually had me a little worried with the boat and river moving like it was. We began drifting shad with a river rig. The style of fishing was a little tough to adjust to with the casting, and I think our guide was pretty frustrated with us. Regardless, it didn't take long for both of us to put a 20" brown in the boat. Beautiful fish, and one to cross off my list. The sun came out strong and I definitely caught a few more rays than I needed. We had lunch and fished the rig for a couple more hours. I ended up with a total of 6 Browns and 2 Rainbows. He went ahead and dropped us off the boat into our backyard, which was a big help in driving time! In 24 hours, I had a caught a Smallie, Brookie and a Brown. I was thrilled. I napped, and then we went for a hike on a bluff trail near Bull Shoals. After getting home, we grilled burgers, listened to some music and relaxed with a White River view. The next day we woke up and checked out at 11. We had the drive to Jasper ahead of us. On the way I implored we stop at Crooked Creek (Kelly's Slab) for our second hour-long wade fishing adventure. The water didn't seem too great to me. It was high and a little murky and most of the promising looking spots with a little current were out of reach. Regardless, I threw around a Rage Tail Menace around the bridge and was able to pull out 3 footlong Smallies in an hour. For not having too much hope, this was awesome. We saw some kayak fisherman floating by. I assumed they had a great day. We checked into our home south of Jasper. It was truly amazing. It felt far too fancy for us to be at, but this is what I had been saving up for. The views were amazing, the accommodations were nice, and we couldn't be happier. We enjoyed some more beverages, listened to Bluegrass and started a bonfire. This was awesome! The next day we took our time getting up and embarked for our float with Buffalo Outdoor Center. We went Steel Creek to Kyle's Landing. The river was incredible. This region had truly exceeded my expectations in scenery and I believe I had a grin on my face for most of the float. As for the fishing, I continued throwing a Rage Tail and a Zoom Curly Tail grub on a jig head. It didn't take long for me to get on them. I feel like I had really improved on my positioning and finding where to cast since previous trips, and I had found a lot of confidence in bouncing the Jig. A lot of this I can thank to this forum. I ended up with nearly a dozen Smallmouth and 2 Rock Bass. My biggest went for 15, which was just about a new personal best for me. The river was a little up, but not terribly and I thought the conditions were near perfect. Mix of clouds and sun, and nearly zero wind. Just casted behind rocks and where slower current met structure. It was a blast. I went for two swims, one voluntary and one by the way of flipping. I'm not the most experienced fast water floater and one little chute sent me right against the bluff wall, where I tried to gently push off it. It sent me flipping, but thankfully I was able to hold on to everything. Rod, paddle and all. Being able to keep my possessions, it didn't spoil anything at all. We went home and found ourselves realizing we had to leave the next day. It was sad because we really had a great time. We got a fire going and had a jolly night. The next day, we woke early and departed home. We ate lunch in the wonderful town of Eureka Springs (I was very tempted to make a wading stop on the Kings) and made it home around 6. It was a great time for friendship, scenery and fishing. Ended with a total of 15 Smallmouth and about the same in Trout. I will DEFINITELY be back.

Pat and I hit our favorite pond today. After three Windy warm days the wind gave up some but changed to out of the north eastern direction. Not a good fishing direction IMO but we went anyway. Walking the bank we fancasted covering water from each spot we tried leapfrogging each other. While we each caught lots of fish Pat caught way more and with the biggest bass. I caught the two biggest crappie and bluegill. We both used the same basic fly. The rust colored Grinch bug. We wore hip boots and walked out a few feet to knee deep. This let us cast to the drop offs on the pond although we caught fish from a foot deep to six feet. We kept five bass and two crappie. The two smaller bass and crappie were sprinkled with Old Bay and sauteed in butter. Reminded me of boiled butter shrimp. Pat's biggest bass we did not weigh but I'm thinking 3.5 to 4 pounds. Nothing as pretty to me than a hip boosted gal working a fly rod. VID_20251119_122231762.mp4

I just ran and gunned yesterday. My Phoenix is a year old this week and I only have 38 hours on it. There is still a shad spawn going on early. I had a decent topwater morning from 5:30 till about 6:15 right in front of the bushes on a Speed Shad. Also had a pile of fish on a 3/8oz. white jackhammer when they ignored my topwater. I’m guessing my best 5 maybe 14 pounds. Again, lots of small jaws. I had a 3.75 K or I would not have had that much weight. There are still some K’s that are spawning, guarding fry and also staging. Caught some totally pre-spawn K’s on a flutter spoon out in front of a big spawning cove. They were unmarked and beautiful with totally extended abdomens. I guess it’s possible that they just won’t spawn but I’m betting they will. Surface temp at Baxter for me when I started was 66.7. When I put it on the trailer at 3 pm, it had reached 69 degrees. These low to mid 50’s nights are keeping it cool. Got really good at identifying fry guarders and fry as opposed to shad balls. Fry is in an extremely round ball that’s very loose and you can count the individual fry. The guard is usually sulking right on top. The shad schools are not in a totally round ball and are configured differently and 99% of the time you can’t count them. Really never. They also are free swimming within the school changing location and directions while the bass schools are much more coordinated and uniform. Moving more in unison and maintaining individual places in the school rather than helter skelter like the shad. Fished about 20 locations in the 10 hours I was on the water. ONLY caught fish if I could see them on either 2D or LiveScope, mostly scope. If I didn’t see em I didn’t get bit. I know we hate the scope, but it just totally eliminates dead water. Don’t care how good it looks or if you have caught them there for 20 years. Some days they just aren’t there. FFS saves what’s most important to us. Time. I had about 40 total yesterday. Best 2 baits were the 3/8 oz. Jig and of course the little 2.8 Keitech. On a sad note I dropped two 4 pound walleye right at the boat. Back to back casts. Didn’t have a net and the little swim bait popped out of both of them while I was trying to get my mitts on them. Probably would have kept one. Maybe, but not two. Spoke to some guys that were flipping bushes and throwing a blade back in the bushes and one guy had done well and the other not so much. I tried that a bit but no love. Most of my fish were 15’, even the suspended K’s I caught in front of the spawning cove. Suspended or on the bottom at that 15’ mark. Here is my neighbor and his son day before yesterday on Lake Fork. They said yesterday was terrible. But man, day before was the total BOMB. All topwater spook and frog. Biggest 7.14. Best 5 close to 30 pounds.

