Mike Worley

It was good seeing you Friday out on the lake. Hope you had a good day. Hope you will post a picture of that 29"er you caught.

The weather was pretty unstable with lightning & rain visable all morning in the distance and temperatures very pleasant & windy at times. We hooked a couple of keeper size walleyes on jigging spoons on points and bluff ends in the early AM. We switched over to B/B crawler rigs about mid morning and caught a few more keepers and shorts. The walleyes were staying tight to the bottom that day and the Spin N Glo only caught one keeper for us. a Colorado blade & half crawler seemed to be the better bait for us fished as close to the bottom as possible. We caught about 8-10 walleyes with 4 being keepers.

Jeff's right. I try to learn something every day. Today I learned that flat is Ellison Flat and the flat at Horseshoe bend is Allison Flat. Thanks Guys. I was refering to the area across from the water project to just above Stste Line cove.

We launched at Tucker Hollow early Sunday morning and had a great day of walleye fishing. We started the day out on the flat at the mouth of Bear Creek with a nice 19"er. We caught a few more shorts there and up at the Bee Creek island on bottom bouncers with Spin N Glo's & nightcrawlers. About mid-morning we moved down to Allison flat. We were marking good fish just outside the brush line at 28'-30'. We caught a dozen or so more walleyes up to about 23" and a 36 pound striped bass on the same B/B crawler rig. Afternoon we moved on down to Horseshoe bend but all we caught there was some large bluegills by then the cloud cover was gone and the day got too hot even with the bimini top so we went in.

We fished from the Peel Ferry landing to about Shoal creek yesterday and found the walleyes biting on just about everything we tried. We caught them trolling crankbaits, crawler rigs on bottom bouncers and jigging spoons. The walleyes were suspended mostly over the flooded brush about 20' down over about 28'-30'. Jigging a spoon just outside the brush in 32' fow caught a nice 22"er on a bluff end this point also produced a fat 23"er on a Spin N Glo & crawler rig.

Bass are biting well on soft plastics, spinner baits & crank baits. Early morning and late afternoon top water lures and flukes are working. Walleye are biting well on crawler rigs, trolled crankbaits & jigging spoons 20'-40' deep. The lake level has dropped some to 687' and boat launching is from flooded roads with parking lots at the ramps still flooded. Catfish are biting well on limb lines. Large bluegills are biting worms, meal worms & crickets.............................Mike Worley (www.bullshoalsfishing.com)

A couple of things changed last week on BSL. The main change was the generation at Bull Shoals dam went from 6-8 units 24/7 to heavy generation during mid-day & afternoon. This seemed to slow the early morning bite from "hot" to "tough" and caused the walleyes to suspend pretty shallow out over the brush at about 18'. This past week I have stayed on the lower end of the lake in the point 1 - point 7 area and found good fishing with walleyes up to 27" (6.5LB) To catch the walleyes we had to make a few changes in presentation. We had to slow down to .8-1.2 mph and run pretty heavy B/B (2-3 oz.) on short lines (20'-24'). At that slow of speed metal blades won't spin very well and plain slow death hooks sink when the wind caused the boat to slow down. Smile blades with a small float or a Spin N Glo were working better with the whole crawlers fished on a slow death hook. We also found the dead stick rods were out catching hand held rods about 3 to 1.

I'm pretty sure that if you can get the swimbait down in the zone (18'-25') it would get bit just like a crankbait or crawler rig. Let us know if it works.

The lake level has dropped to 689' and the walleye fishing has really turned on this week. Walleyes are biting on crankbaits & crawler rigs fished about 20' deep over the points. Two of us caught 15 walleyes yesterday afternoon on B/B crawler rigs with 8 being nice keepers up to 22". The thermocline has formed at about 20'-25' and with the heavy (6-8 units) generation from Bull Shoals Dam which has produced current on the main lake points the walleyes are really stacking up on these points and are biting. Try to keep your baits in the zone and the smaller slow death / half crawler rigs are really working well, a small sized fire tiger spin N glo caught lots of fish as well as smile blades with only a few beads and a slow death hook.

Walleye fishing on BSL continues to be good. Bill Struthers and I fished Sunday in the pt. 7 - pt. 20 area. The morning bite was pretty slow with 2- 19"+ walleyes and a few bass caught on jigs while the wind was blowing, the wind died down about 10 AM so we took a boat ride up the lake and did a little deep water mid-day trolling with no bites. About 3 PM clouds & wind moved in and the walleye bite got going again. We caught about 10 more eyes with 5 more keepers on B/B crawler rigs in about 20 FOW on main lake points. We also caught several nice bass and a real good sized yellow perch.

