Ham

I "think" there are water levels that would allow for fishing/floating that wouldn't be too brushy. The trip I was on brush and strainers were not a factor, but it had a high pucker factor because of water velocity and LARGE boulders in the heavy flow. In all honesty, I don't think that trip is worth the trouble. I don't have any interest in doing it again. IMO, much better fishing on others sections of CC and a dozen other creeks and streams.

I haven't noticed any problem. I am careful to wet my line when I am setting the depth and to wet the surgical tubing. I am using a fluro tippet and I am very cautios about getting fluro HOT.

I think that ramp was a waste of money. Having looked at the ramp in person, it looks like to me if the water was high enough to actually launch and use a motored boat in that section that the flow would be very high and the water would likely be very off colored. A canoe or kayak could have been launched off of a more primative set up. I've been on that section when there was enough water to fish, but the flow was so high that fishing would be difficult. We were not very successful because the water was too cold for the fish to be in that much current. Warm water fish anyway. It was a very interesting run downstream though.

I tried Fish Pimp. I like the look of their design and I like the sizes offered. I think they are on the expensive side of things and I slung off every one I owned.After going thru a pack pretty quickly, I did not buy more. I have other friends that want to use Fish Pimps, but with as often as they sling off, thy had started looking at other brands.

I love drifting flies under an indicator for trout, but I've always gotten aggravated with some facet of every indicator I've ever used. I get most annoyed by slinging the indicator off during a cast, but having the indicator move up and down the leader while fishing was a close second. I've tried a lot of brands of indicators and I caught fish on all of them, but I still had a love / hate relationship with them. But I have been totally happy with Float Master indicators. They come in the usual colors and sizes that we would need for our Ozark trout fishing. They go on easily enough and they DO NOT move and they DO NOT sling off. At least they haven't on me in the half dozen trips I have used them. If you want to take a look at them online Floatmaster Indicators. I got mine at a local flyshop, but I'd bet you can find them online if there isn't a local shop. For now, my only indicator problem is what to do will all my leftovers from rejected brands. Onw caveat, I'll still be able to use the high water versions of other brands of indicators because I don't have much of a problem on the thicker sections of the leader. Most of my problem come during shallow water situations.

You confused me at first because I use BSSP to mean Bull Shoals State Park. Which may not at all be accurate, but it is the moniker I use. As I read along I figured things out. I know I would have understood immediately had I looked at the furom heading. I was at "my" BSSP this Saturday and the 30 or so people I saw soaking Power Bait where not into Catch and Release. I caught and released 40 trout Saturday with my flyrod using micro jigs. Every color I tried worked so I doubt color was a key. Nothing huge, but a fun way to spend 2 1/2 hours.

Fishing on BSL was so good last year that I'm not sure I could expect things to improve. I'll learn a little bit more which should help and I hope to do a little more springtime night fishing for walleye. I'll be interested in talking about night time jerkbait tactics as we get closer to March and April.

I think the hook used in the jighead is pretty important as well. The ZIg Jig has a really nice fine wire hook that is tacky sharp and has a nice temper.

Zig Jigs.

I snuck off for a quick trip on low water on the White River at BSSP with the flyrod. I got 20 to hand in just over an hour. I had another 10 or so hooked up, but that's the beauty of barbless, right. Mostly bows, but a few beautiful browns. Nothing over 16 inches, but some healthy chunks to be sure.

I'm going to pick up a half dozen or so of the deep running walleye plugz for trolling BSL. I'm sure they all work, but should I start with Rapala Tail Dancers, Reef Runners, or the new Cordell Walleye trolling plug. I've was told by one guy that the Reef Runners require a lot of tuning to get them to run correctly. Thanks

Looks like Basserdrew did himself proud. That's a nice looking boat. I'll take a hard look at it when it is time to replace the T120. I like that they took the keel off the leading edge. I like that the wear point on the rear has a planned replacement policy. I worry that the $200 seat with wear out within a few years. I don't see a lot of negatives with it, but time will tell and I won't be a getting a first generation Coosa.

Or get out of school.

At last,I recognize a location from a photo. Sounds like a good trip.

TNG is close to Ito Wagasaki. There are several that have a greenish back, silver reflective sides, and a purple overtone on the tail end. All the vendors have a highly variable color selection. Color selections come and go as well as change over time ie Pro Blue changed, but has been re-released in it's original form. Tackle Warehouse is a good online shop, but it is really nice to look at them in hand and make your choices. You can see a bunch of freaky colors at Ichiban Tackle also, but I am unwilling to do business with an overseas vendor. I'm disappointed that Cajunangler didn't clarify his earlier comment about me being full of crap. If I bother to comment, I'm going to be completely truthful. If I want to keep something quiet, I don't comment.

Wait a minute, what did I say that was crap? You might not agree with my decision to have lots of color options, but I do carry a fair number of colors and I would be hard pressed to pick just one to recommend to someone. Cajun Angler and I do fish together often and I know that he carries a lot of colors of jerk baits as well, but only has that one Megabass to chose from and WHEN it is getting bit, he sticks with it. I suggested the TNG color to him AND told him I would buy it from him if he wasn't happy with it. He only wanted stinking Megabass because I was catching fish behind him on them. Call me crazy if you want to do so, but saying I full of crap seems to imply that I'm being less than 100% honest.