This time took the little 12 foot duck boat without the mud motor . Put in the two seats we use just to fish this craft. Tight quarters but we have fly fished this way for years. Use trolling motor for this boat pond hopping. The wind was down early but got crazy later on. We each strung up a rod each and put on what worked yesterday. Grinch bug sculpins. Pat used the last purple and I put on a crawfish orange one. We would fish a section anchored then move and repeat the bank. Had to weed through those stinkin green bass to get to the crappie. Bass averaged two to three pounds plus and we caught a bunch. Lots of big bluegill also. In four set ups were kept 31 crappie that beat 12 inches. Even those 12 inch fish with deep bodies are thick shoulders would not go into a crappie measure device. They would get stuck before bottoming out. Have you ever gotten a crappie thumb? It was getting really windy so we loaded the bank and drove along the dam and fished the shore where we caught yesterday. Kept another 9 fish giving us a total of 40. We had ice in a cooler and loaded the fish in it. Close to town we got more and dumped on top of those, got a drink and snack and headed home to fillet. Pat and I have a good system. Using an ironing board I fillet them and pass her the sides and she cuts off the ribs. We completed that task in 39 minutes for 40 fish. Not bad at all. Pat washed and dried those fillets and weighed them. 13 pounds of boneless fillets. Good eats!

So Pat decided she wanted to learn to do some tying. Borrowed a second vice from a friend so she and I could tie side by side. I thought this could be a good thing figuring we flyfish together and when we start loosing flys I'm the tyer and have to do double to restock the boxes. Last weekend we started with some olive mohair leeches and some black simi seal leeches. Pat got better with each one. I did a few of the easy crawdads a couple days ago, Pat got back to the vice again this morning and we did our favorite fresh water catch all woolly buggers. Pink/white/chartreuse. Got three each. To make them last longer we counter wrapped in a fine wire through the hackle. A couple of her Marabou tails got a bit long but she's getting better. Then added another element to the buggers. I like some dubbing under my hackle then fluffing it out for a thicker body but still translucent. Bass, bluegill, channel cat and crappie love this almost as much as the red/white/chartreuse. Mine on the left and Pat's on the right. Nice tiny heads on these. Husband and wife tying station.

We were in Nevada for thanksgiving and ready to come home this morning. I got up just a few minutes before 6:00 to walk dogs. It was still pitch dark with just the lightest tinge of pink in the east. Whilst out with the dogs I heard a big wad of snow geese riding that north wind to Texas. I looked up and was amazed. The geese were high enough to catch the rising sun on their bellies - every one fully silhouetted in bright white flying across the dark starlit sky. Had to just stand and watch until they were gone. Thankful for that happening when I could see it, I surely am.

Three weeks ago, Pat and I had no idea what a true blessing would be dropped on us. We got a text from the new lodge manager Duane Doty from the Seasons on the fly lodge on the Kvichak "Kwee-jak" River in Alaska. We talked about his new job and duties while there. He mentioned that Pat and I should come up while there were openings His Brother Dave and Mike Riffel were going to be there also. I was at a loss of words, and I normally have plenty of things to say as some of you on here know. More texting followed and soon the phone begins to ring, and it was Duane. Let's talk I'm tired of texting. I put the phone on speaker so Pat could listen. Duane gave us the deal of what to expect and pricing. I at first said no maybe next year and Pat started poking me saying we can make this happen, we can do it. I told Duane we would call back in a bit. Off the phone I got the riot act from Pat. You know we are not getting any younger and what happens if we put this on hold and something happens, we will be mad we did not take advantage of this deal Bla, Bla, Bla-Bla. She ran some numbers, and we called for flight costs round trip from here to Anchorage Then the flight to the village airport in Igiugig "ig-ee-AH-gig" where Duane would be picking us up in a boat for the three-mile trip to the lodge. Pat made this sound very feasible. I reminded her there will be so many extra expenses, so we need to be ready for that. That set her off and very loudly she said WE CAN DO THIS! I called Duane back and said we are a go. Whoop, whoop we are going to live a dream. It like many other trips were just a dream because of pricing but this do-it-yourself trip can happen you just have to make it happen. A group text began to form of Duane, Brother Dave, Mike Riffel and myself and Pat of course had the numbers and got in the middle of things. On our end we decided to fly United out of Springfield to Chicago with a three-hour layover, then onto Anchorage for one night and next morning meeting Dave and Mike at Lake and Pen air for the flight to Igiugig. We have never met Mike and Dave but have heard of them and after all the texting I began to feel like I actually knew them. The morning, we met Mike and Dave that sealed that deal and it was then I knew this trip was going to be a hoot! All of our luggage was weighed and loaded on the plane. Then we loaded on the plane with some other people and off we went. Three other stops to drop off people and gear while picking up others. Finally, we were landing at Igiugig. Pictures of the trip first from United, Then Mike and Dave on the Lake and Pen flight, Pat and I, 1000000995.mp4 Getting ready to land in Igiugig Note this Village is at the end of lake Iliamna where the Kvichak begins. Small village of approximately 65 people. Igiugig, Alaska - Wikipedia Read about it people very interesting. Wheels on the ground and taxied up to the airport building, community center, official building and more. Duane was waiting and we pitched our gear and luggage into the vehicle for the ride down the hill to the boat ramp and waiting boat. We looked like a barge heading to the lodge as all of us but Duane had wide eyes taking this all in. Lodge in sight this would be our home away from home for a few days, Right off the bat we took our gear on the porch and Duane told us there was a group leaving and we were going to help them pull their nets out of the water. This group was sustenance netters from Wasilla after sockeye. Duane said Dave and Marty you are going to help as well as on of the party. Cool Beans! Duane on the motor we went to the net, directions were given on how Dave and I would be removing the sockeye from the net and putting into the box. Gill net and you will actually get the fish untangled and push them through the net and not lose them. Much easier than I thought it would be. After that we pull the float and anchor Steak on the shore and gather the net not tangling it and gently lay it into the boat. Back to the dock we took it out and laid the net out to dry. Later we packed it up and a couple more nets to store for the next year. I know you all want to go fishing and see fish pictures but not tonight. Typing fingers cramping.