Bull Shoals is pretty stable this week at 691' and the walleyes have been active almost all day. Early morning till about 9 AM the jigging spoon bite in 35'-45'FOW has been good with some white bass mixed in. Trolling B/B crawler rigs in 20'-25' is catching lots of walleyes & yellow perch most of the day as well as swimming a grub on a 1/4 OZ jighead. Try working these two techniques around standing sycamore trees - the trees with green leaves seem to be best. Also trolling crankbaits like Hot N Tots or Shad type lures over the flooded brush will work. Out in deep water larger lures like Reef Runners, Walleye Bandits and Bomber 15A's are working in the 35'-50' range. Boat launching is off flooded road beds but is do-able at most of the regular launch sites like Browns Beach & Dam site.......(www.bullshoalsfishing.com) Read more: http://tlwc.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=walleye&thread=22&page=1#ixzz1PXAPHCOR

I agree with Col Ron, no matter what the corp does it's gonna be wrong for some. I do remember them drawing BSL down 9' this spring just before the big rains hit. Easter weekend my neighbor recorded 17" of rain on our point. That's not the corps fault. Bull Shoals Dam did just what it's designed to do, even with all the flooding that happened when they opened the gates on the dam the main damage was to things & property that were placed in the flood plane that would have been wiped clean without the dam. As more homes are built in risky areas with the rational that the river hasn't gotten that high before we will see more damage. How ever bad the weather gets it can always get worst. Also remember that due to the "minimum flow" level the water allocation has changed the "normal power pool level" from 654' to 657' which factors into the draw down this spring at a 12'. These several years of high water levels on the area lakes has been difficult on everyone but I don't see it as the corps fault. I'm thankful that the lake levels are dropping now as we get into summer and hopefully it will drop enough that we can use the regular ramps pretty soon.

The water level on BSL has dropped about 3' in the past few days. This along with some other changes have moved the fish again. Water temps have increased with the warmer air temps into the 80 degree range in many parts of the lake this is starting to set up a thermocline at about 15'-20' in many of the creek arms. I'm finding walleyes suspended at the 15'-20' level out over the old shoreline around points and coves with most being just outside the standing trees. Trolling a crawler rig in this zone has produced some nice size walleyes. This same zone has produced some good size SMB & white bass also. Dragging a jig along the old shoreline has also caught some nice LMB. Another pattern thats catching walleyes this week is trolling out over deep water in the 30'-40' range where the lake current is present with deep diving lures or lesdcore line. Jigging spoons are still catching fish when you can locate schools of shad so keep one rigged and ready as the shad schools are moving in & out pretty quickly with the falling water, keep your eyes on the depth finder and look for the schools near the old shoreline on points and in the coves.

The lake level is at 696.4' with over 56,000 CFS being released into the White river. The fishing on Bull Shoals lake is still good if you are able to adjust to the changes. The smallmouth bass are very active as are the walleyes and white bass. These fish are reacting to the rising water levels and shad movement. The shad are moving into the creek coves and channels during the day and the fish are moving with them. We have been catching fish on a shallow / deep program by casting 3"-4" swim baits around the flooded brush and anywhere you see surfacing activity the smallmouth, white bass & walleyes are really hammering anything that looks like a shad. The deep bite is near the old shore line about 38'-42' deep on 1 OZ jigging spoons and when you find these fish feeding it's pretty much a fish every time you drop the spoon down with a mixed bag of all species. Trolling B/B crawler rigs over the old shorline is producing some real good sized walleyes right now. Trolling 30'-45' deep with either deep diving lures or leadcore working the current in 100'+ water is also producing some very impressive sized walleyes.

Yes, the fish are biting. Walleyes & bass have been biting on swimmin minnows, crankbaits & B/B crawler rigs. Suspending stickbaits as well as spinner baits are all catching fish. Water temps are upper 60's to mid 70's. We have been catching walleyes from 2' - 40'.

Browns Beach park (City of Bull Shoals) is in usable condition and even still has a dock plus lots of mowed grass to beach your boat on.

Water Levels on Bull Shoals Lake continue to rise 692.8' this morning with a predicted crest of 694 in a few days. While this has made boat launching a challenge the fish are still biting. Walleyes & bass can be found on main lake points also in the back of coves & creeks. Best areas are the ones which have mud lines visible. This week we have caught walleyes, smallmouth bass & white bass slowly swimming grubs over the brush in these areas. Bottom bouncer & spinner rigs are also catching walleyes trolling 10'-20' down over the brush. Walleyes are also biting crank baits trolled over deep water 35'-40' down at the mouth of creeks on the main channel. On windy days spinner baits & crank baits are working for bass & walleyes.

