Steve McBasser

Any time I get to fish on, or around, my birthday, I always think I am especially blessed. January is a tough month to make outdoor plans in so its always awesome when it works out. Hope you guys are getting to go too....

Had a birthday trip planned last Tuesday but had some medical issues that blocked me out..... Another opportunity today so I couldn't let it pass. My buddy Dean picked me up at 7am and we headed toward Shell Knob. Air temp was low 30's when we passed the bank at the shopping center and the water temp was 42.6 at the Campbell Point ramp. Water was crystal clear and dead calm and several pods of shad were visible on the surface as we eased down the hill from the care taker's shack. It was a brisk ride to say the least to the bluff end where Gary caught one on his first cast last year but after several attempt we had no takers. After moving two or three times in the first hour we finally started picking up a few on the ned rig. Last year Gary and I tore 'em up but they were mostly dinks. This year the bite was few and far between but Dean and I both wound up sticking a handful of really nice bass. Our best 5 would probably have gone close to 16 pounds. We both threw everything we had laid out on the deck but only got bit on the ned.....Happy Birthday to me....

You guys are killing me.....been almost two weeks for me. Glad you guys are getting out....

nice...

I caught my on a ned rig while Andy swam a little Kalin grub..... it was awesome...

Slept in a little this morning and didn't get to Andy's house until 9am. Launched at Baxter at about 10:30am and headed toward one of our favorite spots. Tried for the deep bite first and found fish everywhere.... but....we couldn't make 'em bite. So....we decided to start beating the banks instead and started picking up fish. Caught a mixed bag today but mostly kentuckies. What an absolutely beautiful day. We wound up with a handful of fish, largemouth and kentuckies. Even had a bonus walleye. Its always fun to spend the day on the water with Andy....

Met Ron at 7am on Wednesday morning and headed toward Big Creek on Bull Shoals. It was pretty foggy when we first got there but the bright sun burnt it off fast. We started picking up fish almost immediately and caught them pretty good all day. I caught most of mine on a ned rig while Ron threw the A-rig all day. I caught a couple dozen dinks with just a few keepers mixed in on the ned, but Ron was catching mostly keepers on the rig with just a few dinkers mixed in. The water temp was 52* when we got there and 58* when we left. Afternoon air temperatures hit the mid 70's easy and we fished in short sleeves the last couple of hours. For December is was a pretty awesome day.... in fact it was an awesome day for whatever time of year. Hope y'all are getting to go some too.....

Thanks Mike..... so far so good. She plans to go back to work on Monday 11/30. I am still symptom free.... hope it stays that way.

Hey David... the big whites are still playing a little bit too right now. Hit windy gravel points south of Mutton Creek with the smallest rattle trap type baits you can find and you're almost sure to get bit. They hit like a freight train and pull even harder. Can't imagine any 12 year old not liking that....

I echo all the thanksgiving I have read so far. We are so blessed. I try to make sure everyday that the Lord knows how grateful I am for the blessings I have received even though I deserve NONE. Tis a privilege to live in the Ozarks. Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

What was the water temp Quill?

Well done Dutch. I was hoping to do the same thing but the wife came down with the Covid-19 so we had to make other plans... Glad you were good to go.

We caught fish very well on our men's camp out last week so I decided to take my 85 year old Dad out and see if I couldn't get him in on some of the fun. The first couple of spots I took him to had boats all over it so I had to go to plan B. When we got settled in to one of my other spots, that didn't have boats on it, it wasn't long before we started catching fish. About my 5th cast I got blasted by a 15" white and we were off to the races. For the next 2 hours we caught them pretty regularly and they were running big. A 15" to 16" white will give you all the fight you want on light tackle. Dad hadn't caught a fish for a long time so we both did a lot of hootin' and hollarin' every time he caught one. To say we had fun would be an understatement. I did everything I could to make it as little work for him as possible. Twenty years ago we were in Canada and my grandad, (his dad) went with us. The whole trip, Dad and my uncle Les did everything they could to make sure grandad had a good time. I am so grateful I got to return the favor..... Here's a few snapshots of the day.... (Just as a side bar here, Dad acted like this trip was pretty much his last hurrah for fishin' even though we had a ball. But.......Yesterday he came in to where I work and sit down at my desk and started talking about going again next year as soon as the top water bite starts... I think I may have started something....Awesome.)

Nice string Yak.....

Well I can't believe its come and gone again already..... When I pulled out of the driveway Thursday morning at 7:45am the temperature was in the mid 40's, at best, and it was pouring down rain. It slowed down a little when we hit Willard but was pouring down again by Walnut Grove.....When we got to Ruark Bluff West it was a steady spinkle as we set up camp at the group site. By the time we were done setting up our tents and leveling out the campers the rain had quit. With the lingering clouds and the steady winds I knew the fish would be biting so we couldn't wait to get on the water. We had 11 guys and 4 bass boats so we split up 3,3,3 and 2. Our anxiousness to get on the water was rewarded with an awesome bite that loaded the boat. In just a few hours my boat had 3 limits of whites in the live wells and we had thrown back a couple more. When we got back to camp we found that our buddies had found fish too so the fish for the fish fry Friday night was taken care of in the first 3 or 4 hours of the trip. We fried enough fish for cox's army so if anybody went to bed hungry it was their own dang fault. We caught bass, white bass, walleye, drum, and cat fish. It was an awesome time with the men in my Sunday School class. We thanked the Lord everyday for the country we live in. We know how blessed are we that we can just go play for a few days if we want to. Freedom is awesome. Can't wait until our spring trip now.

Biggest bass was 17 1/2" and 2.75#'s....... caught a hundred whites though.... It was hard to look for the blacks when the whites were biting so fast. Hope ya'll caught 'em good.

Count me in too guys..... sounds fun.