Flatbottom Boy

Ill second that. We also stay there during the duck season and nothing fancy at all, but it has everything you need...and the price is right!

Thanks Old Plug, I like to bass fish...but I love the crappie! I always have a rod or two rigged up just for that occasion.

I was there at "SOB level" once....never again!

The times I have fished at night I start around 7pm and fish till around 4am. Thinking about going the opposite way this weekend and fish from 2am-ish to 10am. In the state park/McCubbins Point vicinity the crazies arent really active until 10. Is the same true on the main lake area...looking at Shawnee Bend?

I did pick the docks apart once I got on fish but the front ends were where they were at. Honestly the jig was all I threw and Ill give the worm a shot next time. I didn't even give the spinnerbait a try in the deeper water, so it could be productive. Have you found this to be a pattern even at the front of those docks out in 40+ fow? I have quite a few of those that usually get passed up. My next outing looks like at night this next weekend with a bright moon and triple digit days!

I got out on the lake around 2pm. Boat traffic was the usual summer mess so I went way up into a resort cove thats a no wake area to hide out. I threw quite a few cranks and big worms with not much to show. I picked up a brown/purple 1/2oz football jig and still wasnt able to produce much. Out of bordome I was moving from dock to dock and casted the jig into the 20-30 fow right along the front of the docks. Again Im new to the jig scene and normally let it go all the way to the bottom and bounce, drag, or slowly crank it in. However yesterday I tried just letting it go about halfway down the water column and swimming it back. Wow that was definately the ticket. The first one I caught was a dink, so I thought it could just be one out wondering, but the next 9 were all solid keepers. Question, is there a certain time of year that swimming the jig is a better option, or can it be good all year? Just a trail and error thing?

Yeah but...how was the fishing?

The powerdrive I bought was preinstalled with Ipilot. I would probably just go with a regular foot control though if primarily fishing shallower rivers. Or wait till that awesomeness Seth posted comes out. Im with him though...its going to be expensive at first

I have the kota power-drive V2 Ipilot. When I have to move to the bank I just hit the motor release and pull back on the motor to get the prop up shallow. When Im in shallow coves fishing Ill actually hike it up by the shaft to a few inches below the surface. Fishing shallow rivers would be a pain with it for that reason. But if you have deeper water rivers or tailwaters all the other functions of this motor would most likely shine...especially the spot lock. Another gripe I have with it though is attaching the transducer to the darn thing. I find myself having to constantly watch it so it dont rip the cable in half, or when Im pulling it up I have to be careful not to pinch the cord. Ive had it in the water 4 times and Im pretty in love with it, besides those couple things I will fix or adapt to.

What kind of trolling motor do you have? I just went to a wireless and pulled the recessed tray out of my boat. If you are looking for one I can go get some measurements and see if it will fit your foot control.

Did you ever end up trying the gasconade oneshot?

I just bought the Powerdrive V2 for my 20 ft Javelin. I know its a completely different setup than what you have but I think these motors would absolutely shine in the tail water scenario. The spot lock feature works really well with a slight wind or current with very little correction needed to keep it on spot. Same with the cruise control, if you put the nose of the boat up stream and pick a GPS speed you can litterally "crawl" up stream at .1 mph incriments. For a fly fisherman the additional space without a foot control is a bonus also. Bass fishing has been a love hate for me with it. Ive only had it out a couple times but I have found it to be very useful...in certain situations. In open water and banks free of dock obstructions I love it. I can pick a course and lock the cruise control in. I can make a track along a bank and retrace that track for up to two miles going at whatever speed I want. However I fish LOZ a lot, and around docks the remote is a PITA..the V2 does not come with a foot control however I bought one as a backup in case the remote ever went down. Glad I did because its a necessity fishing docks and tight spaces. The spot lock without some kind of current or wind can be tricky to. The motor seems to be constantly correcting itself, which honestly doesnt bother me bass fishing but I could see it getting frustrating trying to sit over brush for crappies or stay on a school dropshotting. Hope this helps and good luck!

Ok I was just checking to see if I "needed" to drop another mortgage on my electronics so I see structure at 60mph lol! Ill cancel the trip to bass pro and apologize to my wife.

What is a Full speed passover? What do you plan on seeing at full speed on your finder besides a false depth reading and your speed?

Holy crap Glen! Nice fish..

Im a little late on this as I dont really frequent this part of the forum. I live here in Waynesville and fish that creek pretty often. All the lures mentioned will be fine. I use a lot of jigs when I have the spinning gear. When you get into the restricted area try jerkbaits! Especially when the sun is down or going down. There are some very large browns lurking under many of the laydowns and rootwads that are scattered throughout that stretch. Dont be surprised if you hook into some really decent smallies doing this too. If you are in the mood for some crappie and bass head up stream under the I44 bridge. That pool is usually pretty good for both and it might surprise you what is in there depending on what the floods have washed in/out. Ive left there with sore arms and empty packages of senkos more than once. Have fun and good luck!

I think I have it figured out. The braid helped tremendously and Ive only lost a couple over the last few nights. Plug hit it on the head though. I lost a couple jigs on hook sets even with the braid and I bet the line was nicked after being run through all those dock cables. Tonight I fished Shawnee bend area after dark. Black/blue jig caught seven keeps to include this pig!

No worries Wrench I found ya one.

Thanks for all the advise gents. I went out again in Tuesday dodging all the storms and was able to connect on way more by shortening my casts/flips and dropping my rod tip before the hook set. I didnt have the time to switch out the line yet and lost several jigs just on hook sets. I now have several spools of power pro to rig a couple rods up with. My confidence in jigs is pretty solid now...not sure I will be aboe to put them down! Now on to drop shotting...something else I have used very little.

Makes sense, thanks Glen. I had a few break on the hookset too so bigger line has to happen.

Ive got some braid spooled up on one Ill give it a shot, thanks Mitch.

I fished a heavy x-fast 7 1/2 foot TFO Gary Loomis signature series rod rigged with a pro qualifyer and the drag is cranked as tight as I can get it. 12lb Pline CX and was fishing in 1-10 fow. Im really just getting used to fishing bass jigs as I never had confidence in them. The last few weeks thats all I have brought on the boat just to force myself into using them. Ive never tried the slow retrieve bouncing on the bottom until last night either...just seemed like a high percentage of fish that pulled loose. Thats what makes me winder if its something Im doing...hook set or too much trailer....need to trim the weedgard. Really upset me when I lost a few that had some serious shoulders on them!

So are you just rigging up a creature bait like a chomper on that?

I did some night fishing last night until about midnight. Slow realing a football jig on the bottom was getting me bit quite frequently. I had a real issue landing a bunch of them though, they kept throwing the hook. I was throwing a mix of BPS enticers, Arkie, and some other random stuff I had. They all had the weed guard and were all tipped with a havic pitboss, a fairly meaty trailer. My hook sets were solid but I would say that over half threw the hook within the first few head shakes. What am I doing wrong? Get rid of the weed guard? Too big of a trailer? Too much hook set? Just not my night?