Big gal was 20 inches long and weighed 4.71 lbs on my Rapala digital. Only problem is that she's a meanmouth/hybrid black bass/smallmouth-spot cross.....

We fished from 6 AM until noon, we caught a lot of smallmouth - they are biting. Keitechs for the most part and a few on the little jig. Also, a handful of white bass and one striper. Some of the smallmouth are moving off the bank a little, but most are in the 5-15 FOW range. WT 66 Stripers are in the lower lake, not a lot on top, but some are. Caught this one first thing in the morning, it was chasing shad close enough to the boat that I could get a top water to him.

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😁

My heart just has not been into it the last three years. I still buy a archery license and go. Never been a trophy hunter going for meat. In the 48 years bowhunting I have taken some good ones but never took it to the limit hunters do now. I finally got the urge and Pat and I did some trail prepping and even put up another stand yesterday. I was going to start this evening but got short stopped. We got up early and ate breakfast and had coffee. I took my plate to the kitchen and Pat said the buck she seen yesterday was behind the house again. She says get your crossbow cocked. I laughed watching him nose into the air traveling with a purpose looking for a girlfriend. Deer have been going nuts here for over a week. No way he's going to stop. Well he did taking a break eating locust pods. It's like candy for deer. I got the bow and cranked it up, put the arrow on the rail. Window open I pushed the chair out of the way while the buck munched away. I guessed 35 yards a let one fly. In an instant I seen it hit the spot. Off he bolted. We started laughing out loud until tears rolled. This is my first one out the window, Pat shot a doe out the bedroom window that was eating crabapples once. We had not even been outside yet. Shoes and boots on. A very short blood trail like in less than 40 yards. It even died in the trail we mowed. LoL, My blind 🤣. Where the deer was, Where it ended up, Getting ready to grill the tenderloins.

I have a friend Mark up in NJ that I have had a couple of great trips and one epic trip so far. He has been hosting a lifelisting friend of his this week. They have been struggling to get on fish due to the weather caused by Erin's passing. His friend, Steve Wozniak, is a bit of an infamous fishing lifelister. I think that I posted an SI article on OAF many years ago that talked about his fishing exploits and world record catches from all over the world. Mark and Steve did get at least one of his targets up in NJ, an eastern chubsucker. They could not fish for Steve's saltwater targets up there and headed down to Delaware to fish for sharks and rays with a guide friend of Mark's. There is a small micro called a striped cusk eel that Mark has caught previously where they were headed. Mark felt that it would be fine for me to meet up with them and try for the cusk eels while Steve was shark fishing. I also wanted to meet Steve. The water conditions were not likley to be great with the lingering effects of the storm, but the area they were going was blocked from the brunt of the bad seas by Cape Henelopen. I figured that my chances in high water to catch a cusk eel was minimal and I had to be talked into going by my daughter. In hindsight I am really glad that I did. As I got there, Steve had just landed a smallish, 4 ft, sandbar shark. They had landed a couple of clearnose skates earlier. I got introduced to everyone. I mentioned that I used to follow the blog of a fishing friend of Steve's and knew about tirps they made together. The most interesting blogs were those of trips to Mingo and Poplar Bluff in SE MO (a favorite area of mine and for @Ham and @FishnDave). That got the ball rolling and soon we were sharing photos of past exploits and fishing trips and talking about those species we still need for our lifelists.... All the while Steve had been catching a decent amount of smooth hound dogfish on pieces of squid. I was fishing fishbites and struggled to get a bite. Between 10 and 11 one of the bonito baits got bit and Steve was able to land his lifer sand tiger shark, No. 2,423rd ( may be off on the his total but within 10 species) species, one of the primary targets for the trip. No one got bit on the release😉. Maybe just a little wet. The team put out more baits and we waited and fished for other species. I finally caught a spot on the fish bites and had some other small strikes without commitment. It was enough to pass the time. Just after 1 am, another of the big rods got bit. Steve and Mark called me over and asked if I wanted to land this fish. After the obligatory, are you sures..., I got on the rod. Now Steve did mention that if he has your phone that he may send some questionable photos and whether my wife looked at my photos. Well I sent this one to my wife🙄. It wasn't until I really looked at the photo that I now knew that he was not lying. After a decent fight we could see that it was another sand tiger shark! Not only would this meet one of my goals in 2025, which was to catch a new ray or shark species, it would be the largest fish that I have ever landed.. so far! And again no one was bit during the release. What a great surprise and another one of those epic fishing trips that I will never forget. I can't thank my sand tiger shark "Bro" enough for this opportunity.

Took a size 14 tan scud under an indicator in some slower protected water.

The COE closed the spill gates and SWPA increased generation to all 8 units at maximum generation. I took the boat to the C&R area this morning and had a good morning with a dozen rainbows, 3 average browns and 2 brookies. Missed the slam with no cutties. Best flies today were a girdle bug with a pheasant tail dropper. With these flows I don't use a tapered leader, just 9 feet of 8lb mono and then a 3-foot 5x tippet which gets the flies down. Here's a couple of the better rainbows. Note... I always cover the bottom of the boat with a towel full of cool water before I take the pics and they swim away strong.

I fished the Cotter walk-in access yesterday and had a decent morning. The water was running at 1 unit until 11 am and then it increased to around 3 units when I left. I had the best luck early using a size 16 Y2K under an indicator and then around 9 the caddis started popping. I switched to an elk hair dry fly and did well with that. I had quite a few takes and missed a number of fish due to setting the hook too soon. Ended the morning with a couple dozen including this nice brown. He took the elk hair and it was fun watching him come up and eat it.

