mixermarkb

Looks like another good one. I had to work today and missed the White River, but I'll be in for this one unless work pops up again!

Hey guys, Fished Wednesday and Thursday from the Theodosia arm to the Big Creek area. I missed the morning bite both days, just didn't drag my butt out of bed early enough, but had steady if not great action throughout the day, with the bite really turning on as the sun got lower in the evening. I'm still catching smallmouth on the Ned and Grub, flat gravel points and also a few on some steeper banks. Nothing huge, but some solid 17"-18" keepers mixed in with pretty decent numbers of 12"-14" fish. I spent most of the day Wednesday throwing a big swimbait thinking I could fool a big fish in the wind, but it never happened for me. Things vastly improved when I put down the Swimbait and picked up the little stuff. Topwater seems like it's one good cloudy day away from being really, really good. I'm catching a few and getting a few follows and blow ups on the typical post spawn gravel run outs and bluff end/cove mouths. I didn't see a whole lot of schooling, but if you cover water long enough with a topwater, you will get a bite. Water is clear from Oakland to near Big Creek, with a pretty heavy stain from Theodosia to around point 13. I didn't look for any largemouth in the colored water, as there seemed to be quite a few guys out pre fishing for the White River on Saturday. Water temps were 66-67 most everywhere I was.

I've seen them in Spring Creek as well. Nothing like the Kdock area though. I've never seen anything like that, every bush is covered in them from the last high water.

Hey, at least we got our gang out of it. I feel so powerful now that I belong to something bigger than myself. I'm ready to get out there and force them punk-a$& tin boat fellers to do some catch and release with my sideways glock. Can't we add flat billed hats to our gang wear?!?

I bet that's an awesome trolling motor. I have a first generation pinpoint trolling motor in the late 90's early 00's that was really cool when it was working. I can only imagine with the way technology has improved that the current product would be totally amazing

Lol, you guys sound like 6# line is something new Dave invented, I've been fishing Bull Shoals with 6 and sometimes 4 pound test for well over 20 years! Hardly ever break a fish off either, same as Dave and anyone else who picks up a spinning rod on a regular basis. Wet your line when you tie, set your drag, and fish!

Thanks guys, I'm gonna go give it a try this week

And many, many thanks for the help! I'm kind of getting an idea on what to try-

What depth at night?

Which size Rouge? Floating or Suspending?

What areas should I be looking for them? Main lake I'm guessing? Flats? Points? Bluffs?

Ok, I'm coming down to Bull Shoals Monday, and have been seeing pictures of Stripers being caught on Facebook. I've never caught a striper, and am thinking I may come over Monday evening and give it a try- Can someone give me the "Norfork spring stripers for dummies" here?

Hey Dave- I wonder if the MDC simply spends their limited money on fish that they know will be kept to eat? Maybe they figure that catch and release has caught on enough with bass that those populations will take care of themselves- I don't agree with this line of thought, but looking at what they do stock in the larger lakes, I can see where that might be their logic.

Ketchup, I don't think Florida strain will survive our winter water temps. Some years these lakes get pretty cold...

Bass supplemental stocking on years that there are bad spawn conditions couldn't hurt. I'm sure the MDC does what they can do with the money they have available, but if I had a say, I'd be in favor of spending some of that trout money on some green fish from time to time.

+1 on the retie. If I feel a nick or even a big kink in my line, I'm cutting off and tying a new knot. It doesn't take that long to tie on a new bait, and baits get expensive!

"White River Gang" I like the sound of that. Do we have colors? Gang signs? Maybe a jersey? Should I be leaving our tag around? Do we control any territory? Do we have "beef" with the Osage River Gang and the Meremac River Gang? I didn't know I was a member of a gang, but I can go all in with this idea.

Welcome John! I drive down from STL as often as I can, I hope to buy a place down there myself at some point in the future. It's really one of the prettiest areas in the country in my opinion. As far as July, there will probably still be a decent topwater bite early and late, with overcast days helping it stay longer, look for fish off of main lake points, over very deep water. It's not unusual to be catching fish on topwater walking baits with the boat sitting in over 80' of water. There should also be a decent night bite with jigs and worms in the same sort of areas, and Ham can fill you in more on what may be happening below the dam on trout. I typically kind of leave Bull alone after about June until my work slacks off again in the fall. welcome to the forum!

I guess I just don't mind spinning tackle for the little stuff. Finesse baitcasting doesn't seem like anything I'd be interested in. I like the way line peels directly off the reel on a spinner for a faster lure fall, and even more than that, when I pick up an egg beater, it sort of mentally flips a switch and makes me think "finesse" vs. the baitcasting gear. Having good gear and good line helps, as well as the line managment techniques that have been discussed here. It's also a fine line between having a spinning reel too full of line to where it "springs" off the spool, and having too little line and shorter casts due to the like dragging on the spool lip. IMHO though, learning all the tricks to trouble free spinning gear use is as vital as learning to cast a baitcasting reel without backlash. Here in the Ozarks, it's my opinion we just need both.

I really like the Major League Fishing type tourney.. psst. Hey- Major League Fishing guys. Step 1: Write up a mobile device app, and bring an affordable digital scale to market that plugs into mobile devices. Brand it all with MLF logos. Step 2: Create a national MLF tournament network, with a end of year fish-off for a brand new Nitro and years supply of Jack Link Jerky, and a spot in the next season of MLF to the winner, and publish a set of standards local tournament directors have to adopt to become a MLF affiliate, and collect a small ($20) fee from each affiliated event. Step 3: rake, bundle, and band all of the cash generated by steps 1 and 2 and distribute it to the MLF partners.

Hey Dave, give Sunline Sniper a try, and see if it lasts for you better than Invisix. I'm like Ham with his nanofil, on every thread even close to talking about line I mention it, but I like it that much. Really, really great line!

I'm rooting for McClelland as well, and Zaldain seems like a good kid. Happy for Skeet as well, I like the old ChampioN boats guys-

Mark Davis zero'd? I'm curious to see what happens on Bull Shoals tomorrow. It was much tougher for me for keepers on Monday and Tuesday than it has been all year.

Yep. Martens and Clunn will both be in the mix. Wouldn't it be something for Clunn to win another one?!?

I'm gonna go with E2, with McCllelland, Christie, Davis, Klein, Palanuik and Hackney all fishing on the final day-