Bitethis

Been catching my cats in about 8-20 FOW, depending on time of day. If its high noon im deeper, in a channel if possible. Early morning or late evening im more shallow, flats are great in the evening, 8-12 FOW. Im using shad I catch prior to rigging up, and drifting. Usually go with a partner, 3 rods a piece, 6 across the side of boat, and turn the boat sideways so wind can push us accross the lake. Use trolling motor to keep us parallel. After dark, break out the black lights since I am using flourescent blue/clear line, and then my line lights up like 1/4" rope - reduces line crossing. on a good trip, we can usually boat 20, cull 3 or 4 in less than 4 hours. I have done this at Stockton and Pomme...place on the lake doesnt matter, terrain is what matters. The shallow when late/early, and deep at high noon is just a guide, it isn't sacred. There have been times at 11pm that I have gone out to 20 FOW and had all 3 pole pop at once. I usually like to go to an area of the lake that I can get to these different terrains easily in the dark. For example, Aldrich is a great place...below the bridge is mostly flats...i can shad up there. I will give it one good drift, 30-45 mins, and if I land 2+ per fisherman, we will run back to other side and do it again. If I come up empty handed, we will run up 1/4 mile or so and drift there where its a little deaper, gravelier, etc. Change it up till you find what they want. I use 6/0 circle hooks, and as many shad as I can get on the hook - usually 6-8. Hope this helps! I haven't missed a limit in the last 7 or times I have gone out. Havent fished more than 5 hours at a time. As for the whites - these fish are our families favorite fish to eat. They are so tasty! When people try to "cover up" the taste, it is usually the bloodline, which I just cut out leaving a still rather large fillet. I do the usualy presoak in water, but 20 mins before droping in a grease bath I will drop my fillets in a bowl of frenches mustard. (No the fish don't come out tasting like mustard), then I will use cornmeal/flour & lemonpepper to batter...makes some Hushpuppies, a homemade tarter sauce and malt vinagar, viola! Its a staple in our house!

I figure whites will be a good target soon, if not now. Goign this weekend to try my hand at catching some whites, if it doesn't pan out then I know how to catch a limit of cats pretty quick :-) Anyone catching whites on accident or purpose lately?

I love it when catfishing is on...it is truly good times. I went fishing the last week of July into the first week of august, went 4 times. All 4 times i caught my limit. The shad are were fnially big enough at that time to use a 1/4" cast net for bait, hooked em on a 6/0 circle hook, 12lb mono, and a #7 splitshot 15" up from the hook. (Using flourescent line with black lights at night is really fun!) Turn the boat sideways, and let the wnid carry me down the lake with 3 lines out...took no more than 4 hours to limit out (2 limits - 1 mine and another a friend). We did this 4 times in less than 10 days, and the size on them cats is great, ranging from 2lb-8lbs being the biggest. Last year, 14lbs was my biggest, still trying to beat it this year. Get out there and catch ya some!

Whites are my favorite fish to catch. I too, fish them in the spring and fall. If I find one in the summer under lights...bonus. I usually throw either a white rooster tail (or Chartruese - depending on clarity), or a 3/16-1/4oz lipless crank bait. I find that if it is sunny, chrome cotton cordell is dyno-mite! If it is overcast or real stained water, a chartruese sexy shad. H2O's (Academy house brand) make a great lipless in all the right colors, and so does XCalibur. This year, I am going to throw a Flash Mob Jr, Alabama rig, in the fall. I KILLED IT this spring with that, using 4" Berkley Havoc Subwoofers on 1/8 oz pro jigs, and using large willow blades on 2/5 of the arms. It was the most fun white bass fishing I have ever experienced...I caught my limit in less than 45 mins on multiple occassions this spring...it has to work in the fall too, right? In the fall, wind blown banks/coves are your best bet. Find the shad, find the whites....Tight Lines!

Is there any room to stand on bank to fish below the darn right now?

I went to Bolivar Landing on the 23rd. Fished from 7am-7pm...was a beautiful day!! Caught my personal biggest LM Bass of 5lbs, 22.5 inches. I will be wall mounting it. Big fan of catch and release, but this was just amazing for me! To add commentary to the thread topic, however....I saw enough dead crappie floating all over lake to have a limit+. I was somewhat concerned. I also saw 4-5 dead gar on the banks, and chalked it up to bowfishing. I also saw 1 dead Musky, probably 25-30 inches. I am not sure what is going on, but it is concerning as an avid angler to see such a sight on a beautiful body of water. I hope there is an answer to this that arises soon, and if it is something we can manage better I would support it. Proper handling is important, also.

I love walley fishing in Stockton. Caught my personal best there in October last year, 7.5lbs, 27.5" long. Realize it isn't a BEAST, but its MY personal best...i was very excited. Caught it on a firetiger bomber...right at dusk. Was very awesome! Glad you caught a couple!

