Fishin Hodge

The little to no oxygen below 20 feet on Table Rock isn't the whole lake, it is in pockets. Most of the issues are occurring a good distance from the dam, so I would think Taney should be OK.

Mojo, I have heard rumors of possibly releasing a species of fish that feed heavily on Zebra Muscles. It may have been Red Ears, I really don't recall the name. Is there any truth about this being looked at by the AGFC??

T, The reports I have heard have been up the rivers and up the White River itself. The Dam area of the lake has been unaffected to this point. I know of a paddlefish that was found over the weekend, but mostly walleye, shad, crappie, and some bass.

Actually glad to hear this report today after all the things I've been hearing about fish kills.

I heard of a kill up in the Shell Knob area from a good friend yesterday. Mix of fish but many walleye. I fully trust this source. Enough to give the area a stench. As far as drawing the lake down in the winter, in theory they wouldn't have to pull as much water, with less flow I'd think this would at least allow the thermocline to set up deeper. I believe some septic runoff is actually beneficial to the fish and fertility of the water.

Please do keep us posted on the new readings. Thanks again.

All I have heard on the walleye is that people were catching them pretty well light fishing early in the summer. Catching 4 or 5 a night which I found quite encouraging; Some pretty nice size as well. With the high water I haven't heard any real reports for the past month at least. I would think this high water should protect the ones we have over the summer. Last summer was definitely off for me. I don't target the walleyes a ton, but I do have a pretty good feel for them and when I go I am usually able to catch them. Last year, my best trip was 3 keepers, so definitely tougher than the glory days. Had several days with 1 or 2 keepers and is definitely sub par. I have not heard of a die off in Bull this year, but am afraid with all this water movement and already talking about low O2 levels it may be inevitable I just hope it is isolated and minimal.

Agreed, at times like this I do forget about the increase in LMB population. I do feel these flood years have had an impact on the KY bass on BS in a negative way, or at least my catch rate of the larger specimens (2+ lbrs) is much lower. Maybe it is because more people know how to fish for them now or that the fish scatter more due to the flucuating levels, I don't know. I guess it is a give and take deal, but man I'd like to see the lake at very least nominally lower than it is right now. Thanks for your very informative info Mojo.

Understand politics are likely at play but at 640 Bull Shoals could produce minimum flow for a long, long, long, time. As we have all been aware of for sometime the fish population of Bull Shoals Lake is about the last thing on their mind. Alright I'll try to stop complaining. As for minimum flow, any trout guys out there have any comments on the effect minimum flow has had on the overall trout fishing on the white river. When I've been trout fishing it has always been very good in my opinion, prior to minimum flow and after minimum flow, but I realize my opinion is not nearly as nuanced as a trout fisherman's would be.

Bo/Jeremy, thanks for the info. I will say they appear to be fairly consistent, on Bull I believe I am remembering the years in the 80's and 90s were they dropped the water to 645 or so looking at the chart., I do remember some of those low years when I was coming of age and I enjoyed seeing that water level drop, and I always felt like we had a better chance of not having the lake flood to is limits and an in turn extremely frustrating summer like we are having now on Bull. I among most of the folks I know that fish avoid the lake like the plague at 680+. Jeremy Why not drop the lake a little lower in the winters in effort to try to avoid 680+/930 conditions? Bull Shoals ecspecilly since it is the catch all. Since 2000 Bull has spent very little time at below 650. And I realize you may not be for or against doing so, but do you know of any good reasons why they don't?

Hilarious, this place and some of the members have been a little to serious of late. Thanks for the laugh.

Very nice day.

IMO a lot of this issue could be alleviated if the Corp would drop the lake in the winter months to free up some water storage so they don't have to run all this water through our lakes. Ryan, I wish I agreed with you, but I am afraid that more water is only going to compound this problem with continuous flow of water and jacking up with temp/thermocline situation. I was on Bull the day of the big walleye kill a couple years back. It was quite a sad sight. I could have netted several 100. Our walleye population sure doesn't need this, but fortunately the bass seem to cope fairly well with it. Back at the very start of my memory it seemed like the Corp use to drop Bull Shoals fairly substantially in the winter, it just seems logical. I mean they don't have to drop the bottom out of it, but 10 foot below pool would seem like a no brainer.

It was 42 Sunday evening.

Long creek area ramps are good. At least the ones I have looked at, about to get me some green fish.

Ps I would like to get back up the ramp also.

Is there a ramp I can put in on anywhere on the Rock? Anybody have any current reports?

I enjoy them.

Dutch, I am a Lead Hill regular. Grew up on it. Know the area well. I'd be more than wiling to give it a look and report back to you on it. Get with me if you are still looking for someone to give it a look over.

mojorig, has the hatchery been utilized in recent years past. This is the first I remember hearing about positive results since the floods overtook the hatchery. Have there been other successful releases?

If only it were that easy. Been hunting a particular deer for a few years now, he is on the downhill slide on the horns part due to age. I've tried just about every means possible when it comes to killing him shy of shining a light. If I am lucky enough to save him from dieing in the hollar from old age with a projectile , I will say, having a corn pile has been of very little use in attempting to kill this deer. Can a fella kill a doe sitting over a corn pile, you bet. Is it cheating, I guess you will have to decide. I do really enjoy seeing everyones opinions on right and wrong though.

I like my corn pile about 10 yards away when I bow hunt.

I'll be the first to admit, sometimes I am a little silly, but I wanted to share I finally found a good use for my new marker board at work. In case you didn't know, I am a big Pete Wenner's fan. Sometimes my friends in I will rib each other and do some Wete Penners reports while on the water with each other raising cain about each others favorite baits and such. It is fun stuff you should give it a try.

TWSS

LOL, anyone that has deer hunted for more than 10 minutes has made a bad shot or a bad decision. The hunter may have been 13, it coulda been his first buck, he could have hit a limb, he could have made a bad shot, or he could have made a very poor decision on taking a shot. When hunting, bow hunting in particular, so much can go wrong. Does the shot look like a horrible one? Absolutely. Was the hunter that took it scum? Possibly. Does anyone on here know? No.