Ham

I'm sure Zig Jigs catch all species, but I only throw them at trout. When he started with that name spoon, I thought this was another trout thread Heck, I fish for everything. I've got dozens of lures that I love to use. Road runners are great. I tie my own color combos with chenille and marabou, but I also fish them with swimming minnows and BG Baby Shad. I wish they made an 1/8 oz head with a smaller hook. I really like the JIgheads from Lunker City. Caution: they aren't the cheap option but you can get a variety of head designs and various hook options. Smaller shad raps like the SR5 or the plastic SR4 are great springtime multispecies baits. 3/16 oz lipless crankbaits are another great white bass option.

I started out blind casting and screwing around with it. I repeated the stuff that got bit. Honestly, you would catch fish with it if you threw it straight behind the boat and pumped it up and down in the current. I vary the speed based on how the fish want it that day. I target high flow areas on low flow days and low flow areas when they are running a low of water. I how to throw it near wood and behind large rocks. I love to be able to see the fish and manipulate the jig based on how they react to it. I learn more about fishing the jig every time I go. I'm sure I need to learn a whole lot more about fishing a spoon. I can always catch a few on it, but I've never been able to catch more than a few on it.

For me, the quality of the hook, the jig head itself, and the amount of marabou. The are sold in about eight sizes and a lot of colors. I am well aware that there are other jigs on the market and I'm sure they would catch trout. I'm going to use Zig Jigs as long as they are on the open market. When conditions are right, I expect to catch > 100 trout in 6 hours of fishing. I have complete and total confidence in them.

Those are good spoons. I carry a bunch of them.l They do catch fish and I try them when the wind is really blowing, but Zig Jigs are what I throw every time I go. I've literally caught thousands of trout on them. Thousands.

Bass Cat. I own a 2009 Cougar. I am very happy with it. I could also be very happy in the Puma or a PII or a P4. I think for me the Eyra would be more boat than I needed. I'd buy another Bass Cat in a heartbeat. I know lots of guys love their Rangers, but I don't think the are any better than Bass Cat and I think the Bass Cats are better value for your money. A buddy bought a new Legend and it looks great, but I haven't fished out of it yet. He had a Bass Cat and feels like the Legend and Bass Cat are pretty similar in quality.

Quarry Park at Norfork for camping. Walk in wade fishing is almost a sure thing. There will be other People there, but it is certainly a doable deal. Fly shop in Norfork has the flys you'll need or Dally's place in Cotter if you come in on Hwy 62 from the west. Check out "Hogz on the Fly" website Larry Babin is a great guide and keeps his site up to date. Also general river on the site. At a minimum, get the generation phone number. Better yet would be to download the free app for the White River. Search Little Rock COE.

I don't have my December schedule yet. I'm local so that part is easy. I know I work the weekend of the 7th and 8th.

Here's the thing that gets me. The White is a very dangerous river. I'm shocked there aren't more deaths from boating accidents and people being swept away by rising water. Maybe they are and I don't hear about them. I'm amazed at how little instruction and warnings are given to people renting boats and cabins. This is NOT a freestone river. It goes from very mild to very dangerous at times in minutes. You need to educate yourself if you're gonna try to fish it on your own. I keep my head on a swivel at higher flows like 15000 and above. Kinda spooky the way the flow pulls at the boat went you go cross current. You've really got to look way downrver and make absolutely sure that you aren't going to get swept into anything. I usually leave the motor running the whole time. I've waded and caught fish on a flyrod when they were running big water for a long time. It was the back side of "an island" that had a minimum flow thru it when there was 20,000 cfs in the main flow.. I anchored out completely out of the current and slipped over the side of the boat. I found a group of easy fish nymphing. The fact that they had steady levels of high water for a good while helped position those fish for me. I believe that there are lots of areas you can wade with higher water but you have to use your head and be very careful. You have to KNOW that higher water isn't going to catch you away from the boat and put you in a situation that you can't wade out of. I've gotten pretty close to being swept away twice now. I'm absolutely paranoid about it now. Depending on how long your trip is going to be, a guide on the first day is a good idea.

SO many bites where you swing and miss. I was mad at myself for the first couple of hours, but then I got mad at the fish instead. I tried going with a smaller jig ; it caught fish also, but no real improvement and the wind got up more. . I tried going with a Hula grub, but it didn't get bit. We used a variety of colors and the fish reacted to all of them the same. Picking up the jig and dropping it. Or hitting it on the drop without ever having it in their mouth.

I'm confused by this. Of course, I run a jet and I have always run a jet, but 2000 CFS is PLENTY of water for me to go most anywhere. Less than 600 CFS requires me to be really careful and slow. I would have thought 2000 CFS would be enough for props, but I guess I was wrong.

