techo

Are you finding any fish in the green moss? If i get the slime bait back a few times....I move. I am not sure they like hanging around that stuff either. Going tomorrow. Maybe I will ry to fish the moss a bit to see.

Ouch! Not an easy crowd. Hard to argue with Champ. (thanks for the support)

I would think it is your tournament so you set the rules. In the ones I fish....you drive your boat by the dock with your livewells open. Impossible to do on the back of a truck. I like that we all take off from the same point. Makes it a bit more of a challenge for a smaller boat like mine as I either have to fish closer or spend valuable fishing time traveling. It takes those 150s and up a little less time to get up the James than my 90. Still it is your tournament so.....

I would be interested in something in the future, but would need a bit more warning than that. It would be fun to hook up with some fellow OAFs.

Wow! Sounds like the place to be!

I have my dots! Great idea. I put one on the back window of my truck and can easily see it from anywhere in SW Missouri!

Same Mom! Are we brothers?

Bill will set you straight. I fished a Heartland Pro/AM with a guy from Kansas City about three years ago I think. He was stuck on those lipless cranks. They were his goto bait that he had confidence in. He switched to a jig when I was catching a couple. I never saw him catch one with the lipless crank. I can't remember what brand he had. The lake was high that year and conditions were different too. So this whole post didn't help you much. I visit with quite a few fisherman and read a lot of tourney results and no one has admitted to using the lipless crank much on Table Rock.

My gosh!

I was waiting for some of the other guys to reply first as my answer is a wild guess. The Kimberling City area is slower to warm up than the two river arms, so it is slower to turn on. The spring rains turns the water darker up the rivers, then the sun warms that water faster. Of course....I could be wrong. As far as boating from KC to the James River area.....I think it is 11 miles from KC to point 10 and 11 more miles to Cape Fair. It is a long way on tourney day, but not so far on a fun fishing day, I don't think you have to worry about long trips though as the whole lake is about to turn on. I think I would stay in your area if looking for small mouths soon! Either way....I wish I Was fishing today instead of working.

We had a nice warm rain yesterday followed up by more sun today. I think they are calling for rain Monday and maybe Tuesday followed by more sun. It seems like and feels like the whole lake is about to turn on. Itmight be teasing us though!

Do need to do a fish fry! Kind of tied up this weekend though. Rest of the summer is for fishing....better than sex!

True Dat!

Where ya been Whacked? Haven't heard from you lately.

Arrrghhhhhh! Hey this just in.......Aunt's Creek is closed for Easter!

The more the merrier! Seriously though.....a day catching that many fish is a good day in my mind. Tournament fishing kind of changes the perspective. You only care to catch five, but you want them big! For a guy like me....Any other day catching over 35 fish is a day to remember!

Should be jumping in the boat by then. Wish you guys well!

We have had some interesting (can't think of a better word) topics on here! My mrs usually just doesnt drink or have "output." I seldom have output during a tournament as I am busy. Thanks for the tips though. I will mention it to her and see what she says. On non-tourney days we are never far from somewhere...Cape Fair, Cow Creek, Mill Creek, Aunt's Creek, Joe Bald and so on. I guess worse case scenario is we get disqualified for giving a poop! Err pee in this case.

That is great news! There are days when four fish would have been great. I always liked the look of thos Boston Whalers. How is it for fishing out of?

I think you are right about the dying shad. We hit the back of Mill Creek and it was filled with dead shad. Seagulls everywhere, but couldn't get a bite there. We usually catch something even if it is small there at this time of year.

We all have our own weigh in bags. Just make sure it is empty of water and put the fish in a weigh in bag. Use the same bag over and over again. Bass pro has cheapies for 5-10 bucks. They have handles to put on the hook.

I would never knock any boat as everyone likes something different When you are talking money though....Nitro has a good price point and easier to get into, but the re-sell value is seriously lacking. If it really only cost 10 grand more for a Ranger, then look at re-sell value. You will get that back out of a boat down the road anyway. Nitros serve their purpose and some folks love them. I just have never met one of those folk yet.

Tom Spence has had some small work tourneys in the past. I think we just used a Rapala brand digital scale. They run about 25 bucks and go up to 50 pounds. I am not sure on accuracy, but worked on tourneys with 12 boats or so.

I have been ill the last three days. I mean can't get out of bed sick! We had already paid the fee for the AIA Tourney today, so off we went this morning. The Mrs is my partner this year as Adam was deployed to Iraq. Weather turned out fairly nice. We both have red faces from the breeze which was a bit strong. AIA took off from Ahoy's at 7. We put in at Mill Creek and boated to the take off. Headed up toward Aunt's Creek and I don't think I have ever saw it so muddy. Continued up toward Cape Fair (also very muddy) and found some clear water. We caught a lot of fish on the Spro McStick in about forty feet of water. Only one fish was long enough to weigh. It was just over 2.5 pounds and caught by my (better than me) fishing partner. I saw a few guys not weigh a fish, saw some five fish bags. One fella had two very nice fish...one over 6.5 pounds, with a 20 pound bag total. The Mrs had to use the facilities so we didn't hang around for the whole weigh in. That is the down side to a female partner....they don't have rest rooms at weigh out and you aren't supposed to leave the boat...any input here Donna? On a side note....had a good strategy this time for the tourney, we were less than an inch or so off on several fish that would have been a five fish bag. The little Skeeter with the 90 horse held up really really well in the wind and bouncy waters. Every time I think about getting a bigger faster boat, i fall in love with this one a little bit more.