Ham

Thanks for the intell. I made a day/night trip with cajunangler on Wednesday. I wish we could have stayed longer beacuse we stumbled onto a group of fish and I would have liked to try a couple of more spots like that area before we came in. We got 3 keeper walleye > 20 inches and had a bunch of nice fish besides that. Kinda chilly, but we dressed for it.

Smallies are not the only wonderful fish that swim in the Ozark streams. If you set your mind right, you can enjoy catching almost any of the species that swim there. I already have plans to do some flyrod only trips for as many species as I can get on a day.

Lower lake. From the dam all the way to west of Buck Creek. I can not fully imagine how many smallmouth swim in Bull Shoals, but I've seen quite a few first hand. a fair number of accidental walleyes as well. Topwaters, jerkbaits, jigs, soft plastics, spinnerbaits and crankbaits are all working. Throw what you like to fish in the appropriate places and you will catch fish on it.

Lower Bull Shoals is fishing EXTREMELY well right now for all species of fish. You have to look at the weather and make some good choices AND you have to have a little fishing knowledge, but the fish are basically biting all over the lower lake. Seriously, if you can't go catch some fish right now at BSL, quit fishing and try your hand at golf. Everything they are saying is working at Table Rock is working at Bull Shoals. Top end fish are bigger at Table Rock, but numbers are higher at BSL.

Most of the gaspergoo I have caught have pulled pretty well. My Dad caught an 18.8 pound goo on a crankbait wuith standard medium bass gear that really tested his tackle. The brief hard pull sounds more like a goggle eye than a goo to me.

A rotting deer. Nice!

YES, we catch the occassional walleye in the White river BELOW BSL. The walleye and other warm water game fish got into the White when the floodgates were opened in 2008. I know that many have been taken out of the river, but more remain. I'm not sure that they won't establish marginal populations in the river system.

You could go down to BSL where you have a chance to fish areas alone. Just sayin.

I'd bet when you had enough water to put a boat in at that ramp on the lower access that level of water flowing by would make the boat launching VERY interesting.

I'm getting a few accident walleye while bass fishing, BUT They aren't quite 18 inches. I'd love to know how to get a few walleye in the magical > 18 inch size.

The shuttle from Marshall Ford to Rockhouse is a beyotch.

By "Lower access" are you talking about the access off Hwy 101?

The fishing was great, but the catching was terrible. Hey man, you got some bites and another day on the water with your Dad. I'd bet there are a lot of guys who wouuld take that in a heartbeat. I've already been skunked twice this year and come VERY close to other times. Its been strange.

I'd camp at Quarry Park. There has been decent chances to wade fish on the Norfork lately, but with rain predicted who knows what the generation pattern will be. IF and I say again IF, there is minimal generation, your canoe idea is a good one. Both of those floats would be very do-able and should give you lots of chances at fish. Thousands of trout will be caught on the white and Norfork this weekend regardless of weather or water generation.

I'm not Hotdawg so please PTI, but location can make an all or nothing difference and the color of stickbaits matters when it matters. Some days it makes all the difference in the world, other days almost any color you throw will get some bites. It should be wide open at the end of April. If you guys can't catch anything then, maybe you should ebay off your fishing gear.

www.usgs.org (or .gov I can't remember which) www.buffaloriver.com we got more rain than snow (so far). The levels will come up. I did Pruitt to Carver last Tuesday and it was just about too low to float w/o dragging the boat some. Water will be colder so exercise some caution and don't be afraid to walk the boat around some tough spots.

Trav Please! Who are you arguing with? So,you practice and preach selective harvest? That's not really that controversial. You choose not to keep fish yourself, but will tolerate those fishing with you in your boat to keep fish which again shouldn't be getting anyone that upset. You could look up the data about number of fishing licenses sold vvs number of hunting licenses sold fairly easily so no real need for a SWAG there. Given the difficulty in having places to hunt verses easy access to fishing and the lower start up cost to fish vs start up cost to hunt, I would assume that you are correct. Your point that hunting and fishing are apples and oranges is fairly valid and shouldn't be causing anyone to lose any sleep. I wish the Game and Fish folks could regulate purely on what the fisheries need, but there are lots of other influences that can't be ignored. In general though, our fishing is good shape. PLUS it takes so stinking long to do a scientific survey that if the fishery is really in trouble the damage will have been done long before they can respond. It's a beautiful day, go outside and enjoy it.

One caveat Al, lots of stuff changed after the 08 spring floods. That Clabber Creek deal may be more difficult than it was last time you ran it. Of course, you may very well have run it ten times since all that high water. I like to float. but I love to fish. I don't mind a little fast water, but I don't have any desire to do more than our sissyfied class II stuff.

President Obama's promise to have the most open and transparent administration in history has not been kept. I think he has earned a certain level of distrust. You don't enjoy saltwater fishing Al so I guess it is of little concern to you, but lots of us do enjoy fishing salty water and so it matters to us a little more. Not time to freak out, but it bears watching.

I've fished out of the back of that boat a lot of times. We've caught a lot of bass out of it in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. His new Basscat doesn't run or fish any better than this Cajun does. If you're in the market, you really ought to take a look at it.

I see very little need for natural bait on the White River. So many artifical lures work very well. Of course, some days are better for one style over another. I've heard the fly fishing can be pretty good too.

I am in complete agreement with Al. I really don't think you want to take on Boxley. I'd suggest Kyle's Landing down to Ozark. That puts you at a little over 6 miles a day for a three day float. You could do Pruitt to Carver if you wanted a two day float. The entire river is beautiful. I don't believe the hype that certain sections are far and away more scenic that others. Save Ponca down to Steele for warmer days with a lighter load so WHEN the canoe gets rolled less gear is at risk and you won't be miserably cold. www.nps.gov take a look at the interactive map to get a look at possible trips. www.usgs.gov for updated water levels Bobber will see this eventually and hopefully offer his opinions.

Last year at about this time, clear water with lots of dying shad equaled NO BITES. I had to move to off colored water to get bit. I think the fish in the clear water were full.

It might be that lots of folks have been stuck on go waiting for the first hint of decent weather to get out there. The White River has been JAM packed with boats and fishermen.

I caught a slam today! My first down river Brookie! Lots of boats out today. The fishing was pretty slow.