sholder02

Dad and I fished the Joe Bass team tournament yesterday. I believe there was around 70 boats. We started out around Aunt's Creek and we were culling within the first hour. We were fishing a channel swing and the spots were stacked thick in about a 30 yard stretch of bank. I didn't keep track of how many we caught but I'd guess a minimum of 30 kentucky's in the first 3 hours...around half were keepers. We upgraded with a couple smallmouth, one that was around 3#'s. I kept thinking that the largemouth would move in but knew time was ticking and my patience was beginning to wear thin. We packed up around 10ish and ran up Big Creek. The spots I wanted to fish already had guys on them. We pulled up on a secondary point and began fishing the deeper water on the side. Hooked into a largemouth that allowed us to cull one of our spots. Fished there for a few more hours without another bite. Decided to make a move to Baxter but when we went to fire up the boat, it wouldn't start. After numerous tries, we finally got it going (needs new plugs...hopefully). We were worried if we shut it off again, we wouldn't get it started. We decided to we better get back closer to the ramp in case we had to use the trolling motor to load the boat. Finished out our last few hours in Fisher Creek. Caught another spot and smallmouth but wasn't able to cull. We didn't stick around after we weighed our fish so I have no idea where we finished up. We had a little over 12.5 pounds. Fann weighed in behind me and had close to 22 pounds. All of our fish came on the A-Rig. Depending on where we were, boat was in 35-60 fow throwing into ~20 fow and counting it down 6-8 seconds. Prefishing on Friday I caught a couple vertically jigging the A-Rig. I was just happy to finally get back on the water!

Hey guys (and gals), From our Facebook page: The Christian AmBASSadors Fishing Club is made up of bass tournament anglers in Northwest Arkansas who share a passion for spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ and competing in bass tournaments. I know it's short notice but our first meeting of the year is tonight. We will be meeting at the First Assembly of God Church (behind Wal-Mart) in Springdale at 7:00. There will be a meal provided. A $10 donation is encouraged. At the end of the year, we make a charitable gift to a worthy cause with the money we collect throughout the year. Bottom line it's a good group of guys getting together for a good cause and we manage to mix fishing up in it. We'd love to have as a guest this evening. If you're interested in coming, please let me know. If you can't make this meeting but would like more information on future meetings/tournaments, let me know. seth.holder@ampf.com Thanks, Seth

A politician with a backbone perhaps!? Are you listening Missouri and Arkansas? http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/05/wisconsin-gov-walker-defies-order-to-close-federally-funded-parks/

I read that the tournament out of Cape Fair didn't take off until 8.

I fished for a couple hours this afternoon. Picked up a couple shorts paralleling the bank with a DD22. 45° rocky main lake bank near point. Found a pocket near a flat that was loaded with shad. All I saw were gar in there, though.

Now you're paraphrasing worse than a politician...but I digress. Have a good day, Mr. Babler.

Objection. Erroneous on all accounts! I was simply sharing my day on the water and emphasizing the fact that I couldn't believe out of all the fish we caught that every single one was a spot and none of them were keepers. Again, using live bait, my thoughts that morning were that we'd be in a position for multi-species. I'll let you know when I'm complaining.

Took my brother and cousin out yesterday. I was hoping to accidentally catch some walleye. I rigged them up with night crawlers to drag on the bottom as we drifted along. I used the same bait except on a drop shot. I don't know jack about walleye fishing on Table Rock other than what I pick up from time to time on this board. I fished everything that seemed "walleye-ish" to no avail...except for Kentucky's. I bet I caught 30-40 spots between 9:30-2:30. We were fishing around Big M and Devil's Backbone from 12'-40'. Later on that evening, we tried to catch some crappie. Fished jigs tipped with minnows over brush piles...caught spots. Fished deep trees over 60' of water...caught more spots. Not one largemouth, crappie, or walleye. I figured by the law of large numbers, we would have picked up something else...especially using live bait. To make matters worse, out of all those fish, a grand total of "0" were keepers. They're either all stunted or we're going to have a lot of footballs swimming around in a few more years.

What's your restaurant?

Well, I survived. Took off at 7 PM and ran to the mouth of the Kings. Threw a DD22 (lavender shad) through the tops of cedars and across some points. Picked up a short. Fished some brush around there but no bites. Ran to a secondary and picked up a short on a PB&J football jig in about 18 FOW. Partner called and said he was almost to Viola (he's a football coach and said he'd be an hour or two late). Before I went to get him, I pulled up on the bank and started throwing a spinner bait (mouse) and caught another short. By the time I got him loaded up and back to the secondary, it was about 9:00. We had three keepers between 9:00-10:00. A smallmouth on a black and blue jig, a largemouth on a 12" worm, an the third keeper came on a speed craw. We had some more good bites that we couldn't execute on and each of us broke off on back to back fish. After 10:30ish, it shut down for us. We fished til 3:00AM without another keeper. Plenty of shorts. The keepers were caught between 15'-25' of water. We ended up in the middle of the pack. 12.58 won it and 3.59#s took big bass. Out of 12 boats, 3 had limits. Considering how the fishing went the previous week, I'm alright with where we finished and am looking forward to the next DAY tournament.

