Steve McBasser

You are right Bill. We have caught a ton of fish for this early in the year..... And, I've had two trips now where I completely blanked. Crazy.

Hang in there Mav.... you'll be back after 'em before too long.

Ron and I fished one of his favorite lakes today but he asked me to keep it hush hush. Hit the water about 9:45am. Water temp 52*, air temp mid 40's with a cold wind piling in behind a passing cold front. Water color was stained and the wind was blowing about 20mph. We fished the first hour with everything in the box but only had three fish in the boat. I had already thrown the A-rig several times with out getting bit when all of a sudden they started tearing it up. It was awesome. Until today Ron had never caught a double on an umbrella rig. Today he had two doubles in 10 minutes. We enjoyed a pretty good bite....

Thanks Bill..... What's weird is that the bite has been better in the colder water and has been more consistent. As the water warms up and they start to move they can be hard to keep a handle on. We'll try to keep them figured out though and I'll let ya'll know what's going on the best I can.

Ron and I skipped a week so I could fish with Gary down at Table Rock last Sunday evening and Monday. Went back down to the Bull yesterday in the wind. It was a tough bite. We really thought they would be turned on but we had to work for every bite we got. Water temp was 48* in the middle of the creek we were fishing and about 52* back in the skinny water. We really expected low 50's everywhere but it just wasn't. Water clarity was perfect. They wouldn't hit the A-rig at all, which surprised us. But.... we did manage to catch a handful on a jerk bait and a crawler.

Rehab is a bear with shoulder stuff. Sorry your having to go through it. Hope you get back out there sooner instead of later.

We don't get much traffic over at the Bull Shoals forums so here are some pictures from there the last three Tuesdays.....

Dang it Mav, I'm sorry buddy. Shoulder surgery is no fun. I'll try to keep ya'll up to date with my posts with what's going on so you are ready to step in and go as soon as you are able.

Finally made it back down to Table Rock this week. I've been going down to Bull Shoals with my buddy Ron for the last few trips and we have been catching them pretty good down there. I was a little bit apprehensive about going back to the Rock because my last couple trips down there were tough. But then.....much to my surprise the bite at the Rock was pretty good. The water temp was about 44* on Sunday afternoon after church when we ran down to the mid James River arm. We caught a few there throwing an umbrella rig on inside channel swings. Then, on Monday we ran down to Shell Knob where the water temp was the same but the water color was much clearer. We fished main lake points, again with a rig, and a blade bait. I think I told you guys last year I was experimenting some with a blade bait. After working on my presentation and catching some quality fish, this year the blade has a special spot on the front deck. Its always fun learning a new bait or technique. This thing catches fish in cold water for sure.....

We went back down to Bull Shoals this week and caught a few more. Monday was a blizzard, Tuesday was a glorious day to fish. Missouri weather is so awesome. It reminds me of one of the famous lines from Forrest Gump...... "you never know what you're gonna get" from day to day. Anyway, put in at mid lake again and found the water temp to be about 45*. Went back to that shady bluff and they were still there but not as thick. We managed to pick up a few.

yes we did....

Ron and I had so much fun last week at Bull Shoals we just had to go back. We put in at mid lake again at about 10:45am. Water temp when we arrived was 45.44* and at the end of the day it was 49.22* The air temp was probably mid 30's when we started but probably got up to 60*. Water color was stained but not muddy. Perfect really for mid to late winter fishing. We hit several of the banks we normally fish but without much luck. Last week most of our fish came on the bright, sunny, secondary points in 3-12 feet of water. After these bright beautiful days we have been experiencing we were hoping for a repeat and really expected it to be better than last week but just couldn't make it happen. We took a lunch break about 1pm and had caught 3 fish all morning with just 2 of them being keepers. So.... we decided to change tactics a little bit after lunch and went to the shady side of the lake, in the dark water and slow rolled an umbrella rig along the steeper and deeper channel swing banks. This turned out to be a good plan. Several times we found big schools of bass tearing up the bait fish at about 18-24' deep. I should have taken a picture of what we were seeing on the graph, but I didn't do it. It looked like big blobs of spaghetti. Needless to say, there were lots of active fish everywhere. We were able to pick off several of them with an umbrella rig, and they were clobbering it.... Good day for numbers and size. Can't wait until next week.....Hope ya'll are getting to go too.

Every little creek we went over on the way to the lake was running really good. Some fields had standing water in them. We were surprised to see how much rain the area had received in the last couple of weeks. So yes.... the lake was stained and had come up a noticeable amount.

Oh my gosh...... are those little fat spots fun or what?? I love 'em.

