Mike Worley

Hey, here's a recipe that turns striped bass into some serious good eatin. Make a mustard sauce. A couple of table spoons of mustard (pretty much any kind brown spicy or Dijon) enough water to thin it down to liquid. A good squirt of lemon juice. About a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. And a good shake or two of ground red pepper. Add some paprika. Mix it together to make a sauce. 2 cups of corn meal & flour(mix) add garlic powder, onion powder, Cavener's seasoning, red pepper & paprika or (I just used the New Orleans packaged fish fry from the market) Be sure to trim any red meat or white grisle off the meat, cut the trimmed fish into about 1/2' thick slices (across the grain) Dip the fish into the mustard sauce and shake in the flour mix. Fry in a moderatly hot hot skillet till golden brown or flaky white (about 3-4 minutes) This made some serious good eatin' for a hungry hillbilly !!

10-4 on not throwing $25 lures at those stripers. The two in the picture were both caught on $4 BPS lures on 12# P-Line CX. If you let a striper get a hundred yards of line out you probably won't land it. You have it get as close as possible by chasing it with the boat once you hook one and try to stay right on top of it with all the pressure you can put on your equipment. It also helps to change out the treble hooks that come on the lures with 3X strong hooks. When stripers are actively feeding they are eating a lot of fish so a cheap lure works as well as a pricey one.

I mostly use the P-Line fluorocarbon coated line either the Floroclear (daytime) or CX Premium (nighttime) and a good line conditioner like Blakemore Reel Magic. I have tried most of the other lines mentioned. Regular Vanish seems to wear out too soon. Vanish Transition does seem to last longer and be more abrasion resistant. Searguard Invis didn't last nearly as long as the "sticker shock" at the price. I use Cabelas Fluorocarbon Pro in 10# to tie my walleye spinner rigs and it's really tough to break off so I like it for that, but it's pretty stiff for casting.

Bill Struthers & I did a little stickbait casting yesterday evening and caught these two striped bass on 5" suspending stickbaits. The larger one went 40 LBS and the smaller one 35 LBS. The weather was great all day and I hope we have a few more days like that before winter really sets in. Crappie & bass are still being caught in shallow water, these striper's were caught just about dark and a little after. I also had one on at about 3 PM that threw the lure that looked to be about a 30 LB'er. Both were caught in about 15 FOW casting parallel to the bank. Water temp was 55 degrees. Gold Clown color was working while the sun was still up and purple tiger after sunset.

I have also had Shimano rods & reels fail in the last few years. I have found Shamano's customer service to be top notch at sending replacement parts, Often at no charge. If you are thinking of buying a new rod you might want to check out my post on this forum under the topic of "Best Rod Under $100".

I agree Falcon makes a really good rod (I have a couple of them) Ugly Stik lite is reasonable for the money, but the line guides are poor quality (the inserts have a tendency to fall out of the frame if the rod is torqued in the rod box) Regular Ugly Stiks don't seem to have as much problem and are OK for trolling IE: leadcore. If you want a 100% American made rod that is top quality and reasonably priced I recommend Rebrod located in Flippin, Arkansas (72634) They make their own rod blanks and have produced high end rods for many of the top name brand rods for more than 30 years. They have a website (www.dorber.com/) But if you can stop by the factory you will find many great rods in the show room at really unbelievable prices that are not shown on the website. I have a rod locker full of these rods and I can wear out most rods in a few years but these are top of the line in every way and I just can't remember when one has failed. Pretty much all of my casting rods both spinning & baitcasting come from this factory. I think the quality is on a par with G-Loomis, Falcon & All Star. Most of which are priced above the $100 mark. NO I am not sponsored by Rebrod, YES- I am really impressed by their product. You can find Rebrod / DobeR at 211 East Industrial Park Road (it will be a low profile metal factory building) located behind the U.S. Post office and next to the water treatment plant in Flippin, AR 72634 the phone number is 870-453-8500. If you do contact these folks please mention that Mike Worley told you about their product.

fished the main lake yesterday with a pretty steady NW wind blowing intill late afternoon. Caught a Smallmouth on a tube jig and a good sized crappie on a powerbait swimbait. The bite was slow for us during the day. Just before dark the wind shifted to SE and we found a few stripers working in a bay. Hooked one on a 5" Gold Clown in less than 10 fow and fought it for about a minute, before it managed to break off. Real strong fish probally in the 30# class. We stayed about 1 hour after dark and could hear the stripers working from time to time but never really got on them before we decided to go in.

