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Holy duplicate images! Sorry all.

Down for the summer family trip last Sunday thru this morning. Out of that I managed four fairly short days on the lake, fishing a few miles either way of 13. Temps were low 80's on bow graph, high 70's on console...will call it 80 deg avg. Topwater bite was consistent for us, but not much in the way of size. Bluff ends, pockets at the ends of bluffs or swings, and chasers up and down the channel. Boat in anything from 25-85' depending on location, fish just as scattered. Lots of K's in the middle of some of the pockets close to deep water. Tried the drag bite (C-rig and FB jigs) on my favorite flat gravel places but mostly found shorts in 15-25'. Rig was better than the jig, anything 4" and green. Best thing I found started Wed for me, continued thru Friday morning, flipping spoons in the bigger docks close to deep water (as in bluff end coves and deep pockets). Fish in 20-40', 1/2oz white spoon, fished "briskly" through and just outside the slips. First time I could make that bite consistently work for me, tough fishing but rewarding. Wed I had trouble keeping them on the spoon--1 keeper on board, Friday they all made the boat--3 solid keepers (2 black, 1 K) and 1 squeaker black. Stick one and you can watch several chase it trying to get the bait away, did not seem like a bite that was going to fall apart. If I was headed back next week that would be the first thing I would look for b/c it gave me a better percentage of keepers. For shallow guys...there are quite a few good blacks up shallow in the backs of the same coves. Look to be after the various sunfish up there, but could not make them go. Closest I came was my kids almost losing hooked sunfish to several good fish. Thought of starting with a senko, buzzbait, or old school prop bait too late. All in all a good trip...daughter caught her first TR TW fish, I earned my "hooked on smallmouth" merit badge when a keeper brownie linked our fates using a small yellow magic . 1st TW fish One of the spoon fish. Maybe it will inspire a game of name that dock. Had kids and Wife in boat that morning, not a bite for them. Inspired boredom made me give it up about 9-930 and chase bluegill with them.

Multi-dittos on the Branson store. Nearly always leaves me empty handed unless my kids want to buy bags of candy.

Champ...did you stay at Schooner? We were in 2C up on the hill last week, but were out and about on Sat for much of the day.

EP...do you think the 10-15' fish around KC were just pulled up b/c of the impending weather?

Sort of makes you wonder how long those fish have been off beds. She kind of has that "look".

That would be Ozarks B&T (or whatever Rich has re-named it, know where it is and have honestly not noticed the new signage) on 13 by the Hillbilly Bowl in KC or Mark's place just a little past the Aunts Creek turnoff, also on 13. Never noticed if there is coffee, but there are usually some tale tellers hanging around. There is the Conoco on 13 that is in the same parking lot as Ozarks if you need gas/grindage. Mark has a marine selection. Both have good selections unless they get worked over by out of town/out of state tmts. Not sure about any shops on the west end. Seem to remember one of the resorts by Shell Knob having a decent tackle selection but have not been there in years.

For me, getting down out of the back ends of the rivers, and out off the banks was like turning on a light switch on this lake. Am still learning how and where, but am much more comfortable swimming or dragging something way off the nothing places. Have to give a lot of credit to some of the folks who are willing to post here, some local contacts, and quite a bit of stick time, both productive and fishless. Of course now I am completely eaten up with catching brown fish, and go thru 6# line like a spider goes thru webbing.