Ron and I put in mid lake again and was hoping on a shallow bite. We have caught them deep on an ice jig or spoon several times but would much rather pursue them with a crank bait, a jig or an A-rig. We went to some of our regular spots and started picking up a few right away. Most came on a rock crawler or an A-rig. Water temp was 44.45* and air temp got up to about 53*. It was a great way to start 2024.

Ran down to Bull Shoals last evening to check out some work I've been doing on Ron's boat. We have been having quite a bit of trouble with it ever since I MacGyvered the fuel lines to try to salvage a trip back in the spring. Unfortunately the boat didn't run worth a hoot..... so we decided to fish for a few minutes instead. I'll tackle the motor later. I tried several lures I thought they might bite but no takers. Then I threw a crank bait and got clobbered as soon as it hit the water. As I was trying to land my fish it just felt weird. When I got it up next to the boat I could see that there were two fish on my lure instead of one.... Both were good sized keepers. I have doubled up on an A-rig and a Spook several times but I don't remember it ever happening on this particular crank bait before. I think it was the touch down splash that drew the bite. It was pretty cool.

I've been catching a few on swim baits too. Pretty fun bite. My little clear spook is awesome too...

Gary and I put in at Hideaway on Monday and Wednesday but Ron and I ran down to Campbell Point on Thursday. We caught them in both places pretty good. Its amazing how different they are though....

My lovely wife took our youngest grandson to church camp last week so I thought I would try to sneak in a couple extra fishin' trips while they were gone. I spent Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Rock. Gary and I only fished 4 hours on Monday and 3 hours on Wednesday. But on Thursday Ron and I made a pretty good day of it. I set my alarm for 2:30am so we could get there before the sun came up and we barely made it. There was a typical post spawn bite going on with lots of top water action up until about 8am. After that we had to go deep to get bit. We caught all three bass species and the smallies were biting better than usual. The water temp was right at 81*. The weather was crazy. It would be hot and muggy one minute and then breezy and almost chilly the next. We got stormed off of the lake 2 or 3 times but we would come right back out after the storms passed through and immediately start catching them again. It was a great week.

The forecast was awful for our scheduled camp out trip with the guys from Sunday School. We got drizzled on Thursday but basically we wound up having perfect weather for fishing. It was cloudy and breezy most the time but when the sun came out it was hot and muggy. It rained every night but that just made for great sleeping with the rain peppering down on the camper. Walleye and crappie was saved for the fish fry. We must have played catch and release with dozens of bass apiece. It was a great time...

Kind of you to do a friend a favor like that......

The oil injection system has already been deleted and the Mercury block off kit installed. 20 gallons of 3 year old premix syphoned off, tank cleaned, and new premium fuel with 50:1 oil mix added. Started it in the driveway on the muffs and it popped on the first crank, started and settled into a perfect idle on the second. After just a few minutes to warm up the thermostats opened up and it started peeing a good steady stream. Next day took it up to Stockton and the wheel bearings stayed cool as a cucumber. We put in at Mutton Creek north and it started 1st crank. Hole shot was about 7 or 8 seconds from a dead stop. 4 seconds if you are already idling along. I wanted to try all the systems out so we fished for about an hour. The Troll motor works perfectly. The old Lowrance fish finder with GPS on the console is outdated but it works perfect. I'll have to find one for the bow. The previous owner said they never had one up there. Right before it was parked the previous owner had 3 brand new batteries and a brand new battery charger installed. Also, 3 new trailer tires and new dual steering. They kept all the receipts for any work they had done and it shows they had a new water pump and new lower unit oil added at the the same time they did the steering cables. I looked real good at all the tires and I find no evidence of dry rot. It has obviously been protected very well. The condition of the gel coat on a 30 year old boat blows me away.....The trailer will need a little love but other than that this thing really is a peach.... Thanks guys on any and all advice.... I will work through all these things as needed.

I will probably fish out of it this summer just for fun. Maybe take the grandsons a couple times and then sell it this fall. I don't really need my own boat. I have such awesome fishing buddies that I am never hurting for a fishing trip. Plus they let me borrow their boats when I need one. I should be able to make a little bit on this barn find.

What would you recommend for preventative maintenance Wrench??

I heard through the grape vine that a guy had an old Champion bass boat stored in his barn for a few years. He and his wife bought it and had never had any lessons or been around boats all that much and then decided they weren't boat people. I went down to check it out last Tuesday and drug it home. Not bad for a 1993 Champion 17'6" SC Contender. It had a Mariner 150 and an old MotorGuide Troll motor with it along with some old electronics. Been fun cleaning it up. I'm sure glad he put it in the barn instead of letting it sit outside in the wind, rain and sun......