Bill Jr.

I'm actually going to miss the translating as well Some of them were pretty funny

you may be right on the lower temp but should warm up some tomorrow and Friday. I'll probably not be able to give a report until Sunday when I get back.

Thanks Ham, I'm actually going to be in the Mid lake area around Protem. I'll try Shoal Creek first. Have you ever tried up in Sugarloaf for whites? I never have but would be an option... hopefully I will not need to make.

I'm heading down to Bull on Thursday and wondered if anyone has a current WT? Seems like it has been warming and should warm up some more by the end of the week. Seems a litte tight lipped.. and I'm looking forward to it! May have a wiggle wart bite by then. We are bringing a couple kids so if we'll also be looking for whites in the backs of creeks. Catching a bunch of whites will definately get them hooked!

FFer -- i can't help too much on the lodge as we are staying at a friends relative, but I am going down to LA at the end of the month with some friends and we chartered 2 guides to fish Reds/trout. I've never done it before but it's great for the bucket list. Not sure what to expect but i'll post the experience on this thread after i get back. and yes we have 1 day planned for the french qtr.

No fish in Shoal Creek. Actually was in the area a couple weeks ago and nada on the white bass and crappie but can't say now.

RS - What is the buoyancy of the line? does it float or sink.

Just wondering has anyone used this? Seems to look like thread and not sure if this would be good in very clear water conditions.

F&F - darn you are quite the detective! Agree 100%. looks like a great picture of a ML placed in a backyard shot.

DCF - Great looking fish. The lake should be better and better for larger fish like that in the next few years. Here is one that was caught and released in the same area last year. There will hopefully be a lot more of these in the next few years!

Thanks for the responses and the fact that everyone seems to feels the same way in regards to the original question. There are plenty of rude people on the lakes. Some fish in tournaments, some fish recreationally, and quite a few who don't fish at all. I really try not to get bothered as I'm there to have a good time and unwind.

LOL! No, I'm just sayin that in the large national tournaments where there are "fan boats" following the tourney guys, is there anything wrong with just recreational fishing in the same area? I know they are big lakes and they don't go "private" during these tournaments but just seems like us non tournament fishermen need to get off the lake for the weekend. I may be way off base and actually haven't been in this situation before, but I love going down to Bull Shoals in April/May and was there the week before the Elite series was there this year. They are coming back in 2013 and depending on my schedule, I may come down the weekend of the tournament and just wanted to know if this would be any sort of issue. I'd love to see how I would do on the same day as the pros

Let me start off by saying that I'm not a tournament fisherman but love to fish. I'm sure this question has come up but I don't remember seeing anything ont he topic. My question is if I'm down at a lake and a large tournament is going on (FLW, BASS Elite, ect.), is it bad etiquette if I just C&R fish just for the fun of it?

I called and they started stocking a few of the lakes today.

I'm going to be heading down to the lake for the Thanksgiving weekend this year. Never been down in November so any help prior would be great. I'm debating on trying to target whites on the flats around lead hill, crappies, or bass in the creeks.... of course I'll bring everything but may have some relatives as fishing partners and want to show them a good time. Thanks in advance on the help

Tom, Glad that you got on board. I love the fishing in that area bue don't get to it very often so look forward to your posts.

Nice fish! Looks like you are just outside of Shoal Creek. I'm going down on Saturday for the week and mainly bass fishing early mornings and then taking the kids out in the heat. I'll be in the same area and looking forward to a few good hours of fishing early in the mornings. I'll be in a POS pee yellow boat so if anyone is out don't be afraid to say hi!

Thanks for everyones comments and little tricks. It's always fun to go outside your confidence baits and try something new. Al - I think i was hooking them pretty much like you mentioned. I totally agree when ever you are using a swimbait or other minnow plastic that you get the EXACT center of the bait to maximize the action. Takes a couple extra seconds but makes a big difference. SR -- I'll have to save some of the beat up ones to try as a spinnerbait trailer this Fall SIU -- I was using a zoom salty super fluke in Albino (liked the blueish back) but i'll have to experiment with a few other colors.

FW - Thanks for the props but always room for improvement I like the Spike-it on the back. I'll have to give this a try. That is why i love this forum as I can always learn something.

After work I went fishing at a local St. Louis lake and I decided to try a fluke. Caught 13 from 6:15 - 8:15 I have a few packs of them but I think this was only the 2nd time I've ever tried them as I get so set in my ways. I'm really trying to use different baits I'm not comfortable with. The lake has a bunch of wood in it and I was amazed how weedless they are! I'm looking forward to using them more during the summer. I'm sure there are people out there that use them a lot and had a few questions. 1. What line is normally used? I used floro to get it down a little easier as I was throwing it weightless but didn't know if mono was used more often 2. What type hook do you use? I used a 4/0 wide worm hook. 3. What action? I was basically doing a fairly quick jerkbait action but should you let it sit and sink more? 4. I hooked about 4 or 5 on the lower lip (see pic). I was using more of a sweeping side hook set. Am I setting the hook wrong or does this just happen sometimes? Any help is appreciated

Hodge, Well i fished Friday - today from 5:45 - 9:30. I really wanted to catch some on topwater so I started with the Super Spook Jr. each day. I started beating the banks but with the lake at normal or a little below, no bushes in the water and wasn't too successful. I caught almost all my topwater fish to schooling fish busting shad. I was able to get a few (3-5)Friday, Saturday, and Sunday but the lack of clouds turned this off pretty quick once the sun came up. These were off a long point and a bluff end that i can usually count on some schooling fish early. After this died, I went back in the creek and due to the persistant South wind this weekend, I did find a shallow flat that had some shad pushed up towards the bank and caught a mixed bag (LM, K, and big gills!) for a while with topwater, DT6, and a jig. Then mostly fished a jig and would catch a few more but really nothing special. 18" SM was best bass on the jig but I also hooked a 6lb flathead on the jig as well. for a minute I thought I had a BIG SM but n such luck. Today had some cloud cover and extended the topwater action. I tried a couple main lake points and decided to towards the back of the creek again to see if I could hit the bank of a large flat for some on top. 2nd cast caught one at the bank and then the lake started erupting behind me about 70yds off the bank in 25-30fow. For the next hour or so I caught about 20 on top and on a DT6 and DT10. It was almost every cast. Crazy when you have fish busting 10 feet from the boat and 2-3 fish hitting the spook 5 feet from the boat! Feels a little like "junk" fishing but it is fun! Even caught a 21 1/2" toothy fish on the DT10. Fish seemed to be more active in the back half of the creek on the shallow flats. Such a cool lake. Can't wait to get back in a couple weeks.

Nothing in Shoal but turtles and gar. I wouldn't even bother

Rangerman, Never seen striper blowups like that but it must be pretty incredible to witness (not that i would like a bunch more in the lake). How was the water clarity around there? Hopefully it has cleared up a bit as it was pretty stained with an alge bloom when I was there in April. Not sure why you are fishing around there as I don't think there are many eyes around

Mike, Thanks for the report. Just bought a few new cranks the other day and want to try them out. As I mentioned, I'm coming down with the family but I'll be out from 5:45-9:30 every morning and i will try to post a report sometime during the weekend.

I'll be heading down on Thursday night for the weekend and was wondering if anyone has been in this stretch lately. I haven't been down for almost 6 weeks and can't wait to throw the spook jr. and catch some on top. Minimal generation lately but anyone hear of a pick up on the weekend? I'm going with a full carload but will try to post a report during the weekend. Thanks for any reponses.