Can't do it man. I change colors OFTEN. I like ones with a lot of flash when it is sunny. I've got some loud colors for cloudy. I like the natural subtle stuff too. Ito Wagasaki maybe?

So Brian, were they using jerk baits?

I use both hook styles. I greatly prefer EWG style for senkos, sluggos,lizards, and floating worms. I want a j style hook for pitching or flipping creature baits and traditional plastic worms. Since the move north, I find myself using a LOT more skirted jigs and various jig heads than I do any style of hook.

I have two Falcon Cara Finesse jig rods. One has micro guides and one has standard guides. I can't tell any difference in them. I have really started to hate split grip handles though.

What an amazing guy. Great read for those who haven't read that story yet.

So reading between the lines from various sources, 25-50% of the fish we catch are natural spawn. Regardless, the programs are working because BSL is thick with them.

I lifted this from an old post on Lake Stockdon.com Ken, I would like to know the location where walleyes are put into Bull Shoals Lake. Have you done a tracking study to see how far these walleyes move from the location where they are initially put into the lake? It also seems Norfork lake gets almost as many walleyes as Bull Shoals with half the water area. Was there a reason Arkansas put no walleyes into Bull Shoals during the years 1999 thur 2002? Do you know what the average growth rate for walleyes in both lakes? Thanks again, Bob Bob, Some years a hatchery crop fails so few walleye are produced. I ask for walleye every year. The MO Department usually comes thru too and walleye naturally spawn in the lake so Bull Shoals would be one of the first lakes chopped off the list if we had too few fish to meet all the obligations. Norfork is a more fertile lake and can take heavier stocking but mainly we have to consider the capacity of our hatchery system to produce fingerlings in our requests. Norfork is stocked from the nursery pond so is unaffected by hatchery production except in those years when its crop fails but can be rescued by excess hatchery production like last year. Because the nursery pond is 7 acres when full, in a good year we can produce about 120-150,000 fingerlings based upon what a good year on a hatchery would produce (hatchery fish are counted when put on the truck - nursery pond fish are drained into the lake without handling). Since the new Bull Shoals nursery pond at Lead Hill is nearing completion and will be used for walleye every third year, that will increase our future stocking. Hatchery walleye are usually stocked in at least 3 boat ramps which change each year in order to distribute them around the lake. We usually have no way of actually tracking them but one year on Norfork walleye we held extra late (early August instead of mid June) on the hatchery and marked with magnetic metal tags. Some were stocked at the Quarry Park ramp one week before our annual rotenone sample in the upper end of Shoal Creek. In that sample we collected several tagged walleye and they had moved about 3 miles in one week. Another year we marked all 60,000 fingerling walleye with the magnetic tags (to not complicate the study the AG&FC stocked no walleye that year) which were then stocked at Tecumseh in MO. When those fish got big enough to collect during their spawning run, we actually caught a few of them near the dam though most tagged fish were caught in MO. FYI, those stocked fish made up 36% of that year class- that is walleye the same age - so we learned two things. First, natural spawning is important and stocked fish do survive to contribute to the fishery. Ken E. Shirley Oops - forgot the growth rate. Walleye will generally be about 10-11 inches by the spring after they are spawned then 14-15" the next spring. The next year we start to see them in the spawning run with males at about 18 inches then 19-21" the next year. After that they start to disappear in a hurry with few males reaching 23". Females grow much larger and will be about 20" in their first spawning run when they are three years old and eventually reaching 25-28". BULL SHOALS LAKE WALLEYE STOCKING 1997 ----- 803,000 AGFC & MDC combined 1998 ----- 375,100 AGFC & MDC combined 1999 ----- 225,189 MDC only 2000 ----- 386,057 MDC only 2001 ----- 311,761 MDC only 2002 ----- 265,200 MDC only 2003 ----- 319,161 AGFC 43,766 MDC 2004 ----- 217,005 AGFC 244,250 MDC 2005 ----- 63,985 AGFC 224,718 MDC 2006 ----- 215,185 AGFC 159,707 MDC LAKE NORFORK WALLEYE STOCKING 1997 ----- 0 AGFC ? MDC 1998 ----- 60,000 AGFC 220,000 MDC 1999 ----- 150,000 AGFC 150,880 MDC 2000 ----- 100,000 AGFC 159,379 MDC 2001 ----- 120,000 AGFC 245,784 MDC 2002 ----- 30,000 AGFC 242,160 MDC 2003 ----- 30,000 AGFC 221,150 MDC 2004 ----- 186,200 AGFC 189,250 MDC 2005 ----- 100,000 AGFC 221,000 MDC 2006 ----- 116,348 AGFC 221,845 MDC Wayne, I went back in time and re-read your post about walleye stocking vs striper stocking on BSL. I can see your point to an extent. I'm not sure there is a great economic return on the investment, but I sure am having fun with the walleye this year.

JAMAAL! I'd freaking love for the Chiefs to win it all.

I know they also stock from hatcheries and brood ponds. I wonder if some of those fish haven't figured out they can make runs up Beaver, Shoal, Big, Theodosia arm, and Spring creek which during wet years have decent flow over the substrate they need. I read that the spawn in Norfork (NFOW/Bryant) has significant success.