waterpossum

Nice fish!!! Sounds like they are hungry and biting after the stress of the spawn. Looks like Memorial weekend is going to be a cool one on the campers. Curious to see what the after dark bite will be like Friday.

Texas rigged. Water is supper clear. No real set pattern other than most were 12-15' deep. I did not do much good in the back half of the coves,

Put in at State Park 9 a.m. and bass fished till 4 p.m. I was using a watermelon brush hog and partner a shakey head with purple worm. With the wind blowing a gale we tried to find the protected areas in Price Branch and SW cuts on the main lake. The bite was slow, but just often enough to keep it interesting. He caught more on the shakey head than I did on the Brush Hog. Total bass around 15 that included 5 keepers and 4 small Smallmouth. Around 11 a.m. we were about halfway back in Price Branch about 400-500 yards west of the road bed that crosses back there. I was fishing and he said " did you see that vehicle enter the water on the on the south bank" I thought it another one of his pranks, but sure enough there was what we could only determine at that distance was one of those amphibious duck boats. In front of the boat you could make out about 5-6 heads swimming across the lake. We concluded that it had to be somebody driving some hogs through the water, but there were no shots fired which I would assume the Conservation Dept would do. I was going to motor back to satisfy my curiosity, but when I motored out to the middle they were gone. At the next bass weigh in I promise to take a lie detector test to confirm this report. I apologize to the women if in fact what I saw was the second leg of one of those triathlon's where you bike, swim and run a race.

He has every Bobby Garland bait that they make. He's a real nice guy that originally just worked there to help his father in law, but when he passed he resigned himself to keep the business going and it is thriving. He sells a lot on line and has a broad range in the four states delivering live bait.

This probably won't help if you live to the east of Stockton, but hands down the best bait shop especially for crappie is Buds Bait in Carthage. www.budsbait.com or phone 417-358-6119. If your ever by there it would be worth your time .

A Bruce Jenner sighting

There shouldn't be near the traffic in that area. And yes there are some great banks up there. They possibly would be just a little deeper and if you find a good bank chances are you won't be surrounded by a bunch of boats.

I recently saw an interesting article on this blog that maybe not all have read. At the top left of the page click on Ozark Anglers.com. As you scroll down the left side under Articles &Videos is a topic American Eel click on it. That article in itself is interesting, but again if you scroll down the left side there is a pretty long article that you can read under Ozark River Walleye. In the late 50's when dad and I fished Bull Shoals no one in that part of the country used the term Walleye, that was just a way northerners described the fish. We always called what we now refer to Walleye as Jack Salmon. Al Agnew has written this article with excerpts from articles written by old timers in the 1920's and 30's. The article makes you wish that this strain of fish could somehow be found.

As much as I like to catch fish I would rather venture away from the annual hoard of fisherman that return year after year to their traditional "Hot Spots" As an example. A friend and I about a week ago on a weekday entered Birch Branch. Our count of boats from the mouth to the back was 32.

It's easier if you just take a couple of rope stringers and start by putting them on it. I leave one end hanging out the live well. It makes for easy counting for each person in the boat.

I put in at the north ramp at Mutton. I totally agree, I have never seen that many boats out on a Thursday. It's understandable though with the fishing this good. The creel survey guy out checking should have a lot of good data for a report. This probably was the best walleye day that I have had. I caught 14 nothing big, but a limit. All released fish were over 14" but under 15". Most fish came on a roadrunner with a Bobby Garland swimming minnow. Used a Wally Marshall 9' moderate action pole fishing gravel banks. The fish all were in the 8'-10' depth on the bottom so I mostly tried to parallel that depth. I usually use a 6' or 6 1/2 St.Croix rod, but found at least yesterday the 9 foot rod gave me more bait control and I was able to watch the line better since some of the bites were lite.

I live in Joplin. Would be cutting it close if you responded immediately. 417 396 7692

My best success has been main lake in the 35-45' range preferably close to a channel that swings relatively close to a big spawning bay. I prefer jigs, but sometimes the fish don't and minnows are best. It's not uncommon to deep hook a lot of fish using minnows. Sometimes you just have to cut the line when releasing short fish. I have been when the fish were as deep as 25' or as shallow as 8' Before you go make a plan that factors in the wind speed and direction. It stands to reason, you more often than not will need two anchors and plenty of rope. Occasionally I will attract a lot of shad, but more often I attract a lot of translucent bait. I think they are called Brook Silverside minnows

You nailed it. In the last two weeks I have been twice. Three nice keeper walleye on each trip with a few throwbacks, and the bass will keep it interesting 3/4 way back into the coves. Things may have changed, but most points around the dam area should still be producing especially after 6 p.m. All on bone color.

I still have nightmares about one I had on at Mark Twain years ago on that bait when the lake was about 30' over normal fishing a Red Man Tournament. We were literally fishing in the back woods that day and I was making short flips with the Bull Dog. I just couldn't get the boat close enough to reach that fish wallowing about an arm length away. The rod, me and the boat were entangled in brush.

The War Eagle spinner bait is a good choice. I have an old favorite Bulldog spinner bait that has a size 6 Colorado blade that has caught my biggest fish. The bigger the blade the better the lift. I seem to be able to adjust the pace of that blade better. That's real good when throwing over and through laydowns etc. Most spinner baits I see in the stores have a bigger selection of willow leaf blades. They may have more flash , but I kind of like the thump of the Colorado.

Wednesday 54 CC 48 Ruark Sons creek

54 at CC 48 at Ruark

On Wednesday it was 54.5

It has come up about a foot in the last week to 864.37. That still leaves it a little over 2.5 feet below normal pool.

Fought the wind all day starting at CC. Water temp 54.5 around the bridge. There are plenty of white bass to be caught and saw several caught by bank fisherman. We caught six whites, a couple which were huge females. Talked to a guy cleaning whites at the ramp that had challenged the low water to get further up Turnback. The water is dirty, but didn't seem to effect the white bass bite. We were targeting crappie and walleye without luck, so we took out and went to clearer colder water around Ruark, 48 degrees. After about an hour of crappie fishing with no luck I put on a stick bait (clown color) and caught a keeper walleye. My partner did not have any equipment so I rigged him up and he immediately caught two more nice walleye. I had one more short walleye, but we both lost two in the 3-4 lb range. Caught about 12 bass , but only one over 15." The bite was on chunk rock bank with boat positioned in 18' of water. All fish were caught between 4 and 6 pm. Forgot how sore you can get flinging and jerking. I believe my 71 year old body has about a 100 cast limit.

The Texas state walleye and smallmouth record were recorded at lake Meredith north of Amarillo. That lake is below conservation pool by 78ft. The water is supplied by the Canadian river flowing from new Mexico. Most locals in addition to the extreme droughts the last few years blame the agricultural use for it's demise.

Grand Lake is a great bass destination, but don't expect great numbers this time of year. Stick baits, umbrella rigs and an assortment of jig combinations are usually effective this time of year. Four or five straight days of warming would be ideal to plan a trip around. If fishing mid lake, there is real good launching at Wolfe Creek Park in Grove and plenty of motels close. Crappie fishing and catfishing is excellent at present time.

I googled it and it's showing 37 boats winner Randy Conlon and Ashley Ruggles 17.47 and she caught big bass of 7.11. 10.40 to cash.

Depending on the weather, but they should be getting close to making their usual pre spawn movements. A stick bait right before and after dark around the dam area later this month may prove productive.