countryred

I never really thought of the jacks fork as a bullhead creek but I guess they live about everywhere. Caught a lot of them in ponds and creeks in north missouri. Had a huge one on a jug line that was about 18".

Yep , 12 inch length limit on spots at LOZ. Seems they grow really slow there and most never made it to the old 15" limit. Table Rock spots are almost a different critter. Fatter, bigger, meaner. Lots of them too.

You can try the pre rap warts page on FB, they will sell. Seen collections like that for 150-250. Craw colors more popular now. Prices seem to go up and down alot. Good luck on selling and the new kiddo.

Lots of water there now, but depending on more rains, should go down fast.

We have a place pretty close to Buck Hollow and I don't remember much camping there. Rymers looks ok, Blue Spring to me looks even better. Alley Spring is a nice place.

Very cool Billet,..looks like the critters are checking out the garden too. We were just down at our Jacks Fork place and spread clover , on top of the snow, and will plant blackberries next trip. Are yours thornless and how many did you plant originally?

That is a heck of a spot Ron. I bet it pulled like a freight train.

I saw where some recently caught a spotted bass that weighed just shy of 11 pounds in California. Might be a new world record.... What is every ones personal best from here in the Ozarks? Mine was a 3.98 caught along the North Shore area of Lake the Ozarks. Caught it on a clown rouge along the outside corner of a dock in early March about 15 years ago.

You can blame me guys. My wife and I are heading down friday to our Jacks Fork cabin. Will be there a few days,.. No heat or electric in it yet. We are bringing a small propane heater. Expecting 2-4" here wenesday night in northeast Mo. Not taking the fishing gear this trip, Main purpose is meeting with the electric co to get us a pole set, plant some clover, check the game camera to see what was in front of my hunting blind on opening day.( missed deer season) and just check on the place in general.

I saw your video too, looked like a great trip. I didn't get to fish as much last year but we did spend a week at our place near the upper Jacks Fork. Had a fun canoe day and a few mid day trips that allowed me to fish some while my daughter and wife swam in the river. Best fish of the week was a 17 inch smallie but saw several better ones. I have my sights set on them this year.

No matter what lake I fished, I simplified and only kept a few basics...If they didn't work, I needed to be throwing something else. Clear water...cloudy windy weather.....shad color with either double willows or a colorado willow combo..silver blades Muddy water..cloudy windy weather.....firetiger skirt with a red colorado followed by a large indiana or an all white version of the same thing , especially if large shad are spawning Muddy water..sunny.....the ole chartreuse and white with gold blades, colorado followed by a 6 or 7 indiana 3/8 oz most of the times ....clear water,sunny, slick conditions....I ain't winging a blade if these baits don't work....start cranking or get out the soft plastics

Great day on the water !!

My first bass boat was a 179v with a 150 yamaha. I think it was 88 or 89. Good rig, traded it off when the motor blew. Probably should have just replaced the engine. The 289's were good rigs too,. Just make sure there is no water logged wooded stringers or cracks around the transom. Good luck.

There were about a dozen of us guys planting brush in those days on that lake. . Sometimes we would plan to brush up a spot and find out some one already did it. Most of mine were in more obscure places. I was single and didn't hunt then so it was a good use of my time. In lakes with little deep water cover, or cleared parts of a lake,..it does help. With the electronics, GPS, Side scanning, etc......time spent idling around can do almost as good as planting brush. A tiny tree, stump, or rockpile that can hold a few fish is as good as a monster pile. The key is to be able to locate it quickly and get a bait in there. The last time I bass fished there , my buddy and I hit a few of them just to see if they decayed or still held fish. The lake was low, no current , late August and not a cloud in the sky. The first couple held nothing but we caught 5 that weighed 14-15 pounds off the last one we hit. Two decent sized events were held that day and 12 won both of them. Chances are no one had hit that spot in years. Many crappie guides do that as well,..Some lake like Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock , there is enough planted brush to just look for it instead of planting.

It's ok to ask anytime. I always liked to do my research during the winter as well....

I have a feeling Al's bad days are closer to my average ones............lol

Looks like fun times!

I was able to get a permit from the COE to put out brush on my home lake. They wanted a map of where it was put out, not sure how accurate I made it. Not sure if they still give out permits.

I used to make my own back in my tournament days. I would use two methods. The first one is taking a 5 gallon bucket and putting about a dozen 4 to 6 foot hickory or oak limbs in it and flare them out all different directions. Then pour the bucket 1/2 full of sackrete. These were very transportable and easier on bass boat carpet. The second was using a 2 hole concrete block, laying it holes up and adding those same limbs and adding sacrete. Both worked well. The weight of them helped hold them in current. I would place them on flat bare points ,mostly on the main lake. The key depth would be 15 to 25 foot deep,at normal pool...Most stood about 5 foot tall. I didnt fish them them much until late June through September. Most of them I would set out in line with something on the bank. Hold the boat deeper than they were and throw towards the line up. Deep crankbaits that would just touch the tops were my first choice. Second would be a 10 inch worm. It was nice having a few holes to myself to starting hitting about 10 am each tournament day. Some turned out to be duds although they looked great. Some others really paid off. One year I weighed in 44 keeper fish off of just one of them. The most I caught off it in one day was 8. It was good for 3 or 4 most times. I did notice it would have either several 2 to 3 pound fish on it or 1 lone 4 plus. Others were inconsistent, maybe 1 or 2 , maybe none. Others turned out to be crappie or white bass holes.

My favorite jerkbait color is clown, my second favorite is a little brown jig. Hope this helps.

Back in my tournament days on LOZ during late winter /early spring, I would normally get 1 practice day and 2 tournament days. Most of our events launched from Coffman and I found better fishing along the North Shore area than I did in the Gravois. During practice I would pick 1 major creek, such as Licking Branch. I would spend 6 hours in there if needed. I would hit the secondary points with jerkbaits, crankbaits, and a small jig. Most bites were 6-15' deep. I would then hit the steeper chunk rock banks. Same baits, same depths. If warming conditions were warm enough, I would try the flatter gravel areas near chunk rock. I would say that 75 percent of the time, the best areas had the most baitfish. Sometimes the shad would be way off the bank and the bass would be with them. Other times you would see carp and bluegill shallow,.the bass were right with them. Once I hit a pattern, I could duplicate in other creeks or big coves. If I totally bombed on that practice day.....it told me that I needed to concentrate on the main lake. Big points at the mouths of coves, channel bends, and bluff points. Many times the main lake bite would be bigger fish and more kentuckies. My fall back would be a few favorite brush loaded docks that I never would hit in practice. LOZ is a great fishery, but it can humble a guy in a hurry too. Fish hard, keep an open mind, and enjoy the day on the water. This was all before megabass jerkbaits, A rigs, and Ned rigs.

that should be a good section. There will be more than a few canoes per day there. I have rented from Harveys and Windys, both had good service. We will be down to our place on the upper Jacks for about a week sometime around Memorial Day. I will probably post a report then.

Welcome aboard!!

Which section are you going to be fishing? We hit the upper jacks last year just after Memorial day, did pretty good...fewer boats than down below.

I know it will. My daughter has two basketball games on Saturday and a practice and an anniversary dinner on Sunday.