Devan S.

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.

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.