My buddy John found some whites this weekend in the Indian Creek area, and we launched early this morning to see if they were still there. They were there. In a little cove you can just about cast across. For about an hour and a half it was just about a bite every cast. We caught a bunch of whites, lost count. Brought home a couple that were 2 3/4 lbs. 1-2 lbers were the majority of the fish we caught. In between we picked up 3 walleye, all keepers, biggest was a little over 5 lbs. (released). Couple of black bass mixed in. They shut down and we fished a few banks and the back end of another cove hoping to catch some smallies. We caught 6 or 7 smalls and a big ol' crappie. Couple of the smalls were chunky keepers. 2.8 keitechs were all we used. Brought home enough for a couple of meals:

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!!! 😄

I'll start by saying that the staff at Lillys' Landing were all very courteous and helpful. The lodging is outstanding - clean rooms that are well maintained. The bass boat I rented performed flawlessly. The trolling motor with spotlock is a great aid in fishing the river. Got out early Friday with John Neporadny. John is an outdoor writer and has a lot of experience fishing the local area including Taney. That experience was very helpful as I had never been on the lake. We started the day throwing jerkbaits and hoping for a big brown, we didn't get much interest in the jerkers so we made the decision to go to jigs. The jig fishing started off slowly, but we discovered some freshly stocked rainbows in the Monkey Island area. They were schooled up around the island and near creek mouths. We caught around 50 of them, 11-13" fish. 1/16th oz marabou jigs worked for us. Milo joined us for some late afternoon jerkbait throwing. He took us up past Fall Creek into the trophy area. It didn't take long before I heard John say something like "big fish!" and I turned and saw a nice brown do some tail walking and head shaking. A neat but also scary sight as that airborne head shaking usually results in the lure being tossed one way and the fish going another way and disappearing into the water. However, the fish stayed pinned, and the battle was on! A word about Milo - He's great to fish with and is very knowledgeable about Taney. He can be intense at times, and this was one of those times. He started barking commands: "JEFF LET ME KNOW IF WE GET CLOSE TO THOSE TREES!" "JEFF - HAND ME THAT NET!" "JOHN GET OVER ON THIS SIDE!" JOHN DON"T LET THAT FISH GET INTO THE TROLLING MOTOR!" Afterwards it was funny, but it was all business at the time. Milo did a great job of keeping the boat away from obstructions and maneuvering the boat to keep John in a good position to fight the fish. I stayed out of the way and took a couple of pics. It was fun to watch. The fight: The fish: It was 24" and estimated 7 lbs., nice thick fish. A triploid to boot. We caught a few more on the jerkbaits, I had caught my 2 biggest fish for the trip, a brown and a rainbow that both were in the 15-16" range. Saturday, John, Milo and myself went right up to the trophy area to start the day. We threw the jerkbaits for a bit, but no interest from the fish except for a few follows. We switched to jigs and started picking up fish, mostly rainbows with a few small browns. Nicer fish in the trophy area for sure compared to what we caught downriver and we caught decent numbers of them. Milo had something like 5 on his first 5 casts. He was using 3 lb. braid (I didn't know anyone made braid that light, but you can get it at Lillys' Landing) with 2 lb. leader. John was also using a 2 lb. leader, and both he and Milo out fished me as I was using 10 lb. braid and an 8 lb. leader, however I was able to stay within shouting distance of them. John got big fish honors once again for the boat, this time a nice rainbow. The fight: The fish: We went back to the cabin for "2nd Breakfast", after eating, John, Ray, and myself went downriver to torment the hatchery fish. We found a bunch of them in a riffle down from a creek mouth and my guess is we caught 60 of them at least. We had triples several times and doubles most of the time. We looked upon it as providing some education to those trout as to the evils of some of the "food" that presents itself. Jigs again. It was a great two days of fishing, we boated between 150-200 trout, and got to see a really nice brown get caught. On a personal note, Marty and Pat gave me a really nice point Marty made which will go on my mantle. And I purchased this nice souvenir coffee cup for my collection.

Started at Roundhouse Shoals on Saturday morning around 8AM....I fished an area less than 200 yards long and had 14 rainbows & 1 very small brown (7 or 8 inches long). The biggest rainbow at Roundhouse 14 inches. Moved up to the Cotter walk in access and caught my personal best rainbow 17/18 incher. 18 fish total between both locations. Needless to say, it was an amazing day on the White River. All fish were caught on an olive green Wooly Bugger.

That's right. Forest Park has a stream that most wouldn't consider capable of being fished. I only caught green sunfish ans a couple times bluegill, but it was a great way to spend the day. The foam fly is one I tied and have had tremendous luck with. The spinner was just a fun creation that has done well. Literally a piece of stainless wire trying to mimic a mini rooster tail. The crick hopper is a temu special. I got a multi pack for less than a single at Walmart. I caught many more, but took pictures of these. I had a ton of snips, that I just coukd not get fast enough reaction time to set the hook. It got almost frustrating. LOL.

Now that the weather has cooled off, I like to get out now and then and walk the bank and fish. With the water level at 1120 there are miles of bank around the lower lake you can walk and fish. No boat to tow and mess with, just need one rod and some ned baits. I banked a couple of keeper sized smallies on the ned and had a couple get off. They were off the bank a bit in 15 FOW or so. Hard fighters on the light rod. Pulling drag and jumping. Should get better as things get colder.

