MrGiggles

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/tournament-choice-lure-retriever#repChildCatid=19461 Mine has paid for itself 2 or 3 times now with all the Flicker shads that it has saved. Seems to work better if you send it down the line with the rope eyelet away from you.

The bite was a lot better than I expected. Had 6 or 7 short crappie, 3 keepers, and a 17" walleye in 2 hours.

I fished some Tuesday, I thought it would be the last good day for a while with the temperature drop incoming. Got a late start and went right to trolling, my previous hot spots were vacant, tried a new area that looked good and caught an 11" crappie and an 18" walleye just before dark. I was the only one at Master's. I may go tonight if I have time.

I'm hoping there will be a combo deal or promotion on half price Ozarks or somewhere like that after the initial rush. 40 dollars is a little steep for me. I don't like BPS, most everything is overpriced 10 or 15℅, but they're the only place around that you can get flicker shads and some other things, so I don't really have a choice about shopping there now and then.

Exact same bait, pearl white 5cm flicker shad. Both have factory hooks. The mono rod is producing more fish. Both baits are connected with snap swivels. Both rods are medium/medium I think. The Shakespeare is shorter though. Would adding a 20ft flouro leader to the braid rod be worth the effort?

I have a Cabelas Gold Label 6'6" rod with a Abu Black Max 3 baitcaster spooled with 20lb Stealth braid. I also have a cheapie Shakespeare combo as a backup spooled with 8lb Trilene XT. I do not have line counters or any of that jazz. I will let out as much line as I can and troll cranks around 2 mph. With the same lure, the Shakespeare seems to out-fish the Cabelas rod almost 3-1. I'm not sure why. Dive depth should be comparable since the two lines have a similar diameter. I'm wondering if the braid may be affecting the action some? I may add a mono leader and try that out.

They are not native to this area and the water temps here are much higher than their home waters. That's why they're so fragile this time of year.

There might not be. Most just call them whites. I thought they were hybrids, but I wasn't sure, not good at telling them apart.

Did better yet tonight. One keeper one short crappie and a nice hybrid trolling. Once again pearl white was the favorite, didn't get any hits on black/silver or blue tiger. Had another keeper crappie near a brush pile jigging too.

Did a little better tonight. Two drum, a bluegill, a decent bass, and I lost a big walleye right at the boat. Pulled the hooks. The overwhelming favorite was a pearl white #6 flicker shad. No takers on purple tiger or black/silver. Still no crappie. Makes me wonder where they are at.

Me too. A couple weeks ago I was catching them pretty regularly. Not filling the boat by any means, but I could get a decent meal out of an afternoon's fishing. I did look at Bandits at BPS, but they were 8 dollars each... Academy has them for 5 and change, will get them online or the next time I'm in south Springfield.

Fished Sunday after the rain and caught a 15" Walleye and a couple dandy bass trolling flicker shads. Fished Tuesday and caught a decent 15" smallie on a roadrunner. No luck trolling. Fished tonight and tried trolling over many different areas with different baits and had no luck at all. Tried jigging around some brush with no luck either. Skunked. How everyone else been doing? Haven't seen any recent reports.

I just called the office in Stockton at (417) 276-3113. They mailed it to me, had it in a couple days.

I'm wondering how the water is now after the rain on Sunday and the rain that went through this morning and last night. I will probably put in tonight to unwind and see if my "fixes" to the outboard were successful if nothing else.

Trolled around this afternoon around Masters. One short walleye, a tiny but fat small mouth (boy they fight hard), and one keeper white crappie. Had some light rain part of the afternoon, and the wind picked up around the same time. Had two flicker shad out, purple tiger #7 seemed to be the favorite around 2mph. Although I caught the crappie on a blue tiger.

It's not stained any more than it has been. Surface temperature just shy of 80*.

I'm starting to like braid more and more. Spiderwire Stealth Braid will work in almost every situation. It has way less memory than mono (less loops and twists), and is 2-3x as strong as mono of the same diameter. It's also way more UV resistant, most of my mono is junk if I leave it sit in the sun for longer than 24 hours. I've got some braid that is three years old and still as strong as ever. Some guys use a mono or flouro leader if visibility is going to be a problem. I don't bother. I only have one pole left with mono, and that is 6lb silver thread on my ultra light. I never have tangle problems with it, the silver thread is good stuff.

I trolled around for a couple hours tonight. Had two flicker shad and a bottom bouncer out. Caught a channel cat and small crappie on the bouncer, and two keeper crappie on the cranks. Yesterday had a white bass and a 20" walleye on the same setup, both on the crank.

It was a 2010. My Ranger is supposed to get 27 too, but I've sure not seen it. Compact trucks will pull 90% of boats out there down the road just fine. Pulling them out of the water is a different ball game, and you'll find out just how limited they are. Don't back in past the waterline (slick algae), and avoid ramps that are steep. A basic tin boat like mine will weigh in at around 600lbs altogether, while a decked out fiberglass bass boat can top 3000. I'd say the majority fall between 1000-1500 llbs.

You're sure right about the whites. They were tearing up the bait fish. Wish I had a cast net or a convenient place to buy minnows on my way to the lake. Trolled a bottom bouncer and a pearl white flicker shad for an hour or so tonight. Caught one white and a 20" walleye.

I downsized from a Chevy K2500 to a 4 cylinder 5 speed Ranger. The small trucks don't get nearly good enough mileage to justify how limited they are. Unloaded, the best I've gotten out of the Ranger is 21 mpg. It drops to 18-19 while pulling my boat, which it does fine. It's a 14' Alumacraft, much less than 1000lbs altogether. My close friend had a basic Colorado, 4 cylinder, manual. His average was around 18. If you get a V6 model, you will get the same or worse mileage than a full size. A half ton V8 4x4 will get 20 on the highway these days. And you can actually put them to work, fit more than two people, launch on a steep or slimy ramp without worry, and not have to worry about buying too much boat. I'll be selling the Ranger soon and going back to a half ton gasser or diesel. Haven't decided yet.

Up north it is common practice to jab them in the head with a screwdriver and toss them back in the lake. They call 'em sheep's head. Not condoning it, but that's what I've seen done in Minnesota, where I'm from.

Thinking about trying out Truman this week, never fished there before. Will put in at Brush Creek since it's only 15 minutes away. Has anyone fished this area lately?

I will idle along in an area that I know has brush piles until I see them on sonar, then I toss out a buoy to mark it. I'll mark two piles then circle back with the trolling motor and start dropping jigs on them. Yesterday I was using a black roadrunner with a variety of tubes and grubs. Going to try a couple different jigs tonight and see if anything works better. Like I said, I'm new to the lake and still honing my technique. I have only tried trolling a little bit and was unsuccessful, I don't have a way to know how much line is out, or a plug knocker, I don't feel like donating my 5$ flicker shads to the lake.

Crappie bite was okay in the afternoon, but I'm still figuring the lake out. Had two keepers in 2.5 hours. Wind was not bad around Masters. Was able to stay put with just the trolling motor. Lots of boat traffic though.