Feathers and Fins

Recipes you want? https://www.facebook.com/pages/Outdoorsman-Cook-Book/709064729170658

Unlike the movie the Birds here you run to them not away. The "Terns" are the birds you have to look for this time of year and if a Loon is present even better. Glad you got in to them What size were they?

It all depends on what species you want to catch. Largemouth ( Blacks ) are more upriver say from hwy12 bridge north. Spots ( annoying little things ) are more from hwy12 to the dam Smallmouth well im not telling they are my pets lol. But they are plentiful if you know where to look. Your average weight will be someplace around 1.8 to 2.5 pounds however there are much larger fish in the lake and if you work at it you will get your average up to closer to 3pounds. But with that higher weight your numbers go down as your targeting a different zone. Now if you enjoy Crappie the lake is full of good size fish I actually have a 12 inch minimum I impose on my boat to keep even though the lakes is 10''. From February to late summer can be good but April and May are excellent. Walleye are a year round proposition in fact I just took one on top-water a few weeks ago they really start turning on in Late January and are very good till about mid August depending on how warm it has gotten. Stripers are a year round fishery and with the average fish being about 15 pounds will pull your line nicely and many in the 20 to 30 range are caught yearly. A lot of people have taken up trolling but its because it produces and also the lake is Beautiful and its a great way to spend the day looking at scenery and fishing. Doesn't hurt that walleye and stripers like trolled patterns. Spooning is a great tactic on the lake as is throwing wiggle warts or swim baits such as keitechs swing impact. It really depends on what you want to do and or catch. If your a numbers guy White bass will make your numbers high, if your a bass guy you might get frustrated but if your a fisherman who just wants to catch fish then you will not be disappointed at all ( after you figure out the lake a bit )

I have been spooning since I was a little boy, My Grandfather had a tackle box full of Dixie Jet Spoons in different colors ( I think he used grandmas nail polish on some of them ) of all lures I think a spoon is my favorite and highest confidence lure. Its what I was taught on. Spoons can be jigged, bounced, just left stationary or even swam. In my hands no other lure except maybe a bucktail or feathered bucktail gives me more confidence in catching fish. Welcome to the dark side lol.

I was striper fishing again, BUT Knowing we are in for a bunch of freezing temps and knowing the 3rd day on most the small ponds are frozen I have big plans for Thursday and Friday and they include making feathered critters die.

Unless you are doing a lot of shooting reloading non-tox is not worth it. My father and I use to shoot every weekend growing when I was growing up 8 to 10 boxes each Saturday plus Upland hunting so it was worth it (good ole lead days) He still shoots and now that he is retired its more like 4 boxes 5 days a week. His price per box going off memory is something like 1.79. I looked in to it when I was doing a lot of conservation snow goose hunting for the non-tox and depending on which type of load (shot) it between 8 bucks a box and 40. That was around 7 years ago and it was a nightmare trying to find the shot. Its cheaper just to buy factory loads from a store

From the fishing point of view, depending on your boat you can run from Rocky Branch to Hickory Creek in from 20 to 45 minutes big margin but im trying to cover most boats. Fishing on the lake is seasonal as to wear the fish will be, Summer you are looking from Rocky Branch to the dam Fall through Late winter Prairie Creek to way up both river arms. Spring is awesome and just about anywhere on the lake can produce. As to where to live. The lake is Beautiful from any aspect but in winter time we have the WORSE road departments on this planet so you may want to look at areas closer to Rogers and be prepared to stock up before storms if you have any type of major hills between you and the stores.

Here is another one from this afternoon. I couldn't take it any longer I had to get out... Shad above, Striper below them.