A friend of mine has told me that almost every stick or branch he snags up in the Tucker Hollow area has little zebra mussels on it. I think it's a pretty much done deal that the entire White river system has zebra mussels to some extent. Hopefully it will have some kind of positive effect to off set the negitive effects. Like was mentioned before fast growth of septic & water treatment facillites up stream have had a negitive effect on the water quality in the lake that I have personaly seen in my 30 years on Bull Shoals. If you think Bull Shoals is clear now you should have seen it before Branson took off. I don't think the zebra mussels are a good thing, I wish they weren't here. The fact is that they are here so clean your boats & trailers before you move them to another body of water and try not to spread them. As for the effect on the fishing we will just have to wait and see, but I don't expect it to be drastic.

Bass are 10'-30' and are biting on jigs & tube baits on bluff ends. Crank baits are catching good size small mouth bass on bluff wall transitions Wiggle Warts in natural colors fished on light line are working well. Be sure to down size your line and slow down your retrieve. Some really good size walleyes are being caught on live bait & jigging spoons on the same type structure and on the outside of main lake brush piles and drop offs. Water temps are in the upper 50's and suspending stick baits can catch some really good size walleyes and striped bass now. Crappie are hit or miss and biting better when we have a few days of stable weather, they are pretty shallow on those days suspending around wood cover...............................................Mike Worley (ar.walleyes@yahoo.com)

Ham, great report!. Any chance you might share what kind of structure and how deep the crappie were?

Joe, in late spring the thermocline is forming in the 25'-30' range which is main reason the baitfish and gamefish are there. In late fall the baitfish will be attracked to the warmmer water & current(wind) in the shallower water in most cases less than 10'. Some things to keep in mind when looking for these areas are access to deeper water, wind direction (you want the wind blowing on the bank) and structure like ledges & drop offs. Big rocks hold warmth better than gravel and wood is also good. Transitions where one type of bank changes to another are also good as are cuts or ditches that provide the fish with access to deeper water. If a area doesn't hold the shad it will probally not hold much in the way of fish either.

I would like to talk a little about the draw down. The winter draw down is nothing new to BSL until a few years back the draw down every winter was about 5-7 foot I think the wet years we have had for the last few years made that not possible. This years draw down is having some good effects around BSL at least down here in Arkansas. The AGFC has been busy repairing boat ramps and even building a new one on Frost Point. These projects were badly needed as higher than normal water levels made the maintenance impossible and some of the parking areas were really getting to be in bad shape. As for the effect winter draw down has on the fishing. It moves the entire fish population of the lake into a smaller area which should make it easier to find them. The fish are still there, they are not where they were last month or last week they are following the food source which is shad and the shad are moving in & out of the wintering areas as the conditions change. Soon enough winter will take hold and water conditions will stabilize. Unstable water conditions (temperature & levels) always make the fish more scattered and will cause many to suspend in deep water. Try to adjust to the conditions that are present each day you fish for example wind & cloud cover will bring some very shallow that day. I'm like most fishermen and have trouble not doing the same thing one day that caught fish a day or two earlier when conditions have changed. It's time to start trying the winter patterns ie: jigs, crankbaits & stickbaits in shallow water.

I would like to talk a little about the draw down. The winter draw down is nothing new to BSL until a few years back the draw down every winter was about 5-7 foot I think the wet years we have had for the last few years made that not possible. This years draw down is having some good effects around BSL at least down here in Arkansas. The AGFC has been busy repairing boat ramps and even building a new one on Frost Point. These projects were badly needed as higher than normal water levels made the maintenance impossible and some of the parking areas were really getting to be in bad shape. As for the effect winter draw down has on the fishing. It moves the entire fish population of the lake into a smaller area which should make it easier to find them. The fish are still there, they are not where they were last month or last week they are following the food source which is shad and the shad are moving in & out of the wintering areas as the conditions change. Soon enough winter will take hold and water conditions will stabilize. Unstable water conditions (temperature & levels) always make the fish more scattered and will cause many to suspend in deep water. Try to adjust to the conditions that are present each day you fish for example wind & cloud cover will bring some very shallow that day. I'm like most fishermen and have trouble not doing the same thing one day that caught fish a day or two earlier when conditions have changed. It's time to start trying the winter patterns ie: jigs, crankbaits & stickbaits in shallow water.

