Ham

All you can do is treat the fish you catch as gently as you can and hope they make it. Some fish survive the worst possible stuff, but most would not. Catch and release WORKS and our fishing is more entertaining for it. Selective harvest works too.

The only jet boats I've seen on the Buffalo River were NPS or AGFC and the horsepower rules don't apply to them.

Sure, I love hearing a trip report from a friend in a private conversation. I don't do trip reports on creeks and rivers anymore with the exceptions of the White and the Buffalo, but are big rivers that already are heavily utilized. I won't name a creek or river in a trip report other than those. If a shuttle provider needs my trip reports to feed his family, he really needs to look into a different line of work. I don't fish the Kings river anymore because of the decline in the quality of the fishery and the overall experience due to in my opinion to excessive pressure. I don't expect things to improve anytime soon. More and more people are buying yaks and floating. I just prefer the way it was 10 years ago. The James River is another River that while still productive is a shadow of its former self. Largely due to increased pressure.

I spoke to Baxter County Sheriff Jihn Montgomery about this last night. John is about as nice a gentleman as I have ever met and he spoke highly of Sheriff Vickers. I never met Sheriff Vickers, but if John says he is one of the good ones, that's good enough for me.

Oddly enough, I caught a Longeared SUnfish that had a not completely healed injury like that out of a creek. That fish seemed healthy enough and it seemed obvious to me that it was a heron strike. No pics so I guess it didn't happen.

You hang on the edge of the livewell while you are checking to see if he'll cull another fish.

So why are you talking about it online?

He was a good man. I hate to hear of his demise. Thanks for posting this though.

The prettiest bass I have ever caught was a meanie out of Lake Whitney in central Texas. I slow rolled a spinnerbait on a bluff bank getting a LOT of wind. I wwent there to throw a spook, but it had way too much wind for that. It was about a 2 pound fish that looked like you took a smallie that you painted with spotted bass colors and then coated everything in a translucent olive. This was pre easy fishing photo days and I was alone SO no picture. I was in my Stratos 279VF which I sold in 1998. I'd have to guess it was August 1998 maybe 1997. I love that lake, but I'd be shocked if I ever fish there again.

I hear you Seth, but he had an outboard jet. No clue if he had a fancy coating on his hull. I think he was just a huge knucklehead.

There is.

Come back and fish BUll when it is a little closer to normal like maybe 10 foot low to 20 foot high.

I'm not catching the quality Fish24/7 does, but I never found Bull Shoals to be that tough to catch fish on. It's not like it is Table Rock or anything.

The left side in the sun really looks like it has spotted bass in it. The right side of the fish in lower light not as much.

I really like low water. Its more work, but it makes the catching so much easier.

I was on the White at Rim fishing below the first island and I heard a jet running up river. I'm middle right of the river so no big deal. I hear the guy coming a long time before I see him. As I remember it was a Blazer, but it may have been some othe raluminum model with a 90 HP I think. Instead of running the deeper water channel, he chose to run some super skinny stuff on the far left. I thought to myself that he was a knucklehead for going out of his way to run super shallow, but away he goes and I go back to fishing. About an hour later I hear him running south. I'm in the same general area, but tucked further to the right. Well out of the way. This guy with two passengers is at WOT throttle and takes it over wet gravel bar that was about 6 inches out of the water instead of a nice 18 inch channel. The go completely airborne for a while and bounce hard on re-entry. Never let off the throttle, never looked back, just kept flying downstream. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.

That's Great! That's really Great! What a tremendous fish. I do think its a Smallie/Spot cross. They are so beautiful. I wish I had caught it, but I'm so happy for him.

Fish head soup must be ok. It sure aint hurt their population numbers yet.

Under the conditions we have now, I would be burning a lot of fuel running bluff banks, flooded points, and way to the back of creeks. I would be leaning pretty heavy on topwaters over brush and spinerbaots if the wind was blowing around flooded brish and trees. BUT Im not fishing Bull or Norfork right now. Sooooooooooooooo

Gomer Pyle could have a full time job sitting on that bank where the creek comes in saying "Surprize, Surprize, Surprize" when the water level is high enough to hide the gravel, but not high enough to let you run there. Glad I have a 20 HP jet.

Sorry QB my bad. I completely missed the " + 1" part of it.

The real downside of the information age via the internet is some folks are so focused on being first with a story that they do not worry about and accurate and well researched story. The local paper is just short of printing hearsay and rumor on local crimes. It would be funny if it was such a serious issue.

This !

What exactly do you think the RC STX is supposed to mimic.

I could tell you what I did during the transition from Spring to Summe,. But water was ONLY 15 -20 foot high then. I fished the old water line as my zero. I fished 20-35 foot. I was catching plenty of fish, but not a lot of ones that would make a tourney guy happy.