5bites

I got a reeeeally late start but finally started casting around 10 this morning. I started with a 5xd and was rewarded with a chunk right off in about 15'. I promptly lost one close to or as big soon after. I couldn't buy any more bites on this first spot. This was a rocky type ridge with wood mixed in. Great place to get good at retying. Next up was a stop by one of my favorite spots on the lake that has more wood and rock. It's been a solid spot this year. A couple weeks ago it had a bunch of 3's on it. Today zilch. I threw a 15' plumish colored Netbait cmac without love. I stayed way to long knowing they were there but just needed to get one to cooperate. It just wasn't happening other than a couple very half hearted strikes that had me suspicious. So I started looking for shallow isolated wood. Places I've be dr fished. That was the agenda for today anyway. First tree was unproductive. On my way to the next one I found a phenomenal massive rock pile with huge rocks on the side imaging. It's kinda hidden in a way. Without si I would have never found it. So I hit the tree I went there for and nothing again. So I turn and start cranking the rocks and immediately catch another nice fish. Then yet again I lose another nice fish. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I beat the spot to death then idled it again to mark a bunch of waypoints so I could map how it laid out. Off off to the next spot just down I found a similar setup but much bigger. I caught several dinks and a spot you'd think would have come from table rock. The pic doesn't do it justice. It was fat and happy. Probably my biggest grand kentucky. I can't not mention the over zealous drum that pestered me. It got to where I knew immediately what it was when it hit. I hate those things. Next to another similar spot with a huge amount of rocks. Almost to much. More drum. So I hopped around just fishing stuff that looked interesting on the si. No love. Well I did catch YET ANOTHER DRUM. I moved to a community hole that has a tree on it because I'm to stupid to give up on throwing a big worm at wood. Nothing. So I pick up a dt16, mak me a cast over the edge by where I was and caught a skinny 17@-17.5". That at was the last keeper. I hit my favorite spot one more time and totally wiffed on a bite and lost a fish that was so big I didn't know it was a fish until I noticed my line moving off. Gar or catfish I assume. I badly wanted that last keeper and worked for it but I was spent, out of water, tired, and sunburned. The 4 I had would have went 14ish. Had everything hit the carpet my best 5 woulda went 17-18ish. Most fish were less than 8' but way offshore. Tooooooooonnnnnnnnnsssss of shad around on flats my graph blacked out multiple times. They were absolutely everywhere. I've never seen so many Overall I'm bummed about that last keeper (and the fact it came off twice) but I found some new productive water that I didn't know existed. first oneNo.2lost spot final keeper the talon was handy today even way offshore. It's not just for spring and the boat ramp! It was nice not having to tie up at the dock though lol. well over 100yds offshore and the Talon is deployed holding me in the wind. Very handy in these situations. Using side imaging and a shallow water anchor to improve a fishing day probably just blew some minds on here. my nemesis. Sadly this was not the biggest and far from the only one.

You guys can save that or near that year round at the Tackle Trap. Email or call them though.

Very cool. I badly want to go up that far.

I like this one the best

whether that equates to more bites or not that's pretty interesting.

Still a miss but better than the web pic

I've never been able to tell that they did. I've caught fish on a brown finesse jig in mud water so like most things I believe we over analyze things. The only time I could think it might even remotely help would be pitching in a mess and shaking it. Otherwise it's just a confidence thing in which case it can definitely make a difference.

If it roughly looks like a crawdad during normal wart time you're good. Sure I paint but not because I think the detail is so important. I am just disappointed with yet another failed attempt at storm trying to duplicate an old color.

I would love to hear the foil hat reason behind the fish dying and the reason for the cover up.

You answered your own question. Same reason fish around here use a green tree but vacate when it dies until it's dead then they come back. Later in the year is the turnover so there's no limit to where the fish can go basically so they don't have to stay in the dead stuff I think it has less to do with rotting trees and more to do with the shallow thermocline and high temps like the biologist say.

Maybe some time in the sun will help it a little.

Well, at least they tried. It's the thought that counts.

Love this!

That and the awesome casting consistency that the top dollar has.

Does anybody fish for fish that are suspended right under the foam on docks? At grand it works a good part of the year. I didn't know if they ever get that high up at table rock.

To quote the biologists that apparently know nothing even though historically this has happened before.... "The thermocline is setting up rather shallow this year in the upper end of the lake, perhaps more than usual which could explain why this is happening this year and not others. The thermocline set up shallow during the last high water events we had in 2008 and 2011 as well." Three times in recent history we get the same result after the same situation. I'm no boat mechanic but I'm gonna say the ol boy may be onto something with this thermocline deal.

this is a good point. I'm curious what the zebras at grand would do to braid. I'm guessing it wouldn't fair well at all since braid isn't known to be good for abrasion resistance.

Oh my man. That's very slick!

Very nice Jo! Fish where are the pics?

A good example of a classic fast action fantastic jig blank is the g-loomis mbr844. Very fast. Faster than 99% of what most manufacturers call fast. If you want faster go with their bcr or jwr series. I've been waiting years for someone to release comparable blanks to these and I think finally someone has. Point Blank which is distributed by Fuji has some blanks out that are very fast and extremely light. Just waiting on the money tree.

Faster rod=lighter/softer tip. Typically you can use a wider range of lures on a faster rod has a soft tip yet strong back bone hence the name fast taper moderate rod=slower action that bends further down the blank that is good for a narrower range of lures. Slow taper meaning the butt and tip are closer to the same size. Usually used for moving baits were accuracy doesn't matter.

We differ all day long on jig rod actions. The faster the better for me.

Well I dont feel like I'm using to big of line on Table Rock now lol. I usually also use between 15-20lb Sunline fluorocarbon which will have a maximum diameter of about .016". That's less than some of what you guy said you use. The he reason I asked this in the first place is I'm trying to find a balance in my gear between fishing grand and the rock. Obviously two different lakes altogether. With the zebra mussels costing me fish and money (this weekend even!) on grand you can't go light if you're dragging. I can't buy a whole arsenal of rods for each lake I fish so I have to compromise. I do want to run lighter on my Table Rock gear as I add more equipment and have dedicated rods or even just spools for the lake. I prefer to use good line so it's just to expensive to strip off and replace perfectly good Sunline all the time. I'll add add that I think that Sunline Structure that I did the mini review on earlier this year is about perfect for football jigs and big worms etc. Loooooow stretch and highly abrasion resistant. Stiff as can be though so don't put it on your jig skipping rod. I may try some 16lb/.013" diameter for dragging at Table Rock.

Pound rating is what I'm wanting to get away from in the discussion. It's a almost useless statistic if you compare diameters and poundage between brands.

Was curious, especially from the gurus, what exact line do you use when dragging jigs at Table Rock? Type, poundage, diameter, etc. If you have input on other dragging baits (tube, finesse jig, c-rig) by all means feel free to add it but please be specific about the exact line details.