Feathers and Fins

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I thought maybe if I broke it down exactly what I am doing it might help others to catch a few of the fish I have been on. This would actually apply anytime I am fishing as the first 2 steps is what I do every time out. 1st Whenever I come to an area I do a grid pattern search of it. I put out the tolling lines just in case I get lucky but I am not truly fishing at this point, I am looking over the area for where the fish are and any and all structure on the area, Cuts, Tree's, Stumps, Rocks anything. 2nd I mark everything, If it is a fish I just leave it as a waypoint but if it is hard structure I label it. 3rd I will take the boat out and park it where I have marked school fish and turn on the sidescan and watch the schools to get an idea of which direction they are traveling or if they are just moving in a small area. This allows me to refine my waypoints to a couple that are between the points the fish are moving. 4th This is what it looks like refined, I have two waypoints in 30fow about 400ft apart, this is where the fish are moving around most. I could have diamond bracketed it but no need as they were very constant at that depth. I then start fishing. This entire process can take as little as 1/2 hour on small spots to as much as an hour to hour and half for a bigger area. But when I find fish I do not leave. Far to many people get frustrated or board and give up, years have taught me sooner or later they will turn on and you want to be there for it. Yesterday was a prime example it was slow from about 1 to 3 but from 3 to 5 it was and that 2 hours accounted for 80% of my catch. Had I played the run and gun game I wouldn't have caught them.

Run the trolling motor on slow between the waypoints I marked the fish are moving between, Let out enough line the keep contact with the bottom while moving between the points and keep jigging in short twitches about 6 to 10'' jerks of the rod tip only ( to many people are lifting the jig to high you want it to mimic dyeing shad on the bottom and they will only flip a small distance ) When you mark a large school kill the motor and bring the jig up to them fast by reeling to the depth ( this is why I mark my line with a sharpie ) make a couple fast rips of about 1' to 16'' to mimic a shad dyeing in the water Colum to trigger a bite.

look tears of angels yum

Watch out for the Dillos, Quill. I went out and looked at property damage the other day in the village off Scotsdale completely tore up a yard and foundation on a shed.

Na they were huge whites Glen 16''+. Doc called me in on them and when I marked it I went in to hunter mode, there were indeed moving vast I had to keep my spoon on the bottom while searching for it and then rip it up when I saw them on the graph but managed to get their attention.

LOL, Ya your moving school made for some fun for me after you left. I spooned them and then sent you such a pretty picture lol

Jerry its the stupidest thing I think I have ever seen, they just flat out wont leave the area.

I really should just copy n paste this report from the last few.. 8 stripers from 15 to 25lbs... #7 Flicker shad Pearl White 18 whites from miniature size to about 3.5pnds Basspro XPS Spoon Same dang location again... I really don't get it I have been posting this for what 2 or 3 weeks now and they are still there and except for Doc, Nick and WC and a couple friends of mine no one else is taking advantage of it. I suggest going if you can its not rocket science.

These winter storm names are as stupid if not more brain damaged than the reboots of the Movies Hollywood keeps doing. No originality no thinking needed. And yes I as well agree TWC has become more political than weather related and the local news cant get anything right. The other day they were saying NO snow or precipitation and I open my door and its SNOWING opening the door or reading FB post on their own page would have told them there was snow in the area. I miss the days where unbiased and accurate reporting was the rule and not the big smiles and corny jokes. I want to know 1st the local news, then State followed by Weather and Sports then National and World news and the last two could be summed up in 5 minutes or less. We use to have a good Morning Guy and he went and left No names but everyone I talk to all says we miss you!

I fished the white below the dam for a little bit yesterday and only caught a few small whites and we had primo bait fresh caught. It doesn't look like the walleye have moved up yet. This storm could easily delay them again. Beaver lake I am thinking fish will be from PT12 to 12Bridge and I am going to give it a try. Stripers will be looking for cleaner water the walleye and crappie might be up shallow yesterdays weather had me concerned but I don't think it was enough to mess with the fish. Tomorrows weather is going to screw us fro a week. Watch for live updates on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beaver-Lake-Arkansas-Fishing-Report/745541178798856 and a full report tonight on here if my old body doesn't fall asleep it has been a long week.

