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I have always wondered how that line gets in the water when I snag a line with a single hook on the end. Now I know.... I was using too small of hooks on Gizards also until J-Doc set me straight, went back and researched a little and he is right 6/0-8/0 for 6-8 inch gizzard shad and 3-5 for brooders. I had just the opposite problem, had four lines out with 50lb braid and 17lb leader and had a drag too tight and popped the 17lb leader. Having the drag too tight is a great way to ruin a good reel. It did not break at the knot though, made me feel good about my knot tying skills.

Fishing in the rain is OK, fishing in 40 degrees is OK but fishing in the rain and below 45 degrees is where my pain ratio says this is work not fun. I can handle ice fishing in the open but that is because it is dry! I think I will wait it out until Sunday. Heavy rains should push stripers back up to PC at least.

Just trying to get a laugh there champ, I don't keep fish either. Though I have caught whites and stripers for those who do.

Do they fry up as good as smallmouth?

Really nice Walleye ! Did you weigh it ? I had one like that come all the way to the boat last week on a spoon then let go at the boat, did not have a hook in him, just fought me for the spoon it had sideways in his mouth. That is really something for 6lb test, I am using no less than 17lb leaders right now.

That explains the lure choices. Even though you find those lures in my boat also, just saying.

I would say they are very close to the chub listed here, that is also a member of the carp family. Chub.pdf

I also saw a lot of people going home early because they didn't have a keeper. IMO fishing North of RT 12 was slow unless you were deep and off shore. Just what I saw.

Been there every time out, if it wasn't for really nice people on here that take mercy on me I would have had no shad at all. Think I will start sitting beside the road with a sign saying "Vet needs SHAD anything over 3 inches will help". If anyone has a supply of the old M80s I might get some with those!

Nice fish, were you able to catch any gizzard shad?

Wind is blowing hard, leave the top water at home. Steady at 10-15 with 24mph gust, not a day for me.

Current usually means fish points.

Great fish ! Did you get him on live bait or top water?

I find this guide very useful. www.agfc.com/.../ar_fish.pdf

Champ if you really want to see what Beaver has, throw a cast net sometime and fish with whatever you catch in it. On days when it seems Beaver won't give up anything put a live 2in bluegill on a hook, set the pole in a rod holder and pull it around PC. You will be surprised how many fish ignored your lures. That may not be fishing to some people but it has brighten my days and lead me to some drop offs and brush piles I never knew about. Also gives you more time to eat your lunch.lol I never thought I would drill holes in a bass boat for rod holders, now I wonder why they don't come with them.

Zero is a relative term, depends on what you are looking for at the time. I have had bass tournament days were I have caught 20 fish and stilled zeroed. I have fished TR when I caught 6lb trout and lots of 14in smallmouth but some people would call that a zero. I have zeroed on stripers this year but on the same days caught LM that I would have given anything to catch during a tournament and have zeroed a tournament but landed a 30lb striper in the past. So, by giving up on naming what I fish for I have had no zero days on Beaver and fishing is fun again. If the stripers don't bite, I pull out a drop shot and get spots out of the trees or pull out a spoon and get whites of the bottom or beat the bank or troll the open water. If you don't care what you catch or how you catch it, both lakes are hard to zero on.

Just a thought, you may want to sit on those deep Bluff ends and drop a spoon. I got 2 over 5lbs like that the other day without moving the boat. There were lots of spots near the top tearing up a shad ball but the big LM were just lying deep and waiting on the wounded shad to drop down. I was on the Bluff by point 10. The biggest error I see when the wind is blowing is that people will sit out from the wall and cast towards it, if you parallel the wall and find out how far from the wall they are sitting, you will not waste as much time cranking dead water.

You are better man then me, wind beet me so bad yesterday, I can't get motivated to face the gloom today.

KT Minnow Spoons KT Shad spoons

One thing I have learned about throwing a cast net is to take the front seat of the deck first.lol Nice fish

Bill the spoons you mentioned are more casting spoons. There are endless number of manufacturers of spoons and colors but I have narrowed the shapes and sizes to two I like on Beaver and that is a long narrow spoon for whites and walleye and a fatter shad shaped spoon for Stripers. Neither of these resemble the traditional bass jigging spoons that work well on LM and spots, not what I am after. I have sat on whites and caught 30 of them with a long minnow shaped spoon and had a shad shaped spoon just hanging in the strike zone without touching the rod and had a 20lb striper hit the fatter spoon. I don't know why, just what I have seen and my experience. One thing I have noticed about stripers is that round black dot you see on the side of threadfin should be on your spoon, I carry a sharpie for that. I like the real image spoons at Cabela's but my favorites are made by an older German lady in Killeen Tx who is caring on her late husband's design under KT lures. HLS sells two models in the same color but there are many more on her web site. If you like them I encourage you to call her and tell her, she is a really nice lady and loves to talk about her late husband and the bait shop they used to run together. She no longer runs a store front and sometimes gets slow in her production since she works alone, but she makes one killer spoon. I don't claim to know all about spoons, just they are may favorite way to fish for anything except blacks then I would say drop shot. Also don't overlook the cheap spoons at Academy, they are great around trees when you are going to loose a spoon $1.50 is not hard to swallow. On weights I like the 1/2 oz for the action but over 30 feet I like the 1 oz so I can get back on the action faster.

Cooler nights on the way, has got to slow down the shad and make those whites easier to find. I was right on top of a feeding frenzy of at least 40 plus fish Sunday and not one broke the top to give it away. Had I been 20 yards off I would not have seen a fish and no telling how many times in 8 hours I was just a few yards off. If that water temp will drop then those shad will group up and move into the back of the coves. I am in SW Texas right now and it is killing me not be out the at sunset.

Sounds like they are moving, that is good. Now if those shad will move into the back of the coves the fishing will really heat up. Glad you got a fish on a spoon, now if you play with different shapes and colors I think it will become one of your favorite lures. I have about 50 right now and 5 different colors and lots of different sizes and shapes.

I was using a white spoon, when they feed like that I don't think it matters, I was in over 20 feet of water but the depth finder was reading 9 most of the time because the shad and fish were so thick. then it is over as quick as it began.