Let me reiterate I’ve never caught fish in September and early to Mid-October like I have this year. Today they were back on the channel swing Locations with the wind, 15’ to 35 feet completely thru the water column. Caught them on a flutter spoon and a 2.8” Keitech in Gizzard Shad. About 10 am they went to the bottom and we started dragging a 1/2oz. FB jig. They simply ate it up. Since Bo has passed I can get away with strolling the FB jig. This time of year that technique is deadly. Neighbor and I had so many 15” to 17” K’s today it was insane. Don’t know if you follow Eric Olliverson but that dude is hammering them. Walleye, K’s and Jaws. Looks to me like he is fishing the dam. I know he has been taking 3 trips a day. If you want to get healed in a hurry and see where they live. I’d see if he has an opening. I know he is mostly fishing crawlers to catch that many walleye, but regardless it would be a total blast. Surface temp at Shell Knob was 77 when we put it on the trailer with 6-8 ft. Visibility. If they’re not on the swings in the morning we’ll go back to the piles and lay downs. The-wind helped us today.

Caught this little guy on a size 16 scud. I think a male brookie is by far the prettiest fish in our local rivers, just wish they were a bit bigger.

A fine opener, Could of shot a bit better but limits for Pat, @curtisce and myself. My empty chair, Pat across the field, Curt and his watermelon camo bag, then our take and Curt grinning over the pile of birds.

We came down to White River in Arkansas at Rileys Outfitters to celebrate birthdays for Cody @gotmuddy, and Ryan's @Ryan Miloshewski birthdays. Rick@Terrierman, and DJ showed up. Food as always was great. Water was up and really pushing on the river. I caught my best brown at 21 and 1/2 inches on Friday on the White, and Cody caught a 18" smallie on the Buffalo on Saturday.

As all here know, I’m retired but wanted to touch a bit on the post. Top_Dollar, thanks so much for the detailed report. Your fish pic’s were nice too. Love to see the young guy out there catching fish. I wanted to speak on the equipment and my reasons for using it. I’m using Falcon 6’8” drop shot rod and they are really a medium wt. rod. Reason, you can establish a better lift with more hook penetration than a lite wt. rod. This is importance especially for a guide. Way fewer missed fish and less time fighting a fish especially in these hot water days. My spool line is 6# Maxima, it has no memory and uncoils at blazing speed. Twice as fast as braid. It also doesn’t bite into its self on short line hook sets. From the Maxi I go to a swivel and then 12# carbon leader line. Reason, I want the speed of the drop from the Maxi. And the durability of the 12# carbon line, especially if walleye are in play. There is absolutely not a bite worth of difference in 2# test on a drop shot leader and 12#. NONE, on any of our White River Lakes. I’m also using a 3/8 drop shot weight. I want it to depth quickly and I want it vertical and the weight helps to stabilize this as the boat twists and turns. When fishing with clients I want the bait at the depth of the fish and don’t want a slow fall with the fish taking it on a slack line. Way more chance of them inhaling it with the fisherman not even knowing they have a fish on. This setup has not produced 1000’s but 10’s of thousands of drop shot fish on both TR and Bull. I’d use 15# but I can’t get it to palamar on a size 1 drop shot hook easy enough going thru the eye 3 times As far as the FFS, it is totally fascinating to watch fish respond and not respond to presentations. It has made me and anyone I take have a totally different perspective on how fish feed and set up in the water column. I cut my teeth on a flasher and then 2D but all they show is what’s there. The FFS shows what the fish are thinking. Unfortunately most of the time they’re thinking get that junk out of here. Artificial gets turned down 80% of the time and live bait gets the I ain’t having it 60% of the time Ed’s a great guy if you would have told him only artificial and new locations you haven’t fished and I flat don’t care about numbers you would have gotten that. I know you had your boy so he did what any good guide would do if he could, get you bit. Table Rock is full of community holes that we all know. You go there cause your going to get bit, pure and simple. Thanks for the report glad you had fun, that’s what it’s all about Another note on Ed, when he and Sonny were at Chompers there is no fishing company I’ve ever heard of that treated their clients and guides better. I can truthfully say they helped me to the point of having baits and techniques that I really could not afford, just starting out. Ed Phillips supported my guide business and was always a pure pleasure to work with.

What? This was supposed to be a top secret mission. Cover blown dang.

A good morning with sulphur cracklebacks today, 23" rainbow.

I was on the water at 5 and left at 10:30. Cooper and ran to the dam. Took a while in the fog. Caught a bunch of nice rainbows biggest one the 20+” er below. The brown is only 17-18”s but a tank. Everyone was catching. Probably 6-7 guide boats and myself. It really died about 9:30 or so when the fog cleared and the sun shone bright.

My family bought this trip as a Christmas gift. I met the Guide on Kings river at his slip at 6am. The river was flooded I was worried that the conditions and debris would have an adverse affect on our fishing. It was a blast, I would recommend it ! We caught numbers, I lost count at 20, Sean said about 60, we doubled up a couple times, and several came unbuttoned at the boat. https://www.nicofishing.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SNicodemus22/ This is the Table Rock fishing intel report. Table Rock Lake Fishing Report – June 3, 2025 What a difference a day makes! After a tough outing yesterday, today turned into one of those days you dream about. My client Dan and I hit a river flat adjacent to a pocket, and the bass were fired up and chasing shad in about 16 feet of water. We went to work with the Jewel Pee Wee Football Jig and absolutely put on a clinic. We stayed on that spot for about an hour and a half, pulling quality fish one after another. From there, we moved to a gravel point, and the bite didn’t slow down — same pattern, same jig, same results. By early afternoon, we shifted to the main lake, where the action tapered off a bit. The bite got tougher, but the bass still wanted that Pee Wee jig over everything else we threw. We fished depths from 16 to 22 feet, and while other baits got ignored, the jig kept getting bit. 🎯 Pattern summary: Primary bait: Jewel Pee Wee Football Jig Depths: 16–22 feet Areas: River flats, gravel points, main lake structure Key factor: Bass actively chasing shad If you’re heading out, keep it simple and stay confident in the jig bite — it’s still the deal right now.

Well, the day finally came. I got tontake it out yesterday. It did well, tracks more left while paddling. When cruising downstream it ends up floating backwards. I believe it may be due to seat position. I did catch 3 species of sunfish, on flies I tied on a rod I made, in the canoe I built. All in all, sucess.