Sorry forgot this, its how to get your graph to computer with much more detailed maps and waypoints. https://insightstore.navico.com/support-questions cost right now is 99 bucks a year and well worth it. I should note if you do what I do marking fish for patterning delete those marks before using Genisis or you will have useless waypoints. Only save waypoints for mapping that are permanent

Drop Shotting is nothing more than dropper loop fishing and that has been around forever in salt water fishing. There is some differences but the basic principles are the same. If you want to gain confidence in deep water fishing I have taught people and its simple prospect. Most anglers have a hard time actually knowing or judging lure depth. To help with this I tell people to pull off 50ft of line and mark it ever 10 ft with a sharpie, then mark every 5ft with a different color sharpie drop the line without looking at the colors to what you think is the depth the fish are then reel up and count the colors as you go, do it over and over to the point you are almost perfect with gauging depth with the lures you use. Next use a spoon and learn the yo,yo action basically lift the rod and drop it, then the hard jerk where you give the lure a hard pop and let it flutter and the final action is the light twitch where you are constantly bouncing the tip of the rod. That will help you with spoons and with drop-shots. After that add a Carolina rig and toss it out but go up to a 1.5oz weight and a bobber instead of a worm. You want it to settle then reel in till you feel the swivel hit the weight. It will take time but you can train yourself to feel that little tick when they touch and that will help you feel even the most subtle of bites. These are all practice and learning and not fishing and will help you learn deep fishing. Most guys want to go fishing but fail to put in the practice. As for the fish finder; the name says what it is, it is a "fish finder" I use it for the tool it is by getting to an area and making patterned runs over that area. For instance if im on a flat I will have the up and down on and the side scan and as I find fish I mark them, it might take from a half hour to an hour for me to cover the area properly but when im done I can pull up the map and see a clear pattern of where the fish are. Then its a matter of using past knowledge to select the lure. If the fish don't bite switch lures till I find the right lure " fly-fisherman mentality" of switching out often till I find what works. After finding it if the fish are off graph then repattern them with the fish finder and get back on them. The confidence you want will come over time, I am not the best with a drop-shot because I haven't practiced with it enough and that's a "my bad" I know I need to park my boat and practice its finesse more than I have and not worry about catching fish on it till I have practiced more.

Dont look at me my wife is a teacher and this year ive been worried about my life when she ask me what the weather report is... Kinda like if they ask you if their butt is big DONT ANSWER

When I am verticle fishing I just leave the unit alone. I can see everything i need to unless im drifting then the backseater can see my bait jumping around. Honestly i dont mess with my graph much unless im searching for a specific size of fish then i will play the sensitivity to get it adjusted.... Basically for instance if im after stripers I will set it so i remove smaller fish marks.

Pallette wise, I use #1 for looking up and down and #7 for side-scan. #1 is the old faithful original lowrance setting. #7 highlights the sidescan superior to the others.

Sore; Ask away there is so much free knowledge here it would be a shame to waste it.... I am always shocked how many anglers are on this site that share honest information over all the other boards around.

Due to prior committment i cant attend I will explain to the walleye im catching though why they arnt seeing heavy pressure today

There is a solution to this problem, one that is already proven to generate revenue for states recirpicle licenses! Works pretty dam well on the White River. If Mo and Ar were to do a license like this say maybe charge 20 bucks for hunting and 20 bucks for fishing as an example how much more money could be generated? Each state gets half of the permit fee and both make money if a person buys that license then they can buy deer/turkey etc tags for a reduced fee. Lowering the cost of anything will always sell more of the product. I am a lifetime license holder in MO but will not buy the deer or turkey tags anymore because of the high cost. If they dropped the fee to something more reasonable I WOULD buy them right now Mo is loosing money buy the price they put on it.

I have a friend who is looking for his first house ( bachelor ) he knows im a contractor and asked me for what my best advice is on a house. I have been working some very long hours and he got what he wasn't expecting. So here it is; You have to have a house that is POP friendly! He didn't understand what POP is. He is a Yankee so I forgave him and told him POP = Pissing Off Porch Friendly! Just sharing a word of wisdom

Yes they were and stupid juvies were plentiful

I like Quills Idea... then we invite a bunch of Californians out and nail them for 124.77 each. talk about raping out of state fishermen...

The reason is Monday is the first day back to work AKA Goofing off on the net. Employers / Jobs are not near as entertaining as fishing on the weekend or spending time with Momma.... Ok Momma time means you better not be on the web! Hence Monday is when people can get caught up on the reports.

It is Glen, they do not allow business's to haveo ne price for residents in gas, groceries, dinners etc and then a price for non-residents it is gouging based on where the person lives.

Go ahead Jason get us going again I dare you.