Devan S.

Man a trip to the SW part of the state and you should be able to easily get a brown, mccloud rainbow @ crane creek, a goggleye/ozark bass, maybe toss in a black crappie?

Its not done with trucks because despite what you guys think that market doesn't exist to offset a higher end truck. Every single person that says I want a plain jane truck, no bells and whistles, is already driving a 20 y/o truck and consistently buys on the used market, not the new market(FWIW I'm right in the middle of this market with you guys). Even if a mfg brought out a truck like we want it wouldn't be the mass seller you think it would year over year. It might crush sales 1 or 2 years but guys like us aren't swapping for new trucks every 3 or 4 years(heck even fleet trucks are getting away from this). There's far too many people running around in 3/4 ton, 1 ton, and diesels without gooseneck hitches and without trailers hooked on. That right there should tell you all you need to know about the "truck market".

Well I am starting to scope out either Elmdale, Bob Kid, or Swepco for my next trips. I expect that Swepco will be a fight for a parking spot on a weekend day if I haul over my bass boat. Will I be fighting for parking at Elmdale or Bob Kid if I drag the bass boat over on a weekend? Are any of these lakes covered in vegetation like Leatherwood?

If you could possibly find 1 or 2 nefarious users you could make an example of them.....then you would at least have a possible court record indicating you attempted to enforce no trespassing.

I would think if its posted no trespassing(regardless of if you enforce it or not). Then it would absolve you of some level of liability?

Bass are money fish.....therefore most of the run and guns would be all for it. Least likely fish to be filleted yet the loudest people when it comes to wanting fish stocked to protect their play toy. These people don't care about your white bass problems.

I'm strictly looking for active top water fish. I'm looking for splashes/swirls and hoping I'm close enough to toss to them or that its sustained long enough I can sneak up to them. I'm certain someone could fish subsurface and catch fish and I saw multiple boats with planer boards out. I like the fact that I can be back home by 830 or 9am. Don't have to fight the crowds and still have the whole rest of the day.

Saturday we just weren't in the spot....just too far away for the brief window we had. Then we took off looking and saw nothing. Sunday was just terrible....except for this.

Saturday we had a very, very brief 10 minute opportunity for top water. I thought for sure the cloudy rainy day would mean maybe 2 hours of fishing top water but we ran down all my honey holes between Indian creek and point 6 and only had a handful of activity. Sunday I thought with the change maybe it might be "normal" but it was not. I am not sure I saw any activity. I avoided any major runs and staying right between Indian Creek and the Dam just watching. Since I didn't have anyone with me, I took the fly rod hoping to catch something and spent a lot of time casting spots I've had luck before with no results.

Headed over to leatherwood looking for panfish. I was over there about this time last year and the lower end was relatively free of grass....that is not the case now. As far as I could tell the (hydrilla)? now extends the entire bank. I'm sure this is just a killer amount of cover for fish to hide in but its impossible for me to fish effectively. We did catch some fish, several redear(small), small bass, and one 8" crappie. The redear were in the back of a cove almost bedded up and they wouldn't take live bait at all. Would ignore a crawler dropped right in the bed. I didn't see any jumbo panfish so I highly doubt I will go back as its somewhat out of the way and just crazy difficult to fish with all the grass.

My Xi5 does nearly the exact same thing and its not connected to anything.....

I will have to defer to someone else on the smallies on flat creek. I've never been there myself but have heard from several people there is some decent options in the area. My guess is that a canoe or kayak will be needed but not 100% sure on that.

I don't think you will find smallies. Also you are highly likely to find a pissed off gun toting redneck that believes he owns the banks, river, and road through. He will call and have you towed if you park. Personally I would avoid anything terribly far below the conservation area. He had put up fencing all along through muncie down by the bridge crossings but I believe it all washed out a couple weeks ago. IF smallies are on your list, head to lower flat creek, james river, or Kings river locally.

