Ham

OK so the numbers for the water they are scheduled to release are out and I'm not thrilled. Getting together and sorting things out at Riley's is an option, but if we are going to fish the upper river during the window of water being released, we need to meet at those locations. A) There is a 4 hour burst of water scheduled to be released overnight. It should have cleared the RS area by 0800, but would be tough to ride all the way to Norfork. There is another 5 hour burst of of water starting at 5 am. That should reach Rim by 1200/1300. It will be more flow than I like, but would get us over the hump and back to RS safely if we play the water right. The water they are supposed to run makes Wildcat a good option for those 5 hours, but don't be below the shoal are when the water drops out. Those shoals are not navigable at low water. White Hole should fish good for big fish in the morning. When the water runs out you could fish low water there or relocate to Rim. Shipp's Ferry to Norfork is another option, but again there are a couple of places that you need to be below prioer to the water running out. They is a nce sheduled release of water on Norfork, but it is supposed to start early. like 6 am , and be turned off at 1100. A very fishable one unit. Big Brown City, but watch the clock and be down river by noon (or whenever they actually turn the water off ). That boat could then relocate to Reds and fish out the day. C) I received intell that the COE is going to be working on BSL Saturday. Likely to be zero generation maybe not even a steady minimum flow. sucks, but that's what it looks like. Norfork may be great Saturday or it may be a yak/canoe day Saturday. Heck they may change their mind and not do the inspections. We will see. Ideas???

i hear ya wrench, but I just won't hardly run that far to fish. I'd much rather trailer close to the fish if at all possible. I mainly use WOT to outrun weather or darkness if I fish too long.

I was running a 18 ft G3 HP 180 with a Yammy 130 hp. I think it had anti feedback cable steering and when I adjusted the trim tab. It would run WOT with ZERO pull either way. I could release the steering wheel and the boat did not change course. There was some pull to the left at lower speeds, but that was much better than the pull to the right from the prop at WOT. I'm in a BassCat Cougar with a Pro XS 250 now. I have the Sea Star system. It takes me a little while to learn a new boat, but I'm pretty comforatble in the "new" boat now. Rock solid at 69 MPH , pretty squirrelly at 72 MPH. I run 45 mph a lot more than 65 MPH. The 70 plus MPH thing isn't my deal.

You can do some amazing things with proper trim tab adjustment.

Maybe so Rick. I've been waiting on them to post the predicted water releases. I was gonna throw sone ideas out there then. It is like herding cats though.

Keep in mind that I have loaner yaks and a canoe if needed.

If you have room, you guys might want to have waders with you.

Not on a public forum.

I've got some yaks and a canoe. if they aren't going to run water, we might want to think about yak fishing it . Just saying.

150 MW = 10,000 CFS roughly

You need to time it so that you are at Buffalo Shoals when that 150 MW of water hits there. I think that rise would hit Rim between 12N-2 PM. It will be at Buffalo Shoals 2-3 hours after that I would put in at Rim with waders on and head downstream. Walking the boat thru the skinniest stuff if need be. I'd want to be below CC at 2 PM and fish out on the rising water planning on getting to Rileys right at dark. You can definitely catch fish in that area with min flow. I'd be throwing 1/32 AND 1/16 OZ JIGS until the water hit and then pick up the 1/8 oz and never put it down.

That's good stuff

There really should be a fitting at both ends to lubricate those cables, but that wouod probably cut into the sales of replacement cables.

I would almost always pick Stockton over TR. Lots of ramps so you can trailer to close to where you want to fish. I appreciate the ability to fish for all kinds of different fish. Stockton is a great multispecies lake. I'm guessing the walleye are a lot easier to catch on Stockton. I have made one multiday trip to Stockton. We caught walleye everyday while we where there bass fishing. I've fished a lot more days than that at Table Rock and I've never seen one caught. I know TR has them and I know ppl catch them, but I think your chances are way better at TR. The one real advantage to consider about TR over Stockton is the ability to fish in wind. TR is fishable in wind up to 30-35 mph. Not enjoyable, but possible. Stockton does NOT have the same lay of the land around the lake. Wind definitely affects you more at Stockton.

I guess I just got lucky then. I would have expected the cables to last a lot longer than 5 years.

Wintertime smallmouth fishing with a flyrod IS NOT worth it to me. If you are determined to use the flyrod and want to catch a brown fish, go to the White River and fish for Brown trout.

I have the Seastar system on my Bass Cat. It's been just fine and dandy so far. Prior to this boat, I've had cable steer systems. I really can not tell any difference in how it feels for the driver between the two systems. I hav my previous boat for 10 years. I did not have any issues as far as cables locking up. I know that it happens, but I would think you could change out the cables and get 10 or more years out of them. Cable replacement has to be a less expensive option than changing to the Sea Star system. You might as a marine dealership the advantages of going with a Sea Star system vs going back with cabkes.

I need to sell all my originals.

I love fishing submergent and emergent vegetation. I really miss that.

You'll be a lot more successful once the water warms up next spring. Keep in mind that the walk in water gets many times more fishing pressure than sections of the river between accesses offer better opportunities. Good Luck! Don't get discouraged if you don't catch a lot at first. I don't fish the Buffalo when water is this cold.

If other lures are working well, there really isn't any reason to throw the spy bait. It is a finesse bait. It doesn't shout for attention and it isn't necessarily a fast way to fish. Our lakes should be perfect for spy baiting. That's why I keep trying to figure it out. It has not been as productive as I would like to this point, but it may work best when other things are non productive. I do at some point expect to beat down some white bass with it.

I worked on the bluff yesterday. It sure was tough working while they were running perfect water, but the work has to done. I didn't get anywhere close to hot. The wind always blows up there and it was a little nippy. Made progress though and got to watch an Eagle at treetop level. Getting close fellas

Brett, I would imagine you could use one of my spinning reels with nano on it for the trip IF you wanted to do so. I fished for > 40 years with mono and did OK I guess. I finished up my low water drag chain yesterday. I can have both with me. I'm not sure I won't be in my boat some of the weekend.

Those prices are freaking crazy. I knew all the GYCB numbers for my favorite Senkos and a lot of the numbers for colors I didn't use, but I'll be darned if I can remember a single color designation for Wiggle Warts. Lol.

Salad would be a GREAT idea. A good first course that might keep from eating a third round of catfish.