We had a break in the monsoons both yesterday and today around noon. We have gotten almost 4 inches of rain in the last 2 days. The water here in Cotter looks like the Mississippi River, so I headed up to the dam for some clearer water. Fishing was pretty good with a dozen yesterday and 8 today. Best flies were cracklebacks, scuds and eggs. Here are the best ones from yesterday and today.

I was heading back to Taney this morning and hit something on the road out. Tire was flat in seconds. Took me about an hour to change it. The spare has been under my truck since 2012 and it looked it. 😆. I went back to the condo not sure if the spare was safe. Dumped my boat in here and ran to the back of the cove. I had been through my regular regular rotation of cranks, jerks, spinner bait, floating worm, jig and senko. Nada. Put on the dreaded Ned and immediately started catching. Caught a few spots, a couple small smallmouth and then hooked something better. Nearly 20” white bass! There was water coming in the creek and I guess they liked it. Quit counting after 10 or so. Spent almost 2 hours picking them off here and there. Going back and forth to let them rest. Had a great time! In reference to the title in case you didn’t know. I spent untold hundreds of dollars chasing the mythical white bass run for years. Never did experience it. In fact at Swan one year, we pulled up hopped out and got in line with everyone. Nada. Nobody catching any. Then boom! I caught a nice rainbow. Almost 19”. Nobody could believe it. So every year when people post about the white bass run I call it fake news.😂

With the rain we got I wasn't even looking forward to everything soaked this morning. It's like walking in a a swamp. Actually waited until good lite before walking in. Lite enough no gobbling on the roost if they even did. Squish, squish, squish were splashed along to the field behind the house. Got into a cedar grove thinking it may be dry to sit down and listen. We had gotten in this last few days 4.3 inches of rain. Nope wet under the cedars. I called a bit with no answer. We slipped out of there and hit a tree row along the field we were in. We stuck tight to the edge of that in and out of multiflora rose. Ahead two hens I could see heading our way. I told Pat duck in and we did. We squatted down. Mistake could not even see the field. Back up and standing with persimmon trees to lean up against. No calling involved. Why possibly mess up a good ambush? This edge was so thick with brush. It's was about impossible to see anything. Then a Tom head. All I could see and Pat couldn't. It stepped into the open and I shot. As it was flopping around a second Tom ran over to see what happened to his buddy and Pat shot it. Ha! I picked up mine and it was heavy, like really heavy. Nice spurs on both. I walked back to the house for the four wheeler. After picking up Pat and the birds we measured the beards and spurs. Mine 10 on the beard and inch and a quarter on one spur. Other did not make that it was a tad shorter. Pat 9 and a half on the beard and inch Spurs. Now to get a weight on the big one. Holy mackerel I had no idea. I remember @Seth got a big one last year or the year before but wow. VID_20250421_075025175.mp4 This was a good deal. We aren't trophy hunters. We are about the groceries. Last couple of years it has been tough for us. Only one last season. We love eating wild turkey.

Alright - I used to be super active on this forum but got busy with life and things and, well, you guys know how it goes. I finally got to make a trip back over to the river for the first time in about 9 months and it rekindled my love for our river, to say the least. It was like the days of old - not many boats on the water (it was a Thursday and a Friday) - the fish were hungry - they were hitting hard - they were plentiful (boated over 150 from Thursday afternoon thru Friday about 1:30pm) - and they were quality! We were able to boat numerous 16-20" fish, a couple of 22", a 23", and 2 over 24". It was a spectacular day and a half.

Figured since the big day has come and gone, I would post my trip to Capps on Christmas Eve. I had the whole the day off (which rarely happens this time of year), so since it was a nasty rainy day with cloudy skies, I figured it might be a good day to fish down there. I must say, those are always the better days down there if you can make it. And this time I remembered my jig box! Actually, that was all I took down there this time around. Got down there around 9ish and changed into my waders and started walking. First hole didn't produce so I didn't hang around too long before I was headed somewhere else on the stream. Then the day got much better! Caught the first bow and things started looking up. Second fish of the day in the pic. Nice brown that went 19" to the tape. Made my day for sure and the year down there since those are hard to come by. I ended up catching 4 trout and 3 google eye in about 2 hours and then headed back home. It was a good start to Christmas and a nice present for me! 🙂 Was fishing my own tied jigs again in an olive and brown color.

Lots and lots of folks are telling me they just will not bite from point 9 to Campbell Point. I was out to prove them wrong today. Launched out of Baxter at 6:50. It was still pretty dark. I fished the Big and Little Indian a bit and then headed down stream a bit and then up towards CP. Spent 3.5 hours, deep, shallow brush piles and every thing I could think of and never had a single bite. Nothing else to do today, I’m retired. I headed to the White above Shell Knob. One of Bill Becks favorite saying was when bass fishing it’s not necessarily what your using but where your using it. Got above the Kings River and it was a totally different world. Was going to start on a long flat point with a pile on it in about 18’. Stopped the boat in 50’ and when I dumped the troller in the scope and the 2D just flat blacked out. Solid shad from the surface to about 35’. I fished a 200 yard flat point for 4 hours and I’m simply toast. The entire area was just covered with bait and fish. Huge balls of shad with holes in the middle with bass by the dozens in the shad schools, just incredible. Spoon and a fluke. Good buddy said they had been hitting it better than a swim bait and he was right. I could not get them to touch a Keitech or a C-tail. If they were within 15’ of the surface I’d use the fluke. If they were deeper, the Dixie Jet. Have no idea on totally fish, I would have needed a clicker. I’m guessing 20 plus keeps. Best fish a 3 pound LM. Surface temp at 77.8 both in and out. 5’ to 8’ visibility. I brought a school of fish out of one of the shad balls and there were at least 30 in it. They buzzed around the boat no more than 2’ to 5’ deep and gobbled every shad the one I had hooked spit up. It was insane. My boat looks I was netting shad for cat fishing. It’s a really good mess. By far the best September and October I’ve had on the Rock in 50 years and that’s a lot of fishin. On another note, they ain’t bitin between Point 9 and Campbell Point.

