Ham

I really look forward to hearing how you do. The water warms much more slowly than the air, but I would expect increased activity. I didn't have much topwater action all last year for smallies (or anything else really) so I'll be thrilled to hear you say you got some on top. I'd start off throwing jerkbaits and jigs. And probably keep throwing jerkbaits and jigs UNLESS I saw fish feeding on the surface. Good Luck. I hope you catch a bunch.

Sluggos in shad colors SB's real basic dingy water colors. I don't throw red spinnerbaits after March. FT,Chart/White, White. Senkos 021, 051, 297, 208, 213, 323, 236 I look at the water and make my choice worms and lizards, GP. Watermelon/ red, black/blue, and june bug again look at the water and pick one we're going a little later than ya'll so I'll have some other things that I'm gonna experiment with.

We fished Rayburn a few times mixed in with the Toledo Bend trips. We hit it right about the time the LMB virus was at its worst so I have a bad impression of the lake. We found that we could catch more bass at TB with less trailering and less risk of getting our boat sunk by the main lake waves. I feel like Raybirn has bounced back, BUT I just like Toledo Bend better. Looking at the Classic and how that is fishing. You'll have pre-spawners , spawners, and some post spawn fish. I would not go to TB without Senkos, Sluggo type baits, lizards, spinnerbaits, an assortment of top water baits, traps, and some finesse worms. FWIW

I like otters. I've yet to see one in MO, but I'll keep my eyes open. I've had pretty good days (numbers wise) for smallies etc on a fair number of MO waterways so I don't think the otters have wiped the fish out just yet. I also like fur coats for women though and I'm all for people trapping as long as they run their trap lines responsibly. People also fall into that kill for fun and can be wasteful category.

NO clue. Not evan a SWAG. It depends on the bait and what kind of line you throw.

Yeah, I guess we could all pretty much et by with 6 foot medium action medium speed pistol grip rods. I like a soft tip for drop shotting so I can shake the bait without jerking it up too much, but then I want a fairly fast taper so I get backbone BEFORE the rod bends to the handle. While I'll agree that the rod doesn't have to be labled "drop shot", maybe companies are trying to help you pick a rod that does that job well on your first purchase instead of third or fourth try. I wouldn't have bought the GYCB rod except that I fished with someone that showed me how to drop shot. I could not feel the bites and work the bait correctly with the spinning rods I brought BUT immediately caught fish when using one of his rigs. I wish I got to try before I buy on all my fishing gear purchases.

I have been amazed at how well the Wake 1.5 comes through brush.

If you're looking for crankbaits for Table Rock, I'd get Wiggle Warts first. There are Lucky Craft baits I like a lot, but the only LC Cranks I have gotten have been the Rick Clunn Wake and RC Shallow Runner.

Another positive benefit of a bad flood. I really like that river and it's a good thing that it is cleaner than years past. I did not float it in 2008. I'll try to get that done in 09. Wayne tells me that MO has the same litter laws as AR, but that they are not enforced enough. Same old deal of the few making things a hassle for the many.

We aren't full, but our numbers are not down that much. We have had a few broken hips come in that I think were falls on the ice. We have a few pneumonias coming in as well. Most surgeries have been postponed. Good staff here. Many have roomed over to make sure that the hospital had the staff it needs.

Lots of word of mouth intell coming in and done of it is great. I'll be doing a lot of chain saw work next week. Lady at work has a tree across her rent house. Lots of areas in Marion county w/o power. Limbs breaking off trees pretty much everywhere. I'll be spending another night at work.

If you could figure out a pattern involving berr cans, you would hurt yourself catching fish. Young drunk and stoopids keep the bottom SO trashy. That might be my favorite stream if it were cleaned up and not such a party river. During the week, you can pretty much fish w/o too much interference but the river is still very trashy.

It's getting nasty out. I made a run home and packed a suitcase. I'm at work for the duration of the ice event. BRMC will have at least 2 pharmacists available.

I've been very happy with my GYCB drop shot rod. You can see them on line at the GYCB website. Might be tough to finsd a place to play with them in person though.

Great report. You're gonna make me have to meet CajunAngler up there instead of down here on the White. Fish I choose to eat and a fair amount of action over the course of the day. Hmmm. Can do.

I guess its Supply and Demand (OOP and not out of people looking for it) and a good buddy that pimps him hard. How much time on the water would $300 buy?

I'll be headed to work at 0500. I Thank God I have a job and I pray to God that I keep mine long enough for things to turn around. I do hope you guys have safe and successful days on the water. I'm still cold from Tuesday.

So Dano everything is signed NOW how many years until it happens? Another 10-15 ?

Yeah Hoglaw, that's what I heard/read before. If there aren't year round decent pools, I don't know that would really be great fishing IF you could get to it. Lots pf better water to fish day in day out than that.

No, they ran a little water for three hours. Max was a little over 5000 cfs. It seems like it took the water at 2 units about 5 hours or so to reach the 62 Bridge from BSD. Does that seem right to ya'll?

Fished with Cajun Angler on the White out of Cotter from 1000 to 1700. Low water when we started. Love my jet! Kinda chilly this morning. Kinda windy too. Basically I was cold all day. Between the 2 of us we caught over 50 with numerous fish lost on the way back to the boat. No telling how many bites we had, but it was over a hundred bites for sure. Spin fishing with Zig Jigs mostly. Every color we tried caught fish. We also caught fish on jerkbaits, spoons, and spinners. They did run some water which was nice. Lots of Browns today. I think we had 5 Browns over 17 inches. We had a double with me getting a 22 inch Brown and him getting an 18 inch Brown. Pretty sweet! We had some pretty decent Rainbows as well. No Cutts. No Brookies. Great day on the water!

I didn't expect a change in growth rate. I just have no clue to how many Browns < 24 were leaving the river for wall or skillet. Hopefully, as my skill set improves and the fishery improves (again fingers crossed), I'm catch more Big Browns. Thanks Taxi for the info.

Hey CCA, At some point I'd like to pick your brain with general questions about the great unknown sections of CC between Y Town and the 101 bridge.

Now keep in mind that I am total catch and release on trout BECAUSE I don't care for the way they taste. On top of that I LOVE Browns, Brookies, and Cutts too much to kill one on purpose. If I liked to eat trout I would keep a few Rainbows and I certainly want to encourage people to keep Rainbows within the rules and regs. Having said all that, I am very excited about the new 24 inch minimum regulation for Brown Trout and certainly have high hopes that this will result in catching more > 20 inch Brown trout. Anybody have any SWAG of when we might begin to see more of these greater than 20 inch fish? I have run across a few with my Jig already and hope for at least one big ole Brown every trip out. I'll be going somewhere tomorrow and plans are for another trip on the White. I'll throw a trip report up if I go.

NICE photo Gavin. It must have been raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock. I sre hope you were throwing a black buzz bait.