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It is green now, lots of tree pollen floating around but the mud has settled, still not the clear blue of last year. You can cruise the bank and see carp down to about 5 feet.

I was joking about the trout and crappie (not that stripers like them) just about using them for bait. It is OK in OK but not in Arkansas. Also teaming up with other fishermen on the lake helps in finding and catching bait. If I find bait while I am out I will text the location to other fishermen I know are on the lake, then when I am having trouble getting bait, friends are there to help. When I have too much bait, I will send out text also, that doesn't happen often but has happened. If you find a place to get those big shiners let me know, the brooders at HLS are ok but I prefer bigger bait, I had some 10in gizzards the other day I thought were too big, but the 15lb stripers loved them, I thought it would take a 30lb striper to eat them but I was wrong and ran out quick.

I would love to find some golden shiners about 8 inches long, you just can't find those for sale anywhere.

If you get the Gizzards they stay alive alot better, those 10 in Gizzards will live on a hook all day. If you have them in your livewell pump out the water and pump more water in every hour. Here is a video on tell the difference. I have used little bluegill with no success, heard of someone using a 8inch crappie one time and hooking a 15lb striper, they also love trout but the Arkansas fish and game have a problem with that (both crappie and trout).....the best thing I can tell you about catching shad is to go with the wind. Hit shallows in coves were the wind is blowing into, wait until you see one flip on top, then be ready and throw but if you throw at little ones that is what you will get, they don't hand out together much.

Mike I was fishing in very strong wind and the shad were blown back in a very shallow cove(4 feet at the deepest point). I had three really big brutes on but they threw the hook at the boat. There were even a few walleye feeding up on shore but couldn't hang on to them either, trying to fight a fish with your boat being blown in that direction is not easy. So yes they were really shallow, but I think it was because of the shad and white caps. I did notice a lot of boats trying to get out of the wind, never will figure that one out. If you end up in that hard wind on Saturday I would suggest a swimbait through the brush that is being beaten by white caps.

Nice fish, did you spot any roaming the shore line? I was in PC yesterday and the water temps were around 67, they should be moving up.

How many people are fishing the Bass Buddies next weekend. Looks like thunderstorms in forecast right now, could be 400 lightning rods. I am sure the forecast will change some during the week, hard to predict outside of 72 hours, but it might get interesting, since that is usually novice weekend. Good luck to all the members that brave the traffic.

Are the whites really running down there or just a small group? I saw a lot of bass up on shore yesterday and the carp are grouping together that is usually a sign the whites are thru. How many poles got hit at once?

Nice fish, I have that same jig and never threw it.... The spot your in the second pic looks just like the place I caught my shad. Sorry to hear about your boat, I hope the insurance covers it.

I was out for a few hours also, caught 3 big shad around 10inches, put them behind the boat around Ventris. Right about sunset the first one got hit and the knot failed and took the hook. 2nd on was 15lb striper made it in the boat, 3rd one hit while I was playing the second one and the line wrapped the engine cover and broke off 20lb test. Big gizzards were up shallow around the Islands.

Have you tried a ned rig? Also think craws and rocks around that area, there are some smallmouth in that area that are not hard to catch but sometimes they like it really slow.

I also found quite a few 15 inch brown fish around point 10 that just didn't belong there. I think they were relocated by the FLW and other bass tournaments out of PC. I just found it strange they were all keepers and I have never caught small mouth in that part of the lake.

Got out for a few hours before dark looking for stripers around PC. ran to Coose found no shad in the back, then pulled flickers small bass only. So I ran to point 10 and found some flat water and thread fin on top. Threw the net and took about 1/4 the threadfin and put in live well, took 20 minutes to get the rest out of the net (7 feet of thread fin is a lot of thread fin). Then the wind came up, I was over 30 feet of solid shad but no stripers so I got board and started playing with green fish on the ned rig, here is the biggest. Pic didn't fit so loaded as PDF, still can't get entire fish in a selfie. Bass.pdf

I wear bifocals all the time, always looks like ten feet down to the water. But if you hold your head right it adds 5 lbs to every fish you catch.

I am one off those guys that like glasses over my glasses, blocks the wind better and and I can get rid of the shades or put them back on without looking to see where I put the other pair.

Did you write any water temps on those pictures?

Bass are bedding now, I have even seen carp moving up. The "run" didn't happen and it is just late spawners now. I really think the visibility had something to do with them clumping together.

I still don't have my 40lber so I will chase them until I get one.

WALLEYE ARE NASTY, TOO MANY BONES throw those fish back !!!!

Why is there not a price on your web site? Is this one of those times if you need to ask, you can't afford it?

I think some rain will bring the shad back into the creeks, good luck. 100 FLW boats will be moving around to find their spots for Thursday morning.

I always like to see how many zero with FLW, I can't image putting those hours on the lake and not catching one keeper but there will be quite a few. I was looking for strippers Saturday and could not find them but the bass were hitting so hard and fast I had to stop and bass fish a few times and pulled five keepers per spot. I was retrieving a a lure and reeled in the crankbait I was pulling but left it barley in the water so I could get the other off a snag and a 15 in spot hit it right off the boat, in 50 feet of water. I swear those fish are just addicted to crankbaits right now. So who pays all that money to fish and can't, we will find out.

Good luck, I have checked the back of every cove they were in last week and they all seem to hanging out at 40-50 feet now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTS3fsoV5tg I think this is Jdoc's cast net video...

Looked like a good day, I bet that big carp was fun. I netted one that was dying of old age one day just to weigh it and it was 64lbs. Probably a good thing that people don't like carp in this country they wouldn't get to live that long. There are some really colorful and big carp in the lake and it doesn't cost us anything to stock or maintain the population plus they don't eat other fish, beats a day of catching 10in spots. If only we could get people to think the same way about walleye......those nasty fish with too many bones.