So every summer we spend July and early August in Montana to escape the Missouri heat and humidity, and then sometime in August we come back to Missouri so I can get some late summer floatfishing in, and make a trip up north to probably the best smallmouth river in the country. But this year was different. Mary is struggling with a stress fracture in her hip, and on crutches, but she's doing a lot better than she was a week before, so she told me I should go back to Missouri by myself. My buddy couldn't go up north when I could. So I flew back to Missouri, intending to stay about 2 1/2 weeks and get in as much fishing as possible. Usually, I would do at least one multi-day float on my favorite small, not hardly floatable stream. But maybe I'm getting old. I just wasn't too enthused about camping on the river. So my plan was to head down to Arkansas, rent a hotel room, and spend three days fishing different sections of the Buffalo. Driving down that Monday evening, I crossed Crooked Creek, and thought that maybe I should try it. When I got to the hotel room (Buffalo Point Inn near Dillard's Ferry on Hwy. 14), I looked up a shuttle guy and arranged a float on Crooked the next morning. I had never floated this particular section of Crooked Creek, but I think I'll float it again sometime. I had four fish in the canoe before I was out of sight of the truck, including a 17.5 incher. The fishing then slowed for a while, but gradually picked up until it became one of those days where you could predict when you'd catch a fish, and there were a LOT of places where I predicted catching a fish. The fish were simply exploding on topwater lures, especially plopper types. And I mean just blowing up on them AND getting hooked. I doubt that I had more than a dozen strikes from good fish all day that I failed to boat them. Plenty of 14-16 inchers, 7 or 8 between 17 and 17.5, and a couple 18s....and 90 smallmouth altogether. And for some reason, those fish were HOT. Some of the hardest fighting smallmouth I've caught in a long time. I had one bend the split ring on the belly hook until it sprung open. I broke a rod on another one, an 18 incher that kept trying to take me under a log. I put pressure on it repeatedly, and finally the thing broke my rod in half. But I ended up getting it anyway. And I didn't see a single person all day until I was a half mile above the take-out, where I came upon a young guy fighting a nice smallmouth and talking to himself. He landed it and was shouting, "YES, YES". Then he saw me and was probably embarrassed, but was also proud of that fish, which looked to be about 17 inches. Got off the river about 6 PM, ate supper in Yellville, and headed for the hotel, stopping at one of the outfitters in that area to arrange a shuttle on the Buffalo the next day. I wanted to go from Maumee to Dillard's Ferry. He said they hadn't put many people in a Maumee this summer because the road was so bad. So I thought I'd better drive down it before dark to check it out. It wasn't that bad, didn't need 4WD. So I was set for the next morning; I was going to get on the river shortly after daylight, and leave my truck for the outfitter to move later in the day. I got up before dawn and headed for the river. Got all the way down into the canyon, only a quarter mile from the access...and there was a huge tree down across the road! So I headed back, parked at the outfitter and waited for them to open at 7:30 AM. Arranged to float Dillard's Ferry to Rush instead, and finally got on the river about 8 AM. The Buffalo was considerably slower fishing. It was low, barely floatable (Crooked Creek had also been low and barely floatable), and the fish were scattered. But I did end up catching about 45 fish, with the biggest being a couple 17.5 inchers, mostly on the plopper again. No other anglers, one family group of splash and gigglers was all I encountered. So instead of another day on the Buffalo, I called up the Crooked Creek shuttle guy and arranged another float on a different section for the third day. I wanted to head the 4 plus hours to home after the trip, so I picked a shorter section. The shuttle guy said he had put in a couple anglers that day, and they reported catching only one fish between them, so he asked if I wanted to do the section I'd done before since it had been so good. "Nah, I probably know more about what I'm doing than those guys." Well, at first I was beginning to wonder. I fished a couple pools of the kind where I'd caught fish like crazy before, and nothing. But I guess I just needed to get a bit farther from the access, because soon I was catching fish regularly. It was almost as fast as the first day, but because it was a shorter float I "only" caught about 50, though 7 of them were between 17 and 18 inches. The plopper was doing well, but I started catching a bunch of fish on a bladed jig, and it seemed the bigger ones were on it. I gotta wonder what the heck those guys the day before were doing; it seems like they'd just accidentally catch more than one fish. I was about halfway through the float and it was about time for lunch when I heard a boat coming from behind me. It was a solo guy, and when he saw me he stopped, apparently to eat lunch himself. So I floated for another hour before stopping. Then about an hour later he caught up to me again. He was in a craft that could maybe charitably be called a solo canoe, but I'd never seen anything like it; it was kind of a cross between a canoe and a bathtub, made out of cheap fiberglass and apparently heavy. I was able to float most of the riffles without dragging, but this guy was having to get out and walk every riffle. He went on out of sight and I stopped to give him plenty of time to get far ahead of me. The fishing didn't get any worse after he passed me, though he said he was doing well. I finally caught up to him right before the take-out, and he was really pleased with what he'd caught. I had one mishap; I stuck a hook in the end of my little finger when a fish flopped at the wrong time. I always get hooks out with the string trick, but this was just not conducive to using it; the hook was right on the tip of the finger where there was no way to put pressure on the eye of the hook, and it was almost all the way through; the tip of the point was visible on the other side of the finger. So I pushed it on through (remembering once more how difficult that can be and how much it hurts), clipped it off, and got it out. Fishing with two and three treble hook lures, I'm always as careful as possible when handling hooked fish, and I started carrying a net a few years ago to net anything that didn't have a clear shot at lipping it. But it's going to happen once in a while. I finished the float in early afternoon of a really hot day; I'd jumped in the river several times to cool off. My truck was where it was supposed to be, sitting in the sun, and the inside like an oven. Loading up was the hottest I'd been all week, but the air conditioner cooled things down quickly once I was loaded. I took a different route home, not in any huge hurry. Friday and Saturday were restful days at home by myself. On Sunday, a buddy and I decided to float a short section of the Bourbeuse near home. It was a section that we'd really done well on last year about this time. This year wasn't last year. Between the two of us, we caught maybe a dozen fish, nothing of any size. I've only been on the Bourbeuse twice this summer, and both times it sucked. I was trying to decide what to do the next week when my friend Clyde called me Sunday evening. He was headed down to stay in a motel in Eminence, and float the Jacks Fork and/or Current all week. He said, "Why don't you come down. There are plenty of rooms available at the motel. We can do our own shuttles and not have to pay an outfitter." I told him I might be down Monday evening, but not before. He floated the poorest section of the Jacks Fork on Monday and caught very little. I drove down Monday evening, and we planned to float a different section of the Jacks Fork on Tuesday. The fishing rivaled Crooked Creek the week before. The fish were tearing up the plopper for both of us, and we caught 7 or 8 between 17 and 18.5 inches, and a total of over 110 fish between us. It was a great day. Not only that, but a good rain Monday night raised the river 6 inches, making it easily floatable. And we didn't see a single person until we got to the take-out, where there was a guy fishing for something with a couple rods propped up on sticks. The next day, Wednesday, we decided to float the upper Eleven Point. After the day before, a 65 fish day was a disappointment, and it started out really bad. We floated the first three hours without catching more than 6 or 7 fish, but then we passed a tributary and the fishing picked up considerably. I ended up catching a 19 incher, my biggest of the whole trip, and we had several others around 18 inches. Clyde was catching them on the plopper, but I was doing damage with the bladed jig. Again, it was a day with zero people. We planned on driving home Thursday evening, so we did a shorter Jacks Fork float Thursday. It wasn't as good as Tuesday had been, but we caught around 50 fish, again on ploppers and the bladed jig. One more day with nobody else on the river. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I did some yard work and chores around the house. I was slated to fly back to Montana on Thursday (tomorrow), and I thought I'd get in a couple more days of fishing Monday and Tuesday. Liking the idea of staying in a motel, I reserved a room in Lesterville, called my Black River shuttle guy, and took off for the Black before dawn Monday morning. I floated an upper section Monday, and the fishing was spectacular, again on the plopper and bladed jig. I had my highest total of the whole 2.5 weeks, over 90 fish, with several over 17 inches and a couple 18 inchers. The second 18 incher came in the pool at the take-out. So I was really looking forward to Tuesday, when I'd float downstream from the first stretch, in a section where I've always caught bigger fish. What a difference a day makes. I caught a grand total of 10 fish, none of any size, though I did hook and lose one that was pushing 20 inches. This year's floods have really messed up that section of river; the banks were scoured, the river was wider and shallower than I remembered it, and the habitat just wasn't there like it had been. I also stuck another hook in myself, this time when I set the hook in a fish on the surface and missed, and the lure came flying back and stuck me in the arm just below the elbow. Using the string trick to get a hook out of an arm or hand isn't easy when you're by yourself, since you kinda need two hands to get the job done. But I was able to go to the bank, push the eye of the hook against a snag, and pop it out. I finished the float before the shuttle guy got my truck down to the take-out, and had to wait a half hour before he got there. So I wasn't going to fish today, but I changed my mind. I did a float on Big River, not on one of my favorite sections, but on a pretty decent stretch. It was another slow day, with 35 fish caught and one 18 inch smallmouth and a 17 inch largemouth. Nothing was working consistently, but I caught a fish now and then on everything I tried. So, in 2.5 weeks, 10 days of floatfishing, something like 560 fish caught, somewhere between 40 and 45 over 17 inches. Only two other bass anglers seen. My thumbs are sore.

