Feathers and Fins

WOW. That would not be good at all, I hope they are wrong it would ( depending where it fell ) put us at a real possibility of gates open.

Prairie Creek, You can fish the fishing pier and rocks at the state park. Also there is the old dirt ramp off Old Prairie Creek Road walk from the parking lot to the back. Montne the North shore line from the parking lot to the back of the creek is also good. Rocky Branch the entire state park area is pretty good. Shore fishing on Beaver is not easy and most times limiting to non-practical but those three places are good starts.

So is Hook line and Sinker but thats my bad lol either beat me to them or dont get them... The only other Bait I ever found so effective was the ( thin fin " original " ) Flickers remind me a lot of them.

Ill be there again tomorrow Randy.. This time I WILL HAVE MY ROD!!!!!!

Stump a twister wont do that... Hail will though! Twisters like to remove the roof or not enough shingles for Insurance to cover a new roof... Annoying things they are.

I cant tell you some dumbass left his rod at home

Im sitting at the fishing pier parking lot waiting for my next appointment at Holiday Island and the whites seem to think something good is on the surface Teach me to leave the rod at home grrrr

Love the first pic suitable for framing.

Randy try changing out the treble hooks for circle hooks They still hang up but not as often and you still get the hook-ups.

She is hovering around 1124.75 / 82 all weekend, Looks like Wend through Sun we will be seeing some rain and Thursday they are talking sever weather. So up she goes. If we get a major downpour at the level she is now I would expect to see debris really floating keep that in mind when boating it could start getting very dangerous.

Im with John on this one and why I don't fish it. The lake has great potential but also has way to much pressure on it.

roughly 4 years before they start hitting the 20'' mark and 10 years before they are in the 20lb range.

Looks like she is almost at 25 and weather has some rain for this week so probably will hit it and then some. Maybe see 27 and lets hope no further or it could become gates open time again.

Who knows Frenzel, could compare them to many lakes but the truth is each lake is different. I think its because it is what they know or are familiar with. If I was to compare TR to any lake it would be Dale Hollow and Beaver reminds me a lot of Lake Mead. But still comparing any lake to another is apples to oranges. Kinda like comparing the Gulf to the Atlantic they both are connected but both fish so differently.

Randy I hate to say it but did not even know they had it, Looking at it though I cant find anything under 50lb and the cost is insane and I use Floro. The reals I use the Okuma as well and am very pleased with them. I check the accuracy of the counters on occasion and so far so good. I will be trying to write more articles on it as time permits there is just so much to try and pack into it. As I write I find myself thinking about new ways to improve on it and new things to try. Im still like a big kid when it comes to new things and cant wait to play with it even if its an idea.

Didn't go, talked to my Bro who is camping at the lake at 4pm and he said it was still packed lots of boat wakes and chop and high wind. Figured no reason to be frustrated and fight the crowds. Fishing is suppose to be fun and relaxing and that didn't sound like either.

Pat would shoot you lol.

Oh im thinking that is the perfect Deer / turkey blind. I would plant something like box wood around it, Sod on top and Corn about 10yrds to 40 yrds in front of it

We were looking for your boat so spill the beans where did you end up going?

Ya that was funny.

lol, Joe the devil made us send you those pictures and his gremlins. Im certain payback is coming. Im seriously thinking about heading out again tonight after 4 or 5 just to see what happens in the evening. I figure the lake should settle down around 7 and pick up some fish from then till about 9 or 10pm.

