kjackson

I was up the river this morning--launched at HI at 9:30 and pulled the plug a bit after one. Caught four whites and LDRd a three-foot gar. Lost my Flash Mob Jr. on a fish and had a couple of other strikes. Two of the whites were female, and one looked to be spawned out. Tried a single jig and crankbait but with no joy. The fish were scattered. Saw maybe half a dozen boats out. Water temps were 62. Quote MultiQuote Delete Edit

That was a nice report; thanks.

Nice! I was thinking about heading out tomorrow, so maybe I'm a little more positive.

Ditto, Duck. That mirrors what we did. Put in at 9 or so, ran up river and found fish. Most of the them came on the Flash Mob Jr. with Yum pearl grubs but a few fell for crankbaits. We ended up with 40 whites, two blacks (one a 16-incher, the other short). We probably had another 20 hits and LDRs. We got off the water at 2. Lovely day and great fishing! Water temp was 50 in the morning despite the frost, and I saw it at 56 at one point.

Hmmm...Launched at Dam Site Park yesterday and fished for about five hours. Water was 48 degrees and change mostly-- with a broad, shallow flat showing 52. There ends the useful information. I ran all the way back on Indian Creek (mistake) because I saw some crappies back there earlier, but there was no joy. Fished my way out hitting points off coves and had a total of one bite on an A-rig. I'm finding out that Beaver has a learning curve, and I'm not on the upswing yet. There was more fishy activity than the last time I was there-- I saw something popping on top and noticed carp in the shallows by the launch. I'm taking that as a good sign.

I know where the active biters aren't--Indian Creek arm of Beaver. Fished yesterday with one bite on an A-rig. I did see some fish hitting on top, but it (or they) wasn't interested in a Spook. Water temps were right at 48-50.

Ouch-- that was my lineup run for today. Thanks for the report. I'm thinking now I may just have to hit Beaver and Indian Creek or Lost Bridge.

After working on gear yesterday, I decided to spend the day in my shop/tackle warehouse (not my term for it) trying to get it organized a bit better. I wished I would have fished Indian as well since I didn't get the rod rack up like I wanted. I did have to spend the morning working, so that ate up time that could have been used elsewhere. It's still a tossup to go there or fishing above Holiday Island or maybe the Roaring River arm. The big carp in our pond was up and swimming today, so I'm thinking that's a good sign.

Thanks. I may see you out there. It's a toss between three options: the river for walleyes and possibly whites, Beaver and the Roaring River arm. Dunno, y'know.

I'm heading out at the end of the week, but it's a choice between the lake near the dam or down into the river to see if I can find walleyes. Any reports on water temp or fishing success (or failure)? I probably will launch at Dam Site Park and head up the Indian Creek area. My last trip there had one striper do a drive-by on a jerkbait and a short bass, but that was before the cold weather hit.

I was thinking about heading to RR either Thursday or Friday. It's either that or upriver. Or I might go to Beaver...

Glad to hear that, QB. I love fishing for bluegills, especially with a fly rod and popper.

I did get a pair of them Friday, and I was surprised at how small they are. Have yet to fish them but will do so later this week. I'm thinking they might be all right for shallow whites, but we'll see. I'll use the baits that they came with just because of the low impact when they hit the water.

I think the Finns wanted a challenge. Really, it was more of an extension. Buying Storm gave Rapala gave the company a recognized brand that fed into a different segment of the tackle market, and since expansion was what the company wanted, and Storm was available... I've not fished the Brad's wart version, but I am interested in Luck-E-Strike's wart series. You would think an Ozark company would make a good one, but I'll let better fishermen pass judgement.

Back when Storm was still using the silver beaked hooks, I asked the PR person(or maybe it was by Gary Storm himself) why they used 'em. She said that it was to help the Warts go through timber better. I think the change in hooks came for two reasons-- steelhead fishermen on the coast wanted a better hook and the trend in the tackle industry at the time was that trebles should be round-bend VMCs. I also talked to a Rapala manager just after the purchase, and he was appalled by the "quality" of the Storm lures. I know the Finnish engineers wanted to make everything "more consistent" in the baits they made, and that's why the Madflash series was created.

