Feathers and Fins

I snapped this one specifically for this thread. The difference between Sonar and Downscan is unmistakable.

Life in Rocky Branch is doing well. The morning was cloudy and a nice breeze just enough to make coffee on the water with the engine off drifting to take in the beauty mandatory. Fishing was great this morning with the average bass weight at 3 to 4 pounds and a kicker 6 pounder. The bass were in 30fow suspended at 15 to 18 fow. Whites/hybrids/stripers were in the same zone hanging over 30 to 50fow suspending in 15 to 25 as the day and boat traffic went on they sunk to 40 fow and turned off. Most the whites were averaging 2 pounds and the hybrids were going 4 to 6 stripers were on the smallish side about 3 pound average. Played with the camera some more today and just blows me away and the amount of large bass in the lake but they just don't bite often for some reason. They will follow baits and come up on them but then back off. When I say follow they would be on camera for over a minute to two minutes at times. I think there are more big bass in the depths of Beaver than people think.

That is actually a very pretty brown, I bet if the sun would have been out the halos around the spots would have been fabulous

That's easy, There had to be a land survey done before the lake was constructed it only would take a little time to find out where it is. Probably ACE Office in Rogers would have it.

MJK, I had a huge learning curve with Lowrance side/downscan; however after I learned how to use the unit and maximize its power the difference between it and other forms of sonar technology was night and day. Everyone has preferences toward sonar companies and units. I myself was a HB fan for years but side by side comparison ( if that's actually possible ) to Lowrance went to Lowrance. Again its a huge learning curve but the power in the HD systems to traditional sonar is a eye opener. The price is definitely higher for the HDS units, but if you are on the water a lot it is well worth it. I do suggest to people to go out with people who have the units you are thinking about the Demo modes really do not do any unit justice in my opinion. It is only after seeing the practical real life use the true power of or lack there of a unit comes out. Something to think about is the HDS units have ( Flasher (( old school but great)) Standard Sonar view and HD SCAN ) Combined with split screens its a great unit but it has draw backs you would need at least a HDS7 for screen size to use the split screen the 5'' unit just is to hard to read in multiple screens. Also you have to be sure to get the start-up settings right its not hard but a common mistake.

The correct answer is Call law enforcement, and wait outside for them. But the problem in your scenario is most do not leave their windows open, criminals avoid lines of sight so the odds of it happening that way are astronomical. So what do you do if you walk in on a criminal invasion? Odds are he will run you will be shocked and you will be calling 911 and not have a good description. Even with a high amount of training and preparation the shock still causes the flight response in most people. But worse those who have the macho streak in them and do pull the weapon will likely fire very inaccurately and possible strike an innocent. I have trained and worked with trained people on scenarios like this and when startled not expecting something even some of the most highly trained shooters have a 3 to 5 second reaction delay. Now once they settle in something will die. It is not like you see in Hollyweirds movies! People think of it like they see in tactical breaches and the two scenarios are so different, in a tactical they are expecting and ready for it and trained for it. In a surprise home encounter the person is not. Not sure what all this had to do with the subject at hand though! The more I have read online and heard on news accounts the more I have questions about the entire situation. Why did the floaters remain? Why did the guy not just call LEO? What are the clear laws on property rights? I think this case may open some serious questions on several issues.

Nathan they act like a bachelor party by about 1am after hitting every bar in town. EG; here is something odd, I have never seen trout go after the shad below Houseman for some reason when the cold hits them. Yet above houseman its a feeding frenzy at times. The real cool thing is when you see the shad and the big marks on the graph you know what they are but will not bite until it happens. All I can think is there is something in the water that the trout don't like lol. Now when they generate and shad are pulled through the trout go ape crazy and my favorite two flies are a fish skin imitation or a white woolybug.

