Ham

My fished out trash.

My walleye.

I continue to bang my head against the wall that is Bull Shoals at 680. I’m pretty frustrated, but part of that may be my unreasonable expectation to catch 50 or more every Spring trip on Bull. I used the High Water ramp in Diamond City. The ramp is beautiful. Launching and loading there by yourself is a little sketchy TBH. My furry alarm failed to wake me at her usual 4:15 AM so I was late out the gate. I doubt it would have mattered, but I was aggravated. I tried to find a Shad spawn along docks and bluffs for the first hour. I got one tiny Spotted Bass on my first flip, but that was the only bite. I headed way my up a cove off of West Sugarloaf. I found big groups of threadfin Shad milling about and nothing was feeding on them. Bad Sign. I worked a variety of top water stuff over 5-15 FOW water. Zero. Tried a wacky rigged stick bait. Nada. Trird a bluff from 5-20 FOW with Ned, Tube, swimbait, and plopper. Nope. Nada. Zero bites. I tried a small main lake cut. It had a steeper side and a flatter side. Flooded brush on both sides. Wind had picked up so I went far enough in to get a little wind break. Started pitching a pegged weigh Texas rigged Baby Brush Hog. Almost immediately so got my best bass of the day. A 19 1/4 inch LMB. She cut up. I had flipped to the outside of the last bush I could see under the water. I tried a few other things w/o a bite before moving the boat much. Got the BBH going again and almost immediately got a chucky short. A few flips later got another keeper. Then another short. Then another keeper. Then another short. I’m loving life about right now. A gentleman in a Champion 198 was working the flatter stuff. I hit the end of the my side and visited with him a bit as I went out to re-tie and regroup a little further out from where I started. He was prefishing for this coming weekend and moved on to try other areas. I reworked my steeper stuff and got a couple more shorts. Then things got dumb. I caught a keeper walleye on my 3rd cast with a larger swimbait. It never got another look all day. So now I keeping fish to go along with the walleye. Somebody must have told the bass and they quit biting. I caught another small spot in a SB and got a nice keeper Spot flipping on the flat side , but that was all. No worries. I have a pattern. I’ll go fish similar stuff in the same way and get me some more keepers. I fished similar stuff for the next five hours to catch three fish none of which kept. I lost a nice keeper spot on a small swimbait, but it’s hard to clean a fish that jumps off. Water was beautiful. Not as gin clear as down lake. I had wind and at times clouds. I also had 20 plus foot of extra water. I fished a lot of great options with not much to show for it. I did see a few bluegill, but I left them alone. I picked on some Longnosed Gar. I got a BIG one to the boat, but then what do you do with a 4 foot Gar? She eventually got annoyed and went crazy boatside. No pic of Gar. Seaguar AbrazX 17 lb is tough stuff. Several fish took me into brush. No issues what so ever. Line didn’t even scuff. High water has lots of big wood floaters on the main lake. Slow down and stay alert. Lots of plastic trash floating. I feel like OA guys care more than the average Joe.So Please Pick up garbage when you can. I got a small pile out . Pro Tip: Bring a net to scoop up trash easier and quicker. I wish I had done that. Soon maybe I can fish a top water bite. I’ll try again in a few days.

I like the 105’s but the stock hooks are too small.

Lol, you’re as Bad as me.

Evergreen?

What a Fatty!

The material is light and not restricting at all. it keeps me cooler and lets me reduce the amount of areas that need sunscreen applied.

I fished the other day when it was 92 and while I got warm, I was not miserable. I think I would have been warm naked. And then terribly sunburned in sensitive areas. Yep, gotta wash those gloves. I wash them through out the day with a Camp Soap, but I’m thinking about switching to Dawn Dishwashing soap. You could try an oxy clean or similar product in washing machine.

If you love to fish and you want to fish as long as you can, at some point, you have to start looking afterW your health. Eat healthier and get exercise to keep yourself strong into your golden years is a great idea, but as outdoorsmen we expose ourselves to the sun more than most and skin cancer is a real concern. Sunscreen is great and absolutely vital that we use it every time we go out, but it is only part of the solution for me. I’m getting more and more where I want to use sunscreen on the areas I can’t cover up. I use a hooded performance tee. They wick sweat away well and block the sun pretty effectively. Hood protects your neck, ears, and for some of us our scalp. I use a Buff or similar to protect the front of my neck and the back of my neck when my hood is down. I have bought several on these on the cheap. The Buff brand is a little pricey, but less expensive options are out there. I try to always have a hat or cap. Again, protecting my face, ears, scalp AND helping me see better under the water and therefore fishing better. I also try to have sunglasses every trip. Protects your eyes from accidental injury and protects them long term from sunlight damage (cataracts). AND helps me see under the water better and fish better. I have resumed using sun gloves to protect the backs of my hands. I will admit they take some getting used to and seem to dry my hands out a little bit, but they don’t get sunburned. I recommend the Aftco Jason Christie Performance Hoodie. Lots of little extras that really help like thumb loops, Good hood, and very comfortable to wear. I can also recommend the Glacier Gloves sun gloves.

I’ve caught them on a drop shot, but I was not specifically trying for walleye

Great Job! I was just confused about the dates. Kinda damp weather, but made for Great fishing.

Green Sunfish got screwed.

What weekend?

Oakland ramp is usable at 677.5. Likely usable for a few more feet. Courtesy dock in place and functional. Minimal parking. Water was as clear as I have ever seen Bull Shoals. 20 plus foot visibility. Skies were blue bird. I think the spawn is wrapping up. Looking for excuses here. I saw lots of great reports and had word from trusted friends. I did the “right” things and just didn’t get many bites. I caught 10 in 6 hours. I broke off one in a bush in 20 FOW. I lost one on the way up. And had ONE good bite that so didn’t hook. Usually when you got a bite, it was a hookup. You should expect to hang up a bunch. My lure retriever got a workout and did it’s job well, but I still lost tubes and shakey heads. Ned survived. Pretty full of Humble Pie at this point, but I’ll be back for another serving next Wednesday. Interesting to note that I saw ZERO panfish. Nada. Zip. None on boat docks or shallow brush. WTH? Water temp was 72-75

Gotta get up there

If Big Game works for you, rock on! Big Game is totally fine for Spinner Baits and Lopless crankbaits. Maybe top water baits. BUT in my opinion, way too much memory in cold weather and way too much stretch for deeper water jigging. I proved it to myself Fishing using same outfits with FC (Seaguar InVisX) on one and a good copoly (Silver Thread) on the other. That I could feel bites much better on FC. I did not want it to be better because of the cost, but it just is.

Thanks Mojo!

It’s a warmouth which I grew up calling goggle eyes. You guys call Northern Rock Bass, Ozark Bass, and Shadow Bass a “goggle eye”.

Thank You for the report

Thanks for the report! I hate to hear ppl killing those big smallies, but we can’t all be winners. I would encourage those A holes to stay up north next year.

Yuk

I can tie a unit to uni very easily. I just can’t stand that knot bumping thru the guides. If your leader and main line are of equal pound test, you will get a fair amount of breaks at the Alberto knot. Sucks, but that’s been my experience.

I got to fish there once when it was a pay walk in area. Fantastic area. I hate that’s gone. People are dumb.

I have two, but they are still both in pretty good shape. I will sell them. PM me with what you think is a fair price for two functional reels.