Devan S.

PREACH!

I set out this year with 1 goal to catch an Arkansas Master Angler fish. I thought the 2 least likely candidates were crappie and the miscellaneous category. Crappie because I think its the hardest category and miscellaneous because I don't generally fish those species. As fate would have it, miscellaneous category would be my first. I had a really nice dude show me the error of my ways Sunday night after unsuccessfully jerking for 1.5 hrs. He rolled up and caught a spoonie on his first cast. I broke my reel which kept me from finishing Sunday night. I took an extended lunch break Monday which gave me all of 15 minutes to play. I hooked up with a 48lber on my 3rd cast. My buddy who is along for the ride for the Arkansas challenge, came down and we got him on a 50lber later in the day and saw several other larger fish caught by others. For those who aren't interested in snaggin, COE has dropped the flow, for the time being. 2100cfs to me is perfect for fishing like I like. Here is a list of what I know as of now: -Paddlefish are there. IF you know what your doing. -Tons of gar right below the dam. -Still lots of walleye in the river. -Whites are there but scattered I believe. -I saw what I believe is a decent school of striper a week or 2 ago when they first opened the gates(I've heard of at least one good'un being caught). -I've heard of 1 or 2 good smallmouth being caught. I'm sure they came over the dam. -Trout obviously. All that being said, the tailwater is choked full of 2-4" shad. I've been snagging 2-3 on every cast. Since there's so much bait, I figure fishing could be difficult. I think I'll give the tailwater a break. Striper, smallmouth, and bream are the next targets.

Yep, I am certain there will be deep hookset. We don't like to eat trout but if they are deep we will keep and give to a friend who will eat them.

I considered worms for RR but real worms aren't allowed in zone 1 where I assume they will be allocated space. I guess maybe power worm or synthetic eggs are my best choice and I've never fished either myself. Do I just rig them the same way? The BV deal sounds fun if I knew she would actually fish more than 15 minutes which is what I expect this deal to last before we have to go pee, throw rocks, and go get snacks.

Kids fishing day is this coming weekend. My daughter is 3 and this year we're gonna start fishing. Ideally I would prefer to bobber fish with worms for perch but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Looks like trout fishing is going to be first on the list for simplicity(close to house and bank fishing). For trout all I've ever done is fly fish, jig fish, and jerk bait. All 3 methods I don't feel super comfortable with a 3 year old trying. What is the best rig for fishing eager trout on kids fishing day? I'm thinking something under a bobber since it keeps her focused "watching". I'm certain were not at the point of feeling a bite yet. Any ideas from the group? I thought maybe a jig but knowing she is gonna be slow on the take may not work as well.

Beaver has been running water over the spill way for a couple weeks now and I manage to get down every couple days and do some snagging. Right now 7500+ CFS. Today was the first time I've had any luck. I managed to snag one good fish that came off before I could get it in. Not sure if it was a spoonie but it did have some pull. Additionally I fished for 2 hours and can literally can count on one hand the number of times I reeled in with a bare hook. Almost every single cast I had 3 or 4 shad on my hooks. None are floating but it didn't matter where I cast out in current, slack water, and seams every single place just choked full of shad. If a guy isn't worried about the flow I bet dragging shad flies or live shad for that matter would crush it on the walleye, whites, and striper down there right now.

I just went over at Eagle Rock this afternoon. Water is no longer mud. Its a green/brown strange tint. You can actually see quiet a bit of mixing of colors in spots just looking. I did not see any large floating mats of debris that wasn't up against the bank but lots of leaf litter and small stuff floating around.

Water at ER is mud and Monday night there was huge trash mats coming down lake from Arkansas.

When looking at them side by side I see the difference for sure. Since their always a by catch I've always grouped them together. Thanks for the information. Either way 10" is a dandy.

What is the difference between a warmouth and goggle eye and/or a rock bass?

same deal here.

Back when I hired I use to tell guys.....What you do on your time is your business, provided it doesn't effect your work. I'm interested in hiring you but the second I offer you a job officially you have 24 hours to pass a urine test. If there is any reason you suspect you wont pass....lets hold off 15-20 days stop back by and I'll make it official then. 50% of the time they would say their good and still fail which then eliminated them for 60 days.

Id bet most go towards Truman.....If its almost thick enough you can consider planting corn....you wont be seeing very deep down.

my insurance also went down or I got a rebate or something.....

NWS-Springfield shows for the calendar year 2021 we are sitting at 18.35" of rain. Normal is 12.58" so we're almost 6" ahead. At this point last year, we were at 21.51" so 9"+ ahead.

Cattle at the sale barn are down compared to the last 3-4 weeks. Hay prices are lower than they were only months ago. I haven't shopped around but I hear there is still value flights to be found.

and the chicks for free!

Yep big time. Lots of custom built bow fishing rigs out there running $50k+. Those guys that are to top dogs wouldn't think about running tracker garbage. That's for the do it once or twice a year red necks. They sound a whole lot like the elite Ranger guys day from years ago.

I think it was a generator down situation.

have been running 2 gates @ 6" for a bit over a week now.

I'm really hoping this rain pulls the fish upto the Dam. My only fear is that they will shut down the dam and start holding water.

On Monday the COE opened 2 spillway gates about 6" to compensate for a generator down for maintenance. This is about 1,800 CFS and I assumed the water coming over the top would likely be warmer than the water coming off the bottom. In my mind, this mean constant higher flow(no off/on cycle) and warmer water meant maybe the spoonbill would move up the river to the dam. Last week I picked up some 50lb braid, 10/0 snagging hooks and various weights to snag from the bank downthere. When I showed up there was nobody up at the rocky point so I figured I would start there where it was narrowest and go to work. The water is very clear but swift enough the bottom is distorted. I jerked for about an hour without hooking anything. I didn't see any spoonbill and only seen one other person snagging. After that lack of success, I went down to parker bottoms and threw a jerk bait and had 2 short rainbows that settled for the early release. The water here is pretty trashy. I assume its run off from the rains last night. Also went to the rip rap on Beaver and threw the A-rig hoping for a striper or white bass and nada.

Its magic....that's why its so expensive. It also says: *The Manifold Deniro Yugo Frame 550 Glide Bait moves properly once the leather has absorbed water.

Back in December/Jan timeframe, I had a stretch where USPS managed to lose 11/14 packages all from Amazon. After 2 or 3 in a row, I started writing down the tracking thinking maybe, just maybe they were stuck somewhere in a corner and someone would find them and after Amazon replaced the items I would double up but nothing yet. Makes me wonder how large shipping losses really are.

Interesting....Learn something new everyday. Next time I'm on the lake I'm gonna see the wake I can make with 5mph. A canoe/kayak with a trolling motor(or strong paddler) would be the biggest law breaking rig out there.