When I was writing the ( how to troll ) article there was so many things I kept thinking I needed to add in it, so I thought on this lazy day I would touch on a few of the other points. 1st is rod selection; I prefer a 7’6’’ to 8’6’’ medium fast action rod. This allows for a wide spread between the rods without use of planer boards, on my boat it allows 17 foot spread between lures allowing for tighter turns in the boat without need for pulling in the rods to make the sharp turn. Those tighter turns also make it possible to “sweep” a area or more specifically target a specific structure object by running close to it and then sharply turning the boat to come across the target presenting the bait in a longer time in the key strike zones. This takes getting to know your boat and when to make that turn. To better describe that picture a rock as you straight troll over it your baits will pass on the sides of it in a straight line and be there for a few brief seconds. However if you sharply turn in the right position you will have one bait that hits the front of the rock and then bounces down the entire side of it finally coming off the opposite end keeping your bait in the strike zone a few seconds longer and creating a great deal of commotions triggering a strike that a mere pass by would not. You will lose more lures doing this but you will actually catch more fish doing it. This is a screen-shot of a rock with crappie on it for examples The rock for this purpose goes from 22fow to 17fow you want to swing at the right time to this situation to come over the top of the rock in 9 to 12 fow. Now had you marked fish on the edges of the rock you would want to use a bait designed to run 18 to 20 fow to make contact with the front of the rock and hitting its sides and finally pulling off the back of the rock. This is straight line trolling, Notice that you come close to the target object but pass by it only presenting the bait to the fringes of its center / largest point. And here is the tight turn sweep, Note how one bait actually will be making numerous contact hits to the target and the other sweeps much closer. Both allow more time in the strike zone. 2nd is bait selection; what can be said about the vast array of baits we have to us other than mind blowing and confusing! Many baits are what I term as ( for angler sale ) by that I mean they are eye catchers for anglers not fish catchers. Over the years I have found a lure can catch a fish but only a few can catch fish constantly. When I look for a lure I am looking for that bait that works! Not the one that looks pretty. Trial, error and experimentation can be costly and the average angler may not want to spend the money to find those baits. On Beaver and Tablerock I have found 5 baits that work and catch fish on very consistent bases. Below are those baits ( please remember I am trolling these baits and they may not work for other techniques ). The three on the left are something new I was turned onto, they are from Cabelas and are deep diving 18 to 22fow. The two on the right are the good ole Rapala's Shad rap SR7 to SR9 work very well from 15 to 22 fow The Flicker shad are what seems to produce great in all conditions and cover a wide variety of depths, Hook Line and Sinker in Rogers is my go to place and they keep a good selection in stock of size and color. It is worth noting Basspro and Cabelas have other colors made for them as well but I have found the ( Pearl White, Black and Silver, Blue Tiger, Black gold and Black Gold Sunset ) work best for trolling. The final hard bait I like to keep is an assortment of top water baits, I will run one out behind the boat in the early morning and toward dusk attempting to capitalize on surface feeding. There are very limited to that time frame but elicit some of the most voracious attacks. Keitechs again Hook Line and Sinker is where to get them and they are great for working in shallow 3 to 10 fow is when I use them most deep water they lose a lot of their effectiveness. Again more keitechs, same usage as the picture above just different style. 3rd is the reel; I don’t just guess how far out I am letting line, I know how far they are out by using line counter reel! This is one area I am not looking for the most expensive reel in the world as Line Counters tend to malfunction commonly on them so I look for the midrange/price reel that can be replaced relatively cheaply when they break. They are absolutely a requirement for precision presentation. I have been asked how do I know where the baits at? It is actually a simple answer. I find a piece of structure in the water that is at specific depth and mark it with a buoy then I put on a bait that is designed to run at a specific depth and let out line and make passes over it until I tap the top of it with the bait. You will see your rod tip bounce when you hit it. Then make a note of how much line was let out and the boats speed, on your graph take a sharpie and mark on the top or bottom of it ( the hard case not screen ) where on the screen the object is. This will tell you where bites should happen for that bait. At first I suggest writing it down in a log as time goes on you will know by memory. That is the TV FISHING” I often Joke about. You will actually know when the bite will happen and even after time know what should bite by the way the fish is orientated to cover and how the mark of the fish looked. Granted the quality of your GPS will be of great importance in that but even with the lower end models you will still know about where and when the bite will happen. Good Luck.

Dam BF that's a nice bass on any lake, Did you tell her before you released her that she is not a walleye lol

Yup and the wonderful POA wont let me help ya with that issue. Sorry I could solve it fast with about 5 friends in the early season. To many city slicker bleeding heart namby pambies in BV though.

Quill they are by-catch to me and annoying. I had to chuckle yesterday I know J-doc likes to bass fish but he even commented how they were getting in the way of the crappie and walleye we were catching. Its funny to see people who are dedicated bass guys ( and ive taken many ) all the sudden dislike Bass when they are catching many fish and great table fair fish. This isn't about trolling but does show with a different method that there are fish in Beaver of very nice size but the " approved " method for catching them might not be the best way to catch them.