The new flow levels are going to require some adjustments. The fish will adapt. The fishermen will adapt. There should be a stronger food supply for the trout and better water temps for the trout. The fish should be healthier and grow faster. IF you see this as a negative, I can't help you. Conspiracy theories about cheating the average guy out wading oppurtuntities just seem whack-a- doodle to me. Get back with us when science shows us that the fish have been harmed by the extra flow and I may re-evaluate my opinion and possibly agree with you. Here's an idea for displaced waders ; Used trout boats are plentiful and reasonably priced to own and operate. Use a boat to access a plenitude of "new" wading areas and enjoy learning new areas and new ways to fish.

Launched at Diamond City. Cloudy , rainy, with a 10 to 15 mph south wind. Water temp was around 62'. Water clarity was pretty nice. Some stain when we fished wind blown banks, but pretty darn clear in main lake . Caught fish on SB, crankbait , jerk bait, top water, and jigs. Jig was the best option, but they sure were hitting funny. Very frustrating. We didn't find much up the creeks. We finished with 23 bass. SMB, spots, and LMB.

I'd stick to the 95, but that's just me. I tend to throw them when the water is a little cooler. Spring or Fall. I think to throw them around cover. Vary your cadence, but I always have pauses built in. Don't ignore areas with flow.

River Jerkbaits or Lake Jerkbaits? I've got a tremendous amount of confidence in Megabass 110's for the lakes in the area BUT I will not ever throw Megabass in a creek or river for smallies. Megabass are way too fragile for that. A less expensive place to start for lake fish and tough enough for creek duty is the Spro McStick. I've caught some really good fish on LC Pointer 78's and 100''s. 78's mostly in creeks and 100's mostly in lakes, but not always. They get after trout pretty well too. Nothing wrong with a X Rap either.

In my opinion, there is always wading water. It definitely changes as flow changes. I think using the boat to get to wading water is a great idea, but a) anchor your boat out of the flow with as heavy an anchor as you can deal with AND know what is going to happen with the water. If you fish down river a little bit you can KNOW that in x number of hours the water is going to do this. Assume the water is going to move 4 miles an hour. It does take longer for water to fall out than it does for it to rise. At 2000 CFS, there is more water to wade fish then you have time to fish. I don't think I could be happy being limited to the first island at Rim on higher flow, but thar's just me. I think I would plan on renting a boat and DO make sure you get educated on how to use the boat safely from the rental place before you take it out.

17 hours days SUCKS. Your boss is a slave driver.

My experience has been that braid has GREAT abrashion resistance to grass or wood. It isn't real special in regards to sharp rock edges or sharp metal edges. I've never seen 6 lb mono hold up to wood as well as 20/6 braid will. Dock cables and boatdock metal frames are a different story.

Hoglaw, The first couple of alberto's were tough for me. Light line, heavy wind, and cold fingers BUT after the first couple, it got a lot easier. The only problem I have with tying an alberto now is old eyes and having trouble making sure the line goes thru the last loop the same way it went in. It's been a good knot for me.

You Da Man! I do appreciate guys that are willing to go do their thing. I disagree completely that it's just as nice a day if you don't catch fish, but that's ok too. No sleep til Brooklyn...

The uni to uni is just fine, BUT It is significantly bigger diameter knot. I like the alberto. It isn't much harder to tie and is a longer slimmer knot. I fished it pretty hard the last 8 months and have not had failure issues. I'm not really sure how the alberto is different from an albright, but I digress.

I think you're right, but why can't people see the obvious results of their bad choices? PLEASE pass me on plane or dead slow, but not dug in at 1/2 throttle.

Braid has excellent abrashion resistance around wood and cuts through aquatic vegetation great. Admittedly, not so great around rocks and other sharp edges. Several easy knots out there to join braid to leader material, but to each his own.

There has to be some give and take though. If you try to play checkers on the interstate, someone is gonna run over your board. By that I mean, there are necked down sections of river that have the channel that you have to run to navigate at all and guys will try to stand there and fish. Not gonna work out to well for them. I go out of my way to slow down for people and to go as far around them as possible. Usually the people I do the most for are the quickest to wipe their feet on me when they get a chance. It's hard to fix stupid.

I'm looking forward to it LRF! I hope we can make it happen in November, but if I have to wait until December, I can deal with it.

Mopanfisher, one of the things that troubles me with braid is a crappie jig pulling into a snag before you can stop it. With mono, I can feel the jig get snug, but baclk off before it gets hung up. With braid, once you feel the cover, it's hung up. Less of a problem here, then were I moved from.