Being slightly bored this evening, I read back through this deal and was struck by a couple of bits of language used: "6. Policy. (a) Recreational opportunity on public waters is guaranteed, but it is subject to both state and federal rules and regulations governing access to some places to prevent conflict and provide for the most appropriate activity. Conditions contained in current commercial concession leases state that "No attempt shall be made by the lessee to forbid the full and free use by the public of the water areas of the project". Concessionaires cannot, on their own initiative, post signs to establish a commercial zone. Permission for the establishment of a commercial zone and sign placement must be requested by the concessionaire after documented evidence that the need exists and that the safety and protection of the public is at risk. No authorization for sign placement and the establishment of a commercial zone in a leased area may be granted without written authority from Chief, Real Estate Branch. All signs will be consistent with the US Army Corps of Engineers Sign Standards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- c. If a marina owner has the authority to post signs as a condition in their lease agreement, but no signs are present, a courtesy notification is requested to be provided to the Operations Project Manager when "Commercial Zone" signs are placed. All other marina owners must request authority to place signage designating a commercial zone. The request must be written and forwarded to Chief, Real Estate Branch through the Operations Project Manager for consideration. Requests for additional restrictions such as opening ingress and egress lanes, while considered nominal, must be similarly requested using the same process. Authority to place signs conveys no authority to the concessionaire to enforce any provision of this policy. Enforcement will be the responsibility of Corps Park Rangers and local and state law enforcement agencies as stated in their administrative order. However, this is to be a low priority enforcement action. d. Approved signage in accordance with the Corps Sign Standards Manual will be placed on each dock where restrictions apply. Limits of the commercial zone will be determined from the dock. Casting of fishing tackle by marina patrons or other lake users is prohibited iq the commercial zone." First...Just b/c it is a marina with a sign might not mean it is approved. Can only assume the areas listed by Bill & Joe are approved, but not much to stop someone else from trying to take advantage of the regulation, or simply overlooking that step. Second....Note the specific limitations placed on marina customers in the same posted areas. I don't ever intend to push the issue, but if anyone ever brought it up, I would certainly be snapping digital pics of anyone fishing from the boats or docks in the slips, including untended lines, bank fishermen, etc. Also similar language in one section covering swimming and other water activities by marina patrons. Looks to me like COE was at least trying to be even-handed in that regard, and gave the dock owners a bit of the old "be careful what you ask for".

If they are around the Schooner side of 13HWY I have missed them. Maybe they are up on the walkway ends of the docks? Guess I can see the possible safety issue with big boats coming out of slips, but might have been nice if it applied to warm weather months when there are more boats in and out of those places. Some of the docks I used to fish late in the year, and saw lots of others running, are in the fringes of those areas described, and are light on traffic in Nov/Dec. Seems like it is a possible setup for making a move to close fishing around places like condo docks. Not hard to imagine a condo assoc atty arguing for that. In Schooner you have to be at least familiar with the marina layout to know which docks are which, esp where they run in towards Lighthouse and Kimberling Oaks. See quite a few "one big trip per year" types of folks fishing around some of those, esp in out of state boats (like IL, WI, etc). Would purely love to see some folks get tickets for throwing wakes inside the buoys in Schooner though. It was terrible during the Neb Federation, and the days following.

Looks like that flat sided Norman bait...flat dollar, top dollar, something like that. Guess we know what BPS won't have next week, may have to send Wife to the Olathe store before we leave. How does it throw? Looked at one and passed b/c I thought it would throw like a potato chip.

Much appreciated. You guys are making me twitch, esp all this talk of 13HWY fish.

As long as they will let me. Will be there Sunday eve for a week. Have not found a better overall location to fish from, whether putting in there, or trailering to Baxter, Aunts, etc. And close to Ma's .

Those are great pics, esp the kids. Figure if you have read all the way to the tail end of page 2 you probably aren't too concerned about hijacking. After all, part of this deal is about fellowship and comraderie, at least when we are not sniping at each other. Kind of like a super sized bass club w/o meetings, I suppose, including the sniping.

Always appreciative of any info from our guides. Apologies if I hijacked the other post referenced, thought it was nice to share some memories of common water. As for shallow bites, if I have one I like to keep it sort of hushed until I am done with it, since they don't occur too often on this pond.

Thought I recognized a couple of those places in your pics. Good tip about the Baxter camps, I'll have to compare it to running back into Schooner Creek Resort at about 10 or 11am. Reminds me why I bought a bigger boat.

