Ham

I'm not sure I have a $400 dollar set up in spinning or baitcasting. It's pretty easy for a flyrod combo to top $400 and I have several that do, but not my standard gear. I do think "better" gear fishes better and is more enjoyable to fish with, but if you're a Zebco/Ugly Stick guy, have at it. It's all about having fun anyway.

That's a pretty LITTLE fish. I havent gone all Tenkara yet.

are guys able to land Kings on flyrods? How much backing is required?

Yeah, but I cant quite get myself to throw it away either. That would be why I have about 10 jigs stuck in the foam of my rod holders in the trout boat.

The Zebco's crack me up, but I caught a lot of fish on mine sooooo.

They see me trollin, they hatin.

It kept me out of the backs of those creeks as a result. I could not justify a 15-20 minute idle in and then another 20 minutes coming out from the back of a creek. I stuck to the mainlake as a result. I get it from a safety stand point. I wish they make those NO WAKE areas effective May 1 st every year and kept them in place until Sept 30 th. That way the would meet their safety needs and NOT get in the way of fisherman like me.

Lol, DD got the odd jig or two scattered on the front deck do ya? Tackle boxes are so over-rated. I've heard there are walleye in TR.

It's unacceptable behavior from any landowner. The fences I've encountered were strung by farmers/ranchers; I 'd be just as upset regardless which river it was on and what the reason the fence was put up for.

No doubt! But I doubt many lawyers are running barbed wire across a creek so that their cows can get a drink of water either. Not all Doctors or pharmacist or preachers or teachers are good people But the tie in here is that many landowners along our precious smallmouth streams are farmers or ranchers that DO NOT practice good land management and OUR streams suffer because of it.

I fail to understand why an elected County Judge who may or may not have any education in legal matters of any sort gets to "decide" (more like declare) what streams are navigable largely based on the wants of landowners that own property along the stream. Why is this allowed? Why doesn't MDC (AGFC) or MoDOt or There is plenty of legal precedent about stringing barbed wire across navigable streams, but if a county judge declares in "non-navigable" the landowner is apparently free and clear to endanger someone's life so that he can allow his livestock to degrade a public resource. I know there are farmers and ranchers that are Great Stewards of the land and water, but I also know first hand that All are most definitely not good stewards of the land and in many cases not even good people.

I owe you a phone call TFR. I'll have map in hand and we will cover some deets.

Sounds like Norfork will be coming up as well.

i WISH we could have some Redears like they have in Lake Havasu to eat the Zebra mussels and make me Happy.

This x 1000. Add in layers upon layers of seasonal variation and daily weather issues and then just the fickle nature of fish and how they are relating to a possible hatch or variation in amount of a natural food source. It's a fun puzzle. The good news is that they stock the river so heavily that the odds are stacked in your favor. You should be successful if you can find a place to fish. If you have a smart phone, get the Little Rock District COE app. It's free and its darn handy. There is a column that tells you tailwater water height. You can looka t that rise and guiess, but the other folks have really said it all. You've got to put your time in on the water or hire a guide or phone a friend that lives local. I've played the game a few years and still get burned from time to time when more water seems to reach areas faster than I thought. Be careful and err on the side of caution. Its no fun to get swept away.

Shadow Bass? Ozark Bass? Doesn't look like a Northern Rock Bass. Splittting hairs (again).

Bull Shoals Lake in the morning and the White River in the afternoon is at the very least a tie.

We've really gotten spoiled by the silly numbers of fish we all have been catching lately.. A buddy was all but apologizing for the last two trips he has made where he caught upper 20 something fish, both times he fished less than a full day. In the old days, I would have called people bragging about a bass trip with > 25 fish. I'm sorry you didn't find em like you wanted to, but you got to catch 8 bass and go play the game. You had a couple of decent ones and a topwater fish to boot. I wish I had spent my morning like you did.

I swear I believe Smallies are becoming the dominant species of bass on BSL

Join the Twin Lakes Walleye Club. The most successful way to catch walleye is trolling. Not really my cup of tea, but those guys catch the walleye.

You might have been doing it exactly right. It is a time of transition. I post every time I go. Last time I went was a REAL grind during the middle of the day. The first and last 2 hours of the day were my best fishing time. If I had come late or left early, it would have really hurt my numbers. You caught a lot more fish than I did yesterday and I bet you had more fun too.

It's a blessing really. We have so many wonderful fishing opportunities so close at hand. I simply love to fish and I would be completely comfortable fishing 5 days a week and during some parts of the year, I would prefer 7 days a week. It drives me crazy some times, but it'll be ok. I have some trips coming up.

26, but who's counting.

Too many irons in the fire this year. This too shall pass.

They are running a near perfect amount of water. The jig guys can jig and the jerk bait guys can do their thing too. Me, I'm taking a break between hone jobs. No fishing for me.