I think it was two years ago in a tournament in Oahe on the Missouri where the winning technique was trolling spinnerbaits on leadcore. The walleyes were in the trees, and the spinnerbaits would slide through the wood. I've caught walleyes with flipping jigs off beaver huts before, and my guess is that if walleyes are around and your lure or bait looks like something they'll eat, they will do so.

Kayser--Couldn't really say on the Smoos. I got some as samples, fished 'em maybe once and then lost interest.I can see where they might work, especially for walleyes. It will be interesting to see if the new Bagley's will bring them back, but I'm guessing it won't happen. I think that niche is too small to be of interest to many companies.

I think the last one of those I had disappeared with a steelhead in Hell's Canyon. Sorry. I do have two of the Shad-Rs in that color, but since I caught my first smallie in the Snake River on that bait and that color, I do have a sentimental attachment. If you like the Double Deep, you might look at the Luhr Jensen quarter-ounce Hot Lips. That baby will run 12 feet and is a bass magnet. It is still available...

That is an interesting page, Jerry. Thanks for that. As I work through boxes, I'm finding lots of old lures, most of them in good condition, that I got as samples. I've got one or two Bagley Smoos, old Rebel or Cordell (don't remember the brand at the moment) Shadracks, Excalibur Shad-Rs, the Double-Deep Wee-R (an outstanding bait IMO), Tracdown Crawfish, Hawg Boss Super Toads, the Luhr Jensen TD series and others. As I get a bit more organized, I'll probably start peddling some of my gear simply because I need the room. As my wife likes to point out, there is no way I'll ever be able to fish with all the stuff I have. I am going to try, however.

I've been working through my 40 years of tackle accumulation, sorting lures and whatnot for the spring's adventures. I do have a bunch of the standard Wiggle Wart (mostly in steelhead colors), and I also have a fairly large number of others in different sizes. I have Mag Warts, Wee Warts, Short (?) Warts and Flat Warts. I also have a few of the suspending Wiggle Warts--all of which are pre-Rapala. I've done a fair bit of reading on this site and elsewhere on the Wiggle Wart and its use, but I seldom see anything at all about the other sizes. Does no one use 'em? I do know the Mag Wart is a good bass bait (and a very good salmon lure in rivers), but I've not seen any ink on them or the Short Wart, another good lure. Having looked at eBay to see what is and is not popular, I'm guessing that the answer is that the standard size of Wiggle Wart is it, period. (And here I'll say that I can't believe people are paying $40 for a NIB crawdad WW.) Is that really the case?

Another option is Kiwi Grip that you can buy from Bateau2.com. It's an epoxy paint that contains non-slip material. You will have to do prep as with any painting job, but it has received good reviews from the guys at the forum there.

Thanks; I may have to order a few. I've spent the morning going through hard baits, putting new hooks on and doing other things fishing related. I'm hoping to head out Friday. I will probably fish near the dam as a friend has been getting a few walleyes there, and it's close to home.

Wow--what a day! That is inspiring for someone new to the area; I'm glad to see it's possible. The Flicker Shad in the photo looks huge--what size is it?

I've had the oil-filed hubs on my trailer for six years with no problems, and that included dunking them in saltwater for the most of the time. Just before our move from Washington, I had the seals replaced, and 2400 miles later (some at warp speed) with a heavily loaded boat, I had no issues.

Jeb-- Now you've got me wondering if I have the blank company wrong. There was a split of the original G.Loomis group with some staying with the company, Gary founding his own and another Gary (Schaefer) starting yet another company. I know that GL also is designing rods for Temple Fork Outfitters, and they include both fly and conventional rods. It might be worth checking out the TFO offerings. But as far as the Edge rods go, they are about as sensitive as Quillback says. But even if I were to get a brother-in-law price, I'm not sure I'd buy very many. I'd rather put a four-stroke on my boat.