They can be released and I release many of them. Just kick your boat in gear and hold them in the water till you feel them kicking on their own. They kind of remind me of snook in they will suck on your finger and when ready they will let go. Terry think SHALLOW they are not near as deep as people think most of mine have been coming from 6 to 20ft of water. Trolling Rapala SR9's will get you down to 20 with no problem and flicker shad #6 and 7 will take care of the rest. But even better the walleye have been VERY SHALLOW pulled several out of less than 4ft and caught a couple down to 15ft. I haven't been out much this week because of the flu or I would be looking in shallow water near bait. Real neat seeing them on your graph when you pass over them in shallow water, looks like this on mine

Nope JD not you. Look at the snow coverage map it tells the tail. I had friends in Nodak and Sodak chasing geese last week and they said bigger ponds and rivers still free and snow depth isn't effecting the birds one bit. The numbers were promising this year but the winter was a bust. Best gunning has been CENTRAL KANSAS down to CENTER OK and TX gulf coast. Miss flyway birds still haven't moved down... When were in SEAR for the holidays I saw mostly spoonies and teal and next to NO Mallards. Snow Geese though were all over. If the Weather doesn't Ice the ponds north and snow covers the feed they wont come down.

My watermelon seeds are cave city watermelons so im very picky about them. My maters came from my grandfathers Giant Beefsteaks I get about 1 out of 5 to take but that's fine I only need 2 a year. Green beans came from family down south and they produce like no ones business. The rest I just pick-up at some store.

Crappie 1/16 1/32 1/4oz jig heads Bobby Garland Crappie baits all of them work well. Walleye Bottom Bouncers Slow Death Rigs Flicker shad and Flicker Minnows Rapala SR 9's Bass Warts Keitechs swing impact with 1/4oz heads Spoons Nedrigs I am a firm believer in KISS!

I would think Oregon is going to be favored but would not be surprised if Ohio wins. As long as Ohio can keep it close they have a good chance of a win, their defense is very good and that young QB will play on Sundays.

Its been an Interesting few days! TCU made their case and Baylor lost their case. FSU and Bama both lost and I am smiling ear to ear about that. FSU because I cant stand that school or the crab thief and Bama, well its Bama and anytime they lose I get a smile. Arkansas Won, Missouri Won LSU Lost, and that gets me 5 pounds of mudbugs best bet Ive made in years. The National Championship game has no SEC school. All in all some good bowl games this year. Theraflu kept me somewhat awake and breathing and We are at the start of a new year and only 9 short months till it starts all over again.

Great pics Mike, lousy you are having to deal with harassment.

Probably my worse season for ducks, im sticking to striper fishing there just isn't the numbers.

I swear by mine.

Its going to be an ice out it look likes depending on what weather station you are looking at and what minute.

Only spoon I use is this one. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-XPS-JumpN-Jigit/product/12050205104232/ all sizes both colors.

They can be as temperamental as us. I sure wasn't going out yesterday and today I am spending the day cleaning rods, reels and organizing gear in preparation for the New Year plus making goose jerky. Its tempting to sneak out for a while this afternoon though my bet would be if the sun comes out they will come up to take advantage of it. Crappie might even be moving on to the flats and I do love spooning them this time of year. Do not get discouraged though it took me some time to figure them out but once you do, you will learn how predictable at least in the areas and time of year. You have a very big advantage over many boats as you will be able to get in skinny skinny water. Soon they will be up in the White and War Eagle arms and in very shallow water 1 to 3ft and many people wont dare take their boats in that shallow yet it has been some of my best places for numbers and size. Picture seeing 15 to 40lb fish in that shallow.

You must sacrifice your first born, I did it but then the striper gods made me take him back, the deal was they would sacrifice some of theirs if I took him back. Apparently he made them watch (Barney) over and over and they made the call that was truly torture and cruel and unusual punishment. Coach it would have been tough out there yesterday. Monday and Tuesday should be better, Monday being the best. I am a firm believer in the 2nd and 3rd days after a storm or full moon, it has just proven itself out to many times for me. You guys are in the right zone though.

Yup Honker feather.

We went today, HSB has stripers we trolled Rapala SR9's 200ft back and nabbed one, Hickory creek also has some as does Monte Ne. With the weather pattern it will be hard to say what they will bite on if at all. Post fronts can be very good or very bad, Sunday might be the better of the two days as it looks like Saturday is going to be very wet.

They are on the move I would start looking from Horseshoe bend to point 12.