Ham

I tie direct with braid for frogs, Alabama rigs, and maybe pitching in dingy water. I use a leader in all other situations to save the braid and to have a weak link if I need to break off.

I really think the Norfork is fishing better than the White and I want to fish it, but logistics are holding me back. Glad y'all had a good trip.

22 fish in 3 hours is pretty good fishing. Bobby Garland Baby Shads are my go to crappie soft plastic.

Foggy and 33' when I launched the boat. I got fishing a hair before 0900. I fished downriver. Water was falling out as I fished. They ran heavy water > 10K for three hours the previous night and knocked a bunch of crap loose. I fished an hour without a bite. NOT GOOD. I eventually got enough light to see how trashy the water was and to adjust to the bad conditions. I probably should have relocated up river where most of the loose crap would have flushed down. For better or worse, I chose to stay put and going it out. I was really happy when I finally got one in the boat. I had planned to catch > 100, but I knew that was out of the question once I saw the suspended trash in the water. Only muddy water is worse. The wind was also higher than forecast and blew me up river. That really stinks. I managed to work small protected areas for numbers of fish. They bit well in areas with cleaner water. I finished with 51 fish caught. Not many good fish. I had a handful in the 15 inch range. All but one came on a Zig Jig. I gave up on my usual olive colors and went with Brown/Orange , White, and solid Ginger. I did get another another OMT 84 UL. I matched it with Nanofil 6lb on a new Quantum spinning reel. Sweet combo. According to Jeff at Global Dorber. They made 8 of the OMT 84 UL's in this batch and all of them were spoken for already. My response was "make more". They have a hard time making the blanks because of previous commitments to make other blanks for other companies. Beautiful day, but kinda cool on the water. That was a cool breeze coming off the water for sure. I quit fishing around 1500.

Yep. You're right. I literally shake my head sometimes when I'm on a great bite and it seems no one else is interested. I always had to fish around other people growing up. I have 100 fish days now where I literally do not see another person all day.

"an hour and 45 minutes". Lucky you my man. I'm 15 to 30 minutes from Norfork. 45- 1 hr 30 min from Bull Shoals. A little longer for TR and a little longer still for Stockton.

I've really been wanting to fish Kentucky Lake. I hope to make it over there one day. I've caught some really nice smallmouth at Lake Whitney in Texas. Not a cold water lake by any means.

"upper 40"s" REALLY? I'd be buying a used one then. I would hope to spend in the mid 20's for one. I might be able get by with a 19 footer, but the 20 footer would be more desirable.

That sounds like a great fishing trip idea. I might need to find someone crazy enough to make the drive over with me in Feb 14

I've never priced that style boat, BUT IF I could afford it, I'd roll out a tricked out Lund.

I'm sure we can make this a nasty political back and forth Love Fest.

Www.metalogicinc.com

I don't think so. You could always buy the spider seat bases from Metal Logic in Mountain Home.

He deserves all he can get. God Bless him. I'm glad he shared.

P Line CX Premium in 4 of 6 lb green. I think Wayne got me started on that. I have been using Nanofil and Power Pro 10/2 with CX as a leader as well.

So far, I haven't camped out of my Tarpon. I've only done over night trips out of a canoe, but I think it would be possible with the Coosa. I would need to be very selective in what I brought and I'd also likely have to reduce the amount of my fishing gear. X2 on a small single burner and the MH meal in a bag for the kayak trips. In the canoe, we take a grill. BIG cooler. Big dry bag and multiple smaller drybags, chairs, etc, etc, etc I really don't skimp. X2 on Google earth, but it helps if you've done the river previously. You need a good spot, but you also need that good spot to be in a certain area of the river. Sooo much easier to talk about in person. Hopefully, we'll get to fish together and discuss it.

Great win for Mizzou! It is fair to note that Georgia was without several of their key offensive players, but Mizzou had lots of injuries last year. You played and beat the team Ga put on the field. Great Win.

Don't hate. It's a bass eat bass world.

That's a nice looking bait for sure. So many wonderful jerkbaits on the market today. Who needs food anyway?

Nooooooo Hoglaw. It's just another method that I desire the give in the mono or copoly to allow the fish to get the bait fully into their mouth. I can see where my comment lead you to think that's what I meant. I fished the White again yesterday afternoon after another BSL crappie trip. I launched at 4 PM and pulled the boat out at 630PM. I got 50 fish to hand. Missed a washtub full of other bites and lost dozens of fish that I had hooked. Again, I did better on mono than the nanofil WHEN the wind allowed for it. I just react too quickly some times. Part of the problem is that the rod with nanofil is a little too fast for trout. I pull the bait away from the fish. Again, I have plans for another OMT which will have 6 lb Nanofil.

You might want to consider "upgrading" to a 36 V TM. It wouldn't be cheap, but they draw less amps and should last all day. Any hints about best speed for crappie? I messed around a little bit yesterday at 1.4 MPH with Bandit 200's and caught a walleye and had a few bites. I have Shad Raps and Flicker Shads I could try as well.

I love the Nanofil. I think it is a very good product, BUT I think I still need a rod with mono or copoly. There are times that I have noticed a better hook up rate with my P line than the nanofil. I suspect that I snatch it away from them before it gets all the way in their mouth. I do not at all like braid on a rod that I use for grub fishing I'll have three jig rods in the boat with me in the future. One will have P Line, one with have Nanofil, and one with have Power Pro 10/2 braid.

We fished the lower lake from 0800 until 1630. Water temp was 71 at put in and was 74 when we quit fishing. Wind seemed to be a little higher than predicted and was a little gusty at times. Never more than 10 mph I'd guess. Too foggy to run first thing. It was cool in the morning, but perfect in the afternoon. Water was slightly stained in the backs of creeks and prefect on the main lake. We threw 1/32oz jigs at brushpiles and boat docks. Boat docks produced better, but neither was really right yet. Bites were good thumps at times to just there other times. We had a handful of short crappie and a nice mess of keepers(~10). We caught a pile of short bass. Evidence of good spawns in recent years. A beautiful day and a very enjoyable trip with a co-worker. Never got crowded by another boat. We saw a group of turkey fly across a creek and land on the bank near us. Saw a few deer on the way to the ramp. We trolled up one 16 inch walleye. Zero White Bass which surprized me. We had a few more bites while trolling, but only the one walleye was hooked. The BassCat ran great. She's been sitting idle most of the summer. I love my Cougar and she's gonna see a lot more use now thru iddle of Janand them I'll start up again in March. We used an AGFC ramp, but t did look like the big ramp near Bull Shoals Lake Boat dock was operational.

I got a 16 inch walleye yesterday trolling a bluff with a Bandit 200 for crappie. We missed several other bites, but no idea what kind of fish those were.

I launched at Fairview. It's an AGFC ramp. The Ramp in Jimmy Creek near Bull Shoals Boat Dock appeared to be operational.