Ham

I used to fear that jinx, but apparently that's a Louisiana//Texas thing. I fairly routinely catch one first cast on the White River and it doesn't slow me down a bit.

It's an Ozark tradition to catch one at the ramp before you launch the boat, Lol.

Great Job Andy!

I don't understand how you feel bitten. I took no offense and I certainly didn't mean to cause any. I have Thanked Dave many times and so appreciate his efforts to share information. He had to nudge me more than once to use the Ned even after I had used and caught fish on it. Long story that's not important. I'd be shocked if you are more of a numbers guy than me, but any things possible I suppose. So I totally get it. I have been trying to share information on using Nano for the same reasons. I believe it has helped me catch a lot more fish and have more fun on the water. Is it more complicated than mono? Yes. Lots of good things take a little more effort. Cars are more complicated than horses. I've decided to stick with cars despite the occasional aggravation. I still use mono on my baitcasters for Topwater and crankbaits. I mainly use Fluro for jigs and such. I really didn't take note of who was having problems with the Nano, I'm just trying to figure out why. Now, the Ned on a bait caster thing is just tin foil hat crazy. Yes, you can fish it that way and you can catch fish, but I don't see that as being the best tool for the job by any means. I don't use a 3 lb maul when I can use a 16 oz hammer to drive the nail. Again, just my opinion.

Wow, the " I love the Ned thread" morphed into an "I hate Nano thread". I've used 6,8, and 10 lb. I have it on every spinning reel except two maybe. I am thinking of when I might need to regress back to mono. I simply have not had the problems you describe. I don't break fish off with it. I'll assume somewhere along the way I have, but less than with mono. When I have, it's been a leader issue. I broke a couple off on Norfork on 1/6/15. I'm not sponsored and I gain nothing from anyone else using nano, mono, fluro, braid, or sewing thread as a fishing line. It just puzzles me how my experience has been so overwhelmingly positive using Nanofil and others find it to be an expensive, miserable experience. The two negatives I have with it 1) the twist in it becomes visible and it is more difficult to get out of the line than mono. I can remove most of it and it is largely cosmetic and not (so far) hurt my fishing and 2) it gets pulled on by the wind worst than mono. It weighs nothing and has surface area so it shouldn't be a surprise. The work around is to keep the rod angle low or even allow the nano to float on the surface of the water. I'm back from my trip south. I took three spinning rods with Nanofil. I caught 115 fish (not impressive really). I lost one lure to a sunken tree and one lure because the hook eye wasn't closed completely and I was using a loop knot. Zero leader failures, zero nano failures. Easy casting, easy strike detection, and easy hooksets. I still love it.

That's terrible TFR. Man, I hope you get feeling better soon. Back pain like that screws up all aspects of your life NOT just our silly side passion.

I honestly don't think so. I fished with several of my daughters high school friends and another young man that was a couple of years out of high school last year. I also fished with another handful of guys under 35. These were all ppl that fished, but weren't really all that experienced. I would certainly agree it is less universal than when I was growing up, but it is up to fishermen to share the sport.

. The Yellows never get as big as the Whites, but They have their charms. The larger ones are all females. I tried several time to get a picture of one flaring its gills to try to slice me with the gill plate covers, but I failed. Full load of eggs.

. It's not unusual to pick up a few Channel cats.

My time on the water is done. We caught about 1/2 as many as yesterday, but it was still a great day on the water. I added a couple of new species for the year. I would have caught them out of BSL this year, but it's cool. I finished at 40 fish for the day. We had to work for them. Easter Service with Dad in the morning and then on the road again.

another pic. Can you see the yellow?

Not gonna lie, I did not enjoy the 7 hour drive after the 8 hour work day. I gutted it out. What choice did I have? My Dad and his friends had them DIALED IN Monday and Tuesday BUT today was very different. I had caught 8 fish by 2 PM but once we found em, it was game on. We quit before 5. I remembered to click 75. I know I missed some. but oh well. My Dad caught a pile of them too. The White Bass run is mostly over. The Yellow bass are going strong. That is a yellow bass. They don't get as large as Whites but taste better. I also caught Whites, LMB, and one line Black crappie. Major weather change and tomorrow is another day. We will see how we do.

I'm battling injury and illness as well as serious time constraints, but I'm headed south this afternoon to fish and visit with my Dad down in Shreveport. Pretty good White Bass run on the Sabine this year. I hope to catch dozens at the minimum, but seriously hoping for hundreds. The latest weather forecast I have seen is improving so with a little luck conditions will be right. Most years I make this trip down and the last few years conditions have been crap, but we hung in there and force fed a few. He went pre-fishing a couple of times this week and got bit A BUNCH. I doubt I'll check in much before I get back. Y'all behave while I'm gone and dont catch all the fish in TR and BSL while I am on the road.

I vote that Crooked Creek in Boone county be considered navigaible.

I dont think it is ANY less effective than before. I think ppl just moved on to whatever the "new" Hot fly is. I really need to pick up my fly rod again.

Wow!

Man, that's tough. I hope you have better luck next time.

What's up with the access off of the Flippin bypass?

How many minnows did it eat overnight?

Growing up, I always reached for the blue worms first. I can't remember the last time I used a blue worm. Likely, close to 20 years ago.

Ehh, it happens. I do hate when I injure a little guy with comparatively giant hooks, but they did in general make a run at the bait.

I don't see him bleeding, but he's lost a few scales.

The swing head deal may be great, but we fished ours like a real slow Sluggo retrieve. Very visual deal. Pretty much The fishing equivalent of smoking crack.

The Jaw Tecs were larger than the old Flip Tails, but worked fine. My Dad wanted only the old ~ 6 inch ones. He poured his own when they were dced. FYI Land Big Fish shows them in stock. Absolutely drives fish on beds crazy. Super Dave new lakes with dying timber were the best. When Bob Sandlin in Tx was still filling up, My Goodness !

Did anyone here used to swim a Fliptail lizard during spawning season on the flats? Man, bass come unglued over that thing. Still works great. So much easier to get a good hookset now that we have braid. It also worked very well in the fall, but you needed to fish it with a hybrid style with a mixture of lift/drop and swimming motion.