Steve McBasser

Bill and I launched from the north ramp at Mutton Creek. The water temp was about 51.6* and the air temp was around 38*. Water clarity wasn't bad with a 2-3 foot visibility. We started out fishing some of our favorite spots between Ruark Bluff and Chicken Rock. The warmest water we could find was about 52*. From 9-12 we only had 2 fish in the boat and they were both dinks. After lunch we decided to head up river toward CC Greenfield access. With our move we were able to find much warmer water and much more cooperative fish. We wound up with 5 keepers and about 15 or 20 shorts. Right at the end of the day we finally figured them out. On a handful of occasions caught them on consecutive casts. Dang it. Figured them out......now its time to go home......Oh well, maybe tomorrow.....

Looking good.....Hmmmmm....yellow crank bait???

Wow.....good job guys. That looks like lots of fun...

That's exactly what I thought it looked like.....honey mustard...

Bigmo.....Same color.....Yellow with orange belly. (They are custom painted with an air brush so they may vary a little bit.) When Andy painted the first one for me it was so gaudy looking that I wouldn't even throw it. I thought "no self respecting fish would eat something like that." Then I got to feeling bad about it, after Andy spent his time painting it for me so I tied it on...... and caught 3 keeper kentuckys on it in an hour and a half, in December..... Its been one of my favorite baits ever since....You can go to BassBoatCentral, Fishing Reports by State, Missouri and view all the reports I've posted there where the fish have eaten that bait up....

Paul and I put in at Big Bay again and fished for 2 or 3 hours in Big Creek. I caught a three pound largemouth and a couple of dinks all morning. After lunch we ran to the same spot Gary, Kirby, and I caught them last week. Again they ate that little custom painted wiggle wart like it was "fish candy".......had a blast..

Awesome Bill. Great report and great pics. Table Rock bass love the snotty weather for some reason. I know you guys must have had a ball. Now for a HOT bath.....

Thursday 3/17 Gary, Kirby and I finally got back to Table Rock. We had been hearing such great reports we couldn't wait to get there. The water temp at Big Bay when we launched was under 50*. That was a disappointment after hearing all the reports of 60* +. The bite was pretty tough starting out but as the day warmed up so did the water temp and the fishin'. We wound up with 6 or 8 keepers and a pretty good handful of dinks. We had a blast.....

Awesome....Thanks for sharing...

Back in the day I used to fish at night in March. I'd throw a big black CC Spinner with a black #11 Uncle Josh pork frog on it. Used to get some absolutely bone jarring strikes on that thing. Definitely a big fish bait. Go for it and let us know how you do.

Mmmm...There's some good eatin' there. Good catch!

Nice!!

Dang them brown fish are special......Nice catch!!

Well done.....Hope you guys stay buddies forever and fish a million times together. Sure wish I had done more of that....

Dang guys.....you're killin' me. I still have 11 more days of work before I get a day off to go. Can't wait!!!

Good job...good fish...and good report. It will be late next week before I can go again. You really got my fishin' fever up now!!!

Thank you sir....You too.

We caught the Kentuckies that were schooling in the old creek channels. Bluff banks with timber, near or directly in the deepest channel usually hold the most fish. The ones we caught were suspended in the tree tops about 32-35 feet deep. Our best bite was in the "clearer" water closer to Campbell Point. We really like to fish the "gut" of Big Creek, and the mouths of all the coves, but its just too dirty right now....

Thanks guys....We're having to work pretty hard to get bit right now but I think it is shaping up to be a great spring fishing season. Catching fish in the winter time is always a special bonus as far as I'm concerned. These milder days mixed in with the regular winter weather is just a gift from above as far as I'm concerned. I've spent many a winter snuggled up next to the wife in front of the fire 'cause it we just too cold and harsh to even think about fishin'. In my younger days I used to carry sand and ashes in the back of the van to throw out on over the ramp so I could get the boat in and out of the water if the ramp was still covered with snow or ice. I really don't like to work at it that hard any more. I guess I have mellowed a little with age. But....with afternoon temps in the 70's, you can bet we're gonna try to go. Hope ya'll are getting to go some too.

Paul and I fished the Big Creek and Campbell Point areas on Monday 2/29. What a great way to spend "leap day". Launched the Ranger from the Big Bay ramp at 8:53am. Water temp was 44.6* and air temp was 39*. It is still very stained, even muddy, but still much improved compared to the last couple of trips. It was dead calm when we started but the wind picked up steadily until about 4:30pm then just died completely, and so did the fish bite. I threw the Alabama Rig again but never got bit on it. My best two fish were a 4lb and 6lb large mouth. Both were caught on that crawdad colored crank bait I threw a couple weeks ago fishing with Gary. I also caught a handful of chunky kentuckies on that little white jigging spoon I get from Fin & Feather.

Try some up the dirtier water down lake toward Shell Knob. I'm getting bit a little bit better up there....

I went fishin' yesterday with my buddy Gary. We put in at Big M at about 9am. Water temperature was right at 44*. We had clear to partly cloudy skies and it was dead calm. The water color was only very slightly stained and there was a least a 4-5' visibility. We ran down to Roaring River first where we saw lots of bird activity and tons of fish on the graph. We threw everything we had at them trying to get them to bite but they would not cooperate. We then ran down to Eagle Rock closer to the Hwy 86 bridge...still no takers. Came back up to Roaring river again where we saw so many fish on the graph and picked up 1 little Kentucky on an A-rig. Fished several points between there and the Big M marina with no luck. At noon we decided to run back over to Big Creek. We loaded the boat and hauled it over to the Big Bay ramp. It was still very muddy, but not as bad as it was 2 weeks ago. By now the wind had really picked up. We fished some of the same banks Paul and I fished the last week in January and started picking up a few. Gary skunked out but I managed to catch 4 or 5 nice keepers and a couple more dinks. Most came on the Alabama Rig and just a couple on a deep crawdad crankbait.

Great report lymorej....thanks for posting. Great pics too. Gary and I are planning to go down to Shell Knob on Thursday 2/18. I'll let ya'll know how we do.

Thanks Bill.....I appreciate the nod. I'm still a workin' man and a non-boater at this point. I can't pick and choose when or where. I have to go when I get a day off and fish where my buddies want to fish. Sometimes you have to bare down and scrounge out the bites where you can. And.......its a ball tryin' to figure it out. I always appreciate your reports too......keep 'em coming.

I've been fishing Big Bay regularly for over 40 years. It is the muddiest I have ever seen it and its just hanging right there and not moving. A buddy and I fished it a couple of weeks ago after driving around for 3 hours looking for clearer water to fish. After giving up and deciding to go ahead and fish the mud, we put on the brightest colored lures we could find and immediately started picking up fish. We caught all of them in 6-12' of water. I threw a crank bait and a hula grub in bright candy apple green. The mud had me psyched out at first. I had no confidence the fish could even see the bait to pick it up. But after catching a few, I realized they were there, in the mud, and they were chewing pretty good. Fish slow and bites will come.