Pepe

Great tips. I did not know that. Thank you!

Thanks for your help and I am glad you have had better luck than me. We did visit Three (3) grocery stores (Riverview, Superfoods & the real small one) in Zapata. All have meat counters. We bought ribeyes and T bones. Ribeyes were 8.99 lb and very tough. We also had steaks at a couple local restaurants. This was my third trip to Zapata and I haven't had a good steak there yet. But, of course, we don't go for the cuisine. We have had very good chicken-fried steak at "The Steakhouse" We stock up on tri-tips and beef tenderloins from Country Fresh in Shell Knob and sometimes the beef at Harter House in Kimberling City. There is a popular place south of San Antonio called Bill Miller's that has good barbeque, if you prefer brisket. My hope is that the report will help the next guy(s) as II know some folks from the area are headed down there soon. We met some folks just arriving who were from Tablerock area and some guys from Bentonville.

When the arctic weather hit a couple weeks ago we were able to arrange a house to stay at in Zapata, Texas, so we called some friends who loaded the boat, packed the sunscreen and headed south to Falcon Lake. Our friends barely made it ahead of the wintry weather but got out on the 8th, a couple days ahead of us. We arrived Saturday afternoon after dealing with some mechanical issues. Three severe cold fronts had preceded us and the town of Zapata was not very crowded. News at the tackle shop was depressing and the local fishermen were glum. The water temperature had dropped 15 degrees and the fish had lockjaw. Our friends, very good bass fishermen, had no luck finding biters but they were eliminating water. We were fortunate to hook up with B.A.S.S. Elite Pro, Matt Reed, who had just arrived to spend a couple months guiding on Falcon. What a treat Matt is to fish with. Main lake structure at the mouth of creeks seemed like a good place to start so we worked a bunch of those spots. It looked like the skunk was on us but my wife, Lily, caught a fat bass on a Carolina rigged Yum Dinger to lift the stink late in the day. Monday was so windy we stayed close to home, but there is no place to hide from the breeze when it gets howling across that lake. A single white bass was the yield for the day. Very few boats were on the lake but we had a good time, again eliminating water. Tuesday was a nicer day but we were still struggling to catch anything. The few folks at the ramp also said they were struggling. It was sunny and warm, though, and we were happy. Matt had one last free day, with six straight weeks of bookings ahead of him, and he took the ladies while we stayed nearby and in contact. As it warmed up we caught a few feisty bass flipping bushes and slow rolling spinnerbaits in 3.5 to 4 feet of water inside creek/river mouths. The water temperature was 56-57 degrees. The sun kept shining and the water warming. As it did the bite picked up along creek channel edges, still at the same depth and in the bushes. We picked up several between 7 & 8 lbs and all fish were smoking hot with a ton of attitude. It was all I could do to turn some of these bass on a MH rod and 20lb line. Some of them successfully ran for cover, wrapped the line and were gone. On a modified spinnerbait, I hooked a big girl that went into a bush. My buddy was shoulder deep and had a hand on her but she broke me off and swam away with my lure. The next day we found the lure about ½ mile away, up in a bush. She swam quite a distance before tossing that thing. We had a great time, but once again were reminded that Falcon does not usually give up a lot of fish. There are still some big bass in that lake, though. We got home just in time to watch the games today. As a side note; we aren’t real impressed with the local restaurants and most meals were home cooked. I was especially unimpressed with Texas beef. I guess we are very fortunate to have good quality meat in this region

Love my Shimano's and my :Lews.

Watch out the window to see if it is delivered by a drone You will like that Lee pot

I am a lousy carpenter so made a very suitable rack using only my cordless screwdriver and a hand saw. I bought a 1" x 4" pine board, cut it and assembled to resemble a capital E. I screwed some PVC end caps onto the boards about 6" apart all along the boards. Then I cut some PVC pipe just long enough to hold a rod & reel upright (about 8-10") and pushed them into the caps. No need to take the reels or baits off the rods as they are seperated just enough.

LOL, I am with you, Bill. I'm glad the wood pile is well stocked and there's some good football games on.

Happy New Year to all of you and thanks for all the good tips & reports from 2013. I hope we can continue the same in 2014. From a report that either Champ or Donna posted I put some things on my Christmas list. I ended up with 2 new pairs of sun gloves. C'mon sunshine; I'm ready now!

Any idea what causes those black spots, QB? Thanks for the report.

Please, please don't tell me they catch bass. Fedex just called to see if we have a loading dock to deliver our credit card bill from Christmas.

Watch Craigslist to see if any of your stuff shows up. I did that when we had some equipment stolen in Oklahoma. It showed up on Tulsa Craigslist and I arranged to meet the guy. The look on his face was priceless when we simply loaded it into my truck and offered him a chance to call the police if he had a problem with it.

Blinking Raccoons in the attic is straight scary. It sounds like they are killing each other with the screaming and scratching

I have heard some great things about that inshore fishing on bass gear. Is February prime time? That is on my bucket list and we intend to get down there to try it one of these years. We already committed to a week in Mexico in February however. We are going to give Falcon lake another try in a couple weeks. We never got a fish over 8 lbs last year. Hoping for a double digit Mama.

Wow, that looks like fun. Thanks for the report, Bill.

Not one mention of a Ned Rig or small Senko's?

Hard to argue with Bill's pictures and results.

Brrrrr. You two are hard-core. Donna, you look like an ice fisherman. Thanks for the report and showing the JB.

I have found the heat guard sleeves ruin the fibers. Got some in a drawer somewhere and don't plan to use them again. Teflon pins is the way to go if you plan on making a lot of jigs. If you are only doing a few, some worm oil on the metal pins allows the paint to be knocked off

Wow, your report is like winning the Trifecta. Thanks Champ. 1.) Great Report on a new lake to try 2.) Great homemade Christmas gift idea 3.) Another reason to wear sun glove (I ordered some based on Donna's report) Would you mind letting us know who your guide buddy is? I would like to who to look up when I get down that way.

The trick is to use pins in the jig to fill and block the weedguard hole when you paint them. Leave them there when you put them in the toaster oven and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Pull the pins, put a drop of superglue in the hole and insert the weedguard. Metal http://lurepartsonline.com/Shop-By-Category/Ladles-and-Accessories/Base-Hole-Pins.html Plastic http://www.barlowstackle.com/Teflon-Base-Hole-Pins-P2186C134.aspx

Yes, Sir. Everything in the pictures is homemade.

Been playing again. A few new swimbaits in S&P, Pearl and Cayenne Pepper. Two different jigs with wire weed-guards and ringed 3.5 inch baits. A weedless "T-rig" bait on a Yamamoto ball jig. I'm hoping to try them out next weekend.

What new dam is that? I don't think the USACE has built a new dam (in the USA) in decades. I know of some work coming up on the Tainter Gates at Norfolk Dam.

Thanks for the report, QB. Sure wish I was going to get there before the weather turns cold again.

I didn't spend much time working the spoon last weekend. I didn't find anything on the electronics that resemble what CindyJo has posted. I am making some with a hole drilled, though.