nomolites

X2 ..and you did have a hook in your target species...they don't all end up in the boat. Mike

This time of year I look for clouds of suspended fry - the crappie will be there. I was on LOZ Satirday just test running things after PMing them and trolling conditions with clouds of fry looked awesome although I did not have time to try it. On my 'Bird fry look turbulence with some form to it and will have a few larger crappie returns nearby - usually near the thermocline this late if there is one. Get a bright crank bait to that depth at 1.7 mph and you should catch some fatties. Agree though that this year has been a bit off - I usually see what I was seeing Saturday in late May/early June. Mike

Those are some nice fish, well done! A lot shallower than I would have guessed this time of year, at least before dark. Mike

Kreis' is special. Mike

Warts catch walleye; UV pink and fire tiger if I could only choose two. Fortunately, I don't have that restriction... Mike

Actually it was a manyshad that I donated to that big striper but I use CCs, Jigging Raps, and others depending on the situation and what seems to fit. Mike

Nice!! That looked like a ball of fun.... Mike

Second time on this lake, second time getting humbled but I AM learning. Fish here live deep. I targeted walleye mainly with a bit of striper thrown in and made the decision to not use live shad this trip and try with artificials; my wife was my fishing partner and she is not a morning nor rain person so that narrowed the amount of time we had on the water- late mornings and a couple of evenings. Tried the main lake and Big Creek area and boat traffic for this lake was heavy with folks buzzing by at close range but definitely fishable. WT 84-89 depending on time of day and the only thermocline visible was at 60' on the main lake and a solid return at 35' in the deep holes in the creek. I am not used to thermals setting up and moving the way they do on this lake and I have a lot to learn. The fish we caught were up on 30-40' deep flats; caught walleye trolling flicker shads on lead at 35' or Slow Death and striper horizontal jigging spoons in the 40' range. There were a couple times I was sitting on top of schools of what appeared to be hybrids and just could not really get bit vertical jigging although I had a couple on that pulled off right away - frustrating!! Caught enough fish to make it interesting and provide a few meals but certainly did not slay them. The walleye we caught were 19-21 inches and the striper relatively small although I had a beauty on a spoon that broke me off on his third run from the boat - I was leaning on him a bit too hard and must have had a nick in the 8# flouro. Beautiful lake, we will be back. Here is the boss with one... Mike

Bet that was FUN, and you can understand why they are a valued fighting game fish in Europe! Nice! Mike

I've caught pre spawn crappie from it but no bass. Mike

I'm guessing you caught her in Buck Creek...?

Last year was wonderful, to be sure WW. The fish still bite if you have the sea legs to pursue them. Early mornings and late Eve's if you want less roiled water. I'll be puttering around on Norfork this year... Mike

There are walleye as well but they are hard to locate and catch. This time of year the white bass fishing will heat up in the evenings on flats near deep water; they will often push shad to the surface and can be caught on almost anything then but a spoon or a jig bounced on the bottom an hour before dark is good in those places. May hook into a hybrid doing that as well... Mike

The flat/channel swing on the north side of the mouth of Mill Creek in the Gravois arm. It's an inside turn and the big boys tend to cut the corner heading downstream and it has claimed it's fair share of gear cases from those unfamiliar with the area. Mike

The poker runners that is, not the prop cops....they don't bother me.

They can Go without me this year; last year I was trying to fish Gibson in the Gravois that afternoon. Got my self mad enough to hope one of them cutting between me and the shoreline would get hung up....finally stowed the electric and put her on the lift. Ain't worth it. Mike

That is a fine LOZ specimen...worth the sleep deprivation! Mike

A small one. 18 1/2 Crestliner Fish Hawk; I still have pretty good sea legs and a good seat with a 2 3/8 post to lean on. 80# Ulterra with 60" shaft and at times even she is completely out of the water. The fish don't seem to care though....gotta love our LOZ.....

Agreed. I fish the main lake almost exclusively from May through November so I can't tell you what fish in the coves are doing other than to say fish in those with feeders will at times set up the same as the main lake. Indian creek is an excellent example. Mike

I fished a few derbies up there way back and the weights were low by LOZ standards; back then you could cash a check simply by weighing a limit. Used to occasionally pull a toad out of the cedars on a spinnerbait but it was grinding a black/blue jig most of the time. Caught some big flatheads on that jig... What I saw looked good, although in my old age I prefer clearer water. Mike

Thanks WW!

Glad to see you have an open mind! This late in the year I am almost exclusively in open water for my deal and my observation(or imagination) is current will position the fish but not necessarily make them accept my offerings. When I do have a watermelon red 10" power worm tied on(which is not often) I will use just enough weight to sink it as well, but I have never been a dock fisherman - I catch way too many of them to suit me. I like to drop waypoints on those secret brushpiles installed under cover of darkness I pick up when I am trolling so if the urge takes me I can visit them later. Mike

I had serviced my boat and have a trip planned to AR so I wanted to test everything out; haven't fished MT in 25 years so I headed up there Sat. morning - got on the water @ 0900 and only fished til 1300, WT was 84.6 in - 86 out and the lake was stained with only about 6" visibility. Looked like a solid thermocline set up at 20' so I pulled up on a flat that dropped into the channel in that depth range and started dragging fire tiger flicker shads and wiggle warts - started picking up fish in the 15-18' range but only when the baits were banging the bottom - caught channel cat, white bass, drum, and crappie but no walleye although I saw some returns that could have fooled me. Decided to pull stakes and try something different and casted a few bluff ends catching a couple more small whites on fire tiger jigs and one 16" LMB on the FT flicker shad just winding it back. That's about all the time I had but I saw enough to interest me in a return trip with more time and maybe some crawlers for bottom bouncing. There ARE fish in Mark Twain, seems like just a tight lipped bunch fishing her. BTW - saw a number of boats running jugs or tied up to pole timber and that seems to still be the primary deal. Mike

Wrench, I also see you slipped and admitted current makes a difference........not like you. You okay?? Mike

Had not heard but I have caught more of them in the last two years than I can count in that same area; my be God's way of balancing the herd sort of like CWD and whitetail deer.... Mike