Alex Heitman

We got down this afternoon and caught some fish before the cardinals game started. Mostly top water. Caught this one and it weighed 6.34. Absolutely crushed the top water. Have to love this lake.

I don't mind spending up to $20 on a top water because you don't ever lose them. If they get hung you can simply get them unstuck. I have a few lucky craft sammys that I have had for years. My favorite top water plus is still $6 and my go to.

I'm not saying they didn't throw and catch some of their fish on different lures but if you look at the photos on bassmaster.com, almost all of Watsons and Clunn's fish were shown being caught on the plopper.

Watson was throwing a whopper popper it looks like.

Where is Brad Smith or Chase Daniel when you need them??

just wondering if anybody has tried wading down by the darn lately and how much water they are generating. I was thinking about heading down and trying it out but do not want to if they are generating to much water to wade fish.

10 lb fish are rare in my opinion in Missouri. I remember Mike Webb caught one over 11lbs out of Table Rock a few years back. I was very fortunate one day and caught one over 10 out of a private lake that I snuck into. Yes I was dumb but I was in high school and it is loaded with bass. Caught her within an hour of being there. Not a very good pic but it was caught on a war eagle spinnerbait. She probably a bass over a lb in her gullet. If I find the other pics I will post. I will never forget that day.

It spikes again because that is where the second thermocline is.

I will have an Arig tied on but I think I will catch them on another unnamed bait

Gonso24 that's where I go to school. Shhhh on the fishing there lol. I fish there quite often since I'm there everyday.

Everything is 15% off. Hide the bills from your significant others haha

It was a meanmouth. That poor Kentucky went on a ride for his life being dragged around by him. I thought I had a really big fish on fighting those two. Champ I'm no where near the crankbait master as Clunn. I did always watch his videos and have learned a lot from him. The thing that always stuck with me is he always said you can't out reel a fish and it is true. The fast reeling and stop and go method is deadly. It has been working pretty good the last few days. By the way the water is great looking color. 2ft visibility in some spots in the dam area. Good luck on Dardanelle.

Champ you may be right. It's been an awesome morning so far. 2 nice fish at same time on a 5xd and a big LM

Fished all day today and them on a crank. Did not load the boat up but did catch quality all day. Probably just shy of 20 lbs for the best 5. Some real nice smallmouth and LM. Back of coves and main lake points. Nothing on jig like I've heard being reported. I'm tired of throwing jigs and not getting bit. I love to throw a big but I simply think it is a waste of time for me on this lake. I used to be able to catch them all the time but for what ever reason they never bite it for me. I am probably doing something wrong but I will not throw one for a while. Here is a few pics. My dad has some more pics that I will post later. WT 80-81

I'm going tonight and I'm hoping Carlos is dealing it to the Bucs. I saw the Cards play the Bucs 2 years ago in the NLDS clincher and it was one of the best games I've been to, besides the NLDS last year when we beat Kershaw.

I was up long creek and only saw gizzard shad. I went into yoccum and saw no dead fish. When I went way up long creek we did not catch fish but saw bubbles coming up everywhere. I did not think this was a good sign at all. Hopefully there is not many more that show up dead.

Good luck Bill. We only got them on a crankbait. Could not get bit on the dropshot and only caught a few on the jig. Boat traffic has been horrible up at he dam too. I think it's the last week before school starts.

This post sounds like a bunch of bull to me. Take it elsewhere. And why would you keep SM? You are a troll and moron. One post so far so we know what you are here for.

Got a late start this morning. Alarm didn't go off and got out around 645 with my dad. Fishing was pretty tough all day. We tried shallow in the backs of coves early and managed only a 2 non keepers. Went to points and only managed 2 15 inches. We threw cranks jigs and soft plastics. We decided to go out deep and first location and about the 3rd drop produced a big spot. We thought finally. Well that was the only drop shot fish we caught and tried 4 different spots and all kinds of boat docks. We decided to go to the back of a cove and so glad we did. Threw a deep crank and bam caught 4 1/2. Then my dad catches a nice white with bass following. Caught some more nice K's and then I caught this one. Close to 6 I'mguessing. Hit like a freight train when the crank started to come up off the bottom towards the boat. Man it was fun. We got lucky I'd say really tough and really hot out today. WT was 85 then got up to almost 90. All fish are still swimming.

I was at the game as well and it was a great one. Lots of home runs and hits. It was action packed from the get go.

Being a marshall is well worth it. You learn a lot. I actually had a great jerkbait bite this year in late winter and early spring. I caught a lot of my big fish when the water was 46-48 degrees. It was just painfully slow and you had to be by the right brushpile. I would say my jerkbait was 15ft or more with fluro and a long pause.

I fish spring tourneys on Table Rock quite a bit. The guys winning throwing A-rigs are definitely using their electronics. Sure you can catch a good sack without them by targeting prespawn areas but they get on the fish faster and the bigger fish faster. They are catching 20+ lb sacks when others are catching around 15lbs. I like electronics but I get limited time in the water and it's hard to maximize your time with them and fish a lot. I'm no expert by any means but I've learned a little and it helps. What I think would help if you want to learn more is to hire a guide for an electronics day. They can show you what you are looking at and explain what it is. It cuts the learning curve way day. It can take you a while to figure out what you are seeing compared to having some instruction. Just my opinion.

I've heard there is a good crankbite and jig bite going on around there in around 15-20 ft deep. It may not be setting up good for a drop shot bite right now with the high water. If I was going I would go up the James or long creek and throw a big crank.

Sorethumbs you start with 6-8 lb line with a swivel and 2 ft leader. Keeps the line twist down. Tie a Palomar knot and make sure the hook is facing up and the. Take the tag end back through the top of the hook eyelet. This makes sure the hook stays straight up. Heavy cover you can use an offset hook and Texas rig it. I usually use the little octopus hooks and just nose hook a purple type worm. I'd say the fish probably aren't as suspended over deep water right now with the high water but closer to the bottom on points and bluff ends in 25 ft. When the lake is normal I like getting out deeper over 80-100 plus and usually target them about 30-35 but depends how deep they are. That's just usually the magic number. Big community docks and long points where it drops off into the deep channel are good. Target the cables in 30-40 ft deep by the docks and even up in the slips. I'm not the best at it and don't really like doing it but I will when it's tough. Hope that helps a little.