Ham

My first Drun on the Ned. Typical crushing strike followed by a lengthy fight which made my arm hurt.

. Bull Shoals doesn't have a lot of Blue Gill, but it has some big ones.

best smallie. 17 1/2

Started this morning about 0800. Air temp, low 40's, very cloudy, damp all day. The sun thought about coming out late in the day and then changed its mind. Water temp was around 51-52 degrees all day. It was warmer than the air so it felt good when I rinsed my hands off.. I took a co-worker. Multiple times we left fish so that I could show him more areas. We made it all the way up lake to Big Creek. All of our fish were main lake fish. I did show him sone areas just off the main lake and we just could not buy a bite. I honestly believe every bluff in the lake is holding fish right now. Most of what I'm catching is 10-14 inch Smallies, but also catching Largies, Spots, and some Jumbo Bluegill. I got a nice 14 1/2 inch Spot on my first cast with a spy bait. I got few bumps after that, but no more hookups. I got a few fish on a crappie jig including a 17 1/2 inch smallie, but no crappie. Most fish came on the Ned. Again. Shocker. Some bites in 5 foot of water some out to 30 foot range. So that helps right. The boat caught over 50 today. We could have caught more if it ham not been a magical mystery tour. We saw one other boat all day.Cool day on the water, but a lot of fun.

Tackle Warehouse 20% off sale. Gonna try out the Leechz, Grubz, Bat Wings, and Turbo Crawz. I will likely be cutting a lot of them to a size or shape that pleases me. I know that glue is always required, but I'm starting to consider it superior plastic. Spring should be interesting.

It's silly I guess, but I hate that they call it a 110 Jr. The 110 = 110 mm. The 110 Jr is roughly 95 mm. What about calling Vision 95? Nah gotta cash in on name recognition of the 110? FWIW, there is a smaller McStik. McStik's another another Megabass knockoff. They catch fish and are more durable than the Megabass

C mon Brett! You have a Coosa.

e.e.cummings lives in all of us.

If you lose a fish, so what? Catch another one later. I don't like the RC STX, but plenty of ppl catch fish on them. I have a few 110's, but I will NEVER throw them in a river. Way too easy to break that bill off on a rocky bottom. If they won't eat the other jerkbaits I throw, then I'll have to catch them some other way,

Why worry? You've had no issues. Lots of good split rings out there. Worth is one brand name. I like Gammakatsu round bends, but everybody has there own favs. KVD's. Daiichi Deathtraps. Mustad. VMC Barbarians

FWIW, I don't fish Bull too far above Tucker Hollow. Like maybe 10 miles up lake from Tucker is as far as my Bass Cat is ever going to see. I might take my trout boat up Beaver Creek looking to put a hurting on the White Bass. That upper lake is along way from my crib and gets iffy at low water levels.

If you'll post water level, water temp, water clarity and wind, you are posting valuble content. If you'll post what you tried, what success you had, and what you were thinking, you'll have posted more valuable content. Add a few photos, and it's better still. I don't always catch them like I want to, but I can usually scratch out a few fish,. I do post even when I zero. It's a big lake and I am still learning lots of it. There are so many variables to look at and consider. Knowing what ramps are good in a strong north wind or dangerous in a hard south wind, would be very helpful to someone like me that's still learning the lake.

Winter came early and everyone is busy killing deer.

How long ago was the big walleye fish kill? My walleye numbers are way down this year. The wallleye guru that I talk to from time to time (in person not online) says that his numbers are down and the size is way down. He felt like we are still feeling the effects of that fish kill, but he feels like next ear a lot of the shorts will have grown into keeper size.

I feel ya man. I'll be on lower BSL tomorrow and I'll post a trip report with water level, water temp, water clarity, baits used, etc. I'll try to take some picture if the rain allows it so that certain people won't claim I'm a liar that never actually fishes. Lol.

Not necessarily. It depends on how the fish is hooked and how much pressure the fish is able to put on the hook itself. You says you have a moderate action rod and I'm sure that helps. I'm seen pretty decent Redfish caught on popping bugs meany for bream while other redfish of a similar size bend out hooks on crankbaits and get away. Bottom line though is that you are having good luck on your STX. Don't fix what isn't broken.

You would think it would always be the drag that would give or the line would break, but that's not what happens. I've seen multiple split rings get spread by large bass that I caught on crankbaits. I've also seen hook hangers pulled from Rat L Traps and I had a full sized Zara Spook pulled apart by a big largemouth at Lake Fork.

In the past, I would have said yes. But, they obviously made a business decision last year to turn a blind eye the Johnny Football's clear cut violations. With Florida State being a big dog, they may stay out of the way since it might hurt their pocketbook.

That's tough man. Sorry for your loss. I'm sure you'll need time to process it all, but there really isn't anything you could have done to predict it or stop it once things started. You did all you could. You should at the very least be at peace about that.

Cool Get to meet another OA Legend. DD.

Brisket on Friday and flathead on Saturday

Dang it! I have other plans already in place. One of these days, you'll throw a last minute deal together and I'll be able to play along.

Crappie aren't biting DD?

I forgot to say that I'll have a boat that will fish me and two others.