Yes, we have been catching a few crappie on jigging spoons. The crappie seem to be scattered also about 10'-40'.

Best walleye bite lately has been on jigging spoons on drop offs about 36'-40' back in the creek channels. On Sunday in the Oakland area 10 minutes into the trip a client caught a nice 27"er the rest of the day saw only a couple of shorts and a few bass boated. A couple of days before that in the same area caught 0 walleyes but a mixed bag of white & black bass + a flathead catfish on the same spooning pattern. I think the main problem right now is turnover related it appeared a couple of weeks ago that the process was about complete but some really warm weather moved back in and reset the process. Next weeks forecast calls for much colder weather which hopefully will get it rolling again and get the fish biting. On the plus side I've been hearing from some bass fishermen that on cloudy windy days the fish are biting crankbaits & jerkbaits in shallow water again back in the creek channels with a few keeper size walleyes mixed in. The fish seem to be really scattered right now from about 10'-40' with lots of shad moving back into the creek arms where the water is more stable.

Your right about the bite really slowing down. Best walleye bite lately has been on jigging spoons on drop offs about 36'-40' back in the creek channels. On Sunday down lake in the Oakland area 10 minutes into the trip a client caught a nice 27"er the rest of the day saw only a couple of shorts and a few bass boated. A couple of days before that in the same area caught 0 walleyes but a mixed bag of white & black bass + a flathead catfish on the same spooning pattern. I think the main problem right now is turnover related it appearred a couple of weeks ago that the process was about complete but some really warm weather moved back in and reset the process. Next weeks forecast calls for much colder weather which hopefully will get it rolling again and get the fish biting.

Been having some coyote problems here and I'm looking for a "reach out and touch'em" solution that I can just keep in the truck. My .22LR 10/22 will do the job if it's pretty close but I hate to leave it in the truck to rust. So I thought I would see if I can find a used mag. The .17HMR would probably be a fine rifle but unless it's pretty cheap to buy it's not what I'm looking for. I will probably just pick up a Marlin at Wally World.

Bill Struthers & I fished in the Tucker Hollow area yesterday. I had this double hook up 25" & 23" on Slow Death rigs at about 40' on a channsl drop off.

I'm looking for a used .22 mag rifle. Nothing fancy just a farm truck rifle either a bolt action or single shot would be fine.

Black Bass are biting Spinner baits & crank baits on windy banks half way back in the creek arms. Walleyes are biting in areas with Shad, some days on the main channel points and other days back in the creek arms 36'-42' with crank baits trolled on lead core line catching some nice fish of all species. Jigging spoons are working also 30'-60' catching a mixed bag of fish in the evenings. Catfish are biting well on bluff ends & in coves. Crappie are biting jigs worked though standing timber along bluffs about 10' deep.