Nice fish, Nice trip. Nice text last night grrrrrrr

That would require them eating that many each day and they don't, fish are not like people who eat for no reason. Nor are they successful every trip to Taco-bell. I have been chasing them over there 8 years and though by no means is this scientific but I would put the population at maybe 100 to 150 even taking into account the new little guys. I have caught the same fish multiple times without a doubt. I know this because there is someone over there who has tagged them with those clothes tag sticker holder things with different colors. Stripers still prefer shad though for some reason even there and I have watched them pass up a trout for shad on more than one occasion forcing me to switch from swim baits to bucktails and cranks. It seems the only time they are keyed in purely on trout is when they are above Houseman access. Your numbers on how many they take each year are probably high I would guess it more in the 5 to 10,000 range at most and even that might be high they really prefer the shad it seems. The largest school I have ever seen over there was maybe 50 fish and I caught it just right to see. The generators had come on and I was lucky enough to be on a school of shad. We all know what happens when cold water hits a large school of shad! About 3 or 4 minutes after the stun the stripers showed up and I got to witness a neat show, also learned that day Walleye do the same thing. They let Us make a buffet for them. The lesson of that day was try and learn when Army Corps will generate be on the white several hours before and find the biggest shad school you can and stay on it till generation and for 30 minutes you can have the time of your life if everything works out. But if the shad don't stun you wont catch a thing. Man im giving to many secrets out.

Most I have ever found was 3 but it tried for my bait which was an AC Plug so im thinking 4 probably.

Na EG its torment in fishing and hunting. Especially when a couple people are catching big bass and know you are in a tourney and they send you pics to show what they are getting lol

lol. Ok,

Marty there are a few people on here that are notorious for doing that ( no names given ). I myself am a saint and would never do that to anyone.

Actually Justin, there is a responsibility, A person who rents either of the two examples must have insurance for any damages they might do. Can the provider be held Liable? Possibly, but unlikely! I could see a good lawyer or shady I should say that like a Bar Owner you could be responsible as you had reasonable suspicions they would be drinking especially if you witnessed it or saw them loading the beer. The other thing is the Littering it cost money to clean up even if its "just" a land owner or the property damage that drunks could do. This is really one you don't want going to court I really believe the floaters would lose and lose big. Yes Law Enforcement ( ive said it many times on here) needs to be out in force and lay into these people hard. But if LEO's start heavy handed enforcement that too will cut in to your business when word gets out. This is a situation that for no other reason than human stupidity does not have any good outcomes for anyone.

Nice then there is some new blood if it was only 15lbs. Its such a untapped fishery with some true trophy's running around in it. The biggest reason I don't keep them there is the trophy potential and how much fun it is catching one that size. There really is not enough for anyone to worry about wasting time and money on trying to get them out, I say leave them be they cant reproduce and gives people a chance at a fish of a lifetime.

looks like a 27 to 29'' fish is that correct? If so it means a lot of fish got dumped over the dam in the flood years because that is maybe a 12 to 18pnd fish way smaller than the typical ones which is time as there are new blood I hadnt seen yet.

Did you see other stripers or was it a blind strike?

Hank you bring up some interesting points. Do commercial outfitters have a leagl responsibility for the behavior of thier client/s. This would be an interesting question if it went before the courts there is in my opinion a good chance the courts may find they do. I say this because of it could be argued they are allowing the clients to use ( private property ) without permission. Also reasonable arguement can be made to guiding on public land which is not legal. Very technical yes but an attourney could argue it. Never know what an attourney may find or argue. If this gets the right attourneys attention and the right home owner with money to pay for him this could become a major issue and possibly put sever limits in not closures on floating. Or nothing may come of it.

Outstanding night patrol outing.

Yes they were. I target them from Beaver town up as far as I can go. No need for a yak or nu If the Tracker cant get them I don't need to

BOOOOOOOOO No tick jokes I got into seed ticks yesterday and my legs are tore up... I Could post pictures but they would blind everyone! Chris, yes know someone like that, Always bragged about this that or the other. One day a few people got sick of it and used a high starch substance to convince a bunch of Black Cheeks to visit his RV.. After the hunt we errr the guilty parties called to tell him how well they had done on the goose hunt and asked how he faired. He said he was limited in 10 minutes ( we watched him err damit he was watched and hadn't shot a thing ) Well the party pulled up two minutes later and asked to use his bathroom. He said sure let me open things up and when he did saw what was inside. He hasn't tried the one-up since You only think geese are messy in a park lol.

It will hold up with who counts most.

Yes CC Pencil Popper. and Thermacell is suggested lol.

Man not more politics... FINE you want to talk about them go here http://heartlandwaterfowlers.com/ but be warned It is not moderated much and better have a thick skin. Maybe giving people the playground will keep it off here.

Best I have heard of is a guy going door to door at Christmas and having his neighbors donate the trees to him. He got CORP OK and put them out. I HAVE GPS BILL but it will cost you a drive over here for me to show you where.