Thanks bo! Pretty similar to how I was fishing. Hopefully with the weather stabilizing it will help the bite a bit.

Hey Champ, They fish about a dozen tournaments throughout the year and the only qualification to fish the "classic" is to have fished 4 tournaments. Between work, a 17 month old, and another boy due in October, I haven't fished but a couple of them. Unfortunately, I'll have to fish this one. It's a good group of guys (Christian bass club) and most of the money goes towards a charity at the end of the year. I just like to whine about fishing at night to cover up my true inability to fill the live well! ...that and I really do hate fishing at night!

Well boys and girls, I believe I'll keep my day job. I lobbied, kissed hands, and shook babies to no avail. Majority rules and we'll be fishing at night. I appreciate the replies.

I absolutely loathe night fishing! Our bass club has a night tournament out of the King's River this weekend so I decided I would do a little prefishing since I don't fish at night. Friday night I fished from 7:00 PM-midnight and had one keeper. I fished from Rock Creek up to MM 23. Primarily fished points with jigs and big worms. It's not often that I don't enjoy fishing...but I found out that I'm not a fan of night fishing. Tough to see where you're casting, tough to see where you're driving, etc. Anyways... Saturday night I fished the tournament out of Shell Knob (7:00 PM-1:00 AM). I fished from Needle Eye up to Viola with no keepers. Again, I primarily threw a jig and a worm. I did have a lot more bites than Friday night, but had a heck of a time getting them in the boat. I had two that came off at the boat and several more that got off shortly after setting the hook. I'm either not around fish or they are being pretty picky. The shorts I caught all had good sized bellies on them...so I know they've been feeding hard. Our club meeting is tomorrow night so I'm going to do my best "lawyering" to convince them to switch it to a day tournament. The water temp was around 81-82 degrees. With the cool down later this week coupled with more rain...I have a feeling the water temp is going to be south of 80 degrees by Saturday. With even a little TLC, the fish should be just fine with that water temp. Did I mention I don't like night fishing!

This has made for a good read. I was under the impression that there was significantly less oxygen below the thermocline, yet still marking fish and what appear to be balls of shad significantly deeper than the thermocline. Thoughts?

Texas rigged. I didn't have a spoon tied on but suspect pitching that into the slips would have played, as well.

Does anyone know if there's still a night tournament going out of the ramp by 39 bridge on Saturday nights? If so, what time do they take off?

Decided I was going to make an effort to purposely catch walleye on Saturday. Fished some of the "sandy" points between Devil's Backbone and MM 24. Fished a drop shot on some of the roll-offs in 18-20 fow over 30-40 fow. When I wasn't doing that, I was cranking a DD22. Fished from about 8:00-10:00AM and caught 5-6 spots with as many hand-sized sunfish. No walleye...but I wasn't surprised. On Sunday I went after a species I was a little more familiar with. Fished from 10:00-noon between MM 23 & 24. Had 3 keepers within about 30 minutes skipping a jig under docks before I got the mother of all backlashes. I messed with pickjng it iut for about 15 minutes before I put that rod up and just threw a 10" worm I had tied on to one of my other rods. Picked up a few more before I headed back in. All were largemouth with one small mouth mixed in. The slips with 17'-20' of water under them were producing.

How many did end up entering? Thanks!

Haha! Thanks a lot, hoglaw! I thought I had recommended something obnoxious and come to find out, its a technique used during the spawn. Jolicious, I'll be expecting a cut of your winnings for sharing that little known secret with you.

No problem! I'll be in a red flake Basscat Pantera II probably fishing in the kings or somewhere between shell knob and eagle rock. If you see me, come tell me what I'm doing wrong. Good luck!

I'd try vertically jigging a crankbait in the middle of the main-lake channel. I might also be giving you bad advice since I'll be fishing it, too! I think it'll take north of 7#'s to win the boat.

Sorry, I meant bobber stoppers, not pegs.

1) How long would it take to run from the Shell Knob bridge to the Oakley BB weigh-in site? (60MPH) 2) How many of you peg your weights when flipping...or even throwing a T-rig? I never used to but started doing it last year and am getting ready to go back to not pegging. I break off far too often with a peg on the hook-set. I'm using 15# 100% fluoro on a 7'H (6th Sense Pegs). Thanks!

The only problem I have with your post is this: "Legal consequences could come into play, so I suggest that anyone should consider their comments carefully when making comments about product to be sold in the future." Threatening legal action on a public forum of local fishermen and outdoorsmen is ridiculous and uncalled for. You'd be a pretty busy attorney (and broke) fighting rumors found on the internet. C'mon, man!