What a couple of beautiful, God-made lakes Rainy and Kabetogama are. Did you ever make it back into the falls by Crane? Was so spectacular I couldn't even fish after walking all the way back into it. Think the local view of the various DNR's is like the opinion people get of local doctors...no one seems to like any of the ones closest to home. Best 5 largemouth I have ever caught anywhere came from a single blown down pine tree on Pelican in 1992, easily 26+ for the 5 good ones and hit another one 23" there later the same week, at the big north running point where the mouth of the river meets the lake. Have fished all over and never come close to anything similar. That was back when the fish up there had hardly seen a jig and pig put in the right place, and Sluggos would just destroy them. First TW fish I ever caught was up the Pelican river on that lake in about 1984.

The glucosamine combos seem to work for most folks and are usually safe. Takes several weeks to see much change, still not a real solid consensus on why they work (improved cart, health, anti-inflam. effect, are some of the ideas). Only condition I ever put on it is to stick with one manufacturer if possible as FDA does not regulate the strength, lot to lot consistency, etc. That holds for all of the "dietary and food supplements", many ingredients of which strongly resemble what you might get chewing on your neighbors lilac or rose bushes . We don't normally hold to that with the Rx meds as they are required to meet established standards. Appreciate all the replies...guess it goes to show how many fish we have right now when you can catch them so many different ways. May be hard for me to get her off the grub after last year, had to talk her out of sneaking a rod on board the Branson Belle last weekend when we were down for her birthday. Her first keeper, closest to her, last August scrubbing a smoke grub. Sort of raised her expectations a bit.

Nicely done, and always good to see a report for the mid-lake. Would have looked at outside gravel for the jig before I looked at bluff ends, so that may really help next week. Much appreciated. Only thing is, I thought there were no fish at Baxter...

Something like the waterfowl season zones would be the idea. I'm not opposed to a C&R period but that could actually kill some of the better local money circuits. Obviously they hit other lakes, but the MO lakes are big draws. Harder to get entries from KC, Omaha, to go as far as the AR lakes. Tfish...keep that Pelican stuff quiet. There are no bass in that lake and weren't when I went there every year growing up . MN lakes do operate under a different paradigm though b/c it is kind of hard to float your boat off the trailer from Nov-Mar, at a minimum.

Odd question, but does anyone have anything going for short fish they would be willing to pass on? Will be down starting Sunday eve thru the next Sunday and would like to put my 9yo daughter on some fish that will eat what she throws. Thinking about chuggers or torpedos around docks early, smoke grubs off flats and points if that does not go. She is pretty handy with the smoke grub. Know where I would start if by myself, but am afraid that may be a few and far between bite, dragging rigs and fb's way off the gravel places looking for brown fish. Think that may be a bit much for her, esp when the wakes get up. Willing to go to little rigs with crawlers for her in similar places if that sounds possible.

Likely. I was always taught to put some into a gallon size zip-lock and seal it to keep any chance of exposing the fish to chlorine to a minimum. Freezing plastic water bottles the night before works too. Also have to be careful how much you add to prevent shocking the fish. I really like the method of just turning the pumps on manual and letting them run all day, lots of fish dope throughout the day, any time of year.

Have to think this would sit badly with resort owners, chambers of comm., guides, etc. Not that there isn't merit in it, but for better or worse $$$ makes things move. Hard to fill resort rooms in early April with family vaca's when the kids are still at school desks and water is too cold to ski. There would be a lot of tmts and fishermen traveling to any of the border states that did not follow suit...OK, AR, etc. Unfortunately their money would travel with them. That time of year is kind of like the windfall that hits western KS when bird season opens, hard thing to balance. I put a high value on a fish, but I get paid filling prescriptions, not resort rooms.

Great. I suppose that is also where Van Dam always fishes when they are here. Maybe the big boats will keep some folks out . You all have a good week, will be after them myself on Monday.

No problem. Not like I am there to fish it right now anyway. You'd be surprised at how many boats run right by there. I've spent entire weeks going back and forth on those places. Kind of a nothing place for a favorite spot though isn't it? Helps to not be in a hurry in there. As always, big thank you's to Mr. Babler for the specifics. Maybe with a little weather in the forecast for next week the brown fish will get on the jig, we can hope at least.