Awesome weather today. Caught a couple walleye keepers, a couple shorts, and lost a big one as I was trying to net it. Seems like most were around 25 ft give or take. I was getting bites where the clear water and mud were mixed from the lake traffic.

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.

Pat and I did a field hunt this morning for geese, duck too if they happened to fly by. We have been watching a field that geese have been using with a few ducks mixed in. This is a wheat field and hard to hide in with some fescue waterways going through it. there is a roost pond the birds have kept open the birds are flying to and from. We set up in layout blinds in one of these waterways. 32 full body canada decoys put out. There is only one problem with this set up. There are so many birds using this spot and they are coming in in huge flights if they want in another part of the field you are screwed. Best part of the morning was another sunrise afield with my favorite hunting partner. Birds started coming off the roost and heading towards us. Those first birds were whitefronts. Pat calls them special bellies. For those of you that are not familiar you will soon know why. Behind these first birds were waves of other whitefronts and canadas and ducks mixed in. I called with the call and my speck call is junk plus I suck at this call, but the specks came in to take a look meanwhile the bulk of the birds were honed into another spot in the field. The first few specks were close, and Pat was excited. I told her take the shot and she did. Her first speck hit the frozen field. She was pretty pumped. She has shot at one before and missed, this turned into crying . The rest of the birds coming off the roost went with the others. We continued to hunt with a small group of canadas coming close, but none would commit but just go to the others. As long as that group was there nothing will come to the 32 decoys we had out as opposed to the three to four hundred in the field a quarter mile away. Pat decided to walk over and get those birds up. She did and the birds went back to the roost. Finally, the birds started trickling out but flew North away from us and the field. Later on a few remaining geese lifted off and checked us out. They were still more interested in where the big wad was making pass after passing around us just looking. This is when I decided non committing birds if they were close enough would be targets for pass shooting. This became a game will they get closer or not. We took two canadas and I got a speck. Beautiful birds, tasty birds. One set of speck breasts are in the sous vide ready to take out and sear. Gotta take care of that as Pat fixes sides.

The weather finally warmed up a bit, so I was able to get out and do some fishing. SWPA schedule showed 1 unit all day. Fishing was good with lots of rainbows on a size 16 Y2K under an indicator. I also had good luck on bigger fish using a 1/32 oz olive and brown jig. Got this pretty brown on the jig.