My boat will run mid 40's and I'm not fast by any means and find myself cutting back into the high 20's and 30's just for cruising. I think the concern is legitimate and even when I am at Taney and have to slow down and zig zag through the kayaks I cuss and get upset....but ironically I don't have any problem with doing the same for boats drifting in the middle fishing but the action I have to take to avoid is exactly the same. FWIW when I floated the MR340...my biggest concerns wasn't barges, wing dikes, or the river. It was buoys being pulled under and popping back up and power boats. Everything else I could see and prepare to avoid but power boats travel fast enough and unpredictable enough that I alone cannot out maneuver them. It would be the exact same on any lake or river in a Kayak.

In the past, I was using a medium action bait cast setup with 10lb mono and it works. You just have to play the fish a bit. Yesterday I was using a big swimbait rod with 20lb mono. I was pretty well horsing them the best I could.

I figure its a matter of time before a boat v. kayak accident happens....so don't think I'm saying its not going to but how many of these accidents have happened? I don't know of one yet? Yet how many boat v. boat accidents happen? Boats v. stationary objects? Seems to me the common denominator in boating accidents is almost always the power boat and speed related/lack of awareness, no?

I haven't put in the time yet so its no surprise I'm catching the smaller ones.....still fun. I just see quiet a few bigger fish on Beaver lake striper fishing groups on facebook but looks like they are generally doing the live bait thing instead.

You are correct....I will take them all day. I threw a 2.8 for awhile on 6lb test with my medium light combo, then I thought what am I doing and upgraded to throwing everything on my dobyns swimbait rod just on the chance I hook something a bit bigger.

It was a good time although pretty foggy. I just cannot get over that 8-10lb hump with stripers. It's almost like the big ones don't feed on top the same way.

Yesterday I went panfishing.....tested out black bass lake in Eureka, Leatherwood, but ultimately ended up fishing the rip rap along the dam. My biggest fish was a 6oz. green sunfish.....well short of what I am after but I did see something intriguing in the distance. Several swirls on the cloudy dreary day. Today we put the boat in the water and the fog pre-daylight at Indian Creek. Began working along a pea gravel bank and the graph was absolutely full of shad....several flipping like I use to see in Grand. First fish of the day crushed top water and I knew it was a good one. Measured right at 19" and 3lb 9oz. 2nd Arkansas Master Angler fish this year. My second fish wasn't no slouch either and was mixed in a large school of striper. 3.35lbs We were just chasing and picking apart scattered swirls in about 50' water when he hit. The after about 5 minutes the water absolutely erupted around the boat. A big school of striper were pushing the shad up and most of them were 25ft from the boat or less. I'm talking dozens of swirls and splashes at a time all in a very small concentrated area. We both were hooked up 3 times but they kept pulling off. We kept working the same general area and finally got one into the boat. I tried to make the swimmer work.....but it just doesn't for me. Frankly I don't have a good rod that I feel comfortable fighting fish this size so everything we caught was top water. Off the water and back home before 8:30.

I don't know what's prettier.....the jack or the fish.

Well the forecast looked bad for kids fishing day but I think it really kept the crowds down. We started with a pink trout magnet and caught 2 right off the bat. caught=I hooked and she reeled them in. Then boredom set in so we played on the playground and then "rested" in the truck before jumping out and catching 4 real quick to take home. We really had a good day and hopefully she is hooked. The last 4 we caught on a brown egg reeled very fast and then just stop and let em fight over it. pellet pigs they were. River was full of fish and several good fish were in each pool. It's not quite stay out all night in March slinging jerkbaits for walleye but we will get there.

I wonder how long it takes for the tinkering type to start messing with the controls on them. Jacking with voltage and frequency in the motor drivers to get even faster.

Add in losses in the electrical distribution system.

Good report. I thought I seen a swirl back a couple weeks ago in the evening on the rip rap by the dam but wasn't sure if it was a striper or white bass.