Macsimus

Excellent, entertaining fishing report, Royal Blue. Keep 'em coming.

I "boat-captain'd" for my grandson this year and several of the high school tournaments he fished were in the SATT - Student Angler Tournament Trail - https://www.studentangler.org/ The trail is strictly MLF format. The first event had 134 boats and the second had 83 and I was mighty impressed with how smoothly they ran. One of the organizers has written a custom app for smartphones that allows upload of pictures that we take while each fish is weighed on a supplied scale along with data that we enter: angler team, weight, and species, LM or SM. The data is tabulated real-time and there is a live leaderboard in the app so I could keep the boys posted on where they stood. We were allowed to launch and return to any of the available boat ramps on the lake and it was really nice to avoid the cluster of a weigh-in with that many boats. The app also had a boat check-in and check-out feature ensuring that all boats got on and off the water. While the adult boat captain is no absolute guarantee against cheating (eg, over-zealous parent), it certainly ensures that it is kept to a minimum if not avoided completely. I certainly don't understand the business/sponsorship side of it, but it surprises me a bit that the sponsors are willing to go with a no weigh-in format. All of these kids are wearing jerseys and the way in which the tackle and boat companies are salivating over this upcoming generation of buyers is laughable, to this old fellow anyway.

Kind of hard to see. Their natural color blends in so well with the surroundings.

Perhaps he teaches an English Fiction class?

Truly delighted to see that you are fishing. I would have to think that with all you and your family have been through lately, it is extra sweet this time. Hoping you have a wonderful trip.

Absolutely love blue bass boats. That is spectacular!

You are not alone sir. In 5 years of coming down here for the months of March and April, I've never seen it this tough. I am reminded of a quote by fly-fishing author, Thomas McGuane: "What is emphatic about angling is made so by the long silences - the unproductive periods." Personally, I am ready for some "emphatic".

My bad. They had him up there at the start of the pro side weigh-in in the hot seat without any fish. Odd.

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Being from MN, I consider myself somewhat hardy when it comes to cold weather. But, I have to hand it to you. Running that distance yesterday morning with temps at the freezing mark is nothing less than impressive (if not a little crazy). I saw others blasting around during the early morning hours and I remember thinking that I was glad I didn't have a derby yesterday.

The Fishing Hot Spots maps have mile markers denoted on the channels. It shows KC to Aunts to be approx 9 1/2 miles. From KC to the dam, 14 miles.

Way to catchem up!

Love that nice smallie! Way to go.

Wow! Dialed in you are! What was the weight of the biggest?

What sort of water clarity were you seeing up there? Seems like the clearer the water, the better the Ned works? Nice catch by the way!

Good luck. Thanks for the report.

Nice chunks!

I know, right?

Backing up just a bit, I fished the dam area Wed afternoon for 3 1/2 hours and it was a big, fat nogo. I don't have a secchi disk in the boat but I eyeballed the water clarity at 2-3'. Water temps were 47-49. I threw the Ned, mostly, a swim bait, and even chucked a rig for awhile until I hung it in the top of a cedar tree and broke it off rather than beach my boat on wind-blown shoreline rocks. Good riddance. So, Thursday I decided to just see and fish some new scenery so I headed to the James. I was quite surprised at the water color. I would guess visibility at a foot or less. Water temps were 50-52 for the day. I hit the water at the crack of 9:30 and fished until 5:30. Caught 24 total with a nice mix of Spots and LM with a few bonus keeper SM thrown in and one nice White Bass. 14 were keepers and most of those were just over 15" to 16" but late in the day, I did land two 17" and a skinny 18" LM. Fished a RkCrawler all day. I'm a DT-10 fan but I have to admit that the RkC digs much better and allows for a much slower retrieval which seems to be a good thing. Pictures are poor but I was concentrating on wind-blown banks and don't yet have the luxury of one of them fancy trollers that hold ya in place. I've suggested that I sell the wife's car to raise capital to invest in one but you can imagine how that went. My best day on the water since I got here Feb 27 and I know it was because I don't recall my back aching all day. The regular adrenaline rush of catching 'em does wonders for that. Threw in a sunset pic just because this lake has some of the best sunsets anywhere.

Old Hwy 86 is a great ramp. Gentle grade, good dock that is regularly adjusted to the lake level and plenty of parking. I've used it 3 times during the last couple of weeks.

Props for just getting out there. The wind was howlin' yesterday!!! I'm starting to see a theme among the lake veterans that the fish are bunched up in specific locations and that there is a lot of unproductive water in between these honey holes. If anyone needs some tips on where not to bother, just let me know.

Put in at Baxter yesterday. The water in Big and Little Indian was very stained (approx 1' vis) and yet just outside the mouth in the White it was very clear. Why isn't the dirty water from this creek flowing into the White? Found a couple of lonely Spots yesterday in 7 hours of trying, both keepers. The first ate a DT-10 and the second one selected a tandem white spinnerbait with Okie and colorado blades, both fished very slowly. Coldest water I saw was in the White at 46 and warmest was in Big Indian at 48 but the temps in the latter were very inconsistent. Stuck with the cranks and spinnerbaits most of the day but did pull out the Little Guy when I was fishing the clear water in the White. Not a sniff on the LG. Ms. Table Rock is slapping me upside the head right now but I don't care. The memory of the 16" of snow I left in my yard at home is fading nicely and I regularly forage on humble pie anyway.

Very sorry to hear that. Frustrating and maddening.

Praying for you and your family, Dave. Isaiah 40:27-31

Counting the days!