While the rising water level in BSL has made walleye fishing a challege, they can be caught. The fish (including walleye) take time to adjust to the rapidly rising water levels. You willl find that some fish will be very shallow and some are suspended while some are still out on the old shore line which is 38'-40' deep. The fish that move in shallow first are the most aggressive and you should target those fish first. Fish the points that have had the wind on them for two or three days. Best days to fish are after a stable weather period of several days. Look for fish to be very shallow in the mornings and fish progressively deeper as the day wears on. Early the walleyes are feeding in less than 10'FOW and the afternoon bite will be in less than 25' FOW with many fish suspended 15'-20' down over the brush in 20'-25'FOW. Water temps are low 60's- 70's and the walleyes seem to like mid 60's so thats the best range to find them. BSL is probably twice it's normal size right now so all water is new water, don't get stuck fishing the same old spots that produced during "normal" times. Look for any area the shad are in which is probably the same areas that the pollen and debris are washed into. Grubs, B/B crawler rigs, crankbaits & jigging spoons are all catching fish so be ready to switch to different techniques during the day.

Other than boat launching being a little difficult and having to watch out for floating trees & debris the fish are still biting. We had a 2 boat trip yesterday and even with the lake level continuing to rise we caught walleyes, SM, LM, KY, crappie & white bass. Walleyes were caught on B/B crawler rigs and casting crankbaits over the flooded brush. Smoke & glitter 4" swimmin' minnows caught fish also. We found the walleyes suspended over the brush in 25-30 FOW and #7 Flicker shads worked well in the back of the creek pockets with shad in them.

The night time walleye bite on stickbaits is also working. I fished last night and caught 10 walleyes with 5 of them being keepers up to about 21". The walleyes were very shallow and very aggressive. Day or night shallow or deep the bite is on!!...........><^^^(;>

I use P-line Floroclear & CX. Both are my first choice if I'm not using braid.

The walleye are feeding on the Threadfin Shad that are spawning in the creek arms. Read my post in the Lower Bull Shoals forum for more details.

I have been pretty busy the last few days looking for walleyes. The shad are spawning on the lower to mid section of BSL and the walleyes & white bass are feeding on them. We have caught walleyes from very shallow to 40 foot deep. Jigging spoons in the back of the creeks that are being used by the threadfin shad for spawning has produced some great action for both large white bass as well as walleyes and black bass. Early morning and late afternoon have been the best times to find the spoon bite fish. Look for the creeks that you can graph balls of shad suspended in deep water and go to the back of that creek and try to find a creek channel drop off in about 30 FOW. White 1 OZ jigging spoons are what worked best for us. We also found some large walleyes feeding near the front of these creeks in deep water (60'-100') larger walleyes are suspended under the shad balls about 20'-40' down and are biting on Reef Runners, deep diving Rogues and Walleye Bandits. Yesterday our best was a 5LB+ that bit a purple back Rogue fished on leadcore line. The bottom bouncer / crawler bite is also starting to work. Try to keep the spinner rig down to the size of the shad which is about 3" silver & blue slow death spinner with half of a nightcrawler caught a nice 20"+ walleye yesterday. We also have found walleyes feeding in shallow water in the creeks, small crankbaits trolled behind a planer board has worked in water less than 10' deep.

I was surprized by that 8 pound thing also.(To the best of my recall) The hatchery personel said they try to collect a real big female or two each year to try and get her genes spawned back into the stocking but mostly it doesn't work too well.

The Twin Lakes Walleye club took a field trip to the MDC hatchery where the walleyes that were collected from BSL near Powersite dam this year are spawned. We were told by the hatchery spokesman during his presentation that some years the walleye reproduction in BSL has been made up of 80% natural reproduction. So I don't think that the walleye population in BSL is a put & take thing. I found the hatchery trip to be quite informative. BTW MDC did collect a 14#+ female this year but she was well past her prime and did not survive the spawn. The hatchery personnel said females in the 2-8 pound range are the best producers and after that are generally not successful in spawning so if you catch a 8 pounder and want to keep it I don't think you are hurting the spawn. BTW I fished on the lower end of BSL yesterday and stayed after dark to see if the walleyes were still on the points spawning. We saw very few walleyes last night where we saw probably saw 200 last week we did see a female that looked like she was really beaten up. I think that maybe the really warm weather we had with 50 MPH wind over the weekend may have gotten them spawned so maybe the bite will get going soon.