Ham

Seth your post helps cement a theory that I have that the tree rats in my yard toy with my dog. Unless some poor unfortunate rodent blows out tendons in all four legs at once, she'll never catch one. She continues to believe that she will catch one BUT they run from tree to tree on the ground just fast enough to keep from being caught. They could go from tree to tree in the limbs, but prefer to jump to the ground in front of her to provoke the barking and chasing.

They all went to the upper lake where Buster Loving is wearing them out. Seriously though, I did not catch them like I had in years past. I remain hopeful that 2015 will be better

That's super cool. I have no hopes for that unless I go to where they are stocked on purpose. Remember the Orange variety they stocked in the White River a few years ago. I called them Cremesicles because they looked like Orange Sherbert. Anyway, the AGFC stocked 1000 of them in the White River. I caught 4 of those and I had another one caught in my boat. I think they are all long gone at this point. Having your entire body be a flashing "Eat Me" sign doesn't lead to a long life in the White River.

And don't misunderstand me, I think Dave has sweated out the details and come up with the best jig head for Ned fishing that I have ever used, BUT I don't just carry one jig head for Ned fishing. I think I am using two different non weedless designs (one has a collar and one does not) and then the head that Dave came up with. I have also used the Skinny Bear heads that you can get from TW, at Dave's suggestion, and they work very well, but cost more and rust QUICKLY if the chunk is left on the jighead at the end of the day. I had hook failures from this type rust on fish which is not acceptable so be forewarned on that deal. I'm done with Skinny Bear, but they work too. I saw the Z man Shroom jighead in person yesterday. I saw it catch fish and it can be used without glue for a little while. I would still glue mine from the get go, but that's just me. The hook seems roughly the right size with VERY thin wire. I don't think the hook Dave uses will ever let you down on a bass, but I would be shocked if the Z man head can hold up over time. I strongly suspect it will lose its temper and bend out or snap. Expensive for my tastes as well, but they will work.

The gopher heads have bait holders = weight down the shank. They were the first jig head I used for the Ned. I didn't seem to have baits ripping to pieces. I was able to glue them OK. And while weight down the shank MIGHT be sub optimal on SOME days, sub optimal does NOT mean a jighead is worthless. I priimarily won't be using Gophers anymore because of cost and availability issues NOT because I struggles to catch fish on them. I certainly want the best jighead I can acquire (at a certain price break point). I won't spend the extra money to get tungsten or overly expensive gammies or Trokar or whatever the latest Uber hook is. A good quality Mustad Ultrapoint is fine by me. I caught several hundred bass on non optimal Ned Heads last year,and I plan to catch several hundred more bass on sub optimal jigheads this year. I do enjoy the "finer" things though and I will use the best ones made (Super Dave's OPTIMAL Ned Heads) when I'm serious about it or in heavier wood situations.

what are good conditions for a smallie spawn? same as LMB?

NOPE! but then again, I've NEVER fished the LIttle Red.

Yeah, I know there isn't much difference btw the Rock Bass, Ozark Bass, and Shadow Bass. Not the same as a Warmouth though. Just something I do.

well then, I'll have to go with natural baits fished on bottom or around brush and hope for the best in 2015. The Shadow Bass thing got taken care of last year on the Current and again this year on the Black River system. I'm sitting at 7 species so far. I'll make a trip to the Norfork and get a Brook Trout before too long.

Ahhhhh yes, but what about the Smallmouth takeover of BSL? I remember you telling me that smallies don't smaple as well, but I wonder about the reasons for the dramatic increase in numbers of smallmouth bass. I'd love to think its just that I've learned how to catch them better, but there's a lot more to it than that.

You could always hope for another high water year and above average recruitment before this good thing runs out.

I think BSL from now on will always have Zebra mussels, but maybe the water level changes will keep them from becoming and overwhelming problem. I'm not sure what dock owners are going to do to deal with them.

Gosh Man I wish I could buy your boat. I just can't right now.

How much gas do you want me to throw on this fire.

I'm supper excited for fishing in 2015, but I don't dare dream that this warmish week is anything other than a brief timeout from winter. We will have a ton of cold weather ahead. All I hope is that we don't yo yo back in forth from warm to cold in April and beyond. Slow steady warm up in April would be AWESOME.

i looked high and low for this beofre and maybe mojo rig will have the real deal intell and set us all straight, but my understanding is that the % of the population that is from natural reproduction is 20-35%. They hatch great, but the lack of vegetation leaves the fry very exposed and Green Sunfish take a heavy toll. So Eat a Green Sunfish and save a walleye. Lol.

Jigs with Weed guards are better, but I do fine with open hook ones too. River / Creeks/ or lakes.

Surely, you meant SICK fish.

I'm gonna force feed some my pearl ones.

And I hope you have some of the other colors. Like Green Pumpkin, PB and J, and Dirt.

Rick has a very nice stable boat.That's a good thing for anybody to consider before purchasing. I love my Supreme AND I've caught a crap ton of fish out of my boat and used it in four states in various lakes and rivers BUT it is the last 42 inch hull trout boat I'll own. I'll have a 48-54 inch bottom next time.

Lol- Save a bass, Eat a walleye. It's nice when we can all agree on something. My take home message is "Follow the regs and trust the AGFC or MDC to manage the resource." I keep the walleye I catch when they are legal length. I do release them > 26 inches. Not being tender hearted, just don't like to deal with them past that length. I'm NOT going to keep fish for other people ; catch your own. I keep crappie from 10-13 inches. I release my crappie over 13 inches because I want to. I keep Spotted Bass and Largemouth when they are legal and when I want to, the vast majority of the time, I don't feel like it. I also selectively harvest. My larger bass are going to be released. I don't ever see me keeping Bass > 18 inches in length and I'd rather be somewhere that allows LMB to be kept from 12-14 inches. I don't keep Smallies to eat EVER. Not going to allow it in my boat either. All smallies caught in my boat are released. IF you want to keep smallies, fish with someone else. Catfish and other panfish are just fine to eat. I don't usually target them for consumption because I didn't do that growing up.

It seems like the fish are consolidated into distinct areas (the biters are anyway).

I will not allow myself to get picky about which piece to use. I just grab one and rig it up. The pointy pieces look better to me, but I've never seen the fish care.

Tell the truth Dave. You're counting and sorting the rocks in the photo. Lol