Ham

I broke down and bought some Seagar Invisx line Saturday. I spooled up for a trip CajunAngler and I made to upper BUll Shoals. We had heard there was a pretty good Wart bite going on and with the weather getting nasty we decided to sneak in one more trip prior to the change. We took his boat which was a good choice because it was a little windy. The wart bite didn't really happen for us, but the jig bite did. Smallies, LMB, and Spots. Size was a mixed bag. I wanted a limit of largemouth, but that didn't work out. I caught too many keeper smallies which I refuse to kill. I could tell I was fishing a different line. I can feel the extra weight of the line when I cast. Reminds me of throwing a flyrod a bit. The Invisx didn't coil on me at all. It was more sensitive (I think) and held up well to the rocks. I did re-tie a time or three ; some of which might not have been necessary. I did not lose a jig all day. (I did tear the hook up on one getting it out of a fat pig spotted bass though) I am not overly concerned with the line being invisible, but it doesn't bother me that it is. Cajun Angler caught more than his share of the fish, but every dog has his day. We caught 45 bass between us for the day and over 40 of those came on football jigs.

And wear a hat.

Someone mentioned Jewel jigs as being wirth their higher cost, but they are moderately priced compared to some of the national brands. I'm throwing the Heavy Cover Finesse, but I'm guessing most are using the Heavy Duty for the stronger hook? Why does the stinkin fluro have to be SO expensive? I'm got lots of line from 4 lb to 20 lb already so I hate to buy more. Are the main advantages of the fluro the increased sensitivity and the fact that is sinks so it helps your jig get down and stay down. I was hoping for extra abrasion resistance to the rocks. I have used P Line CX Premium which is fluro coated, but I'm not sure you get the extra sensitivity or the stay down with it maybe just the abrasion resistance. Hmmm.

I'm glad to see you guys are mentioning rods as well. I use a 7' medium spining for 1/4 oz with 8-10 lb, but if wind forces me to go up in weight to 3/8 oz I throw it on a St Croix AC68MXF (6'8" medium Xtra fast). When I go up to 1/2 oz, 17 lb on a St Croix AC70MHXF gets the nod. Now, Its not like I need another rod, but if there was a clear choice for a "better" rod well I'm all ears. Anyone use the Falcon Eakin's rod? I'm snap setting mostly and too hard at that which is why I do tend to open up the Jewel Finesse FB's after a while, but my jigs have J hooks instead of the semi EWG hooks some jigs have. I try to make myself sweep set on EWG style hooks and real wimpy hooks. Hey Ealy Are you fishing a G3? That looks like the bow of my HP180.

I know lots of guys are throwing FB jigheads bioth skirted and plain with plastic trailers. There seems to be a WIDE range in prices for the skirted and plain jigs. Given the fact that I will lose some number of jigs over the course of the day, I'd like to get a decent jig for a decent price. I'm been fishing Jewel Finesse Football heads and Right Bite skirted heads. The hooks are a little light in the Jewels. I'm been using a mish mash of un-skirted jigheads with twin tailed Hula grubs. Both catch fish. I do vary weights based on depth I'm fishing and the amount of wind on the area I am fishing. All sorts of greens and browns including PB & J, Green Pumpkin, Mo Craw, and more. Is there a general water temp where a skirted jig will outfish a jighead with a Hula Grub? Are there real world advantages to some of these > 4 dollars each FB head jigs? Are you guys snap setting or sweep setting? What is too light or too heavy a line for this technique in this clear water?

The COE office in Mountain Home told me they have the "new" passes for the next 12 mionths, BUT they aren't selling them now or chargeing for area ramps ????

Dang Phil you seemed to be having more trouble keeping the fish off the jig than you were catching them.

Hey Matt, I have yet to catch a crappie from Norfork, but I am told that this time of year the crappie can be caught from the brushpiles by swimming jigs with soft plastics around and through them. I saw a gentleman fishing in the Redbank area tightlining minnows over brush 20-30 foot down. The wind was giving him fits, but I saw him cleaning some nice fish at thhe ramp later. You'll have to go and pay some dues. You'll learn a little more each trip.

Nope. Nothing on stripers. I saw a few individual shad no balls of shad, but I did not spend any time moving slow watching electronics over open water. Ehhhh island? No.

There's no point in getting your feelings hurt about it. I jut think it was too much detail. A PM helps someone WITHOUT putting it out there for everyone to read years later. Play around with various search engines and see what you can find from old fishing reports. I'm sure the local experts could expound on the differences between Beaver, TR, BS, and Norfork but for me they fish a lot alike. I can apply some of the overly detailed reports from TR to BS and do just fine. Basically, if someone gives me a rough idea of area of the lake fished, water temp, water level and or water color along with a date stamp and a thumb up or thumb down sucess wise. I'm a happy camper. I can make a more educated decision about where to spend my day off trying to catch a few fish.

