Ham

FWIW, A goodly number of them died when the water dropped out. The zebra mussels being in the lake is most definitely NOT a good thing, but it is not the end of fishing at the lake either. i expect that the numbers is Zebra mussels will wax and wane, but I don't think the ZM's are fully dispersed yet. The worst is yet to come. I remain hopeful that big numbers of them will be nibbled on by panfish, drum, and catfish.

Sam, why don't you pick a date and have a crappie chat or White Bass chat or whatever? I'm sure there is interest. Don't get disappointed when Bass fishing is the center of the discussion during a Bass Chat.

I have a 13 x 19 prop that I ran on a Yamaha 130 HP. I had it on board as a "get home" prop. It saw minimal use. I little paint loss. Not bent nor dinged up. It is my understanding that the splines for Mercs and Yammys match up and that props can be used on either, but I don't know this as fact. I'm trying to de-clutter. I'm willing to sell it cheap to let it find a new home. $25 dollars plus shipping. I'd be happy to meet the buyer somewhere local if do-able.

I've caught a lot of pretty big Bows on NFOW, but I have yet to catch a SINGLE Brown there. None nada zippo.

Yo F24/7, what water temp do you start trying a deeper running susp jerkbait instead of a crankbait? I know it is probably a little warm just yet, but < 55' or < 50'. I'm going to keep sling surface baits until the fish tell me they absolutely don't want it. It sure seems like the fish are largely suspended and looking UP for food. Baits on bbottom are not getting the numbers of looks I need UNLESS the water is pretty shallow.

BSL

The X rap is not a bad jerk bait, but it aint a cheap bait either.

I'm not afraid of high skies. Deeper, smaller, and slower. I am Mr Ned.

Pretty nippy and fairly breezy when I was out in the yard before work. I might have found other stuff that needed doing rather than fish today, but most likely I would have gone anyway.

That's what I was thinking. I sure don't want to miss the fish fry. SWell, I do't want to miss any of it, but....

Is the smoked chicken Thursday night or Friday night? I'm pretty sure I will not be available Saturday night. Would y'all like me to buy a case of 1/2 liter waters or something. Is there a veggie I can bring or something?

The Zebra thing is just weird. Fished out of Tucker Hollow yesterday. The ramp area smells awful from 1000's uprom 1000's of decaying ZM's. Some of the creeks and lined with them and all the shore line brush is coated, but some of the creeks are clear. Some of the creeks are thick with ZM's at the front and clean as a whistle in the back. No ryhme or reason that I could figure out. I think we broke off about 6 times because of ZM's and had to retie a lot of other times with our lines shredded. You guys that like to grind Warts on BSL are going to love ZM's. Lol. You'll get the bait back MOST of the time I guess. Unless your line is damaged, but intact until you load on a big fish.

You might want to include more details about the rod. Like, spinning or bait casting. Give us the model number so that we can look up the specs IF you dont want to list them out yourself.

Heck of a deal for the right person. Thankfully, I am NOT that person.

I'm all about selective harvest of a renewal resource like fish. I am NOT a total catch and release guy. I do and have not ever advocated total catch and release, BUT I do believe it is foolish to keep larger fish to eat. I have no idea why anyone would fillet out 20 inch black bass and I will not kill Smallmouth Bass to eat. Period. I fully acknowledge that fish are killed by C&R anglers. Sometimes it can be avoided by optimal release techniques and optimal angler behavior and sometimes it can not be. I kill an unknown amount of fish every year. I try to limit it, but knowing that I am killing some fish accidentally is not going to keep me from fishing.

Here's a prime example. A buddy of mine that's a really good fisherman had a couple of neighbors that liked to fish, but they really weren't very good at it. He took them out and helped them learn how to catch more fish. He showed them a lot about the lake they would have spent years figuring out and taught them some techniques that they truly would have never learned without him. He is a C&R guy all the way. Well, his new apprentices have become somewhat proficent and are very proud to show him all the keepers they catch. They keep everything they catch that is legal up to the legal limit everytime they go out. They are retired and when the weather and the fish cooperate they may fish 5 days a week. Several of my buddy's favorite spots just are not nearly as productive anymore. He's having to find new spots which is tough because he really did know the lake pretty well. They picked up the skill set, but not the C&R ethic. They have no issue keeping a 20 inch bass to filet out. Big smallies taste just great to them. it doesn't matter to them that the fish took 10 years to grow. If he had it to do over again, he wouldn't show them ANYTHING, but that horse is out of the barn.

cajunangler and I did a 5 day trip this spring. We fished from daylight to dark and cooked all out own meals, etc. Basically got about 6 hours of sleep a night. I was beat down after that trip. Lol.

Mean ole Sam throwing a big bucket of cold water on my Hopes for a 3 lb Redear. That's just mean. I do like the sound of Fat Blue cats though.

There are more people that eat bass than you realize. There are still significant numbers of folks that go and keep every fish they consider big enough to eat. With one wildlife and Fisheries agent per county, they feel pretty safe about doing so and not all of them are terrible fisherman. Most of them are older and will eventually die off. It's an odd situation to be in. Wanting to share information freely without this information harming the thing you love.

Any chance that youwill stock more Reear Sunfish to combat the ZM. I'd love to catch > 2 lb Redears that got FAT on ZM. Apparently Redears have gotten real big in some AZ lakes in part by eating invasive shellfish.

I'd be very interested in AGFC input about the Zebra muscles and the possibilities of stocking more Redear Sunfish to eat a few of the ZM.

i hate that any fish gets "wasted" that way, BUT Taney isn't hurtng in terms of numbers of fish AND crawfish and turtles will clean up the mess. I'm not disagreeing AT ALL that we need to be good stewards of the resource and ppl should do the right thing just trying to put it in perspective ; I tend to be overly tender hearted.

That kid has huge hands. Just sayin.

Very nice report BTW. I'm glad you had a good trip.

I have a Coosa, Wife has a Cuda. We also have Tarpo 120's and a Tarpon 100. No shortage of boats. I see the JK Cuda as a variant of the Tarpon.