BrianS

It was 2 weeks ago

It wasnt very good over the weekend! Had 3 little keepers Sunday that weighed 4 lbs and almost got a check in the tournament! Now that's pretty tough. The fish were 40-50 ft deep. If they get any deeper I wont have enough line on my reels to get to them LOL

Saturday it was 39 @ Theodosia and 45 down around Oakland

Anyone been out? What's the water temp?

Are there topo maps available for these 2 lakes?

I fished Buck Creek 01/29/2011 and caught a 4 lb bass on the second place I went to and if I had another bite the rest of the day I didnt know it. It was really tuff Saturday or at least it was for me. Typical high sky, no wind scenerio.

Is Wappepello shallow everywhere? I guess what I'm trying to ask is how dangerous is it to run on if you dont know the lake?

I have been contemplating for years to go try one of these 2 lakes but cant find much decent info. Anyone bass fish those 2 lakes?

Get you an ultralite with a small hook and split shot and use small crawdad tails. I used to catch alot of chubs this way but it seems they are more difficult to catch this time of year.

You fished at Tecumseh? When I went over the bridge a day or 2 ago it didnt look like there was enough water there to swim a hog sucker. We need a good rain!

With the lake low as it is Elbow is easier to unload now than it was back in October. Still a hard place to back in though.

I guess I'm old school since all I use is 8 lb P-Line mono in green color.

Waco fished the Joe Bass tourney the next day and he and partner had a little over 13 lbs. I was practicing that day and had around 15 lbs and thought I did good but I guess I didnt do that well afterall HA. I know both of those guys and they really did catch them the day of the tournament. Wish I could stumble onto a school of good uns like that!

Its a little warmer on the rock than on Bull. Its around 48 around Pontiac or it was Saturday

Jerry I live near Ava. I dont fly fish but I do bass fish on of course BS lake.

If the wind is blowing crankbaits on the same places Larry mentioned

Water might be a tad too cold to catch very many cats below the dam

I fished Oakland area the same day and it was the same. I think I got sea sick that day from the waves LOL. Sunday the bite wasnt as good or at least not for me

Mike are you cathing any of the smallies in the main lake pockets on windy days? Its time for that to be working.

Thanks Trout. Some around here probably dont like me giving out that kind of info LOL I dont mind though.

On Bull its the same except we are catching them in 20 ft on gitzits on the same types of places

Now that it is late Fall/Winter on both Norfork and Bull Shoals Lakes it's great for bass fishing. Due to the very clear waters one must use lighter lines with a more finesse approach to do good. I use either 8 nor 10 lb test P-Line in the green color for everything I do. This time of year there are alot of bass on what we call bluff ends and bluff transitions. A bluff end is of course the end of a bluff which makes a well defined point. A transition is where a near verticle bluff changes to about a 45 degree angle chunk rock or pea gravel change. When studying a topo lake map you will notice that most transitions occur when the old river channel switches to the opposite side of the lake. On windy and or cloudy days there will also be a good crankbait bite in pockets or coves. Most of these fish will be smallmouth bass and will be the good ones! They are usually in pockets or coves on a "swing bank". Each day is different therefore it is neccessary to fish each of the swings from end to end in order to establish the pattern for the day. Once the pattern is established one can almost call each place where a fish will bite. I have caught some real good smallmouth this time of year doing this. Due to the clear water on our lakes one needs to use the more natural colors in a crayfish pattern. I usually use Storm Wiggle Warts as does about everyone else. On the post front days where there is little wind and bluebird skies one is better off to fish the bluff ends and transitions. When fishing these places jigs, tubes and grubs are the best. The past 2 weeks the fish have been from 10-30 ft deep on these types of places. This will usually be good from late November to mid January. When the water temps gets in the 50'sF its at its best. I fish the tubes with 8 lb line on spinning tackle. Usually a 1/4 oz leadhead with a 3/0 hook is the best. I use an assortmant of jigs from 1/2 to 3/4 oz with a plastic craw as a trailer. I typically fish the jigs on 10 lb test and baitcast equipment. If you ever visit any of the Southern Ozarks lakes this time of year you can generally be in for some good days of fishing as long as you use the finnesse approach. Dont use over 10 lb test line! Keep these geral patterns in mind and you will be able to catch alot of fish. Good Fishing! Brian --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday I fish my first tournament in about 9 years! Took off out of Pontiac that morning. I decided to fish from Spring Creek to Theodosia. I thought the Kentuckies migh be up on the bluffs. To my surprise the largemouth were there and all shallow. Started out with gitzits and jigs and was getting several short blacks up shallow then caught a decent keeper. There was a little wind blowing on that bluff so I then went down it with a wiggle wart with a few more short blacks and 1 kentucky that was barely a keeper. Kept fishing the bluffs with nothing but short blacks. I then fished a creek channel swing with a wart and nailed a black that was over 3 lbs. Fished the wart in a few more places but no keepers. Went to Spring Creek and went back to the gitzit on the bluff pattern and caught a nice keeper smallmouth and my partner finally scored us a keeper kentucky. Went to the weigh-in with our 5 going 10 lbs even which was good enough for 4th place. First and Second had over 14lbs with 6 keepers per boat. Third place had 6 keepers that went a little over 12 lbs. I was rather pleased with this performance by us especially considering I just got back into fishing after a several year absence.I obviously have alot of rust to knock off but I hope to get back in the groove by Spring. I am not sure how the others were catching their fish except for one. Their outboard quit them and they fished the bluffs around Pontiac which was good enough for a 14 lb bag of fish. The thing that surprises me the most is that the blacks are where the kentuckies otta be this time of year. Water temps were around 60F with it being down to 56F above the bridge at Theodosia. Happy, Fishing, B

I normally fish Bull Shoals but last Saturday I decided to go to the fork since there were 2 tournaments going out of Bull that I knew of. Fished the river from Liner on up. Caught a few short fish on Pop-Rs and crankbaits early then after the sun warmed the water all the kazillion shad up in the river came to the top and the bass soon followed. The fish were surfacing like crazy around Udall and it was fish on almost every cast on Pop-Rs. Had to catch 10 short fish for every keeper and ended up with 10 keepers. None were big, just the typical thin river fish like you often encounter there. I did lose about a 3 lb bass earlier in the day pitching a 6" lizard around some logs though. This will last for awhile, probably will stop after we get a few frosts and the water cools off more. Then it will be time for the blade. Cheers, B

That's what I'm doing as well. I can walk to my chicken house at 10 PM and still sweat like crazy. C'mon cooler temps!