I fished from 0930 until 1700 on Norfork. I launched out of Cranfield. Water temps 49-50 degrees. Fish still eating a jig, but the bite is light. This would be a tough time to teach someone how to jig fish. I fished various green and brown jigs in 3/8 and 1/2 oz. The wind was a lot of fun. I sure was wishing the sun would come out and warm me up, but alas it did not. The sun finally came out at about 4 pm. I really think the fish bite better when the sun is out this time of year. At least, the jig bite is better for me in the sunshine. Water has plenty of visibility BUT is not GIN clear. I also caught a few runts on a wart. I caught and released 21 bass. Most small fish, but I would have had a nice limit of LMB if I had choosen to take them home. I only had 3 little spotted bass. I guess the bigger spots are offshore pounding shad or something.

I have some interest in your boat, but I'd need to know where you are.

Not quite crappie fisherman. The fact that the report is weeks old is the only saving grace, but the fishing pattern has been REALLY steady on TR, BS, and Norfork for the last 6-8 weeks with daily variations in depth on the same location. I'm happy they caught fish and that's cool that he wants to give all his intell away, but a PM limits the damage. With a PM, Champ just tells all his friends instead of 100's of eyes see these boards.

It was a LOT more than a little info. That much detail is better shared via a PM. Most spots can't stand the fishing pressure that a well intentioned but overly detailed post like that one can bring. I'm always pissed when I have found fish on my own and then someone being helpful invites the world to fish the areas I found. The appropriate response would have been yes the ramp is open.

Thanks Don and T. I'm relatively new to the area and trying to get a general feel for when and where. God knows that the "rules" are meant to be broken, but a basic understanding of what "most" of the fish are doing at general water temperature ranges would be a huge help to me.

You mention the water being "too warm". Was that too warm for a good spoon bite? I'm really wishing I could hold on to this 50-55 ' water for another month. Will the bass still eat a FB jig as the water cools below 50'?

Hey Larry, about how cold does the water have to get down to to stop the fun. TR, BS, and Norfork are all "hot" right now. Will the bite still be strong at 50'? I understand the fish will move and the "hot" bait may change, but how cold is too cold to feel good about my chances?

I ALMOST had a slam on the Norfork this fall with my flyrod. I had a BIG Brookie on that came off as I reached out to net it. Great day none the less.

I'd want to be real careful about slander. What if it looks like a performer in Branson, but it isn't that guy. You "out" him and his show goes down the tubes which he could show financial damages dmages, you could be sued for saying on a public forum something that isn't true. The police should control this. They have the same problem in Shreveport at parks associated with boat ramps along the Red River. A few plainscolthes policemen making a few high profile arrests would slow this down a bunch. Going to the local media about this might work as well.

Hey Don: I haven't read anything about minimum flow being as high as you mentioned. I had read about 300 more CFS on the White and 150 or so more CFS on Norfork. Both of those numbers would keep the water cooler, expand the area where scuds and sowbugs grow, help a little bit with O2 (maybe), and maybe expand areas where people can wade. MOST of the folks I have talked to are in favor of it and most seem to think it might improve the fishery; More fish for everybody. I've never had the feeling that it was being pused by the guides so that more people would have to hire a guide. I've also never considered that the folks lobbying for it just want to dilute their pollution. I guess I'm just naive. I've heard Mr. Wood is a good guy and wants to improve things. He's been a good guy in the past in regards to how he ran his plant and donations for various area projects. In regards to your first point about extra water in the lakes PRIOR to the flooding rains; l would hope that with the knowledge they had less room to spare, the decision of when to begin letting water out might have been different. I don't think I would assume that five extra foot would have made things 5 foot worse. I also think that the extra 5 foot isn't going to be static. They may keep if 5 foot higher in the spring and reduce the lake level by five foot less in the fall. Norfork was 8 foot low last fall maybe this year they will only run int to 5 foot low. I'm firmly against giving SWPA money for energy NOT generated.

Jerkbaits already Larry ? I've fishing the Wiggle out of my warts lately. I've also been slinging blades and jigs.

Thanks Doug. I was expecting mid lake or upper lake, but Thanks man.

Kill the pigs.

Could you give me a general area of the lake that you were fishing?

Gary the fish get used to the noise. They live under these docks FULL TIME. The docks always have fish. I don't fish these areas at "rush hour". Usually there are any other boats gassing up or stopping to shop. I have caught some pretty decent fish and had some follows by true PIGS at some of the commercial docks that they have made illegal. Knowing the location of a few fish that can become bites on still bluebird days was a nice option to have.