Fall & Winter Walleye fishing on Bull Shoals Lake - Mike Worley (www.bullshoalsfishing.com) Bull Shoals Lake Guide Service In the fall of the year after restradification (turnover) water temperature (lower 70's-lower 60's) the Walleyes are on the feed. You should find some of the best Walleye fishing of the year, this period is when the Walleyes are feeding and starting to develop eggs for the next spawn. This process is governed entirely by water temperature. The source of protein is mainly threadfin shad. You need to find areas that are holding shad to be successful in finding actively feeding Walleyes. The shad will be attracted to areas of current this may be a creek arm or the main channel of the lake. Current brings the small organisms that the shad feed on. Bull Shoals lake is a man made reservoir with a dam at each end with the White river running though it. On the surface it appears to be a still body of water but it has many sources of current which you must keep in mind to constantly find the shad and Walleyes. Power generation is one source of current, wind is another. Rising & falling water levels can help you find shad & Walleyes, rising water levels will generally move the shad into the creek channel as will falling water temperatures. The shad and most of the actively feeding Walleyes will eventually end up in the back sections of the creeks or in the upper sestions of the river channel when winter sets in. During this period you may find shad & Walleyes shallow on a windy bank or deep in a area of river channel current. Remember that the White river has been dammed but it still flows though the depths of the lake. Each day that you plan to fish Bull Shoals lake for Walleyes you should try to get as much information about current as possible. Check to see if the dams at both ends of the lake are generating, what is the weather forecast will there be a wind? what direction and how strong? Cold fronts are a Walleye fisherman's worst enemy, it moves the shad out over open water and can make it though to find them. If you have been finding shad & Walleyes in 30'-40' in the back section of a creek arm but following a cold front they aren't there try looking half way back in the creek arm where downstream from where the largest branches of the creek are located. Look for suspended schools of shad & Walleyes to be suspended at about the same depth over deeper water. During this water temperature period Walleyes will respond to pretty much the same baits and techniques that worked during the summer. Nightcrawlers fished on many types of rigs like bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses, slow death rigs or Carolina rigs will all catch Walleyes. Trolled or cast crankbaits are another option. This is also a time that a jigging spoon can be deadly, nothing imitates a dying shad better than a jigging spoon and Walleyes cruise under the schools of shad picking up the dying shad. A jigging spoon will work at any depth from the surface to the deepest water you find the fish in. Water temperature lower 60's-upper 40's This is the main part of winter the shad have been stressed to the point of starting to die off in large numbers at the lower end of this temperature range. This is the time of year to cast suspending stickbaits that imitate a dying shad. The best time of day for this technique is late afternoon and at night but with a good wind and cloud cover anytime of day can be productive. I will generally select a larger size lure of about 5" for this presentation. The Walleyes will respond to a larger easy to catch meal at this time of year and you will find them in very shallow water. The late afternoon has several things going for it mainly the water temperature will be the warmest after the sun has been on it all day and the light level is also lower which is to a Walleyes advantage. You must be very careful not to spook these fish if you are going to be successful, these are large fish in very shallow water and they will be spooky. Do NOT pound the water with your bait try to make as few casts as possible with as little splash as you can. You must work the bait very-very slowly. Take the time to tune your bait it must run true from side to side as well as suspend as naturally as possible, you can use glue on strips or dots to adjust the way your bait suspends I prefer the strips because you can remove a small piece with your pocket knife if it's too heavy. Sometimes a slowly sinking stickbait is a killer a slowly rising one is generally not very effective. If there is more than one angler you should try not to cast near each others lure. Nothing will spook a Walleye like a big splash near a target it is homing in on. Walleyes spawn all over the lake on windy banks they don't all go up the river or into the creeks to spawn that is the reason these fish will be shallow. They are developing eggs and this takes warm water and fuel (food). The best banks will be north or west banks facing south and east as a general rule but the most important feature will still be current (wind) and being near deeper water. Walleye eggs need current to hatch and the spawning fish will be attracted to these areas long before the spawn takes place. Always have a jigging spoon rigged and ready all year round. If you mark fish on your depth finder pick it up and drop it down to them. Nothing imitates a dying shad like a jigging spoon and it will catch Walleyes at anytime of year

I had a great day yesterday fishing with Bill Struthers in the Tucker Hollow area. Bill is a expert at back trolling & walleye fishing in general . We fished in the Tucker Hollow to Horseshoe bend area. It was my first experience back trolling with someone who actually knows how to do it. Bill has a Lund tiller boat equipped with a 45 HP Mercury and wave whackers. We pulled bottom bouncers & some crankbaits on leadcore, we really had a great day catching 25-30 walleyes with 10 keepers up to 24" (released 7) Visit Bill's website at (www.friendsoftheozarks.com/struthers) Bill guides on BSL mostly in the Tucker Hollow area.

The fishing is pretty normal for this time of year. Water temp is pretty much the same from 0'-50'. On a cloudy day you might find fish at 30' if the next day is clear you might try 40'. Wednesday I had a tough day trying to catch walleyes, the day before which was cloudy the walleyes were biting well at 35' on crawler rigs. Wednesday morning we could only catch bass with 0 walleyes biting - not even a short- About 1:30 after trying about six different spots with spoons & crawler rigs and only catching 3 or 4 bass we put out a spread of 800 Reef Runners at 35'-40' and caught 8 - 10 walleyes with 3-4 keepers in about 2 hours. October can be a real ch allege what is left of the thermocline is very deep and the fish are moving up & down the water column. Try to find the shad, if you are not marking them in the same places they were in the day before they have probably moved off the bank to suspend over deep water and the fish will follow them. This time of year it's all about the shad, the active fish are following them into the creek arms. You will probably have to look for the fish about half way back in the creek arms on clear days and you might find them on mid-lake humps shallower on cloudy days or in the back of the creek arms in 30'. After a cold front moves though remember to really slow down your presentation if you were trolling crankbaits at 2.3-3.5 mph try 1.5-2.0. Spring & fall weather fronts really have a way of moving the fish and slowing them down.