I was wondering if anyone knew of a place to put in a boat west of 173 on the in flat creek? I know we could put in at Cape fair...but only have a 10hp on the boat, so if I could save time getting there it would be more convenient. Thanks in advnace for any help!

howd it go?

you can always attach a couple large willow leaf blades....thats what I do. Produces well, adds flash and thump.

What has been some of the swimbaits/grubs you have had best luck with?

Me and my fishing buddy have caught over 100 whites between Monday and Wed (We only kept our 15/ea per day), less than 5 hours total fishing. We caught all of them in the river below Aldrich. White has been the only color I have used. The water is suprisingly clear for the amount of rain we have had in the last week or so, so Chartruese hasn't been in my line up.

I have not recently, no.

I just wanted to see what other folks were doing with their a-rigs, for which species, an so on. I just recently use an a-rig for the first time and was more than pleased with results. The rig I used was the Deadly 5 - 3 arms with 3 spinner blades. I used 1/8oz pro jig with 4" Berkley Havoc Subwoofers (pearl). It was awesome for white bass, haven't tried for anything else on it as I have only used once. What is your favorite a-rig set up? What swimbaits have you had the most success with? What species have you caught with it?

We put in at aldrich

Put in at Aldrich yesterday afternoon around 3pm. Took a boat ride up the river between steel bridge and Taylor bridge. Fished from 330 - 530. I caught my limit of whites at 4:20pm...my fishing partner had 2. I handed him my a-rig set up, he had a limit in 30 mins. I have never used an A-rig before yesterday. I was totally impressed with it, although my shoulder is a little sore today, lol. I didn't land a double at any point, but hoped for one the whole time out. While i was slaying the whites, my partner tied on a swim bait exactly like I had on the rig. He fished it to no victory. It was the fact of having 3 swim baits and 2 spinner blades all balled up. It was very fun, and very nice to go out, catch a limit in an hour, and then sit back and enjoy the scenery. There are still a bunch of whites in the river :-)

I make sure to clean them very good (as I am sure you probably did) and then cut the fillet down the blood line, then remove the blood line from each half of the fillet. I will let them "Marinade" in frenches mustard for 15 minutes, and use that wet mustard on the meat as the binding agent for my coating/breading. Drop in frier, cook appropriately, enjoy. My family (wife and 3 kids) actually prefer white bass to crappie...maybe we are the odd folks out.

Anyone catching whites up there? Crappie? Thinking of heading that way monday, but would rather have a friendly tip before spending gas/time in the direction. Was good fishing for me last year!

Went to Steel bridge Monday night, not many people there to my surprise....not many fish there either, also to my surprise. Caught a few on a white swimming minnow, 1 on a white roostertail. No one else there had more than 5 or 6 fish, and they had been there longer that we had. I also noticed that I had caught 5 males, 1 female. When we were done, drove by Taylor bridge and there were 253,000 cars there. Asked a few people, they all said they did very well. Question: Has the weather been warm enough that the whites have already run through Sac, past steel bridge, passing Taylor now. Or, do you guys think that some of the males have gone through and the sows are coming in still? Last year was wierd because it got so warm so quick...it was like I blinked and the spawn was over. This year, the weather went back and forth so much that I am not confident in whats going on. I see people talking about catching their limit in 45 mins, or catching 75+ fish (with appropriate headcount, of course) in an afternoon. I am not seeing that yet. Only once have I been out and hit my limit and it was in the mouth of the river, south of Greenfield (4/12). Any insight would be appreciated!! Theories welcome too

did you guys get into the creek by boat, or were you there by the bride?

Gotchya, dont have a boat...so I would have to walk it, which isn't a big deal at all. Just wanted to get as close to where they are with minimal walking and maximum oppertunity :-)

were you at the mouth of beaver creek, or down farther?

Sorry, should have included it first post: http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/newshound/2011/08/rookie-angler-breaks-striped-bass-state-record-missouri It was this comment that got me thinking: "Interestingly, striped bass aren't even supposed to be in Bull Shoals Lake, which sits along the Arkansas/Missouri border. They were stocked there on accident in 1998." and then the last paragraph: "According MDC News, Shirley says the surviving fish from that stocking now weigh between 30 and 60 pounds and are slowly reaching the end of their life span. He says the boom in trophy striper fishing at Bull Shoals will taper off over the next five years as fish from the accidental stocking begin to disappear."

I read a recent article about the Stripers caught over the last couple of years at Bull Shoals. It indicated that the BIG stripers are not going to be there much longer, since the stripers were an accidental stock some time back. It lead me to believe the maybe the reproduction and growth of the stripers wasn't successful or significant enough to keep a healthy Striper fishery at Bull Shoals, but I may have over-exaggerated my assumption and misunderstood the author. Anyone able to speak to this, please do so. And...when is the best time to start fishing them, and where? :-)